Micro-Flux Control Method Combined With Surface BOP Creates Enabling Opportunity For Deepwater And Offshore Drilling

Santos, Hélio; Reid, P.; Leuchtenberg, Christian; Jones, Jack W.; Lage, Antonio; Nogueira, E.F.; Kozicz, John

doi:10.4043/17451-ms

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The MFC method has been described in previous publications (Santos et al , 2005, and only a brief summary is given here. The MFC is a closed-loop system based on detecting either a fluid gain or fluid loss and keeping the volumes of either event as small as possible (a microinflux or micro-outflux).…”

Section: The Mfc Methods In Deep Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Deepwater Drilling Made More Efficient and Cost-Effective Using the Microflux Control Method and an Ultralow Invasion Fluid to Open the Mud-Weight Window

Santos

McCaskill²,

Kinder

et al. 2007

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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A common major challenge in deepwater drilling is the narrow margin between pore pressure and fracture gradient. In many basins, deepwater wells are becoming even more challenging, with subsalt and deeper horizons introducing problems that can lead to well abandonment before the target depth (TD) is reached. The key to drilling these wells safely and cost-effectively is to use technologies, methods, and procedures that allow the mud-weight window to be widened.This paper describes two technologies that, when combined, can widen the effective mud-weight window significantly. One is the Micro-Flux Control (MFC) method. This is a closed-loop drilling system that allows the safe use of a mud weight as close as possible to the pore pressure. The other technology is an ultralow invasion-drilling fluid (ULIF) that increases the leakoff pressure of the openhole section, thereby opening the mud-weight window. Several field cases involving the drilling fluid are described, with increases of more than 1.5 lbm/gal in the leakoff pressure observed in wells in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).Results obtained with the MFC method at a test facility in the USA are described. These show the ability of the method to deal very effectively with any influx or loss.Significant operational savings have already been obtained with the drilling fluid. However, the combination of the two technologies will produce a step change in safety, technical capability, and economics in many deepwater operations.

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Section: The Mfc Methods In Deep Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Deepwater Drilling Made More Efficient and Cost-Effective Using the Microflux Control Method and an Ultralow Invasion Fluid to Open the Mud-Weight Window

Santos

McCaskill²,

Kinder

et al. 2007

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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show abstract

“…The MFC method has been described in previous publications [6][7][8] and only a brief decription is given here. MFC is an advanced, automated closed-loop system based on detecting either a fluid gain or fluid loss, and keeping the volumes of either event as small as possible -a microinflux or micro-outflux.…”

Section: Micro-flux Control (Mfc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing and Automating Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling with the Micro-Flux Control Method

Santos

Muir

Sonnemann

et al. 2008

SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition

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Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD) is a drilling technique that has been used for over seven years in many wells where conventional drilling proved impossible or uneconomic 1-5 . PMCD is typically used to drill fractured carbonates, where the pore and fluid loss gradient are virtually the same, resulting in total mud losses and kicks in the same hole section. However, it is not restricted to just carbonates, it can be used on any fractured rock that is very competent in respect to wellbore stability, or formations prone to severe to total loss with good wellbore stability characteristic.Traditional PMCD typically requires the periodic injection of sometimes large volumes of weighted mud into the annulus in order to maintain a reliable mud cap. The process is highly cyclical, often unpredictable, and can be prohibitively expensive. The process also requires highly skilled and experienced people to run it properly, an increasingly rare commodity these days.Use of the Micro-Flux Control (MFC) method with PMCD could permit the process to be automated and controlled to a much higher level of accuracy, allowing less experienced people to confidently run the system. While continuously injecting across the wellhead, and using delta flow as the control variable, the casing backpressure would be monitored. Casing pressure increases, indicating a loss of mud cap fluid downhole, would be automatically controlled by precise adjustment of the continuous delta flow, together with pressure monitoring, rather than by periodic injection of large volumes of fresh mud cap fluid. This paper will briefly describe the MFC method, rig up details and operational issues. It will also describe how to apply the procedure to automate and operationally enhance PMCD, explaining the benefits when compared

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The Analysis of Applications of Micro-flux Control Drilling Technology in Narrow Density Window Drilling Scenarios

Jiang

Zhou

Liu

et al. 2014

Procedia Engineering

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Micro-Flux Control Method Combined With Surface BOP Creates Enabling Opportunity For Deepwater And Offshore Drilling

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Deepwater Drilling Made More Efficient and Cost-Effective Using the Microflux Control Method and an Ultralow Invasion Fluid to Open the Mud-Weight Window

Deepwater Drilling Made More Efficient and Cost-Effective Using the Microflux Control Method and an Ultralow Invasion Fluid to Open the Mud-Weight Window

Optimizing and Automating Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling with the Micro-Flux Control Method

The Analysis of Applications of Micro-flux Control Drilling Technology in Narrow Density Window Drilling Scenarios

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