Published: 05/03/2022
Published: 05/03/2022
Operating onshore Pakistan, an operator was drilling an 8½-in sidetrack section measuring 7,195 ft [2,193 m] in length with ULTRADRIL high-performance water-based drilling fluid system with 7% potassium chloride. During the operation, the operator was replacing a high number of screens on three shakers installed at the rig. After 15 days of drilling, 130 screens had been replaced. The operator sought to control screen consumption and costs as well as improve mud recovery efficiency when drilling the second phase of the sidetrack section.
M-I SWACO rigged up two MONGOOSE PRO dual-motion shakers to perform a side-by-side performance comparison with one conventional shaker on the rig. Both types of shakers were dressed with API-200 original equipment manufacturer screens. As with the first drilling phase, the ULTRADRIL drilling fluid system with 7% potassium chloride was used during drilling. Screen damage, operational hours, changeout date, flowline temperature, and other data were carefully monitored by M-I SWACO and the operator.
While drilling the second phase of the sidetrack section, 27 screens were changed on the conventional shaker, but an average of only 9.5 screens was changed per MONGOOSE PRO shaker, demonstrating a 65% decrease in screen replacement on a per-shaker basis. The total cost savings in terms of screens was USD 13,200, a 70% reduction compared with the conventional shaker and screen combination. Using the MONGOOSE PRO shakers, the operator completed the second phase of the sidetrack in 12 days. Because of the demonstrated performance, the operator decided to remove the conventional shaker before drilling the final 6-in [15.2-cm] section of the well and used the two MONGOOSE PRO shakers while drilling this section. During drilling, the two MONGOOSE PRO shakers each used only one screen. In comparison, the average conventional screen consumption on previous wells for similar 6-in sections was a minimum of 25 screens per section.
