The success or failure of a well is a function of many factors.

One important influ-

ence is the drilling fluid. As companies deal with drilling more-complex and
-difficult wells, a well-designed drilling fluid can contribute to the success of the
well. The years highlights range from laboratory studies on fluid/chemical effects
that relate to borehole stability to complex-fluid physical properties that mitigate
lost returns.
With ever-increasingly complex wells being drilled, the role of a drilling-fluid
engineer has changed as well. When I started in the fluids industry 15 years ago,
we were concerned mostly about controlling fluid loss, plastic viscosity, yield
point, and gels. To meet todays challenging wells, we have to be educated about
the aforementioned fundamental properties as well as borehole stability, narrow-
margin drilling, and lost returns, in addition to environmental regulations and
waste management.
A good example is in the lost-returns arena. With the increasing understanding
of rock mechanics, a more systematic approach to lost-returns remediation was
developed. Only a few years ago, most people were unfamiliar with concepts such
as building stress or integrity and terms such as hoop stress, stress cage, and
fracture-closure stress. No longer are the days of pumping everything but the
kitchen sink down the hole in an often futile attempt to stop losses! Now, we
take a science-based approach to fluids and engineer the particle sizes to stop lost
returns and reach drilling objectives in less time and at a lower cost.
The roles of fluids specialists working for operators and fluids companies are
changing as well. They have become knowledgeable about more than just fluid
makeup and properties. Companies have engineers and scientists on staff who
research issues such as borehole stability, lost returns, waste management, and
environmental regulations around the world.
Please take time to read the following summaries as well as the suggested addi-
tional reading.
Drilling and Completion Fluids additional reading available
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org
SPE 120646 Quest for a Pragmatic Drilling-Fluid-Performance Index
Key to Improving Fluid Performance and Optimizing Quality-Well-Delivery
Economics by Peter Osode, SPE, Petroleum Development Oman, et al.
SPE 123013 Changing Shale Strengths With Invert-Emulsion Drilling Fluids:
Theory, Measurement, and Modeling by T. Hemphill, Halliburton, et al.
SPE 119269 Drilling-Fluid Design Prevents Lost Returns by Building
Integrity Continuously While Drilling in East Texas by Kenneth B. Vaczi, SPE,
ExxonMobil, et al.
Drilling and
Completion Fluids
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
62 JPT NOVEMBER 2009
JPT
Brent Estes, SPE, is a Drilling Fluids
Specialist at ExxonMobil Development
Company in the Drilling Technology
Group supporting worldwide drilling
operations. Previously, he was with
Baroid Drilling Fluids. Estes earned his
BS degree in petroleum engineering from
Texas A&M University. He has a broad
background in all aspects of drilling
and completions fluids including fluids
research and development as well as
working as a drilling engineer. Estes has
authored several SPE papers and serves
on the JPT Editorial Committee.
Oil-based muds (OBMs) have been
developed to combat drilling prob-
lems often caused by shale hydration.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance
to understand the interaction of OBMs
as they contact shales. The full-length
paper deals with the movement of the
oil phase of the OBM, as described
by its hydraulic entrance pressure.
Although the oil filtrate of the OBM
does not hydrate the shale, it can
penetrate and flow into the shale at a
certain entrance pressure. Such flow
into shale increases the pore pressure
of the shale, which can cause well-
bore failure.
Introduction
Shales are low-permeability sedimenta-
ry rocks with small pore radii that have
medium-to-high clay content, in addi-
tion to other minerals such as quartz,
feldspar, and calcite. The distinguish-
ing features of shale are its clay content
and low permeability, which results in
poor connectivity through narrow pore
throats. Shales also are fairly porous
and normally are saturated with forma-
tion water, with several factors affecting
their properties, such as burial depth,
water activity, and the amount and type
of minerals present.
Considering the fact that shales
account for 70 to 75% of the forma-
tions drilled around the world, it is
important to understand and minimize
shale-related problems while drilling.
Drilling performance has demonstrat-
ed the effectiveness of OBMs in com-
bating drilling problems caused by
shale hydration, differential-pressure
sticking, corrosion, and high forma-
tion temperatures.
OBMs are water-in-oil emulsions
that contain water, emulsifiers,
organophilic clay, and a weighting
material. The water phase is usually
a calcium chloride (CaCl
2
) salt solu-
tion, with a water activity (a
w
) that
resembles the a
w
of the formation.
