Casing Drilling with Retrievable Drilling Assemblies

Warren, T.M.; Tessari, Robert; Houtchens, Bruce

doi:10.4043/16564-ms

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Mechanical solutions include expandable liners (Filippov et al 1999;Lohoefer et al 2000;Perez-Roca et al 2003;Abouelnaaj et al 2013), and casing/liner drilling (Shepard et al 2002;Warren et al 2004;Karimi et al 2011). The mechanical solutions often come at the end of the solution list due to the high cost associated with them as well as the required logistics limitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Laboratory Evaluation of Sealing Wide Fractures Using Conventional Lost Circulation Materials

et al. 2014

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Preventing or mitigating fluid losses caused by the presence of natural fractures is a major challenge faced by operators when drilling exploratory wells in the Barents Sea. Natural fractures widths vary significantly which makes it difficult to design treatments using conventional lost circulation materials (LCM's). Different solutions have been used to overcome this problem, such as chemical sealants, hydratable LCM's pills, rigid-plugs and cement. This study intends to expand the usage of conventional LCM's in sealing wide fractures.Experimental evaluation of LCM's is a crucial step prior to field application. Currently, particle plugging apparatus is often used to evaluate LCM's performance using straight slots or tapered slots by applying a constant pressure and measuring the fluid loss. However, fluid loss values are not a good measure of the formed seal integrity. Therefore, another means of evaluating LCM's performances is required. In this work LCM sealing efficiency was defined as the seal/bridge maximum breakdown pressure. The tests were conducted on a fit-for-purpose apparatus designed to evaluate the performance of LCM's by measuring the sealing efficiency under high pressures (10,000 psi) and temperatures.This paper presents an extensive laboratory evaluation to investigate the feasibility of sealing wide fractures using conventional LCM's. The ability of different LCM's in sealing fractures was evaluated using a set of tapered slot sizes up to 2000 microns fracture width. Four different types of conventional LCM with 13 different particle sizes (D50) and one new foam wedge based LCM were investigated. A total of 200 tests were run to investigate the effect of different parameters on the overall performance of both conventional and unconventional LCM. These parameters include LCM's type, concentration, tapered slot size, particle size distribution (PSD), temperature, and injection rate. Ground walnut shell showed a superior performance in sealing large fractures (sealing pressure up to 2200 psi) when used as a concentrated pill. Microscopic studies revealed that this performance is due to the ability of these materials to deform and plug fractures under elevated pressure. However, selecting the right LCM concentration is critical to avoid screen out at the fracture openings. Unconventional LCM used in this study was able to seal fractures up to 5 mm where conventional LCM failed to seal. Laboratory procedures to evaluate high fluid loss squeezes by means of hesitation squeeze were developed and recommended injection rates were determined. This research highlights the different factors affecting LCM sealing efficiency and seal integrity. A full understanding of the factors contributing to successful treatments for sealing fractures is very important. Appropriate laboratory evaluation of LCM treatments is an important step prior to field application. The authors believe that a better understanding of these factors will improve the way LCM treatments are designed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Laboratory Evaluation of Sealing Wide Fractures Using Conventional Lost Circulation Materials

et al. 2014

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“…For example, permeable pay sands with pore pressures as low as 2.4 ppg have been drilled with 15 ppg mud without seeing any adverse affects on drilling performance. 22 Given these benefits observed with conventional casing programs, it is natural to utilize them to reduce the number of strings of casing use in the well design.…”

Section: Field Examples Demonstrating Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drilling with Casing Reduces Cost and Risk

Warren¹,

Houtchens²,

Tessari³

2006

Proceedings of SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition

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“…Here, we are going to briefly discuss lessons learned from Casing Drilling operation around the world. Implementing Casing Drilling in the Lobo field in south Texas could prevent well control problems associated with the lost circulations as well as improving gas production in another field through less fluid invasion (Warren and Tessari, 2004). Several tests performed both on land and offshore Brazil, where those runs were targeted to overcome borehole stability and loss circulation zones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most reported benefits associated with Casing Drilling is that it can significantly reduce the lost circulation problems. The wellbore plastering effect of the Casing Drilling offers the possibility to drill depleted zones with less formation damages (Warren and Tessari, 2004). Plastering effect also enhances the pressure containment of the wellbore by smearing the drill cuttings in to the formation pore spaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Annular Pressure Losses while Casing Drilling

Dokhani

Shahri

Karimi

et al. 2013

Day 1 Mon, September 30, 2013

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Casing Drilling is an innovative drilling method wherein the well is drilled and cased simultaneously. The small annulus of Casing Drilling can create a controllable dynamic ECD (Equivalent Circulating Density). Casing Drilling technology permits the same desired ECD as conventional drilling to be achieved using a lower, but optimized, flow rate, rheological properties, and mud weight. In this paper, the frictional pressure loss during Casing Drilling operation is evaluated using Computational Fluid Dynamics. Annular pressure losses have received substantial attention in theoretical analyses, laboratory assessment and actual well measurements. Combinations of casing motion, annular eccentricities, wall roughness and fluid temperatures along the length of the annulus affect fluid flow regimes that control annular pressure losses. Current analytical solutions have limited applicability for complex conditions with pipe rotation and eccentricity. In this study, the pressure losses during Casing Drilling operation are investigated using computational fluid dynamics. The results are compared against the available analytical solution and field data. The effect of pipe rotation and eccentricity on the frictional pressure loss is investigated as well. According to the simulation results, the pipe rotation reduces the frictional pressure loss for Yield-Power-law fluid which would be beneficiary during the casing drilling operation. It is found that the pipe eccentricity has a significant effect on the ECD calculation. The industry is moving towards more challenging jobs in narrow pressure window scenarios such as deep-water and HPHT applications. Drilling with casing/liner is among the primary options to complete these sections due to strengthening effects associated with plastering the wellbore wall and also eliminating conventional drill pipe trip. Having accurate models for ECD including the effects of pipe rotation and eccentricity in the narrow annulus is essential to the success of these challenging jobs.

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Casing Drilling with Retrievable Drilling Assemblies

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Laboratory Evaluation of Sealing Wide Fractures Using Conventional Lost Circulation Materials

Laboratory Evaluation of Sealing Wide Fractures Using Conventional Lost Circulation Materials

Drilling with Casing Reduces Cost and Risk

Evaluation of Annular Pressure Losses while Casing Drilling

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