Every year, the Performed by Schlumberger program
recognizes projects across the company that have
demonstrated excellence in teamwork, innovation,
and business impact. The highest recognition goes
to the project with the greatest overall impact, and
that project receives the Schlumberger Chairman’s
Award. In 2011, the award went to the team working
on the Odoptu project of the Sakhalin-1 Consortium
of Exxon Neftegas Limited (Operator), SODECO,
OAO Rosneft Oil Company, and ONGC Videsh Ltd.
When Exxon Neftegas Limited—operator of the
Sakhalin-1 Project—began planning the extended-
reach drilling campaign in Odoptu, a remote sub-
arctic environment 850 km from the Sakhalin Island
base on Russia’s Okhotsk Sea, they knew it would
take time to complete the challenging project safely
to the highest operational standards.
Each well would need to be drilled horizontally
through tough and highly abrasive rock, which would
require one of the most powerful land rigs in the
world. The expected wear and tear on the downhole
equipment would be significant, as would the strain
on the surface equipment—all while operating
in heavy snowstorms and with temperatures that
seasonally dropped below –40 deg C.
Collaboration between the field operations and
Schlumberger technology centers was essential during the
planning phase. In total, five Schlumberger product lines
and six technology centers were engaged. Equipment was
modified specifically for the Odoptu operating environ-
ment to deliver optimal performance and reliability.
Advanced drilling engineering techniques ensured that
drilling rates, well trajectory control, and borehole quality
could be optimized. The net result of this extensive
planning process was a program designed to raise the
technical limits of drilling to new levels.
The subsequent operations clearly demonstrated the
business impact. By the time the project was completed,
nine extended-reach wells had been drilled within the
time originally scheduled for seven. The average improve-
ment in drilling rate was more than 50% compared with off-
set wells, while the average number of drilling assemblies
required was halved. Over the course of the project, more
than 30 company records were broken, as well as 3 industry
records for the world’s longest well at 12,345 m [7.67 miles],
the world’s longest 17½-in section, and the world’s deepest
12¼-in section. Each section was drilled in a single pass,
delivering on the Schlumberger commitment to world-class
service quality under the most challenging conditions.
These results are testimony to the teamwork and
dedication of the people involved, as well as to the value
created through close collaboration between Exxon
Neftegas Limited and Schlumberger.
The Chairman’s Award 2011
Teamwork, innovation and business impact
The Odoptu wells were drilled with the use of Schlumberger
Drilling & Measurements advanced rotary-steerable systems
and latest-generation logging-while-drilling and measurement-
while-drilling technologies. Technology innovations featured
during the execution of the wells included best-in-class data
transmission rates and high-accuracy vertical depth position-
ing with independent validation from formation pressure
measurements in real time.
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