This eliminates water transfer to or
from the water-sensitive zones and,
thereby, maintains a stable wellbore.
The water in the oil is stabilized with
a primary emulsifier (often a fatty-acid
salt), while the weighting material and
the drilled solids are made oil-wet and
are dispersed in the mud with a sec-
ondary emulsifier. It is thought that
both emulsifiers have dual roles, with
the primary emulsifier also acting to
some extent as a wetting agent and
the secondary emulsifier acting as a
true emulsifier.
Ions that are added to a water-based
mud (WBM) reduce the a
w
of the fluid,
and consequently, water movement
into the shale is reduced because of
osmotic effects. This effect is not long
lasting because the hydrated ions are
not very restricted and they invade the
low-salinity shale. However, for OBMs,
an efficient membrane exists around
each water droplet, and very little (if
any) ion transfer occurs.
Problem Background
Even though the osmotic pressure gen-
erated by the OBM prevents the water
flow into the shale, this membrane
might not be completely efficient. Data
from different tests using inverse-emul-
sion drilling fluids do not yield a per-
fect osmotic membrane. The nature
of the emulsified salt solution and the
emulsifier package may affect the inter-
action of invert-emulsion fluids with
shales, including the transport of fluids
into or out of the shale.
The shale-sealing characteristic is
a result of the small water-wet pore
sizes (100 nm or less), making it dif-
ficult for a nonwetting hydrocarbon
fluid to penetrate a shale. To overcome
the opposition of shale to fluid inva-
sion, the hydraulic-pressure differen-
tial between the invading fluid and
the water present in the shale needs
to be higher than the capillary entry
pressure of the shale. When using an
OBM, exceeding this capillary entry
pressure will result in the oil filtrate
of the mud displacing the free water
of the shale.
It is expected that the entry pres-
sure of OBM filtrate (oil-only) will
be higher than the entry pressure of a
WBM because it is difficult to separate
the emulsified water droplets from the
emulsifier coating, and even after sep-
aration occurs, the filtrate is immis-
cible with the pore fluid. Therefore,
the OBM filtrate needs to displace the
pore fluid to invade the shale. This
could explain the ability of an OBM
to maintain a stable wellbore during
drilling operations.
Even though a high entrance pres-
sure is an important component in
understanding the interaction between
OBMs and shale formations, it is not
the only aspect to be considered. It
is known that shale stability is a time-
dependent problem, meaning that the
state of stress and strength of a shale
varies when the shale is invaded over
a period of time. Stresses in the shale
at the wellbore wall are altered as the
drilling-fluid filtrate pressures up the
pore-fluid in the shale.
This article, written by Assistant Tech nol-
ogy Editor Karen Bybee, contains high-
lights of paper SPE 116364, Entrance
Pressure of Oil-Based Mud Into Shale:
Effect of Shale, Water Activity, and Mud
Properties, by Andres Oleas, SPE,
Collins E. Osuji, SPE, Martin E.
Chenevert, SPE, and Mukul M.
Sharma, SPE, University of Texas at
Austin, originally prepared for the 2008
SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition, Denver, 2124 September.
The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Entrance Pressure of Oil-Based Mud Into Shale
DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS
For a limited time, the full-length paper is available free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT NOVEMBER 2009
63
64 JPT NOVEMBER 2009
Scope of Research
The work detailed in the full-length
paper was initiated to achieve the fol-
lowing goals.
Establish a testing procedure and
equipment suitable for measuring en -
trance pressures of shale samples.
Determine the effect of OBM com-
position on entrance pressure.
Measure the entrance pressure of
various OBMs into shales of varying
porosity.
Arco China Shale
The Arco China shale core used dur-
ing laboratory testing was cored at
a depth of 11,812 ft and was pre-
served at the rigsite in polyethylene
bags covered with heavy-duty plastic.
After opening the plastic covering in
the research laboratory, the core was
immediately immersed in mineral oil
to prevent any contact with air before
sample encapsulation and cutting and
slicing of the test samples. Tables 1
and 2 in the full-length paper give the
results of a mineralogic analysis of the
shale. On the basis of the clay analysis,
illite is the main clay present. It can
be inferred that the Arco China shale
does not have a high affinity to absorb
water because of the low surface area
of this mineral compared to the sur-
face area of smectite. A 9.3 cation-
exchange-capacity value was reported,
suggesting that the shale is not very
reactive, and the petrophysical data
confirm that the shale is very tight,
with a 1.8% porosity and a permeabil-
ity value of 0.039 microdarcy.
