Laboratory Development of a Novel, Synthetic Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling and Gravel-Pack Fluid System That Allows Simultaneous Gravel-Packing and Cake-Cleanup in Open-Hole Completions

Price-Smith, C.; Parlar, Mehmet; Kelkar, Shrihari Kishor; Brady, M.E.; Hoxha, Besmir Buranaj; Tibbles, Raymond; Foxenberg, B.

doi:10.2118/64399-ms

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Such a system has recently been discussed in the literature. [7][8][9]17 The results presented in these papers indicate that cake dissolution can be achieved with such a process if an invertable RDF is used, providing increased retained permeabilities and decreased flow initiation pressures. Furthermore, the time scales for inducing high losses can be controlled such that losses (due to rapid cake dissolution) will not occur during gravel packing, but cake dissolution will be completed within the time scales of a roundtrip (involving pulling out of the hole with the work string and running in to the hole with production tubing).…”

Section: Gravel Packing With Oil-based Carrier Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The WB-GP fluid is a viscoelastic surfactant solution that incorporates the same type of dissolution chemicals as discussed earlier to both invert the emulsion in the filtercake and dissolve CaCO 3 particles during gravel packing. [7][8][9]17 We next discuss the factors that should be kept in mind when deciding between an Oil-Based and a Water-Based GP carrier fluid in wells drilled with S/OB-RDFs, and present our recommendations.…”

Section: Gravel Packing With Oil-based Carrier Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the latter approach is feasible with shuntpacking because this method does not rely on either the cake or the formation properties, as demonstrated through both large scale yard testing under extreme leakoff conditions and field applications, 2, 14-15 a better approach would be to gravel pack and cleanup the cake simultaneously. Such an approach has recently been proposed, 7,9,17 as an extension of the simultaneous gravel packing and cake cleanup approach proposed 16,18 and practiced successfully in 7 horizontal open hole completions for water-based RDFs (three of which have been documented 10,19 ) to S/OB-RDFs. We will describe this approach and give data on flow back characteristics of a S/OB-RDF filtercake through gravel packs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

et al. 2001

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Open-hole horizontal wells are increasingly used to improve reservoir exploitation and production rates by targeting specific zones and maximizing reservoir exposure. The drilling fluid of choice in many of these wells is "oil based" due to enhanced drilling rates with minimized friction as well as improved wellbore stability. However, in horizontal wells requiring gravel packs, the industry in general has been reluctant to use OB reservoir drilling fluids (RDF) for various reasons. Because the gravel pack (GP) carrier fluids that have been successfully used to date are all water-based and the use of OB-RDF would necessitate displacement of open hole to WB fluids prior to GP, the practice has been to switch to WB-RDF once in the reservoir section. This was due to concerns as to adverse fluid-fluid interactions resulting in sludging and difficulty in maintaining filtercake integrity while displacing OB-RDF in the open hole, leading to complex fluid management issues. An additional factor has been the perception that WB-RDF filtercakes are easier to remove should it be necessary, since most commonly used cleanup chemicals are water-based and the weighting/bridging agents used in the RDF are also water-wet if the RDF is water-based. In this paper, we present results from experiments conducted with OB-RDFs in the presence of gravel packs. We investigate two scenarios:the gravel pack carrier fluid is water-based, andthe gravel-pack carrier fluid is oil-based. In the first case, provided that no sludges are formed during displacement to water-based fluids, the retained permeabilities are comparable to or better than those obtained with WB-RDFs, although values lower than 0.04% can be expected in the presence of sludging. Another issue relevant to gravel packing wells drilled with OB-RDFs is the yield strength of their filtercakes in comparison to WB-RDFs. It is found through yield stress measurements of various RDF cakes that OB-RDFs have several orders of magnitude lower yield strength than their WB counterparts. This finding is consistent with the reported lower flow initiation pressures for OB-RDFs, and indicates that cake erosion during gravel packing is more likely with OB-RDFs. In order to optimize the sequence of fluids to obtain a good displacement of the RDF at field scale, we use a purpose-built numerical simulator. This simulator is a fluids mechanics code that can accurately calculate displacement fronts in field conditions: eccentric deviated annulus with as many fluids as necessary. Its main use is to detect unstable displacements such as channeling of the displacing fluid on the wide side of the annulus or slumping in horizontal portions. Furthermore, we provide data on a new oil-based gravel pack carrier fluid that can be used to eliminate fluid incompatibility and fluid management issues associated with the switch from OB to WB fluids. The laboratory and large-scale yard test results are presented, addressing critical considerations for oil-based GP carrier fluids. It is found that such emulsion systems can thicken or break (depending on the emulsifier concentration) at high shear rates unless the emulsion is made at the highest shear that it will be exposed to. The implications of these results on field practices are discussed along with recommendations on avoiding damage in gravel packed wells drilled with oil-based RDFs.

