Abstract: A method for drilling a subterranean wellbore includes deploying a drill string in the wellbore, the drill string including a drill bit and a steerable drilling motor. The drill string is automatically rotated at the surface back and forth between first and second opposing rotational directions, rotating in the first direction until a first torque limit is exceeded and rotating in the second direction until a second torque limit is exceeded. A toolface of the steerable drilling motor and a differential pressure across the steerable drilling motor are measured while automatically rotating the drill string. A surface processor processes the measured toolface and differential pressure in combination with a target toolface and a target differential pressure to compute new first and second torque limits. The automatic rotating is repeated using the new first and second torque limits.

Abstract: A method for drilling a well includes orienting a steerable drilling motor at a selected toolface angle. The steerable drilling motor is connected by a drill string to a surface drilling location. The drill string is automatically rotated at the surface location in a first direction for a first predetermined time interval.