The a
w
of the shale is defined as the
vapor pressure of the shale divided by
the vapor pressure of pure water at
the same temperature. The native
a
w
of the Arco China shale is 0.72, the
point at which there was no water loss
or gain. The full-length paper details
the preparation of the OBM samples.
Entrance-Pressure-Test
Description
The entrance-pressure test, including
its equipment, was very similar to the
one performed earlier in 2005. A shale
sample 0.26 0.010 in. thick and 2.5 in.
in diameter was placed in a metallic
chamber that had top and bottom ports
that allowed the shale sample to be
subjected to different OBMs and pore
fluids.
The shale sample was exposed to
a top oil fluid (OBM) and a bot-
tom sodium chloride (NaCl) fluid of
35,000 ppm salinity (simulated sea-
water) or a CaCl
2
solution at 30%
w/w. During the test, the pressure
differential across the shale was initi-
ated by first setting the upstream (top
of sample) and downstream (bottom
of sample) pressure to 50 psi, then
gradually increasing the upstream
pressure. The entrance pressure was
detected at the moment an increase
in the pressure of the bottom side
of the shale was observed. Once the
downstream pressure stabilized, the
upstream pressure again was increased
and the behavior of the downstream
pressure was observed. During the
tests, time between pressure-increase
steps (100 to 250 psi per step) was at
least 8 hours. This extended period
allowed the entire system to stabilize
its internal volume of fluid and tem-
perature. The duration of each of the
tests was as long as 1 week.
Entrance-Pressure Tests
After the system was tested success-
fully for temperature effects and leaks,
five tests were performed using the
native 0.72 a
w
Arco China shale. These
fluids consisted of fresh water, oil, and
emulsion muds. As shown in Figs. 11
through 14 in the full-length paper,
over the time periods shown, none of
these fluids were able to penetrate this
shale, even after applying approximate-
ly 1,500-psi differential pressure.
Shale-Porosity Alteration. Given
the lack of fluid penetration over the
time allotted, the decision was made
to open up the pores of the 0.72 a
w

shale samples in an attempt to obtain
breakthrough. Therefore, samples were
partially hydrated by placing them in
desiccators with controlled humidities
of 0.86 and 0.96.
The weight increase of the samples
by water absorption was monitored
daily, and it was observed that weight
equilibrium essentially was reached
after 2 weeks.
It was of interest to calculate the
change in porosity of the shale; this
was achieved by placing several
shale samples that had been altered
to 0.86 and 0.96 a
w
back into the
0.72 a
w
desiccator and recording their
weight loss.
Breakthrough Pressure Tests. With
shale samples of altered porosity now
available, pressure breakthrough was
achieved with fresh water and the
five OBMs.
Conclusions
1. The pore-entry pressures mea-
sured for shales are controlled both by
capillary pressure (pore size, interfacial
tension) and by the rigidity of the oil/
water interface. The results obtained
for surfactant-laden interfaces show
that a more rigid oil/water interface,
created by the addition of surfactant,
results in higher oil-breakthrough pres-
sures, even when the interfacial tension
is lower.
2. Higher emulsifier concentrations
in the base oil result in larger entry
pressures, as a result of the increase in
rigidity of the oil/water interface.
3. The presence of water droplets in
the OBM increases the pore-entry pres-
sures because the water droplets form
a filter cake and provide an additional
resistance to the entry of oil filtrate into
the shale.
4. Increasing water content and
decreasing emulsifier concentration
results in lower pore-entry pressures.
5. The Arco China shale samples that
have a smaller pore size have substan-
tially higher pore-entry pressures.
6. The osmotic pressure generated
between the brine droplets in the OBM
and the pore fluid in the shale plays a
significant role in controlling the pore-
entry pressures.
7. OBMs should clearly contain suf-
ficient emulsifier to provide small drop-
let size and mechanical rigidity of the
oil/water interface and a high concen-
tration of CaCl in the water phase to
take advantage of osmotic gradients.
