First Application of Thermal Activated Resin as Unconventional LCM in the Middle East

Abstract

One of the major challenges when drilling gas wells in offshore fields is to drill under high pressure and in a loss circulation zone in intermediate hole sections. Heavy mud is used to control the pore pressure in a narrow operational window that creates losses and, as a consequence, well control issues. Several solutions/ideas have been implemented while drilling this intermediate section, including a thermal-activated resin, rigid rapid fluid treatment, used to regain full circulation and successfully increase the window gradient. The solution to these challenges was developed by designing a fast setting, thermal-activated resin LCM liquid plug with a density equal to 152 pcf. This new treatment slurry was able to be bullheaded and displaced with a polymer mud 152 pcf. The slurry was easily pumped through drill pipe, measurement while drilling (MWD) and drill bits. This paper presents case histories and field applications of this novel polymer-based lost circulation material, for successful treatment of heavy mud losses to formation in wells in offshore gas fields in the Middle East. The paper also includes a discussion of the methodology, material properties and applications.

Comprehensive Review of Sealant Materials for Leakage Remediation Technology in Geological CO2 Capture and Storage Process

“…Its curing process should be activated by temperature. 28 Through regulating the initiation of the reaction and curing period, TAR can be applied to formations with different temperatures. TAR has a low viscosity so that it could penetrate in depth the formations and plug tiny leakage channels.…”

“…TAR has a low viscosity so that it could penetrate in depth the formations and plug tiny leakage channels. In addition, various additional agents are demanded during the TAR production process, 28 such as accelerators, inhibitors, initiators, and so on.…”

“…Therefore, LockCem cement performs better in real oil field operations. Knudsen et al 28 described the applications of a fast setting TAR system that successfully remediated the severe mud leakages in the reservoir of wells in the Middle East gas fields. Pilot results showed the sealant could be bullheaded and injected with a polymer mud with a density of 2435 kg/m 3 through the drill pipe.…”

Types of Permanent Plugging Materials

“…The history of thermosetting polymers for use in petroleum industry goes back to the 1960s when resins were suggested for remediating sand production [42]. Since then, they have been proposed and used for mud-loss control, remedial operations particularly for sealing tight channels, casing leaks, perforations and shoe and liner top squeezes, sand control, and production of resin-based cement [4,41,[43][44][45]. As each wellbore is unique with respect to depth, downhole pressure and temperature, inclination, wellbore geometry, and formation strength, a range of additive materials are necessary to obtain the appropriate rheological and mechanical properties for thermosetting polymers.…”

A semi-analytical approach to model drilling fluid leakage into fractured formation

“…One procedure to encounter and mitigate this problem is to add lost circulation material (LCM) to the drilling fluid. LCM is commonly used in drilling applications to reduce and stop lost circulation (Attong et al 1995;Ali et al 1997;Olsen et al 2019;Knudsen et al 2015). The fluid characteristics of LCM, such as density and viscosity, should be carefully selected based on the formation of hydraulic properties such as the conductivity of the thief layers and fractures, among other factors (Luzardo et al 2015;Wang et al 2020;Okoro et al 2020;He and Bu 2020).…”