Abstract

Marathon Petroleum Indonesia, Ltd. has developed oil reserves in a highly faulted, shallow field in 300 feet of water, in the Kakap Block, KF Field-Natuna Sea.

The Kakap-KF development drilling project had its own unique challenges with shallow gas, very soft formations, tectonically stressed shales, normally and subnormally pressured pay sands and long reach targets at shallow depths. The wells required shallow kick-offs, high build rates and hole angles over 70°. Several wells have a vertical section which exceeds the TVD. To meet the challenges, the extended reach drilling programme for the KF project required the application of the latest drilling technology and the development of techniques to optimize hole cleaning, directional control and data acquisition. This paper addresses these applications and the problems and solutions that were encountered. Fourteen development wells were drilled and completed under the approved budget and ahead of schedule.