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The selection of a drill bit is an essential issue in well planning. Furthermore, identification and evaluation of sedimentary rocks before well drilling plays a crucial role in choosing the drill bit. Moreover, the Markov chain as a stochastic model is one of the powerful methods for identifying lithological units, which is based on the calculation of the transition probability matrix or transition matrix. The Markov chain experiences transitions from one state (a situation or set of values) to another according to specified probabilistic rules. In this paper, the Markov chain was implemented for bit selection in a formation with different sedimentary facies (such as the Dashtak Formation). Therefore, the proper drill bit was proposed by utilizing the transition matrix of rock facies and the available bits. This process was carried out in two wells where the thicknesses of the Dashtak Formation are 960 meters and 1410 meters. Consequently, the results indicate that the Markov chain is a practical method for selecting bits in a sequence of rock facies based on an acceptable matching between the reality mode (the used bits in the well) and the Markov chain results. Besides, in the case of using an improper bit in a well, and using a bit in a washing and reaming operation, there were differences between the used bits and the Markov chain outputs.

Gas-lift dual gradient drilling (DGD) is a solution for the complex problems caused by narrow drilling windows in deepwater drilling. Investigations are lacking on using oil-based drilling fluid in DGD, which is the principal novel idea of the present study. This research compares the results obtained from two new models with those of Standing’s correlations for solubility and bubble point pressure. Nitrogen was selected as the injection gas, then the PVT behavior of drilling fluid (oil/water/Nitrogen) in gas-lift DGD was evaluated and compared by coding in MATLAB. Then, these results were used to calculate the bottom hole pressure and finally investigate the optimization of injected gas flow rate. According to the achieved results, the Standing model has some errors in evaluating the PVT behavior of “Nitrogen and oil-based drilling fluids” and is not recommended for the mixtures in the gas-lift DGD. Regarding optimizing gas flow rate, a discrepancy was observed between pressure values obtained from the new models and the Standing model for the case of high liquid flow rates at low gas flow rates because of the difference in PVT parameters. The developed codes are deposited on an online data repository for future users. This study lays the foundation for better planning of drilling in deepwater drilling projects.