Abstract: Coiled Tubing Drilling: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

HIGHTOWER, CHARLES, Mauer Engineering, Inc., Lafayette, LA

Coiled tubing drilling (CTD) is a relatively new technique, having been practiced by the oil/gas industry only since 1991. Results of CTD as a drilling/sidetrack technique have been mixed, ranging from extremely profitable operations to expensive failures. This presentation takes a look at the progress of CTD through the involvement of Arco, one of the leaders in CTD. The technology has not caught on within the oil industry universally, however. The total number of CTD wells drilled to date is in the neighborhood of 1200 over a nine-year period, and CTD has been applied quite successfully in selected geographic areas, chief of which is Alaska's North Slope. The advantages of CTD will be reviewed during this presentation, as will the reasons that it isn’t in widespread use. The presentation also covers recent developments in CTD and anticipated applied technology that may finally bring this unique method of drilling to the forefront.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90911©2000 AAPG Pacific Section and Western Region Society of Petroleum Engineers, Long Beach, California