Extended Reach Drilling Services

HXR provides specialized, highly detailed Extended Reach Drilling engineering design, rigsite engineering services, and operational training classes to clients worldwide. Using ERDPro®, one of the most advanced modular drilling engineering software suites on the market today and developed specifically to address the needs of our clients who demand expert rigsite analysis of real-time drilling parameters as well as highly accurate engineering models, HXR can help you plan even your most difficult drilling and completions projects. Our Drilling Engineers and Drilling Specialists have global experience in horizontal drilling, extended reach drilling and deepwater drilling, from the North Slope of Alaska to the GOM, the North Sea, West Africa and the Middle East, and they are available for in-house assignments working as part of your office-based design and engineering team or as rigsite drilling engineers who assist the rig team on more difficult and higher-visibility projects. HXR also offers project management and drilling supervision, with trained, experienced Drill Site Managers (DSMs) dedicated to your project’s success. Whatever your project size, and wherever it is located, HXR’s Extended Reach Drilling Services team can help solve the problems you are experiencing on your wells, worldwide.

Some of the areas that HXR specializes in:

Extended Reach Drilling Services

Deepwater Drilling Services

The core of HXR’s Extended Reach Drilling Services division is our on-site Drilling Specialists. Trained in extended reach drilling techniques and offshore drilling operations, and with a focus in several specialized technical disciplines — directional drilling and drilling fluids — our Drilling Specialists go out to your rig site and model upcoming trends in hydraulics, torque, drag, surge/swab, pore pressure, and other parameters. If any of the drilling parameters begin to diverge from established trends, such as higher P/U and S/O weights or higher ECD than expected, then our Drilling Specialists can help with ways to bring your well back on track before it goes off the rails.

Engineering Software

HXR has partnered with Pegasus Vertex, Inc., to jointly develop one of the industry’s most advanced modular drilling engineering software suites available, ERDPro®, and with Dr. Martin Traugott, acclaimed GOM pore pressure specialist, to develop DEEPWATERPro® Pore Pressure Prediction software. ERDPro® is tailored to horizontal and extended reach wells, both on- and offshore, and features not only well planning and design capability, but field-measured data input as well. DEEPWATERPro® is specially designed for extended reach drilling wells offshore, taking into account multiple seismic/sonic stacks along the 3-D wellpath, and adjusting for water depth and formation temperature in a high-angle hole. Used together, HXR’s complete engineering suites cut downtime, increase safety, and provide optimization to any drilling project.

Well Design

In addition to rig- and office-based engineering personnel, HXR also offers Well Design Studies (WDS). These studies are completed by HXR’s staff engineers and can be done for just one well or for an entire development program. Given the target and surface location, rig information and planned wellpath, HXR can do a complete workup on the well(s) for expected T&D, hydraulics and swab/surge for every hole section, as well as casing-point design using DEEPWATERPro® as applicable. Any potential problems, such as ECD exceeding fracture gradient or DP torque limitations, can be identified, and the well can be replanned or special equipment needs can be identified.

HXR also offers formalized training for our clients in the fields of directional and horizontal drilling, extended reach drilling, deepwater drilling and Arctic drilling. These pre-spud engineering meetings utilize the Well Design Study (WDS) that was developed specifically for the upcoming drilling project and detail, by section, what we can expect when we drill it, from a T&D, hydraulics, hole stability and directional drilling standpoint. They showcase extended reach drilling techniques that have been developed around the world for more complex wells, as well as give a forum for all team members to air concerns and discuss, in detail, any issues they feel will impact the project.

Project Management and Wellsite Consulting Services

HXR Drilling Services provides full drilling and completions project management as well as more conventional wellsite consulting services. Our Project Management team is tailored to small/mid-sized operators and production companies who are looking to expand their drilling operations and need a cohesive engineering and supervisory staff to handle their projects — from AFE workup, to engineering/planning and vendor/equipment specification, to on-site supervision. Our Drilling and Completions Engineers can work in-house as part of a client’s overall engineering staff, and they provide support and guidance to our Drilling Consultants and Superintendents working on the client’s projects. Our staff can also supervise individual projects on a time and materials basis from our field offices, working within the client’s existing management structure. In addition, our team strongly emphasizes safety as part of our culture; all of the founding partners in HXR came from the field, were out there in all conditions, and understand the importance of safety in all that we do — we will firmly implement our clients’ safety programs on any operations for which we provide personnel. What sets our personnel above our competitors is that ALL of our people are trained in extended reach drilling techniques, utilizing best practices to ensure that downtime is minimized, best practices are utilized and the right downhole tools are spec’d.

HXR Drilling Superintendents and Supervisors have years of experience running day-to-day rig operations as well as overseeing multi-rig drilling programs, both on- and offshore. HXR does not take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. We can provide a Drilling Superintendent or Drilling Supervisor who matches your needs, taking into consideration rig type, well type or location. All of our consultants are well-control certified and required to attend ongoing training and specialized courses from accredited training schools. By staying current on industry changes, our consultants are poised to increase value to our clients, optimize operations and decrease downtime on the wells they supervise.

HXR is particularly well positioned to supervise operations in unconventional resource plays in the United States and Canada. Our Drilling Supervisors and Superintendents are experienced in the Haynesville, Bakken, Marcellus, Niobrara, Schrader Bluff, West Sak, and Eagle Ford. Our Project Management team can seamlessly integrate drilling supervision and engineering in these resource plays as well as develop a drilling program for your project. From building the location to running a production liner, you can be confident that HXR has the people to get the job done right.

In addition to our drilling services, HXR has also formed alliances and strategic partnerships with several providers of mid-stream services, including Ahtna Oil and Gas Services, who are specialists in the design and construction of production facilities, pipelines, work camps and associated O&M-related services, with operations on the North Slope as well as in the Williston Basin and CECA Supply & Services Inc., a major supplier of oilfield equipment in the Middle East and North Africa. HXR works seamlessly with our partners to ensure that our clients’ projects go smoothly, from the North Slope to the South China Sea. HXR is in the process of forming a consortium with PetroAfrica to enter Angola’s extended reach drilling services market.

HXR is also developing a network of regional service companies in a variety of fields. See our Integrated Services page.