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This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE Western Regional and Pacific Section AAPG Joint Meeting held in Bakersfield, California, U.S.A., 31 March–2 April 2008.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.
As majority of hydrocarbons being exploited today are throughout the entire length of the drilling and
found in existing pressure depleted and lower quality completion operations.
reservoirs with a lot of conventional drilling problems, this 2. Hole Cleaning – the drilling fluid system should
is where UBD Technology can add value. Soon, UBD will guarantee the hole cleaning at any depth or
become the standard field development technique, both inclination.
onshore and offshore, where the geology and reservoir are 3. Surface Separation Equipment – the reservoir inflow
suitable. must be controlled in order to remain in the safe
operational envelope of the surface equipment’s flow
This paper reviews the problems, which arise during containment capacities, related pressure and pipe
conventional drilling operation and how they can be work erosional limitations.
controlled and prevented using Underbalanced drilling Based on these criteria, an Underbalanced drilling window
technology. Some real results are also presented to support is defined and an acceptable circulating system is
the whole discussion. developed.
bore and hence the productivity of the well. The term skin Other Possible Effects of Foreign Fluid Invasion are
effect is also used in the same connection to connote a skin a) Emulsification with formation fluids, resulting in
or cylinder of reduced permeability about the well bore. highly viscous mixtures, and capillary blocking by
Two phenomenons can change the permeability of the insular bubbles.
rock. One is change of porosity, due to the swelling of clay b) Precipitation of solids: A variety of materials, when
minerals or deposition of solids in the pore body. The contacted by certain crude oils, can result in the
other is plugging of pore throats, caused by organic or precipitation of solids. These include HCl, CO2, rich
inorganic matter. Damage caused by organic matter is due hydrocarbon solvents and asphalts.
to the formation of high hydrocarbon scale when c) Reduction in relative permeability to gas, by the
temperature and pressure conditions in the reservoirs are presence of a third immiscible fluid. For example,
changed. The inorganic damage involves release and consider gas sand which originally contains only gas
capture of particulate including in-situ fines and and water. If this section is drilled with an oil base
precipitates from chemical reactions. fluid, some filtrate invasion will occur. When gas
production begins, some of this oil will backflow and
Causes of Formation Damage
cleanup; however, some will remain as an irreducible
Formation damage is caused by the invasion of foreign
or immobile saturation. This reduces the permeability
fluids and/or solids into the exposed section adjacent to the
to gas in the affected zone and hence lowers the
well bore. Generally, the drilling mud is the main source
productivity of the well. Figure (7) and Figure (8)11
of such contaminants. Fluids used in stimulation
treatments may also have some undesirable effects, which illustrate this phenomenon of phase trapping with the
practically nullify their beneficial actions. But, present help of relative permeability curves.
d) Rduction of relative permeability to oil due to an
discussion will, however, be concerned with drilling mud
increase increased water saturation. Figure (9) shows
formation damage, caused during drilling12.
how the basic phase trapping mechanism (for a water
based fluid in this example) is motivated by the
In many areas a necessary function of the drilling
mud is the control of encountered subsurface pressures. To capillary pressure forces which ’trap’ a higher water
carry out this function, the mud column pressure must saturation in matrix after water based fluid invasion -
causing a large potential reduction in permeability to
exceed that of the formation. Hence the mud filtrate as
oil.
well as particulate matter flows radially outward in
e) Clay deflocculation: A clay mineral is in a
accordance with the filtration characteristics of the
flocculated condition when the particles of clay tend
particular mud in use. Let us consider the possible
injurious effects that various liquids may have on invaded to come together to form flocks or lumps, and is in a
deflocculated condition when these flocks or lumps
zone permeability.
are broken up. Dispersed particles may plug the pore
throats resulting in reduced permeability9, shown by
Liquid Invasion
Figure (10).
The susceptibility of a particular formation to damage by
foreign fluids is largely dependent on its clay content.
Dirty sands (those with high clay content) are generally Solids Invasion
It has been recognized that the invasion of solid particles
quite sensitive to the filtrate from fresh water based muds
may also be a considerable source of formation damage.
which brings about the hydration and swelling of
For solids to enter into a rock the solid particles must,
interstitial clay particles as shown by Figure (4) & Figure
naturally, be smaller than the pore openings. An extreme
(5)10,11. The substitution of the water in the clay matrix
causes a physical expansion of the clay and the resulting case of whole mud invasion is the loss of circulation.
expansion in some cases, up to 500% of the original clay
Due to this particulate matter invasion into the
size. This expansion can obviously cause significant
formation, formation permeability reduces. The
reduction in permeability. Saline filtrates cause less of this
permeability decreases are believed due to two basic
kind of trouble, and may in fact reduce particle size and
causes
increase oil permeability in some cases. Therefore, the
clay swelling problems depend on the interaction between a) Plugging of internal pores by solid particles.
the particular clay and filtrate involved. b) Reduction of effective pore radius with
consequent increase in interstitial water
content and reduction in effective permeability
Secondly, as the aqueous filtrate invades dirty
to oil or gas.
