Wellbore tortuosity is a critical element in drilling complex horizontal wells and deep verticals. The current three-dimensional borehole trajectory model, based on the minimum curvature method [MCM], tends to mathematically smoothen the wellpath. This is due to the assumption that the borehole is composed of constant curvature arcs. This assumption creates an artificially low tortuosity expressed as dogleg severity [DLS] which leads to the miscalculation of borehole positions, and generating unreliable prediction of torque and drag. A robust three-dimensional trajectory model, the Advanced Spline-Curve [ASC] model, is developed to overcome these limitations. The ASC model provides realistic results and accurately calculates the spatial course of the wellpath. Various applications of the ASC model are presented including [1] production challenges such as ESP failures and liquid loading, [2] wellbore location affect to reservoir modeling and [3] tortuosity effects on torque and drag, limiting the horizontal distance to be drilled, and raising the question: “how far can you go?”.

This webinar is categorized under the Drilling discipline.

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