PowerDrive vorteX Rotary Steerable System Delivers Fast Drilling With Reduced Risk in Hard-Rock Environments
HOUSTON - Schlumberger Oilfield Services today announced the launch of its PowerDrive vorteX* rotary steerable system (RSS) at the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) in Dallas, Texas. The system is the newest addition to the Schlumberger PowerDrive* family of rotary steerable tools.
Unique attributes of this system design include a fully integrated high-torque power section that converts mud hydraulic power to additional mechanical power. Benefits of the new full-rotation system are fast drilling and a reduction in nonproductive rig time.
"The power of the rig surface equipment combined with the downhole high-torque power section of the PowerDrive vorteX system provides a significant increase in available torque, rotation speed, and downhole power at the bit," said Paul Wand, business development manager, Schlumberger Drilling Technologies. "All available energy is used to drill the hole efficiently and maximize the rate of penetration (ROP). The increased revolutions per minute translate to faster drilling for higher ROP, more efficient drilling, and longer runs in the toughest environments, such as offshore."
The PowerDrive vorteX system includes an optional inclination hold function, which allows a tangent or horizontal section to be drilled automatically, without intervention from the directional driller. This automatic downhole control makes it possible to drill a hole section at a higher rate of penetration and with greater accuracy than can be achieved with a conventional surface-operated control setup. The system can be stabilized at any of four locations along its length, and allows the system to be tailored to suit all directional drilling needs.
In addition to performance drilling in hard-rock formations, the PowerDrive vorteX system is suitable for rigs that lack the power to rotate the drillstring during conventional directional drilling.
The PowerDrive vorteX system takes advantage of the unique full-rotation capability inherent in the PowerDrive product family that offer a number of benefits, the most important being high rates of penetration and good hole cleaning. The PowerDrive vorteX integrated power section increases bit RPM and allows reduced drillstring rotation speed, preventing damaging downhole vibrations and lowering the risk of drillstring fatigue and excess casing wear in hole sections with high doglegs.
The Schlumberger suite of full-rotation rotary steerable services -- the PowerDrive family -- delivers leading-edge technology for all directional drilling environments. They offer exceptional ROP and efficient hole cleaning in the most demanding applications--kickoff from vertical, openhole sidetracks, tangent sections, slimhole extended-reach drilling, long lateral sections, and drilling under harsh conditions at elevated temperatures.
Please visit www.oilfield.slb.com/powerdrivevortex for additional information.
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About Schlumberger
Schlumberger is the world's leading oilfield services company supplying technology, project management and information solutions that optimize performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry. The company employs more than 50,000 people of over 140 nationalities working in 100 countries, and comprises two primary business segments. Schlumberger Oilfield Services supplies a wide range of products and services from formation evaluation through directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, well completions and productivity to consulting, software, information management and IT infrastructure services that support core industry operational processes. WesternGeco, jointly owned with BakerHughes, is the world's largest seismic company and provides advanced acquisition and data processing services. In 2003, Schlumberger operating revenue was $11.5 billion. For more information, visit slb.com.
For further information, contact:
Silinsky
External Communications Manager
Schlumberger Oilfield Services
Tel: 1 281 285 4270
silinsky@slb.com
© Press Release 2006