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Section: Gravel Packing With Oil-based Carrier Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Gravel Packing With Oil-based Carrier Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

et al. 2001

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“…Once the filter cake is water-wet, it can be easily removed with standard water-based breaker treatment, even through gravel packs, which by their very nature, normally restrict filter cake lift-off. 10 The result is minimal formation damage and optimized production rate. Also, the reversible invert emulsion RDF has shown to be exceptionally effective for water-injection wells and is especially beneficial in removing the soluble bridging agents used in some screen-completions.…”

Section: Reversible Reservoir Drill-in Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Opportunities for the Drilling Industry Through Innovative Emulsifier Chemistry

Patel¹,

Ali

2003

All Days

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractAs the drilling industry operates in more stringent environmental constraints and conservative economical environment, the industry is poised to take advantage of innovative emulsifiers for new opportunities in solving the environmental problems and offer economical advantages over conventional invert emulsion drilling fluids. We have developed various innovative invert emulsion drilling fluids using novel emulsifiers. These systems provide a quantum leap in new drilling fluid technology in solving environmental problems while offering economical advantages over conventional invert emulsion drilling fluids.Since, the inception of invert emulsion drilling fluids decades ago, emulsifier technology for these systems has not advanced much. The focal points in development in past history have been in base fluids, O/W ratios and some in weight materials, however very little has been changed in emulsifier chemistry. Only step-changes in technology have been achieved with changes in base-fluids and other parameters of invert emulsion drilling fluids. It is time to move on. Using innovative emulsifier chemistry has produced novel invert emulsion fluids, which address the environmental as well as performance and cost-related issues in drilling operations.This paper discusses the systematic design, development and testing of novel emulsifiers for innovative invert emulsion drilling fluids. The overall impact of manipulation of emulsifier chemistry in invert emulsion drilling fluids to meet the environmental and functional requirements of drilling operation is presented. The formulations and applications of lime-free high temperature invert emulsion drilling fluid, negative alkalinity ester-based fluid, and reversible invert emulsion drilling fluids in laboratory experiments as well as field trials are highlighted.

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“…Although there are several recent techniques that allow water-based gravel packing of wells drilled with S/OB fluids with a single trip approach, the potential of reactive shales mixing with gravel during the packing process as well as potential damage in water-sensitive formations (in the event that the carrier fluid is lost into the formation due to cake erosion/lift-off) remain as valid concerns. The oil-based gravel packing fluid detailed in earlier publications [11][12][13][14] addresses the concerns with regard to reactive shales as well as eliminating the requirement for a two-trip approach, saving valuable rig time and providing means for an all-oil drilling and completion system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open-Hole Horizontal Drilling and Gravel-Packing With Oil-Based Fluids - An Industry Milestone

Wagner

Webb²,

Maharaj³

et al. 2004

All Days

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fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractAn increasing number of horizontal wells requiring sand control are being gravel packed, particularly in deep-water and/or sub-sea environments, where completion reliability is paramount due to prohibitively high cost of remediation. Tophole sections in many of these wells are being drilled with oilbased fluids, with the common practice of switching to waterbased fluids when the reservoir drilling starts. In the last several years, some operators started using oil-based drilling fluids in the reservoir section as well, and gravel packed them with water-based fluids. In some cases, these practices required running pre-drilled liners in oil-based fluids, and subsequently displacing to water-based fluids, prior to running in hole with the sand-face screens and gravel packing. In other instances, screens could be run in hole with oil-based fluids in the wellbore, and gravel packing could be performed with water-based fluids. In both cases, the presence of reactive shales and/or water-sensitive productive zone can introduce serious concern in the event that the carrier fluid losses occur into the formation during gravel packing. Although a base-oil or diesel can be used as a carrier fluid, low density of the base oil limits such applications to low-pressure/depleted wells.In this paper, we present a case history of the first successful application of drilling and completing in an all oil environment, utilizing a reversible oil-based reservoir drilling fluid and an oil-based gravel packing fluid. The carrier fluid used in this application included a filtercake cleanup solution in the aqueous internal phase of the oil-based carrier fluid, extending the application of simultaneous gravel packing and cake cleanup processes that have been successfully practiced in water-based fluid environments, to oil-based systems. The subject application was in a high-rate gas field located offshore Trinidad, with anticipated production rates in excess of 150 MMSCFD per well. Presented in the paper is the drilling and completion selection methodology based on extensive laboratory and yard testing, along with the details of the completion and recommendations for future applications based on lessons learned. A direct comparison of the all-oil drilling and completion process to water-based drilling and completion is also presented based on a case history from the same field.

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Laboratory Development of a Novel, Synthetic Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling and Gravel-Pack Fluid System That Allows Simultaneous Gravel-Packing and Cake-Cleanup in Open-Hole Completions

Cited by 25 publications

References 13 publications

Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

Use of Oil-Based Reservoir Drilling Fluids in Open-Hole Horizontal Gravel-Packed Completions: Damage Mechanisms and How to Avoid Them

New Opportunities for the Drilling Industry Through Innovative Emulsifier Chemistry

Open-Hole Horizontal Drilling and Gravel-Packing With Oil-Based Fluids - An Industry Milestone

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