These factors cumulatively will result
in high pore-entry pressures, resulting
in minimum invasion of oil and water
filtrate into the shale.
JPT
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Wellbore
Productivity
Environmental
Solutions
Production
Technologies
Drilling
Solutions
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S O L U T I O N S D R I L L I N G
The first dual-lateral well aimed at
carboniferous reservoirs drilled in the
UK southern North Sea was in the Rita
gas field. This method enabled both
the east and west fault segments of
the field to be produced from the same
upper wellbore, thus reducing drilling
costs and improving field econom-
ics. An invert-emulsion drilling fluid
was chosen for this field application
because of the risk of shale instabil-
ity over the long horizontal sections of
each wellbore.
Introduction
The industry has experienced lower-
than-expected production rates from
wells that have been suspended for
long periods with oil-based, solids-
laden fluids before a cleanup has been
initiated. This raised the question of
what type of fluid to leave below the
whipstock because re-entry to this leg
for cleanup or well remediation was
not economically feasible if produc-
tion was lower than expected. Because
of the diametrically opposed shape of
the well, with long horizontal sections,
the drilling team was strongly in favor
of using an oil-based reservoir drill-in
fluid (OBRDIF). This fluid would give
a stable wellbore and provide a low fric-
tion coefficient for drilling and running
the completion assemblies.
Using OBRDIF would reduce the risk
of hole instability and minimize non-
productive time. However if OBRDIF
was used in the drilling phase, it would
mean that a solids-laden invert emul-
sion would be left in the hole when the
first leg was suspended with the sand
screens below the whipstock. This pre-
sented several risks. The fluid would
require fine screening to prevent block-
ing the completion equipment with
drill solids. Also, there was a risk that
the solid particles in the suspension
fluid would agglomerate as the fluid
remained static for an extended period.
If agglomeration did occur, these solids
would probably not pass through the
mesh of the completion screens and
could potentially reduce screen con-
ductance. The size and concentration
of the solids in the suspension fluid
were recognized as areas of concern
that should be addressed to ensure
maximum productivity of this well.
The OBRDIF contained a specific
blend of bridging materials, an emulsifi-
er, a viscosifier, and a fluid-loss control-
ler to ensure that an external cake was
formed on the surface of the wellbore
and that the ingress of solids and filtrate
were minimized. After extensive labora-
tory testing, an OBRDIF was formu-
lated. Permeameter tests demonstrated
that the system had a low potential for
formation damage. After the first leg was
drilled and the lower screen completion
was run to bottom, the solids-free brine
completion fluid was used to displace
the OBRDIF from the wellbore. This
specially formulated brine was treated
with surfactants and acid to ensure that
all the solids and wellbore surfaces were
changed from oil-wet to water-wet. A
significant proportion of the filter cake
consisted of acid-soluble calcium car-
bonate (CaCO
3
). Once the completion
fluid was to have changed the wettabil-
ity of the solids in the OBRDIF filter
cake, the acid would be able to dissolve
the CaCO
3
in the cake. Therefore, the
risk of agglomerated filter-cake solids
blocking the screens would be negated.
Laboratory Testing
It has been identified that particles in
OBRDIFs can aggregate when left sus-
pended over long periods of time under
static, downhole conditions. Laboratory
This article, written by Assistant Tech nol-
ogy Editor Karen Bybee, contains high-
lights of paper SPE 121905, Design and
Application of Invert-Emulsion Drilling
and Aqueous Completion Fluids for Long
Horizontal Multilateral Wells, by Alistair
Hutton, SPE, Stephen Vickers, SPE,
Marcus Davidson, SPE, and Jon
Wharton, SPE, Baker Hughes; Andy
Hatch, SPE, and Roger Simmonds,
SPE, E.ON Ruhrgas UK North Sea Ltd.;
and David Brankling, SPE, OCTL,
originally prepared for the 2009 SPE
European Formation Damage Con-
ference, Scheveningen, The Netherlands,
2729 May. The paper has not been
peer reviewed.
Application of Invert-Emulsion Drilling Fluid and
Aqueous Completion Fluids for Long Multilateral Wells
DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS
For a limited time, the full-length paper is available free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Fig. 2Filter cake after remedia-
tion with completion fluid.
Fig. 1Filter cake before remedia-
tion with completion fluid.
