Drilling techniques for unconventional reservoirs in Canada——shallow SAGD drilling techniques

There are lots of challenges in drilling inclined SAGD wells in shallow zone, such as casing alignment, well bore cleaness, cementing quality, well trajectory control etc. This paper covers well profile design, well trajectory survey and control, cementing technology and batch drilling in Macky River. EM MWD sensor and mud pulse MWD sensor and different LWD devices are used to lower the error between well trajectory measurement and control system. The slurry formula and cementing measures for thermal recovery wells have been improved, which ensures the 100% conformity of cementing quality. Application of the series of research results has made great contribution to the reduction of SAGD drilling cost and fast development of the heavy oil sand.