Recent trends in "Jetting, driving, drilling in conductors in deepwater?".

22 October 2009 Recent trends in "Pre-installation, Jetting, driving, drilling in conductors is another discussion thread that could be well served by this forum, particularly in the context of deepwater operations.

References for this are two fairly recent SPE papers written on this subject that in conjunction with the well planning section in the IADC deepwater well control guidelines one can evolve a more engineered approach to conductor jetting and key aspects of this to consider.

The area where there is a lack of literature and where SPREAD members comments are appreciated would be.

- Soil shear strength determation, as this ultimately drives how many joints, how long to wait, will the soil support the next string(s) weight etc. How therfore do operators derive and apply the soil shear strength numbers needed?

- Bit position i.e. 6" out or inside the conductor shoe. Is this driven from CFD modelling that has been conducted and/or depends on type of soils being jetted or simply learned from regional, field experiences?

-Preference for slim line, profiled connectors or flush joints to minimise soil disturbance?

- Best practice to have a bent sub in motor jetting drill ahead assembly or not?

- Wellhead stick up preference as I have reviewed programs stating stick ups ranging from 1m to 4m?

- Jetting practices differences when jetting for slimhole design. e.g. jetting a 30" conductor with a 17-1/2" bit and drill-ahead assembly as applied in certain regions?

Any other issues to discuss and share on this thread? appreciate views and comments to further evolve current 'best practices' to apply on this topic.

Regards,

Peter.

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