66 JPT NOVEMBER 2009
JPT NOVEMBER 2009
67
testing was carried out to assess the
agglomeration potential of this fluid
with a series of static aging and particle-
size distribution (PSD) tests. Samples of
test fluid were contaminated with drill
solids, sealed in aging cells, pressurized
at 100 psi and placed in an upright posi-
tion at bottomhole temperature for a
period of 8 weeks. At weekly intervals, a
cell was removed from the oven, depres-
surized without the contents being dis-
turbed, and tested for sag. The upper
level of the fluid was mixed gently in
the cell before removing 10 mL to allow
measurement of the density. Additional
fluid was removed to sample the middle
of the cell where, again, the fluid was
gently stirred and 10 mL was removed
to measure its density. This was repeat-
ed for the fluid layer at the bottom of
the cell. This procedure allowed the
determination of the static sag factor,
which indirectly gives a measure of the
sedimentation rate of particles, although
it gives no indication of the degree of
agglomeration. The sag factor over the
2-month period showed little variation,
indicating that that sag was minimal.
Particle-size analysis was performed
on samples from each section of the
cell to determine if agglomeration had
occurred over the 8-week test period.
The static age tests found no initial
evidence of agglomeration with the PSD
measurements, and PSD remained con-
stant for the first 6 weeks. An increase
in the PSD was observed after 7 weeks,
and this continued to increase after the
8-week period. One possible explana-
tion for this phenomenon is that it
results from changes in the emulsion
stability that could cause capillary-pres-
sure agglomeration. Further studies are
ongoing to evaluate this mechanism
to see if more-stable emulsions can be
created to minimize agglomeration. As
a result of these findings, the decision
was made to displace the OBRDIF with
a clear, solids-free suspension fluid to
remove the risk of solids agglomeration
and the associated screen blockage.
Completion-Fluid Design
Because the well was to be suspended
for an extended period of time, there
was some concern that the CaCO
3

bridging particles could agglomerate
and block the screens if an OBRDIF
was used. Therefore, the decision was
made to use the combination of a novel
surfactant package and an acid to allow
for the complete destruction of the oil-
based filter cake. This process involves
removing the oil, reversing the wettabil-
ity of the solids, and dissolving the acid-
soluble particles with an organic acid.
A key feature of this technology is that
the blend of surfactants and other com-
ponents is designed to have an interfa-
cial free energy of nearly zero, which
promotes the oil solubilization. This
process is spontaneous and requires no
mechanical agitation. This is advanta-
geous in cases where the use of jetting
tools and brushes is not possible such
as in the current application. The com-
pletion-fluid system was designed to
operate at the bottomhole temperature
with a soak density of 1.22 SG using
sodium bromide. The formulation was
optimized through a series of bottle
tests that examined the phase stability
and the cleaning performance. In these
tests, a measured volume of OBRDIF
was placed in a glass bottle and the spe-
cially formulated completion-fluid was
carefully added on top. The bottles were
placed in an oven, and the oil solubiliza-
tion and wettability changes of the solids
were observed over a 24-hour period.
A double-ended high-presssure/high-
temperature filtration cell was used to
determine the efficiency of the soak
solutions to destroy the filter cake. For
these tests, a filter cake was built on an
aloxite disk over a period of 3 hours
with a differential pressure of 500 psi
applied using bottled nitrogen. Figs. 1
and 2 show the filter cake appearance
before and after treatment wth the
cleanup solution. Upon removal of the
disk from the cell, it was observed that
the remaining solids were water-wet, as
demonstrated by the easy dispersion of
the particles in water.
Compatibility Testing
All of the well fluids that were to come
into contact during the completion
operation were tested for compatibil-
ity. This was achieved by combining
the well fluids or base brines in glass
vials in a range of concentrations. This
testing also was carried out for brine
that would come in contact with the
formation water, to ensure that no pre-
cipitation would occur. If precipitation
occurred when one of the completion
brines came in to contact with the
formation water, the damage to the
formation could be excessive and very
difficult to remediate. No incompat-
ibilities were observed between any of
the fluids during testing.
