Case Study: Northern Caspian Operating Company achieves record horizontal drilling ROP with SLB's AxeBlade bit and PowerDrive Xceed RSS

AxeBlade bit combined with PowerDrive Xceed RSS increases ROP to 81.7 m/h

Northern Caspian Operating Company, working in the North Caspian Sea, needed to boost rate of penetration in the horizontal section of a well after drilling through hard layers that had limited drilling performance. SLB proposed using the AxeBlade ridged diamond element bit together with the PowerDrive Xceed ruggedized rotary steerable system to improve drilling efficiency in the lateral.

SLB’s AxeBlade bit and PowerDrive Xceed RSS combination delivered the fastest lateral in the field, drilling 870 m at 81.7 m/h and completing 1,895 m in one run over 23.2 hours. The run set a record for meters drilled per day, achieved a 145% higher real ROP than planned, and showed low bit wear while outperforming prior conventional-bit runs.