MPD Makes Possible to Drill and Trip Out of the Hole in a Gas Well With a Combination of a Narrow Mud Weight Window and a Serious Ballooning Effect

Tirado, G. R.; Lupo, Corrado Pier Maria; Beltran, Juan Carlos; Duno, Hermogenes; Iturrios, Carlos; Gallo, J. F.; Hernandez, T.; Centeno, Manuel

doi:10.2118/143104-ms

Cited by 3 publications

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The Use of Single and Multi-Phase MPD and UBD Techniques on Numerous Wells and Hole Sections Have Made it Possible to Drill the Un-Drillable in Mexico

et al. 2014

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The first commercial discovery of oil in Mexico took place in 1904, with the Pez-1 well located in the area of Ébano, San Luis Potosí. This well produced 1,500 barrels per day of crude oil. At the time, any well producing one tenth of this production was considered a great findthroughout the world. Conventional overbalanced techniques were used to drill oil and gas wells in Mexico to control reservoir pressures and the mechanical stability of rocks where different formations intersected. It wasn’t until 1995 that PEMEX began to implement near/underbalanced drilling (UBD) techniques with the primary intent of drilling depleted reservoirs. Later on, managed pressure drilling (MPD) was implemented as a solution in several of the Mexico oil pay zones to overcome operational problems such as fluid losses, differential sticking, and influx events induced not only by the narrow margin operating window, but also the high frictional pressure losses due to increasingly complex wellbore geometries. Years ago, these hole sections were drilled conventionally, but the constant influxes and subsequent partial and/or total losses of circulation during the well control events made feasible alternative techniques mandatory to reach section TD without influx/loss events. Single and multi-phase MPD techniques are now widely used across most all Mexico fields and have become a standard in well operations, unlike a few years ago when the technology was considered new. These techniques are used effectively to overcome operational problems in high pressure, high temperature (HPHT), high pressure, low temperature (HPLT) and low pressure, high temperature (LPHT) wells in deep reservoirs, delivering success by avoiding NPT and by successfully reaching planned TD. Today Mexico is encountering a stage of MPD deployment that involves the use of state-of-the-art single andmulti-phase MPD techniques and UBD. Combined with dedicated engineering support, this approach has provided an increased level of safety and performance, and in some cases, allowed realtime formation evaluation through bottomholeprecise bottomhole pressure management with surface backpressure and nitrogen gas injection systems. This paper summarizes the single and multi-phase MPD and UBD techniques performed on more than 400 complex and diverse hole sections in Mexico oil and gas basins, both exploration and development fields. Highly complex, specialized applications, such as foamed mud and concentric casing nitrogen injection drilling, will also be discussed.

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The Use of Single and Multi-Phase MPD and UBD Techniques on Numerous Wells and Hole Sections Have Made it Possible to Drill the Un-Drillable in Mexico

et al. 2014

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MPD and MPC Successfully Applied to Deliver a Defying Exploratory Ultra-HPHT Well in Offshore Malaysia

et al. 2015

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SDX was an exploration well drilled on a jack-up rig, which was located offshore on the west side of the Malay basin. The well was classified as an ultra high pressure high temperature (HPHT) due to 455°F (235°C) maximum formation temperature and 11,200 psi maximum formation pressure. SDX was a very important well for a major operator in the attempt to explore and evaluate the potential hydrocarbon prospects in the field. SDX field was well known for its drilling challenges due to extreme narrow window and HPHT condition. The pore pressure ramp steeply increased at shallower depth causing narrow drilling operating window between pore pressure and fracture gradient. Thus, the well was considered as conventionally "un-drillable" and managed pressure drilling (MPD) was a necessary enabler to achieve the well objectives.MPD was deployed to drill the last four hole sections, 12 ¼" ϫ 14 ¾", 8 ½" ϫ 12 ¼", 8 ½" ϫ 9 ½" and 5 ¾" ϫ 6 5/8" to mitigate the challenging wellbore issues. The drilling strategy was to use a lower mud weight (MW) in order to walk the pore pressure line and allow the use of optimum drilling flow rates. Two essential MPD procedures were implemented to safely verify drilling window. The pore pressure ramp was established by performing static flow check (SFC) and the losses limit was established by conducting dynamic formation integrity test (DFIT). Furthermore, total depth (TD) criteria for the MPD section was defined by the minimum window required to perform managed pressure cementing (MPC) for the liners.SDX well was successfully drilled to TD after overcoming defying wellbore challenges due to narrow window, pore pressure ramp uncertainty and HPHT condition. MPD was fully utilized to drill four most critical sections. MPC was performed splendidly for 11 ¾" and 9 7/8" liners without influx or loss. The paper will further explain on how proven MPD solutions were planned and executed to drill this exploration HPHT well. MPD and MPC lessons learned were also highlighted in this paper as part of the knowledge sharing.

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A Novel Approach to Borehole-Breathing Investigation in Naturally Fractured Formations

Baldino

Miska

Ozbayoglu

2018

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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Summary The occurrence of reversible mud losses and gains while drilling in naturally fractured formations (NFFs) is of primary concern. Borehole breathing can complicate the already difficult practice of fingerprinting the changes in the return-flow profile, hence undermining the reliability of kick detection. Issues can also derive from misdiagnosing a kick and attempting to kill a breathing well. The objective of this work is to correctly address the phenomenon and increase insights regarding its physical characterization. The fluid progressively flows in and out of fractures as a consequence of three mechanisms: bulk volume deformation, fluid compressibility, and fracture-aperture variation. To represent this complex scenario, a model involving a continuously distributed fracture network is developed. A time-dependent, 1D dual-poroelastic approach is coupled with a variable fracture aperture and a passive porous phase. Finite fracture network length is considered, and no limitation on the number of fractures is posed. The latter permits us to analyze long openhole sections intersecting several fissures, which is a more realistic approach than the available single-fracture models. The proposed model is able to quantify pressure distribution in fractures and pores, together with the flow rate entering or exiting the fractures. Furthermore, a useful application of the model is proposed by suggesting its application as a breathing discriminator during kick diagnosis. The shut-in drillpipe pressure (SIDPP), recorded from a real kick, has been compared with one caused by a simulated breathing case. Although the two SIDPPs show significant similarities, the correct modeling of breathing can help the identification of the major differences between a kick and breathing.

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MPD Makes Possible to Drill and Trip Out of the Hole in a Gas Well With a Combination of a Narrow Mud Weight Window and a Serious Ballooning Effect

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

The Use of Single and Multi-Phase MPD and UBD Techniques on Numerous Wells and Hole Sections Have Made it Possible to Drill the Un-Drillable in Mexico

The Use of Single and Multi-Phase MPD and UBD Techniques on Numerous Wells and Hole Sections Have Made it Possible to Drill the Un-Drillable in Mexico

MPD and MPC Successfully Applied to Deliver a Defying Exploratory Ultra-HPHT Well in Offshore Malaysia

A Novel Approach to Borehole-Breathing Investigation in Naturally Fractured Formations

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