Field and Experimental Investigations on the Effect of Reservoir Drill-In Fluids on Penetration Rate and Drilling Cost in Horizontal Wells

Abstract

In this study, the reservoir drill-in fluid (RDF) was modified and optimized to improve the rheological properties and reduce the filtration properties of the drilling fluid used for drilling the oil-bearing zone horizontally. In polymer science, degradation generally refers to a complex process, by which a polymeric material exposed to the environment and workload loses its original properties. Degradation is usually an unwanted process. In certain cases, however, controlled polymer degradation is useful. For instance, it can improve the processability of the polymer or can be used in recycling or natural decomposition of waste polymer. Thus, the drilling fluid and parameter data of 30 horizontal wells that were drilled in the south of Iraq were collected using several reservoir drill-in fluids (RDFs), including FLOPRO, salt polymer mud (SPM), non-damaged fluid (NDF), and FLOPRO_PTS-200 (including the polymer thermal stabilizer). The obtained results showed that the polymer temperature stabilizer (PTS-200) enabled reducing the filtration rate by 44.33% and improved the rheological properties by 19.31% as compared with FLOPRO. Additionally, the average cost of NDF and SPM drilling fluids for drilling the horizontal section of the selected wells is around USD 96,000 and USD 91,000, respectively. However, FLOPRO-based drilling fluid showed less cost for drilling the horizontal section, which is USD 45,000.

An optimization model for monthly time-step drilling schedule under planned field production

“…Research on the relationship between economics and drilling has advanced significantly. Earlier studies have explored methods to optimize drilling scheduling concerning placement and timing [ 10 ]. In fact [ 11 ], highlighted that various combinatorial problems, particularly those involving scheduling and allocation, could be formulated as linear integer programming problems.…”

The Application Potential of Artificial Intelligence and Numerical Simulation in the Research and Formulation Design of Drilling Fluid Gel Performance

“…Early drilling fluids had simple chemical compositions and lacked functionality. The introduction of polymer science, nanoscience [ 3 ], colloid and interface chemistry, and supramolecular chemistry has diversified the types of additives, enhancing the specificity and functionality of drilling fluids [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. As a dispersed system, the performance of drilling fluids stems from interactions between chemical substances, primarily non-covalent bonds.…”

Dependency of Pressure Expression towards Formation Pressures during Drilling Operations in Hydrocarbon Wells and Suitable Choice of Pressure Control Method

“…With each of the options, the most important thing is the correct calculation of the values in the kill sheet, the ICP and FCP values. To achieve better filtration and rheological properties, it is advisable to create an optimal drilling fluid (e.g., use of a polymer temperature stabilizer) [23,24].…”