RECOMMENDED PRACTICES

LOT, PIT, CASING TEST

CASING TEST
1. Run in drill string and bit, up to the top of
the cement.
2. Break circulation and clear cement up to
top of float collar.
3. Circulate and condition the mud.
4. Test the casing at 80% of the burst
rating of the casing..
Test duration is 15 minutes. It is
considered positive if drop in pressure is
not more than 5 %.

PROCEDURE OF SHOE TEST(SIT)

This test is carried out to determine the
competence of cement job around the
shoe.
Pull the drill bit in side the casing.
Close pipe ram BOP and Kelly cock.
Hook up cementing unit with Kill line.
Flush the BOP stack, kill and choke lines
with water.
Close gate valve on choke line.

Calculate

the shoe test pressure. This is

the sum of surface pressure and the
hydrostatic pressure of the fluid being used
during the test. It should be equal to the
hydrostatic pressure at the shoe of the
heaviest mud that will be used in the well
before running the next string of casing.
Pump steadily at a rate of one litre per
second till the time test pressure at shoe is
reached, plot the increase in surface
pressure against volume pumped. (For
plotting the graph see leak off test).

If

the shoe is hermetical, the plot will be linear.

Hold the required test pressure for 15 min. The
shoe is considered OK if the pressure does not
fall more than 10% of the test pressure during
this time.
Release the pressure through choke line, and
measure the volume of fluid recovered and
compare this with the volume pumped. Both
the volumes should be almost equal.
Open kelly cock.
In case the shoe does not hold the required
pressure, squeeze cement and repeat all the
above procedure for testing shoe.

PRESSURE INTEGRITY TEST (PIT)

A

pressure integrity test is essentially a

measurement of the strength of the
formation.
It is important to know the pressure
integrity of down hole formations when
planning and drilling a well. The wellplanning process uses pressure integrities
to calculate formation fracture gradients.
Critical drilling decisions such as casing
setting depths, mud weights, and well
control alternatives are based on these
values.

PROCEDURE OF CONDUCTING PIT

The same basic procedure is used in all PITs:
a BOP is closed and fluid is slowly pumped
into the well. At a certain pressure, the pump
is stopped. Shut-in pressure is monitored for a
short-time to check for leaks, then is released.
The data are plotted and interpreted to
determine the formation pressure integrity.

LEAK OFF TEST

A

Leak off test is conducted to determine the

pressure at which formation begins to leak.
It also establishes the integrity of cement at
the casing shoe.
Performed after casing is set & cemented.

WHY LEAK OFF TEST ?

To

confirm the strength of cement bond

around casing shoe.
To determine the capacity of exposed
formation to withstand the pressure in
excess of mud hydrostatic. This help in
assessing the severity of kick that can be
safely controlled without fracturing the
formation.
To determine the max. allowable surface
pressure (MASP) for controlling a kick
without fracturing the formation at shoe.

LEAK OFF TEST (FUNDAMENTALS)

During

a leak off test, pressure is applied

at constant, low pump rate to the
formation until small fractures are created.
When this occurs, whole mud enters the
formation via the fractures and the rate of
pressure increase at surface decreases.
The pressure at which fracture initiation
occurs is the Leak off pressure.
When pressure is released, the fractures
will close.

REQUIREMENTS FOR LOT

A

low volume, high pressure pump.

An accurate calibrated pressure gauge.
Accurate volume measurement.
Clean & uniform mud is required.
All surface equipment, pressure tested to
ensure leak free operation.
A LOT chart, designed to allow data
recording & interpretation.

LEAK OFF TEST PROCEDURE

Drill

out cement, shoe & 10-15 feet of new

hole.
Circulate out cement & cuttings. Line up
cementing unit.
Pull the bit in the casing shoe & close
annular BOP or pipe rams.
Open annulus between casing strings.

Pump

into the well with cementing unit in

increments of to barrel. Wait each
time for pressure to stabilize.
Simultaneously plot pressure v/s total vol.
pumped for each increment.
Continue pumping until the plotted curve
begins to flatten.
Once leak off indications are noticed,
continue to pump at constant rate to
confirm.

Stop

pumping immediately, when flatten curve

shows decline or a sudden pressure drop occurs.

Release

pressure & measure the volume of fluid

lost to the well, so as to ensure whether leak-off
has occurred or not. Volume of return mud
should be almost equal to the volume of mud
pumped.

Pressure

so recorded plus the hydrostatic

pressure at casing shoe TVD is the sub surface
leak off pressure.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Do

not keep the pressure and volume

data for plotting later on. This may lead to
over pumping and formation breakdown.
The surface pressure should not exceed
80% of the burst pressure of casing.

FORMATION LEAK-OFF PRESSURE =

Surface leak-off pressure + Hydrostatic pr.
At casing shoe.
Ex: Casing Shoe depth = 8000 ft (TVD)
Mud Weight = 10 ppg
LOT Pressure = 1200 PSI
Find out formation leak off pressure & LOT
value?

Formation Leak-off Pressure

=1,200 + (10x.052x8000)
= 5,360 PSI
LOT Value (Max. Mud Weight)
= 5360 / (8000x.052)
= 12.88 PPG
10 x LOT Pressure at shoe (in kg/cm2)
MW max =
Depth of casing shoe (in metres)
( 8.33 PPG = 1 Sp.Gr. In gm/cc, 14.2 PSI = 1 Kg/cm2,
feet = 1 m)

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