GA Drilling, an SME located in Bratislava, Slovakia and London, has recently completed a three-month feasibility project to investigate the potential of a continuous casing while drilling technology called ContiCase.
It is based on the concept of creating casing in-situ by additive layering, thus ensuring enhanced well stability. Funding for the project was secured with support from Aberdeen-based ITF (Industry Technology Facilitator).
The long-term objectives of the work are reduced drilling costs and associated capital expenses, as well as improved oil recovery arising from well-bore stability, and the developers believe that the approach could be particularly valuable in unconsolidated rock formations, which can be challenging with respect to horizontal drilling.
Igor Kocis, CEO at GA Drilling, said the concept for the ContiCase project arose from the firm’s “Plasmabit” technology platform, described as “a novel drilling system and rock disintegration method” based on the use of a high-energy electric plasma jet.
ContiCase is a casing production technology intended to allow well casing to be constructed simultaneously with the drilling process in the drilling bit zone, ensuring mechanical stability of the well at all times.
“By immediately reinforcing the inner wall and preventing its collapse, ContiCase has the potential to allow access to currently inaccessible reservoirs through unstable rock and sand layers,” said Kocis.
“Our solution will be suitable not only for our plasma-based drilling technology but also in combination with current rotary-based methods.”
According to ITF, the main goals of the feasibility project were to investigate the possibilities for application of the technology, assess the economy and effectiveness of the process and evaluate the material’s microstructure and mechanical properties, as well as exploring the potential for enhancing the properties of ContiCase structures through the use of added materials to create a process that will form layers on the walls of the well.
Findings were used to create the development project plan and roadmap, and the developers are now seeking support for a second six month phase of work. This next phase will focus on hard rock drilling as a pilot project to allow measurement of the properties of casing, and the production of laboratory samples of casing using different materials in order to provide recommendations for different rock formations.
Commenting on the potential of the project, Mark Anju, senior technology analyst at ITF, said: “Horizontal wells can offer significant production improvements but can be particularly susceptible to well stability issues.
“Technology that can create more stable wells at lower cost could therefore play a significant role in improving recovery factors.
“Other benefits of the ContiCase technology could include the repair and strengthening of existing boreholes, management of casing with respect to variations in thickness and strength, well stability combined with open hole productivity and the production of permeable casing sections in the wellbore.”
To find out more about phase two of the ContiCase project, please contact Mark Anju m.anju@itfenergy.com or Igor Kocis info@gadrilling.com
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