Press Release /EIN News/
30 January 2009
Operators welcome new global drilling difficulty index.
A new global index, developed to quantify the difficulty of drilling a well has been welcomed by Operators as a key aid for performance management.
The recently launched Rushmore Drilling Index (RDI) enables Operators to normalise their drilling performance across different types of wells, rigs, drilling groups, areas or countries. It also allows wells of similar difficulty to be grouped for comparison purposes.
Helen Rushmore, Sales and Marketing Director of the Aberdeen-based Rushmore Reviews, said “We were tasked by a number of Operators some time ago to develop this index. They insisted that we only use objective data from our database which contains data on over 30,000 wells drilled by 170 Operators in 70 countries over the last two decades”.
“The most important feature for the Operators”, Helen added, “was that there be no subjective or guesstimated elements. There had to be a rigorous statistical approach. To ensure this we engaged a Professor of Statistics at the University of Aberdeen as our independent expert.”
Chris Carstens, (pictured below with Helen Rushmore), Manager Engineering, Business Development and JV’s with Chevron, Houston said “We are delighted to now be able to compare wells globally using the RDI tool. The RDI allows our engineers to compare and categorize wells of similar technical complexity and then predict drilling performance using real well data from the Rushmore database rather than utilizing predetermined risk indices that may or may not be applicable for a particular drilling area”.
Chris continued “External benchmarking is a key component of Chevron’s drilling and completions performance improvement process. Measurement of our own performance against other organizations allows us to analyze the top performers for best practices and lessons learned that will lower well costs and establish superior performance.”
Another new feature, launched at the same time as the RDI, is the Rushmore Estimated Drilling Days (RED days) tool which predicts the time that would be taken by the average Operator to drill a well in any of more than fifty countries. Developed alongside the RDI using similar statistical techniques, this allows Operators to establish drilling times for initial planning purposes within minutes rather than days.
Helen said “A number of Operators use Rushmore Reviews benchmarking data for early well time estimates and so this new estimation tool will be very valuable to them”. Helen went on to explain “Many of our Drilling Manager clients get calls from time to time from their Exploration or Business Development groups asking, for instance, how long it would take to drill a 24,000 foot vertical well in Mozambique. Previously the Manager could spend days or weeks trying to get hold of offset data, then normalising and analysing it before coming up with a reasonable estimate. Now it just takes less than a minute to enter the key factors and a P50 estimate is instantly provided. We have had very positive feedback from the initial launch and expect the RED days tool to be used extensively by Operators globally to save time and a lot of effort.”
Note to Editors
The Rushmore Reviews is a joint venture of Rushmore Associates Limited and the Sigma Consultancy (Scotland) Limited, both based in Aberdeen. Rushmore Associates is run by Helen and Peter Rushmore and Sigma Consultancy by Pat and Tim Stapenhurst.
The Rushmore Reviews benchmarking studies were established by a group of ten UK Operators led by BP in 1989 and out-sourced to Rushmore and Sigma in 1993. The studies have now grown to have global reach and to also include completions and well abandonment data.
The database at www.RushmoreReviews.com contains key technical and performance data on over 30,000 wells constructed since 1989 by over 170 Operators in 70 countries.
The Reviews enable participating Operators: to understand their comparative performance within the industry; to help planning and budgeting for wells particularly in new areas; set targets and AFE’s based upon ‘best in class’ and industry ‘P50’ performance; provide the opportunity to demonstrate, publicise and celebrate performance achievements; and many other applications.
For further information please contact:
Beryl Jackson,
Senior Sales Marketing Associate,
+ 44 1224 251061,
beryl@rushmorereviews.com
