Drilling for Coalbed Methane in the San Juan Basin With Coiled Tubing

In 2006, a coiled-tubing-drilling (CTD) pilot program was initiated in the San Juan basin consisting of seven wells, drilled in order of increasing complexity. The intention was to evaluate the capabilities of CTD and its potential for use in the San Juan basin. The rig used was a new, custom-built, coiled-tubing (CT)/rotary hybrid rig with a single-sized derrick, rotary table, and topdrive. This allowed the rig to drill with jointed pipe, handle and make up bottomhole assemblies (BHAs), and run liners and casing.

View a Synopsis of SPE 105874 published in JPT.

This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper SPE 105874, “Drilling for Coalbed Methane in the San Juan Basin With Coiled Tubing: Results, Learnings, and a World First,” by Sam Noynaert, SPE, and Dale Pumphrey, BP plc; and Tony Pink, SPE, Schlumberger; and Tug Eiden, Fred Hartensteiner, SPE, and Chip Nelson, SPE, BP plc, prepared for the 2007 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, 20–22 February.

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