sands, the interstitial clay particles my shift position as the
increased water saturation gives them freedom of
movement. The movement of such particles enables them The depth of solid particle invasion is of course
less than that of the filtrate. Also, the severity of damage
to relocate within the pore network, thereby obstructing
decreases with distance from the well bore. Figure (11),
flow and causing a reduction in permeability. Figure (6)
(12) and (13)11 illustrate the mechanism of solids invasion
illustrates the phenomenon of fines migration that will
into the reservoir according to the size of solid particles.
ultimately redeuce the formation permeability on their
deposition. Figure (11) shows that a solid invasion is no problem as
for as their size is very small. Figure (12) & (13) shows
4 SPE 114186
the formation of internal and external cakes as the size of of the well bore. Differential sticking typically occurs
solid particles increases. As the speed of fluid will reduce when high-contact forces caused by low reservoir
as it goes deeper into the formation, solids particles settle pressures, high well bore pressures, or both, are exerted
down. The internal deposition (cake formation) will over a sufficiently large area of the drill string. Differential
reduce the permeability, and such depositions are strongly sticking is, for most drilling organizations, the greatest
undesired. drilling problem worldwide in terms of time and financial
cost.
Formation Damage can cause significant decreases
in well productivity and worldwide yearly-lost production In the Figure (15) the cross-sectional views show
due to formation damage is equivalent to billions of a drill collar embedded inmud cake, developed due to fluid
dollars in lost revenue. Identification and reduction of loss against permeable formation, and pinned to the
formation damage problems can lead to immediate returns wellbore wall by the pressure differential between the
in the form of increased production rates and extension of drilling mud and the formation. As time passes, if the drill
the life of any field. string remains stationary, the area of contact can increase
(right) making it more difficult to free the drill string.
An effective alternative to this conventional
overbalanced drilling problem (formation damage) is the This differential sticking problem can be avoided
Underbalanced drilling technique, which involves no by using UBD because the reservoir pressure is greater
formation damage and lost circulation. than the wellbore pressure in UBD; the pipe is pushed
away from the walls, eliminating differential sticking.
Lost Circulation
A problem often encountered in the drilling of a well is the Increased Rate of Penetration (ROP)
loss of unacceptably large amounts of drilling fluid into Underbalanced drilling operations exhibit significantly
subterranean formations penetrated by the well. This increased ROP than conventional overbalanced
problem is often referred to generally as "lost circulation" applications due to the decreased pressure at the bit head
and the formations into which the drilling fluid is lost are as shown in Figure (16) and (17). This can reduce drilling
often referred to as "lost circulation zones" or "thief time significantly in extended reach horizontal sections,
zones." Various causes may be responsible for the lost improve bit life, and may reduce drilling costs.
circulation encountered in the drilling of a well. For
example, a formation penetrated by the well may exhibit Figure (16) shows a comparision of drilling rate for gas
unusually high permeability or may contain fractures or and mud drilling. It is clear that drilling rate is quite high
crevices therein. In addition, a formation may simply not for gas drilling as compared to mud (overbalanced). A
be sufficiently competent to support the hydrostatic 10000 ft depth drilled with gas as drilling fluid takes
pressure applied by the drilling fluid and may break down almost 35days while mud drilling takes more than
under this hydrostatic pressure and allow the drilling fluid 130days. Similarly, figure (17) is showing a practical field
to flow thereinto. Mudcake developed during lost example where drilling fluid system is switched from air
circulation due to the deposition of particulate matter on to mud. We can see that drilling rate is reduced as we
the internal walls of the well against lost circulation zones, switch from air to mud drilling.
will stuck the drillpipe, another common drilling problem.
Figure (14) demonstrates the phnomenon of lost- UBD Provides a Rapid Indication of Productive
circulation. Reservoir Zones
Since the hydrostatic pressure of the circulating fluid
When lost circulation occurs, you need a fast, proven system in a truly Underbalanced operation is less than the
response to keep your drilling program and your well costs formation pressure to be drilled, a condition of net outflow
under control. Lost circulation can hinder and stall wellsite of formation fluids (oil, water or gas) should occure given
operations, adding greatly to the overall cost of drilling sufficient formation pressure and in-situe permeability.
and completing a well. Some times loss circulation can Proper flow monitoring of the produced fluids at surface
result in an extremely difficult well control situation and can provide a good indication of productive zones of the
sometimes-even lead to the abandonment of the well. reservoir and act as a valuable aid in the geosteering of the
well (if a horizontal application). Significant production of
These conventional drilling problems (lost liquid hydrocarbons (because gas is usually flared) during
circulation and pipe sticking) can be prevented or the drilling operation may provide some early cash
controlled by using Underbalanced drilling technique, netback to partially defer some of the additional costs
which involves no lost circulation, as long as associated with the UBD operation18.
Underbalanced condition is maintained.
