A NOVEL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING SYSTEM——AUTOTRAK RCLS

AutoTrak, a newly developed directional drilling and MWD tool from Baker Hughes Inteq is successfully used by CACT Operators Group in Huizhou field of South China Sea. This system is actually called AutoTrak Closed Loop Drilling System, and it is the first use in China. The composition and characteristics of this system, and its use in the two wells on platform HZ21-1 is described in detail. This system breaks the conventional slide directional drilling mode of adjustable motor and steerable system, and introduces a totally new concept of continuous rotary directional drilling. It completes the whole process of angle building, holding, dropping and horizontal drilling only in one trip, thus saves a lot of tripping time and improves ROP. At the same time, a more desirable well trajectory and clean borehole is achieved, thus reduces torque and friction, which is good for directional drilling and casing running.