＂Snake＂ drilling technology breaks through ＂speed limit＂

　　Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, January 7th (Reporter Qu Jian) China CNOOC announced on the 7th that the high-speed pulse remote transmission technology in the rotary steering and logging-while-drilling system independently developed by China has achieved an important breakthrough in Nanbao block of Bohai Oilfield, with the transmission rate increased by 24 times and the drilling efficiency increased by 20% year-on-year. So far, China has successfully broken through the "speed limit" in this field of drilling technology called "greedy snake" and officially ranks among the top in the world, paving the way for the large-scale industrial application of this technology.

　　According to China CNOOC, the rotary steering and logging-while-drilling system is known as the "snake-eating" technology by the industry, which represents the highest level of drilling technology development in the world today, because it can keep rotary drilling in oil drilling, adjust the trajectory in time as needed, and implement the trajectory control of three-dimensional directional wells. Through this system, the ground engineer can control the drill bit thousands of meters underground to "aim" at the oil layer and "smell" the oil-flavored drill, just like a "greedy snake", walking through the stratum according to the owner’s wishes and "eat up and squeeze out" the underground oil and gas resources.

　　Shang Jie, the leader of the R&D team who recently won the honorary title of "National Model Worker" and the president of cosl Oilfield Technology Research Institute, said that high-speed pulse technology is the key link of rotary steering and logging while drilling system, and its major breakthrough has greatly improved the speed of receiving information and sending instructions by surface engineers, improved the real-time data resolution and drilling efficiency, and significantly reduced the cost of oilfield development, which will certainly stimulate the market demand for this technology.

　　In order to meet the demand of high-end technology for increasing oil and gas reserves and production, cosl successfully developed the first set of rotary steering and logging while drilling system in China in 2014 after years of technical research. Since the advent of this technology, China CNOOC has built five R&D and testing centers around the world, established cooperative relations with more than 40 universities and institutes, and promoted the commercial application scale and technical iteration of rotary steering and logging-while-drilling system. At present, it is fully qualified for a wide range of operational requirements with different well diameters and geological characteristics.

　　By the end of 2020, this technology has completed 520 well operations in China, with a cumulative drilling of 500,000 meters, which is equivalent to drilling through 57 Mount Everest. The scope of operation covers all domestic offshore and major onshore oil and gas producing areas. As a result, China CNOOC has become a domestic leader in this field and a strong international competitor.

　　In order to meet the domestic demand for large-scale application, China CNOOC has also established a research and development and manufacturing base for high-end offshore oil equipment in Foshan, Guangdong Province. After completion, it will have the manufacturing capacity of 100 complete sets of instruments per year, which basically meets the huge demand of the current market. Therefore, China CNOOC has the mature ability to integrate scientific research, production, sales and service in this field.