There was some concern that when
the completion fluid was displaced
into the well it may mix with residual
OBRDIF in the annular space between
screen and wellbore to form a high-
viscosity emulsion capable of blocking
the screens. To check the compatibility,
a range of test samples was produced in
which the ratio of OBRDIF to comple-
tion fluid was varied and the mix-
ture homogenized. The rheology of the
resultant mixtures was checked before
and after static aging at 116C. At low
concentrations of contamination with
the completion fluid, the rheology of
the mixtures was not affected. At higher
contamination levels (e.g., greater than
50:50), the viscosity of the mixtures
was significantly reduced compared
to the original OBRDIF. After aging,
the rheology of all the OBRDIF/com-
pletion-fluid mixtures was measured
and found to be reduced. This finding
was expected because the surfactant
package used in the completion fluid is
designed specifically to disrupt brine-
in-oil emulsions and not create them.
Conclusions
The following conclusions are based on
laboratory findings and the field experi-
ence gained while drilling and complet-
ing the Rita Project well.
1. Solids-laden OBRDIF should not
be used as suspension fluid for periods
longer than 6 to 8 weeks.
2. The solids in an OBRDIF can
agglomerate under downhole static
conditions. This condition can be mea-
sured and recorded in the laboratory.
3. The PSD measurements that were
taken on the rig show that a formulated
size distribution can be maintained
through the drilling phase of the well
by the regular addition of fresh bridg-
ing material.
4. Oil-wet filter cakes and solids can
be made water-wet and be disrupted
and acidized with the use of custom-
designed brine/surfactant/acid comple-
tion fluids.
5. Filter cakes that are treated with
these completion-fluid designs are dis-
persed easily and backflowed through
completion screens.
6. Drilling with OBRDIFs and com-
pleting wells with custom-designed
brine/surfactant/acid completion fluids
can enhance well productivity by effec-
tively removing the filter cake and
improving the effective permeability of
the near-wellbore region. JPT
Deepwater drilling presents significant
issues and uncertainties, especially
when there is no prior drilling experi-
ence in the area. Uncertainties about
the drilling conditions create addi-
tional risk to operators and can cause
project budget overruns. Innovative
technologies often are implemented
to help ensure that the well is drilled
efficiently and safely. Drilling-fluid
selection was a key decision to the
success of the project.
Introduction
Deepwater exploration activity in the
oil and gas industry continues to
present new hurdles requiring inno-
vative technical solutions. These dif-
ficult wells can increase the risk fac-
tor and result in potentially higher
operational costs. In most cases, an
oil-based drilling fluid is selected as
the first option because of the high
daily costs associated with a deep-
water operation and the advantages
gained in wellbore stability and rate
of penetration (ROP) compared to
conventional water-based systems.
However, tightening environmental
regulations and high costs associated
with cuttings and oily fluid disposal
are sufficient reasons to seek viable
water-based fluid alternatives that
could provide an oil-based-drilling-
fluid performance.
Water-based drilling fluids that
simulate the performance of oil-based
drilling fluids, commonly are referred
to as high-performance water-based
fluids (HPWBFs). The main bene-
fits of these systems are reduced
environmental footprint and lower
costs associated with cuttings and
fluids disposal.
Petrobras Colombia undertook the
challenge of drilling the first deep-
water well in Colombia in 1,840-ft
water depth in the Tayrona Block in
the Caribbean Sea north of Colombia.
Because of environmental restric-
tions, uncertainties about formations
that would be encountered, and the
need to protect the target zone from
damage, an HPWBF was selected to
drill the well.
HPWBF System
Fluid selection presented several chal-
lenges related to drilling the explor-
atory well. The operator rejected the
option of using an oil-based fluid
because of environmental restrictions
and cuttings and fluids-disposal com-
plications. The HPWBF used met the
required criteria and was designed
for maximum shale inhibition in
highly reactive formations and pro-
vided wellbore stability, high ROPs,
and acceptable rheological properties
over a wide range of temperatures.
It had been run successfully in the
Gulf of Mexico in shelf and deepwa-
ter operations.
