Case Study: W&T Offshore achieves safer drilling in a narrow pressure window with SLB's Automated Managed Pressure Drilling system

Operator Avoids Hazards While Drilling Narrow Pressure Window in Gulf of Mexico

W&T Offshore, Inc. worked with SLB on a challenging re-entry drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico, where the company had to drill through a very narrow pressure window with only 1.2 ppg between pore pressure and fracture gradient. The well required careful control to avoid lost circulation, ballooning, breakout from cyclic pressure changes, and swabbing while tripping out of the hole, so W&T Offshore used SLB’s Automated Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) services.

SLB implemented the @balance Services dynamic annular pressure control system, a Coriolis flow meter, and the HOLD rotating control device to maintain near-constant bottomhole pressure and support early kick detection. The approach reduced rig time by enabling offline rig-up and testing, kept bottomhole pressure within about +/- 0.25 ppg during drilling and within +/- 0.1 ppg while tripping out, and helped control influx/loss cycles caused by ballooning.

W&T Offshore, Inc.

Lonnie Reynolds

Sr. Drilling Engineer