Case Study & Learnings of the Fastest Well Drilled in Highly Challenging Northern Region of Pakistan

Wells drilled in North Pakistan are notorious for extreme tectonic stresses, pore pressure & geological uncertainties which in turn create significant amount of wellbore instability related challenges. All these problems posit extreme drilling challenges and results in significant NPT. Similar challenges were expected for the drilling of X-2 well being drilled by MOL Pakistan in TAL Block. The well was planned to be drilled to 3965m MD in J-shape profile in 147 days. However, during execution due to geological variance the target was revised to 4150m MD, and the profile was changed to S-shaped to further drill newly identified targets within the target tolerances. Despite the change in profile, increased footage and challenges on T&D, Hydraulics and Geo-mechanics front, the well targets were successfully achieved in 89 days with 30% cost savings from the project. The conundrum for efficient drilling in North Pakistan has been long explored however several short fallings were recorded in past. The Drilling team of MOL Pakistan deployed efficient data analytics, engineering, robust communication, and quick response skills to execute this project. This paper discusses in detail the thought process adopted during planning and execution of the well. The limiters that were posited and how they were managed.