University of Baghdad

College of Engineering
Department of petroleum

Directional drilling

By

Ahmed Abdulameer Abdulwahid

Supervisor

Dr. Farqad Ali

 Outlines

Introduction and importance of directional

drilling
Directional drilling
Applications of Directional Drilling
Requirements for directional well drilling
Planning of directional well
Summary

Introduction and importance of directional drilling

1
 Directional drilling has become a very important tool in the development of
oil and gas deposits. Current expenditures for hydrocarbon production have
dictated the necessity of controlled directional drilling to a much larger extent
than previously.
Probably the most important aspect of controlled directional drilling is that it
enables producers all over the world to develop subsurface deposits that could
never be reached economically in any other manner.
Oil is generated and accumulates inside the ground and inside complex places.
Sometimes it is difficult to extract it by vertical drilling only. We resort to
directional drilling, which is the change of path under a surface to form geometric
shapes to reach the target or reservoir. Sometimes we need directional drilling to
overcome problems that we are exposed to under the surface of the earth such as
faults and salt domes and others.
The production of oil in the horizontal and directed wells is better than the
main wells, where oil and gas that exist in rocks with porous and high
permeability located under layers that isolate the reservoir from above them, and
oil usually floats in a horizontal layer between water and gas and the width of the
oil layer is usually greater than its height and for this the wells Vertically dug
touches the oil for several feet only. Horizontal drilling can increase the reservoir
in place by 0.2% of the original oil in place.

Directional drilling

2
 It is the deviation of the wellbore of the well and with the involve of
art and science to reach a specific target under the surface of the earth on
a path previously planned, located at a certain lateral distance i.e. it is
not directly under the rig floor but rather inclined by a distance.
Directional drilling mainly involves drilling a well from point to
point that does not fall under it, meaning that it is from under the rig
floor to the target. Which consists of drilling a vertical hole section
beneath the rig floor to a certain preselected kick-off depth (KOD) and
then intentionally deviating the wellbore along a preselected trajectory to
reach the geological target zone.

We notice that at first, the well was

drilled vertically and then deviated with
a point called kick-off depth (KOP), to
proceed to a planned path.

We also notice that

the target is located at
a side distance from
the Rig floor and is
the location of the
reservoir or the
hydrocarbon
accumulation

3
Applications of Directional Drilling
Directional well drilling has many applications, the most common of
which are as follow;
1. Sidetracking
During the well drilling process,
sometimes there are unexpected obstructions
(fish) or changes in geology , so we resort to
sidetracks technique to cross these
obstructions, which is a very common type,
because you need to deviate from your path in
vertical or horizontal drilling if you encounter
an obstruction.

2. Inaccessible Locations
There are targets (reservoir or accumulation
of hydrocarbons) located under cities,
mountains or rivers. Or sometimes to protect
the environment. requires a remote rig
location and directional drilling in order to
reach the pay zones.

3. bypass potential problem zones

This application is one of the very
important directional drilling applications,
because it bypasses geological problems such as
salt domes or faults. Salt domes have been found
to be natural traps of hydrocarbons accumulating
beneath the overhanging hard cap. A directional
well is used to reach the trapped reservoir to
prevent the problems associated with drilling a
well through the salt formation.

4
 4. Drilling multiple wells from a single wellbore
Multiple exploration wells from a
single wellbore use a single hole to drill
multiple new wells by deviating away
from the original well at a certain depth. It
allows the exploration of structural
locations without drilling another complete
well. It is expected that a future trend will
be for whole offshore or onshore fields to
be developed from a single site through the
technology advancements made in the
drilling of horizontal and multilateral
wells.

5. Drilling relief wells to control blowing wells

Often, in uncontrolled blowouts,
when conventional methods of putting out
well fires fail, the last resort is to offset and
directionally drill a relief well that will
hydraulically communicate with the
producing formation. relief well is drilled
to intersect an oil or gas well that has
experienced a blowout. Specialized liquid,
such as heavy (dense) drilling mud
followed by cement, can then be pumped
down the relief well in order to stop the
flow from the reservoir in the damaged
well.

5
 6. Horizontal drilling
horizontal drilling is another special applications of directional
drilling and is used to increase the productivity of various formations,
Horizontal drilling also has important applications and special cases.

a) There are large quantities of production that come from fractures. Vertical
drilling facing a fracture will cause a loss in production and horizontal drilling is
greater chance of encountering a prolific fracture system.
b) Horizontal drilling is used to produce
thin oil zones with water or gas coning
problems the horizontal well is optimally
placed in the oil leg of the reservoir. The
oil can then be produced at high rates
with much less pressure drawdown
because of the amount of formation
exposed to wellbore.
c) horizontal wells are used to increase
productivity from law permeability
reservoirs by increasing the amount of
formation exposed to the wellbore.

7. Drilling from an offset

location to achieve
minimum-cost drilling
Offsetting a well to take advantage of natural bit walk in a dipped formation,
rather than continuously correcting for hole deviation, can be a cost-saving
approach using directional drilling.

6
Requirements for directional well drilling
To be successful directional drilling, you must have unique requirements and
special equipment, the most important of which are:
 Use of downhole steerable systems and measuring-while-drilling (MWD) tools.
 Deflection tools.
a) Whipstock
b) Jet Bit
c) Downhole Hydraulic Motor
d) Bending extensions (Bent Sub, Orienting Sub and Housing Sub)
 Engineering calculations of directional plans for the preselected wellbore
trajectory.
 Use of articulated drill pipe in short-radius drilling.
 More centralization of casing string.
 Directional Surveying Instruments.
 Use of higher hydraulics for effective annular hole cleaning.

