Drilling and completion problems are at the forefront of oil companies' research and development (R&D) needs. The dilemma is how to fund the work.

The folks at Westport Technology Center International in Houston recently polled 2,000 people in the industry about R&D needs and information transfer. Most responded they rely on technical conferences, forums, workshops, service companies and trade journals for information and technology transfer.
The survey results showed most people seem to do their homework first by using technical articles and the Internet, then count on the service companies for implementation. All believe joint industry groups or industry, service company and research lab co-ops will carry out future R&D. Drilling and completion research items drew the highest rankings and most responses.
What's most needed
Key topics of interest were:
predrill information needs;
real-time pore pressure predictions ahead of the bit;
ultra-deepwater drilling equipment and procedures;
better rigsite measurements of real downhole conditions to predict and control problems;
drilling through salt and salt-adjacent rubble zone hazards;
a drilling simulator to plan wells, employ the best technology and shorten the learning curve for training personnel; and
better deepwater riser designs and instrumentation.
What's worked so far
Respondents reported some significant factors that have dramatically improved drilling performance were the new drilling fluids, better drilling equipment, frac gradient prediction in deepwater drilling, the improved worldwide information exchange of best drilling practices, logging-while-drilling and measurement-while-drilling performance and improvements in underbalanced drilling.
What's needed on the completion side
A summary of research needs by production engineers included:
deepwater well intervention;
workovers in horizontal wells and recompletion schemes;
heavy oil cleanup techniques and completions;
cost and risk reduction for gravel-pack completions;
better screening tests for drilling and drill-in fluids for formation damage control;
filter cake removal in prepack well-screen completed wells;
inexpensive drill fluid additives and drill fluids to reduce formation damage;
methods to predict well performance from multilateral wells; and
methods to evaluate the effectiveness of novel drilling and completion procedures.
Funding R&D
R&D has shifted to the service companies, and more support will go to universities in the future. For example, Schlumberger supports about 40 universities around the world. Creative funding is required for independents for university-led consortia. There also is a need to lower the cost of joint industry projects for the smaller operators. Universities should collaborate among several departments and with other schools to bring the right technical talent to bear on a problem. The universities must develop a better understanding of the industry's budgeting cycles to secure money for joint industry projects.
Sources of information
Transferring technology is at the heart of Hart's E&P. We are the vehicle for the industry to report the latest breakthroughs. This year and beyond, we will touch on many of the topics listed above. If there is something you would like to see, please E-mail or call, and we'll help find the answers.
We receive a tremendous amount of information every day. By necessity, it is filtered. The editors select the items we feel will solve your problems. With a limited number of pages every month, the most actionable information gets presented. If there is a topic we are not addressing, we need to hear about it from you.

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