The HPWBF exhibits very stable
yield-point and gel-strength values
over the entire range of temperatures
normally encountered in deepwater
and shelf drilling. The unique poly-
mer chemistry that controls rheologi-
cal properties provides shear thinning
at the bit for fast drilling and ensures
the efficient capture and removal of
drilled solids. The wellbore remains
stable and in gauge, reducing the
need for frequent wiper trips and
providing trouble-free trips. Instead
of commercial clays, the system is
built around a unique polymer pack-
age that minimizes shale hydration
almost instantaneously. One polymer
is a potent flocculant that is effective
at low concentrations, allowing the
encapsulation of drill solids as they
are produced at the bit. The other
polymer, designed especially for
this system, quickly adheres to clay
surfaces, creating a water blockage
to help prevent hydration and dis-
integration of clay-rich formations,
especially in troublesome gumbo-
type formations found in deepwa-
ter drilling. Other features of the
system include excellent lubricity,
good hole-cleaning properties, and
a high tolerance to contaminants.
Additional advantages of the system
that are not available with oil-based
or synthetic-based fluids include an
environmentally friendly formula-
tion, comparatively low cost, and the
ability to run high-resolution imaging
logs. Water-based cuttings and fluids
can be discharged to the sea, helping
to reduce the overall costs related to
cuttings and fluid disposal.
Hole Stabilization. Chemical insta-
bility in shale is a function of water
adsorption. If unaddressed while drill-
ing, this can lead to washout or well-
bore collapse. The HPWBF system
coats the highly reactive clays and
aggressively prevents their dispersion,
washout, and hydration. This also can
reduce bit/bottomhole assembly (BHA)
balling tendencies dramatically.
Optimized ROPs. Being able to pre-
vent shale problems while drilling
This article, written by Assistant Tech-
nology Editor Karen Bybee, contains
highlights of paper SPE 120768, First
Deepwater Well Successfully Drilled in
Colombia With a High-Performance
Water-Based Fluid, by J. Marin, SPE,
F. Shah, SPE, M. Serrano, SPE, A.
Jaramillo, and C. Marin, Halliburton,
and W. Arevalo and G. Priandi,
Petrobras, originally prepared for the
2009 SPE Latin American and Caribbean
Petroleum Engineering Conference,
Cartagena, Colombia, 31 May3 June.
The paper has not been peer reviewed.
First Deepwater Well Successfully Drilled in Colombia
With a High-Performance Water-Based Fluid
DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS
For a limited time, the full-length paper is available free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
68 JPT NOVEMBER 2009
70 JPT NOVEMBER 2009
with lower mud weights means that
ROPs will be improved. Prevention
of balling helps maintain consistent
penetration rates. In the clay-free
HPWBF, the rheological profile exhib-
its a desirable low plastic viscosity
and good corresponding yield point
and low-end rheology. The resulting
improvement in hole cleaning, as
well as fluid flow across the bit face,
helps remove cuttings rapidly so that
the ROP and bit life will increase.
Lubricity. Laboratory tests indi-
cate that the addition of lubricants
designed for water-based fluids offers
minimal improvement in the HPWBF
system. The system itself provides a
0.228 coefficient of friction. The pro-
prietary polymers create a very slick,
thin, and tough filter cake. This,
coupled with a gauge hole, means
that torque-and-drag issues can be
largely mitigated without the need of
lubricant additions.
Differential Sticking. The high-
quality filter cake and inherent low
plastic viscosity and low solids con-
tents of the HPWBF system are very
favorable to preventing differential
sticking. Furthermore, the inhibitive
nature of the system means that lower
mud weights can be maintained dur-
ing drilling by better solids-remov-
al efficiency.
Gas-Hydrates Suppression. The sys -
tem is compatible with high salt con -
centrations and with almost any
amount of glycol/methanol. As a
result, the system can be engineered
to counteract gas-hydrate formation
in deepwater operations.
Rheological Stability. The HPWBF
system displays stable rheology from
40 to 300F. The system is suit-
able for deepwater and high-temper-
ature wells.
Formation Protection. Laboratory
tests have demonstrated an 86%
return-permeability value for the
HPWBF. Results such as this from
water-based fluids are usually seen
from fit-for-purpose drill-in systems.
The addition of sized calcium car-
bonate (CaCO
3
) or other suitable
bridging materials can improve this
return-permeability value. The rap-
idly formed thin and impermeable fil-
ter cake will work actively to protect
the formation.
HPWBF Composition
The basic formulation of the HPWBF
can be designed by use of various
concentrations of salts and poly-
mers at different mud weights. Sized
CaCO
3
also can be included if drilling
through high-permeability sands.
