Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Drilling and Well Engineering
Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) Program
Format and Duration:
5 days
Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) presents unique engineering and operational challenges that require specialized planning and execution. This course delivers an advanced understanding of high angle well construction, hole cleaning, well monitoring, and directional drilling techniques, ensuring safe and efficient drilling of extended reach and complex wells.
This is an operationally focused course that goes beyond the basics of ERD well planning. Participants will gain a deep understanding of risk factors, operational hazards, and best practices to ensure successful well delivery while minimizing wellbore instability, nonproductive time (NPT), and well cost escalation.The curriculum follows the latest research and addresses the highest risk areas associated with high angle and complex well drilling operations. The course also critically evaluates how proposed tools and techniques may impact project risk, ensuring informed decision making for complex wells. Participants will gain practical knowledge that can be directly applied to ongoing drilling operations or future well planning. This training has been proven to deliver dramatic improvements in drilling performance, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiency. All topics are placed in their operational context, ensuring that each subject is interrelated with the overall ERD drilling process.
This course can be delivered at an Foundation or Skilled level, depending on the audience, including rig crews, drilling engineers, and management teams. The agenda can be tailored to project specific details, integrating client well data into each module. The training can be delivered in a mixed classroom and simulator setting, using a DS5000 type simulator to simulate major ERD operations. Training will be delivered by globally recognized ERD experts with extensive experience working for the largest ERD consulting firms.
This course is delivered in partnership with Black Reiver Consulting Ltd.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a classroom course comprising a mixture of lectures, discussion, case studies, and practical exercises.
- Instructor led interactive sessions featuring real-world case studies and simulations.
- Step by step guidance on wellbore stability, drilling challenges, and risk mitigation strategies.
- Industry best practices shared through classroom discussions and operational modelling exercises.
- Simulated ERD operations using a DS5000 simulator to reinforce key concepts.
- Extensive Q&A and open discussion sessions to explore real-world ERD challenges.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn how to:
- Understand and mitigate risks associated with high angle drilling and hole cleaning.
- Analyse torque and drag issues to extend lateral lengths and improve well performance.
- Design and optimize Bottom Hole Assemblies (BHA) for ERD wells, ensuring minimal tortuosity.
- Improve surveying accuracy and reduce positional uncertainty in ERD well placement.
- Develop ERD specific operational procedures, including tripping, back-reaming, and best practices for managing NPT.
- Apply geomechanical principles to manage wellbore strength, ECD, and pressure related challenges in ERD wells.
- Optimize shock & vibration control strategies to enhance tool performance and wellbore stability.
- Apply advanced ERD techniques to push rig capabilities beyond conventional limits.
Course Content
1. High Angle Drilling & Hole Cleaning Challenges
- Understanding High Angle Drilling Risks
- Why increasing hole angle creates significant challenges and NPT.
- How to identify, mitigate, and optimize hole cleaning practices.
2. Torque & Drag (T&D) in ERD Wells
- Origins of T&D and its impact on horizontal lateral lengths.
- Strategies to extend drilling radius from any rig.
- Delivering World Class ERD Wells with Limited Rig Capabilities
- Adapting ERD techniques to work within rig limitations.
3. ERD Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) & Well Profile Design
- BHA Design for ERD & Complex Wells
- How low angle BHA design must change as inclination increases.
- Critical ERD BHA issues and how to overcome them.
- Understanding BHA Tendency & Well Profile Impact
- How BHA tendency (build, drop, hold) affects well trajectory and tortuosity.
- Designing laterals for low tortuosity while maintaining steering control.
- Push vs. Point RSS or Motor – Selecting the right approach for the project.
4. Surveying & Wellbore Positioning for ERD Wells
- Key Technologies for Wellbore Surveying
- MWD, Gyro, and multi-station survey techniques.
- Common Errors in ERD Well Positioning & Their Impact
- Operational mistakes that lead to incorrect well placement.
- Improving Surveying Accuracy & Quality Control (QA/QC)
- Advanced survey processing techniques to enhance accuracy.
- Understanding Positional Uncertainty & Anti-collision Strategies
- How uncertainty impacts ERD target sizing and well spacing.
