Offshore staff
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Aramco’s drilling team on the Manifa offshore field have set a new record for a long-reach well in Saudi Arabia.
The well was drilled to a TD of 32,136 ft (9,795 m) using a Precision Drilling rig. Concurrently, a horizontal power water injector was completed across the Lower Ratawi reservoir.
Aramco says the operation exceeded its drilling progress KPI by more than 32 ft/d, and beat its lost-time KPI by nearly 3.5%. The same drilling team established the previous record on Manifa while working on a 30,850 ft (9,403 m).
The field, discovered in 1957, is in shallow waters southeast of Tanajib around 200 km (124 mi) northwest of Dhahran. Aramco’s strategy has been to tap the reserves where possible via extended wells from onshore locations.
Facilities include 27 drilling islands connected by a 47-km (29-mi) long causeway, 16 onshore drill sites, and 13 platforms.
Manifa team members attributed the latest achievement to the use of high-torque drill-pipe connections, optimized well trajectory, proactive involvement of support personnel, round-the-clock support, and comprehensive pre-planning.
02/24/2011
