Case Study: Noble Energy saves 2.9 days and boosts daily footage with SLB’s PowerDrive Orbit vorteX RSS

Noble Energy Saves 2.9 Days and Increases Average Daily Footage by 65% Drilling in the Marcellus Shale

Noble Energy worked with SLB to improve drilling performance in the Marcellus Shale, where it needed to drill long laterals of 4,000 to 10,000 ft in a difficult shale environment. The challenge was to achieve higher rates of penetration while handling abrasive downhole conditions and maintaining directional control.

SLB recommended the PowerDrive Orbit vorteX motorized rotary steerable system to drill faster for longer durations, and the system was used to optimize hydraulics and bit rotation. The result was a new footage record across four wells, with the best run drilling 4,475 ft in 24 hours, increasing average daily footage by 65%, saving Noble Energy 2.9 days of drilling time, and reducing cost by 11%.

Noble Energy