Outstanding Drilling Optimization Results in the Iconic Ecuadorian Drilling Project Ishpingo, Tiputini, Tambococha - ITT
Authors: Sanchez Jose Luis , Bastidas Alejandro , Herrera Geovanna , Rivera Carolina , Carvajal Francisco , Villavicencio Angel , Guayaquil Giovanny , Villacreces Ricardo , Cardenas Julio , Peña Mauricio , Rosero Fernando , Astudillo Pedro , Leon Fernando , Angulo Teoty , Sanaicela Guido , Rabanal Juan Carlos , Martinez Dubraska , Hernandez Igor 
Published: January 2020

The development of the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT) project was extremely important to increase the Ecuadorian oil production curve at least 10%, and to have a low cost per barrel of oil produced, considering Ecuador's oil industry as the primary income source in the national economy.

This work presents the experiences, learnings, and results acquired on the first 100 wells drilled for ITT, becoming the integrated project of reference for performance drilling and optimization for the Ecuadorian oilfield industry.

The first approach to comply with the reduced budget planned per well was based on dedicated integrated project management to maximize overall efficiency, using basic drilling technology such as downhole motors together with wire-line logs after drilling to acquire a comprehensive formation evaluation data. However, the complexity of the wells would be increased along the project, and basic technology would not be longer effective.

Multidisciplinary engineering, based on a cost-benefit analysis, was fundamental to determine the fit-for-purpose advanced drilling and logging-while-drilling technologies and the proper drilling practices to optimize drilling performance. These optimizations enabled delivering wells in a shorter time and with a lower budget than planned.

The ITT project started in March 2016. By January 2019 the first 100 wells (3 vertical wells, 7 water injection wells, 71 J type wells, 19 horizontal wells) were finished successfully at an average of 3 wells per month with outstanding results that exceed the proposed objectives.

The first 100 wells were delivered in the equivalent time of 80 wells planned time. That outstanding achievement has its main stone on the engineering developed by the integrated drilling services and the operator during the planning and execution phases.

Now, the ITT project is recognized as a real example of integrated drilling optimization in Ecuador. It was the second-highest producing oil field with 70,000 barrels produced per day up to April 2019, and with more than 80,000 barrels produced per day up to September 2019, it became the highest producing oil field in Ecuador. This represents around 18% of the total Ecuadorian oil production. That level of production has been reached in less than four years, several years less than the time it took to develop other oil fields in the country.

The optimization done has other excellent results, such as creating the lowest cost per barrel of oil produced in Ecuador and having zero environmental impact without affecting the ecosystem of the ecological reserve where the oil fields are located.

The latest drilling, measuring, and logging-while-drilling technologies are more expensive than basic technology. However, when the right solutions are properly applied, it's possible to create a correct drilling solution that optimizes the cost-benefit for the project and results in a win-win relationship between operators and drilling service providers. The achievements of the ITT project are documented in this paper as reference for true performance drilling in the Ecuadorian oilfield industry and any environmentally sensitive area around the world.