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24-Pet-A4 Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Completion · May 2016

Question 5 of 5: Directional Trajectory Correction

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

Notes on this paper

Reference texts: Bourgoyne, A.T. Jr., Millheim, K.K., Chenevert, M.E. & Young, F.S., Applied Drilling Engineering, SPE Textbook Series (hoisting-system design, bit economics, well control, drill-string design, directional drilling); Rabia, H., Well Engineering & Construction (drill-string tension design, casing/tubular wear classification); Alberta Energy Regulator, Directive 010: Minimum Casing Design Requirements (Canadian regulatory context for tubular design margins).

Question 5: Directional Trajectory Correction (25 marks)

Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.

Given.

ItemValue
Initial direction / inclinationS10W / $I_1=10\,{}^{\circ}$
Final direction / inclinationS20E / $I_2=12\,{}^{\circ}$
Course length, $\Delta MD$75 ft
Casing DLS limit$10\,{}^{\circ}/100$ ft

Find. (a) The dogleg severity and whether it is within the casing program's limit; (b) the toolface angle and BHA orientation relative to high side.

High side (0°) Right (90°) Low side (180°) Left (270°) bend sub Toolface = 274.1° (from high side, clockwise) ≈ left, slightly toward high side
Fig. 4 — Toolface angle is measured clockwise from the wellbore's high side, looking in the direction of travel.

Approach. Convert both quadrant bearings to azimuths, get the total dogleg angle from the spherical law of cosines for inclination/azimuth, convert to DLS and compare to the casing limit, then resolve the toolface angle from the component of the new wellbore direction that is perpendicular to the old one.

  1. Azimuths. S10W $=180+10=\boxed{190\,{}^{\circ}}$; S20E $=180-20=\boxed{160\,{}^{\circ}}$; $\Delta Az=160-190=-30\,{}^{\circ}$.
  2. Total dogleg angle. $$\cos\beta=\cos I_1\cos I_2+\sin I_1\sin I_2\cos(\Delta Az)$$ $$\cos\beta=\cos10\,{}^{\circ}\cos12\,{}^{\circ}+\sin10\,{}^{\circ}\sin12\,{}^{\circ}\cos(-30\,{}^{\circ})=0.9946$$ so $\boxed{\beta=5.98\,{}^{\circ}}$.
  3. (a) Dogleg severity. $DLS=\dfrac{\beta}{\Delta MD}\times100=\dfrac{5.98}{75}\times100$, so $\boxed{DLS=7.98\,{}^{\circ}/100\ \text{ft}}$. Since $7.98<10\,{}^{\circ}/100$ ft, $\boxed{\text{yes, casing can be run through this well}}$ after the correction.
  4. (b) Toolface angle. Resolving the new wellbore direction into components along the old high side ($h$) and the old right-side ($r$) directions: $$c_h=\sin I_2\cos I_1\cos(\Delta Az)-\cos I_2\sin I_1=0.0076,\qquad c_r=\sin I_2\sin(\Delta Az)=-0.1040$$ $$TF=\operatorname{atan2}(c_r,c_h)$$ so $\boxed{TF=274.1\,{}^{\circ}}$, measured clockwise from high side.
  5. Orientation. $274.1\,{}^{\circ}$ sits just short of $270\,{}^{\circ}$ (due left), so the bend sub/mud-motor toolface should be set essentially to the LEFT of high side, with a small bias back toward high side — consistent with the required correction turning the azimuth counter-clockwise (S10W $\to$ S20E) while also building inclination.
Check: toolface convention used is the standard oilfield definition — angle measured clockwise from the high side of the wellbore, looking in the direction of travel; a different regional convention (e.g. measured from magnetic north on a surface gyro toolface) would require a separate conversion not requested here.
QuantityValue
Initial / final azimuth190 ° / 160 °
Total dogleg angle, $\beta$5.98 °
Dogleg severity, $DLS$7.98 °/100 ft
Casing runnable?Yes (7.98 < 10 °/100 ft)
Toolface angle274.1 ° from high side (clockwise)
BHA orientationLeft side, slightly toward high side
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