The rheology is controlled by the
high-grade xanthan gum. Fluid-loss
control is achieved with a high-quality
nonionic starch and low-molecular-
weight polyanionic cellulose as a sup-
plement. The clay-control capabilities
of the system which promote hole
stability, improve ROP, reduce ball-
ing, reduce system-dilution rates, and
reduce torque-and-drag problems are
provided by a low-molecular-weight
nonionic polymer, a high-molecular-
weight nonionic polymer, and an
amphoteric amine compound acting
in synergy to provide the excellent
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JPT NOVEMBER 2009
71
inhibitive performance of the sys-
tem. In addition, supplementary ionic
inhibition is provided by building the
system in monovalent brine (potas-
sium chloride or sodium chloride).
Any concentration of these salts can
be used. Potassium hydroxide or
sodium hydroxide is used as the alka-
linity source. Also, sized CaCO
3
is
used as a bridging agent and barite as
a weighting material.
Fluid Performance
The 1822-in. section was drilled in
one bit run without stability prob-
lems and without cavings. Good clay
stability was observed, with stable
mud properties. Rheology values con-
tributed to good hole cleaning, which
was ensured with a high-viscosity pill.
ROP values were good and improved
with constant fresh-mud additions.
The string came out without signs
of balling or accretion. Wireline log-
ging was conducted without prob-
lems, and the casing was run after
a wiper trip and cemented without
any incidents. All section objectives
were achieved.
The 16
1
/2-in. section was started
with a mud weight of 10.2 lbm/gal,
which then was increased to 10.6 lbm/
gal because of cavings observation
at the shakers and tight hole dur-
ing the wiper trip. The section was
drilled with one bit run. A total of
37 bbl of fluid was lost during the
wiper trip because of an unexpected
equivalent-circulating-density (ECD)
increment possibly caused by cavings
while the formation was mechani-
cally unstable. The mud weight was
increased again to 11.0 lbm/gal. After
this density increase, the well was cir-
culated and the string was pulled out
of hole without any further problems.
Rheological properties were increased
to guarantee hole cleaning in con-
junction with several low-rheology
sweeps followed by high-viscosity
sweeps. Effective inhibition of drill
cuttings was observed at the shakers,
and there was no sign of balling or
accretion when the BHA came out.
The 12
1
/4-in. section was begun
with 11.0-lbm/gal density, which was
increased eventually to 12.7 lbm/
gal (while tripping out of the hole)
according to pore-pressure curves.
No stability problems were observed
during drilling. Some losses were
observed while reaming to shoe.
Electrical logs were run without prob-
lems. Casing was run and cemented
successfully without losses, and all
section objectives were achieved.
The 8
1
/2-in. section was drilled
with several bit runs because of low
ROP. The initial mud weight was
13.2 lbm/gal. When pulling out of
hole, a tight spot was found. Pipe was
worked and came free. The trip to
surface continued without problems.
When running into the hole high, a
cavings rate was observed on shakers
and the logging-while-drilling (LWD)
signal was lost. The string was pulled
out of hole to change LWD tools.
When running into the hole in the
proximity of the shoe while ream-
ing, again a high cavings rate was
observed and the mud weight was
increased to 13.4 lbm/gal. The drill-
ing continued without problems until
the ROP decreased to 7.0 ft/hr and the
decision was made to change the bit.
The string was pulled out of the hole,
and cavings were observed again.
Mechanical instability occurred under
static conditions. When the well was
being circulated, the ECD kept the
wellbore walls stable. The ECD value
was near the leakoff-test value of
14.9 lbm/gal. Instead of increasing
the mud weight, the riser was filled
with 16.0-lbm/gal mud before every
trip performed in the section. This
operation was performed to increase
hydrostatic pressure while tripping,
equalizing the pressure exerted while
tripping with the pressure exerted
while the well was being circulat-
ing to maintain wellbore stabil-
ity during the trip. This operation
showed excellent results because no
cavings were observed in the next
trips performed.
Dilution over the whole interval was
very important to maintain the perfor-
mance characteristics of the HPWBF,
and high inhibition of the cuttings was
seen again in the shakers. Problems
observed during the several trips in
the section were caused mainly by
wellbore mechanical-stability issues
resulting from stress distribution.
Several logging runs were made with-
out problems, and finally a cement
plug was pumped. All the objectives
of the section were achieved. JPT