5. ERD Operational Best Practices & Risk Mitigation
- Operational Practices for Surveying & Well Position Control
- Connection procedures, tripping, back-reaming, and compliance with ERD protocols.
- Developing rig specific ERD procedures for best results.
6. Shock & Vibration in ERD Wells
- Origins, impact, and control strategies to minimize NPT and tool failures.
- Monitoring and measurement systems for S&V.
7. Geomechanics for ERD & Wellbore Strength Considerations
- Basics of in situ and induced stresses.
- Measuring or calculating the stresses.
- Implication of out of balance compressive stress around the wellbore.
- Managing wellbore stability.
- Managing ECD, swab & surge pressures, wellbore losses, and stress limits.
- Implementing UBD (Underbalanced Drilling) & MPD (Managed Pressure Drilling) techniques to mitigate risks.
- Wellbore strengthening and alternatives to MPD.
8. ERD Project Implementation & RealTime Optimization
- Integrating ERD Techniques into Project Planning
- How to place wells in global, regional, company, field, and rig contexts.
- Ensuring the appropriate level of resources and expertise is allocated.
- Monitoring & Compliance in ERD Operations
- Best practices for Realtime monitoring and operational compliance.
- Developing Project Specific ERD Procedures
- How to create custom ERD workflows that optimize drilling efficiency.
- Case Study & Final Simulation Exercise.
- Full project scenario simulation using DS5000.
This course provides a deep, practical understanding of Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) operations. Participants will gain the knowledge and skills needed to plan, execute, and optimize ERD wells while reducing risk, improving performance, and increasing wellbore efficiency. This training can be tailored to fit specific client projects, well conditions, and operational challenges.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is ideal for:
- Drilling Engineers, Wellsite Supervisors, Tool Pushers, Rig Managers, and Field Support Personnel involved in ERD or complex well projects.
- Geoscientists & Reservoir Engineers optimizing long geo-steered laterals and directional well placements.
- Operations Teams looking to enhance hole cleaning, torque & drag management, and wellbore stability in high angle drilling.
- Anyone focused on improving drilling performance and reducing costs—even on conventional, low step-out wells.
Instructors
Kevin Gray
Kevin can offer the experience of over 5000 days of operational experience and operations support positions from an oilfield career of over 31 years as well as working as lead trainer for a multi award winning ERD engineering team based in Perth Scotland. Kevin has been consistently the highest rated drilling training instructor in a major multinational training company over the last four years and throughout his offshore career was repeatedly graded in top 5% within both offshore and onshore positions for the largest oilfield service company.
Kevin has designed and overseen the delivery of multi week training programs for offshore drilling, well intervention and fluid supervisors for a number of clients. This has included competency assessment and skills gap analysis throughout the programs. Kevin is also able to draw on his well documented teaching skills to deliver courses or programs in directional drilling and surveying, stuck pipe, extended reach drilling and various other drilling related subject areas. He wrote the first Operation support centre SOP for directional drilling which was later adopted globally. In addition, he has designed and delivered various 'Real Time Centre' training courses including human dynamics training. In his former role as directional drilling coordinator, based in Aberdeen he still holds a number of world records for drilling achievements with motor and RSS tools.
In his earlier career he led an offshore team that developed the first multi axis drill vibration measurement tool to report measurements in real time, and subsequently wrote the core documentation on vibration control for D&M. Later he was responsible for the introduction and field testing of Powerdrive RSS tools and had considerable input into their re-design as the X5 variant. Kevin has led many teams into both new fields and mature field redevelopment. Outside the industry he enjoys skiing and exploring, taking these two activities to the extreme in 2015 when he skied to the South Pole dragging a sledge behind him.
Courses Taught
- N687: Advanced Directional Drilling and Advance Surveying Techniques
- N688: Drillstring Design
- N689: Drilling Fluids
- N690: Stuck Pipe, Design and Operational Practices for Avoidance
- N691: Well Integrity Management & Barrier Verification
- N692: Well Cost Control & Forecasting
- N693: Casing Design & Well Integrity Engineering
- N694: Basic Drilling Technology
- N695: Introduction to Drilling, Completion, and Workover Operations
- N696: Drilling Rig Selection & Inspection for Performance Optimization
- N697: Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) Program
- N698: HPHT Well Engineering
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 3.5 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 35 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.