Directional Drilling & Maxial2 Horizontal Drilling
Maxial2 is a culmination of the latest directional drilling technologies, developed and customised to provide precise, high quality and cost efficient coal seam completions techniques. Maxial2 delivers ultimate surface-to-inseam directionally geo-steered production wells.
Traditional vertical completion methods for coal seam reservoirs has seen the development of various designs based on barefoot,cavity and fracturing well completions, as well as the application of horizontal directional drilling technologies. Almost all of these techniques have an application in the development of a coal seam reservoir, although the application of each is strictly dependent on coal seam properties that can only be established by a systematic approach to exploration.
Horizontal drilling along the length of a coal seam gives a far greater surface area exposure, and can be designed to optimise fracture exposure, penetrate permeability barriers and reduce overall time, risks and costs associated with traditional reservoir stimulation methods.
Maxial2 is a further development on the horizontal to vertical production well intersection methodology, and is designed to deliver maximum exposure to the coal seam reservoir with far greater geo-steering control and increased intersection rate control. In addition, geo-steering along the lateral length of a seam or reservoir allows for the precise mapping of a coal seam and its inter-bedded features which allows for enhanced modeling.
With varied designs that can be tailored to a given situation, Maxial2 technologies can be employed in CBM, CMM or UCG applications to optimise production, reduce surface infrastructure requirements and lower environmental impact.
In CBM and CMM applications well designs are customised to run either up or down dip (with production wells located accordingly) and can be tailored to include a multitude of branch and additional well designs.
Depending on conditions multiple wells in a single lateral seam or a multiple vertically layered seam can run into one common vertical production well.
In UCG applications Maxial2 has proven to be a superior design, a result of the ability to control the gasification process in a pre-determined and controlled fashion, with an increased ability to overcome traditional complications from coal seam reservoir property variances.
Traditional 'dead end' horizontal drilling methods have seen complications in both the final completion phase of drilling, as well as in the continued servicing of a well for potential blockages and associated negative effects.
With the final design employed in the Maxial2 process, the well is put through a specific flushing and completions protocol at the end of drilling, and the open loop system between two or more points allows for the successful clearance of all cuttings and foreign material from the well.
Further to well flushing protocol, the design of a well allows for ease of additional flushing at a later date if well performance deteriorates. This removes the costly re-mobilisation of work-over equipment, extraction of pumps, and re-entry of the horizontal well to clear any blockages. In many 'dead end' well designs this would not be possible and the well would be abandoned at great cost to the owner.
To facilitate the accurate and cost effective completion of a Maxial2 well, all steps in well design are customised by a team of engineers that are trained to allow for the variety of complications that can and will be inevitably experienced in coal seam reservoirs.
From the outset, engineers work closely with clients to incorporate all available data, and whether it be single or multiple well designs for field development programs, they are designed to maximise a field's potential. Each wellplan factors in all available seismic, geological and sub-surface data, as well as all surface infrastructure requirements and environmental constraints.
To optimize drilling performance, each ‘Bottom Hole Assembly’ (BHA), is designed and built to a pre-engineered specification to best suit local geological conditions.
MES utilizes the latest MWD and LWD technologies incorporating both Electro Magnetic and Mud Pulse telemetry systems. Having both systems available allows the design stage of a wells life to factor in the many varied scenarios, and consider whether either the higher speed of an EM telemetry system or greater depth capability of a mud pulse system is a preferred requirement. The current tools utilized by MES incorporate both EM and MP systems in a single tool application; this can be setup to switch as required during the drilling process.
Both high speed Electro-Magnetic and Mud pulse MWD and LWD tools, coupled with performance engineered Positive Displacement Motors (PDM’s), allow for maximised drilling outputs with minimal non-productive time.