Ability to Flow/Well Testing While Drilling
Differential Sticking Recently, several operators have taken advantage of the
Another common conventional drilling problem is flowing condition occuring during drilling Underbalanced
Differential sticking, a condition whereby the drill string to conduct either single or multirate drawdown tests to
cannot be moved (rotated or reciprocated) along the axis evaluate the productive capacity of the formation, and
SPE 114186 5
• Evaluate and characterize well productivity while Even though the cost of drilling Underbalanced
drilling. could be more expensive than conventional overbalanced
• Reduce nonproductive time (NPT). drilling, but due to the increased ROP and reduced
Results formation damage, UBD often turns out to be the more
• This dual-lateral well was the first of its kind in Libya cost-effective drilling technique as well.
to be drilled Underbalanced. Reservoir productivity
was improved by a factor of 4.5. Acknowledgement
• The job proceeded as planned, with a slight The author presents thanks to Almighty Allah to give him
increase in rate of penetration (ROP), compared courage to work on this paper and to all of his class
to ROP’s in conventionally drilled offset wells fellows for their cooperation. The author presents Special
and no formation damage. thanks to Mr. Maqsood Ahmed Malik, UBD/MPD
Operations Manager, FX Solutions Group, Pakistan, for
Surface Equipment for UBD Operations his help and guidance to prepare this paper. Finally, thanks
The surface equipment used during overbalanced drilling to SPE for giving him an honour to present at 2008 IPTC.
is not compromised during underbalanced drilling and
special closed loop surface equipment system is designed Nomenclature
to ensure the success of UBD operation as shown in figure CPD = Controlled Pressure Drilling
(18). UBD surface equipment involves: CO2 = Carbon Dioxide
• Drilling system E&P = Exploration and Production
ECD = Equivalent Circulating Density
• Gas Generation Equipment HCl = Hydro Chloric Acid
NPT = Nonproductive Time
• Well Control Equipment
PPG = Pounds Per Gallon
• Surface Separation Equipment PSI = Pounds Per Square Inch
ROP = Rate Of Penetration
Figure (19) shows a typical closed loop system used for
TVD = True Vertical Depth
UBD operation. Closed loop as name indicates means the
UBD = Underbalanced Drilling
drilling fluid is recirculated after processing at surface.
This also means that less waste is transferred to the
References
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2. Advanced Well Control TextBook, SPE Series Vol. 10.
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• Primarily, to safely manage the produced fluid at 3. “Air and Gas Drilling Manual”, Gulf Publishing Company,
surface within the expected flow rates and Houston (Lyons, W.C., 1984) 1-2, 115-123.
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5. Underbalanced Drilling and Completion Manual”, Maurer
fluid at surface for disposal, export and re- Engineering Inc., (1996).
injection into the well bore. 6. Kuwait Employs Underbalanced Drilling Technology to
• To accurately measure and analyze the fluid Improve Drilling Performance While Simultaneously
Evaluating the Reservoir, paper SPE/IADC 106681,
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• To introduce lift gas into the drilling fluid, Conference, Cairo, Egypt. (F. Larroque, A.M. Al-Saleh, H.
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7. “Strong Growth Projected for Underbalanced Drilling”, Oil
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Conclusions Deskins, W.G., 23 September 1996) 67.
A good understanding of the conventional overbalanced 8. Advanced Drilling Solutions: Lessons from the FSU, SPE
drilling problems would lead the operators to carefully Series Vol. 2. (Yekov Gelfgat, Mikhail Gelfgat, and Yori
design the drilling operation. A properly designed and Lopatin).
executed Underbalanced drilling program, if feasible, is 9. “Formation Damage-The impairment of the invisible, by
still the best way to significantly reduce Formation the inevitable and uncontrolable, resulting in an
damage, lost circulation and differential sticking. UBD indeterminate reduction of the unquantifiable”, JCPT.
allows the gathering of valuable data required for the (Bennion, D. B., Feb 1999).
10. “Underbalanced Drilling of Horizontal Wells: Does it really
proper assessment of economical oil and gas reserves
Eliminate Formation Damage”, SPE paper 27352, presented
(reservoir evaluation while drilling), and enhance at SPE International forum on Formation Damage Control,
productivity by surrounding the well bore with and an Lafayette, LA. (Bennion, D. B. and Thomas, F. B., Feb 7-
environment that is conductive to maximum performance, 10, 1994).
therefore enhancing the productivity and the use of special 11. Formation Damage in Production and Injection Wells -
surface equipment reduces the risks associated with UBD. What is it and Why Should I Care? SPE Distinguished
Lecturer Series (D. Brant Bennion, 2000-2001).
SPE 114186 7
Figure (4)
Figure (1)
Figure (5)
Figure (2)
Figure (6)
Figure (3)
SPE 114186 9
Figure (7)
Figure (10)
Figure (8)
Figure (11)
Figure (9)
Figure (12)
10 SPE 114186
Figure (13)
Figure (16)
Figure (17)
Figure (14)
Figure (15)
SPE 114186 11
Figure (18)
Figure (19)