Planning of directional well

The first step in planning in directional well is to design the wellbore path, or
trajectory, to intersect a given target. the initial design should propose the various
types of paths that can be drilled economically the second or refined, plan should

7
include the effects of geology on the bottomhole assemblies (BHAs) that will be
used and other factors that could influence the final wellbore trajectory.
Planning in directional drilling is an economically important factor. This begins
with choosing the type of planning (profiles):
I. Build and hold
II. Build, hold, and drop (S shape)
III. Continuous build
IV. Horizontal Directional well

8
One of the simplest forms of This type is similar to the first In this type of well we drill
directional drilling where it type, the drilling begins vertically to the KOP (here
begins with vertical drilling vertically and then deviates the KOP is sometimes
down to (KOP) and then from the (KOP) point at a deep) and then the path
deviating from its path in certain angle and direction deviates at an angle of up
order to maintain its deviation and then the well angle is to 90 degrees and thus the
to achieve the largest angle up close or vertically to the path is horizontal and up to
to the target point and the target i.e. it will be the path the target.
angle should be (150-550). of the well in the form of (S).

9
Build and hold is usually used when there is a large horizontal displacement and when drilling shallow wells with
single production areas, the second type (build ,hold and drop) Usually this method is employed to hit multiple
targets or to avoid faulted region or to minimize the inclination in the zone which will be fractured during
completion or for sidetracking, Horizontal drilling is used to produce thin oil zones with water or gas coning
problems, used to increase productivity from low permeability reservoirs by increasing the amount of formation
exposed to the wellbore, and used to maximize production from reservoirs which are not being efficiently drained by
vertical wells. Currently Horizontal drilling is used in “Unconventional” Shale plays that are “Fracked” in order to
produce hydrocarbons, either oil or gas.

Once the profile type has been selected, detailed calculations are made to define the desired
trajectory of the well to be drilled. Design of the directional plans involves the utilization of
mathematical equations that require the following information;

TVD and horizontal departure (HD) to target

TVD It is the vertical height between the target and the drilling rig, HD The horizontal
dimension between the target and the drilling rig.
KOD or KOP (kick-off point)
The KOD is a point below the surface at which the incremental building of the hole angle of
inclination begins.

10
Turn-off depth (TOD)
The TOD is a point below the surface at which
the direction of the hole is changed. For example, a
target located N200E, N200W, S200E, S200W.
Means the hole direction is 20° in the first, second,
third, or fourth quadrant, respectively. Direction
can be described by an azimuth angle that is
measured clockwise from north.

Build rate angle (BRA)

The BRA is an incremental increase of the hole inclination angle, as measured from vertical.
This rate is specified in degrees per 100 feet of hole section. The range of BRAs can be
subdivided into three categories ( long-radius drilling, medium-radius drilling, short-radius
drilling).
Drop rate angle (DRA)
The drop rate angle is an incremental decrease of hole inclination.
Lead angle (LA)
Because of drill string clockwise rotation, some drill bits, for example, have the tendency to
walk to the right in the horizontal plane; others may walk to the left. To account for this natural
bit walk, it is common practice to initiate the turn of the well path with a specified LA to the left
or the right of the target area, depending on whether the bit walks to the right or left,
respectively. The magnitude of the angle is generally based on experience documented in past
records of wells drilled in the area.

11
Build-and-hold pattern
To Calculates the vertical depth
(TVD = KOD + Rb sinθb + Ltcosθb)

Calculates the horizontal distance

(HD = Rb (1 – cosθb) + Ltsinθb)

To calculates the path

θb
(TMD= KOD+ +L)
BRA t

Build, hold, and drop

TVD = KOD + Rbsinθb + Lt cosθb + Rd (sinθd –
sinθb)
HD = Rb (1 – cosθb) + Lt Sinθb + Rd (cosθb – cosθd)
θb (θd−θb)
TMD=KOD+ + Lt +
BRA BRA

Continuous build

TVD = Rbsinθb + KOD

12
HD = Rb (1 – cosθb)
θb
TMD= KOD+ BRA

The calculations that will define the well path in the

horizontal plane can be performed by using the
following equations:

and the incremental true vertical depth can be determined from

where: (NS)i is the incremental distance measured along the north-south direction.
(EW)i is the incremental distance measured along the east-west direction
Δd is an assumed incremental distance of hole section generally equal to 100 ft
θi–1, αi–1 are the respective inclination and azimuth angles at point (i – 1)
θi, αi are the respective inclination and azimuth angles at point (i)
The total distances can be found by summing the total number if increments, n—that is

Summary

13
 We knew what directional drilling is, what its significance and applications
are, what are the requirements for its implementation and plans for its
implementation.

It is a deviation in drilling inside the ground as drilling begins vertically and

then deviates from its path to target for this trait, Many benefits are summarized
in its applications, which are to overcome obstacles and problems within the
ground that we may be exposed to during drilling Or, when we want to drill under
a city or a mountain or to preserve the environment, we establish a drilling
platform outside the city and apply directional drilling, as well as multiple
exploration wells or relief wells.
There are special requirements for directional drilling that differ from vertical
drilling, which is the development of appropriate planning and defilation tools
and the creation of a plan according to the approved profile for implementation
and the calculates of each profile differ.

References
1- Drilling engineering, J.J. Azar, G. Robello Samuel.

2- Directional drilling, T.A. Inglis,, Graham and Trotman.

14
3- Applied drilling engineering , Adam T.Bourgoyne Jr, Keith

K.Millheim, Martin E.chenvert, F.S young Jr.

4- Directional Drilling Training Manual, Mike Smith.

5- Wikipedia.

15