Objective To develop an Automated Guidance System for Directional Drilling. This is used in offshore oil exploration and production and offers major benefits in terms of reduced drilling costs and improved oil yields.The initial development phase is complete and a single prototype has been constructed. In order to gain commercial acceptance it will be necessary to carry out extensive drilling trials in order to establish performance and reliability characteristics. For this purpose it is intended to construct two further prototypes which will be subjected to the maximum possible amount of field testing under a wide range of drilling conditions.Six onshore drilling trials have now been completed with the Automated Guidance System (AGS). These have successfully demonstrated the basic steering capability of the System and has proven its mechanical ruggedness in a wide variety of drilling situations.After several improvements and modifications to the design the AGS was used offshore for the first time in October 1993. A fault arose but this did not have a very serious effect. The fault has now been eliminated and the System should enter commercial use in April 1994. A very wide range of interest has been shown in the AGS and its potential economic benefits and commercial potential are thought to be excellent. These relate particularly to extended-reach drilling into remote oil deposits from existing production platforms. A further important application should be in drilling high-pressure wells where reduction in casing wear resulting from improved wellbore profile will be a great benefit.Offshore oil production involves the drilling of up to 50 boreholes which radiate out to a distance of several kilometres from the production rig. After a short vertical section the boreholes are gradually curved until an inclination of about 70 degrees from the vertical is attained. The whole process requires very accurate control in order to correctly position the boreholes within the oil deposit and thereby to achieve the maximum extraction yield. Present methods involve monitoring the drilling course by means of directional sensors. The information thus obtained is transmitted to the surface as digital data by inducing pressure pulses (mud pulsing) in the circulating drilling fluid. Correction of drilling course is achieved by mechanical operations performed at the surface. The unique feature of the Automated Guidance System is that control is achieved locally and automatically. Information from a directional sensor is procesed within the System by means of an on-board computer which operates a hydraulic servo-system in order to control drilling course. The System is autonomous and eliminates the need for surface intervention. This offers a wide range of benefits including cost reductions resulting from savings of drilling time and also through enhanced oil recovery due to improved accuracy and extended reach. Programme(s) ENG-THERMIE 1 - Programme (EEC) for the promotion of energy technology in Europe (THERMIE), 1990-1994 Topic(s) 5.2 - DRILLING Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme DEM - Demonstration contracts Coordinator Cambridge Drilling Automation Ltd EU contribution No data Address St John's Innovation Centre Cowley Road CB4 4WS Cambridge United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data
