Successful drilling practices: An experiment in cooperation

This paper presents the results of a Gas Research Institute funded study to test the following hypothesis: "Broad-based benefit is created when drilling organizations systematically cooperate to identify and share successful practices." To this end, 11 separate successful drilling practices studies (SDP) were c ommissioned with the following goals: identify the most successful drilling practices for each of the study areas; document these practices in enough detail (in the form of a complete drilling operations plan) to ensure pract ical application; disseminate the successful practices; and measure the ben efit derived from using the successful drilling operations plans. The studies focus an the following 11 drilling environments: Greater Green River basin (two studies: South Moxa arch Dakota formation an d Wamsutter Almond formation), Arkoma Basin (two studies: Choctaw thrust and Jackfork plays), Cotton Valley Reef play in east Texas, Deep Austin chalk (Texas), Valverde basin (Straw and Penn sands, Texas), Anadarko basin (Watonga-Chickasha trend Morrow/Springer formations), South Texas Gulf coast (Wilcox Lobo trend), Deepwater (Green Canyon area), and Extended-reach (South Pass area) drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper outlines the methodology used to develop these SDP studies, and the benefits reported by operators who have used them. Evidence presented s hows that broad-based benefit can be created when drilling organizations sy stematically cooperate to identify and share successful practices, and that the benefit ranges from 3 to 20% of total drilling costs, with an average benefit on the order of 10%.