Numerous Technological Improvements Slash Drilling Times in the Horn River Basin

Drilling Performance has improved multifold in the Horn River Basin since the start of activity about four years ago. In its early days a typical well would take about 40 days to drill from spud to cementing the production casing. A range of improvements have happened over the course of last four years which have reduced the drilling time by a factor of 3 despite the wells getting more complex.

A number of different technologies have been applied in order to bring these improvements. Some of the examples are pad rig moving system, bigger drill pipe, rotary steerables, managed pressure drilling, high temperature motor elastomers along with time tested project management practices of performance monitoring and improvement by comparison with yardsticks established to challenge the status quo.

One such measure of performance is meters per day average achieved from spud to rig release. Some of the recent wells which were drilled to around 5000m accomplished 438 m/day which is an industry record in the Horn River Basin. This was not just a onetime feat. The same performance was repeated on the next two wells.

Drilling for Gas in Western Canada is challenged by the price of gas in the current economic environment. Cost cutting by performance improvement provides the means of meeting the challenges posed by this environment. In comparison to the early wells the recent performance offers a cost reduction of 40Million dollars over the course of a 20 well pad, which is significant in determining the net present value of the asset.