Secret of world-class extended-reach drilling

The extended-reach-drilling (ERD) team at BP Amoco's Wytch Farm development met the challenge of drilling and completing technically advanced ERD wells in an increasingly difficult cost- and performance-focused environment. Key was the ability to continue developing new technology, while adopting a technical-limit approach to performance delivery. Focusing attention on the individual components of a well allowed the team to build on the reliability and experience of rapidly maturing technologies. It also gave the team confidence in management of the risks associated with the application of new technologies and, more importantly, allowed the team to fight back and recover from events that ordinarily would provide justification for well-program timings and costs to slip.