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W3V13 - Drilling - Handout
W3V13 - Drilling - Handout
W3V13 - Drilling p. 1
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015
Introduction
In the previous lesson we saw with the reservoir engineers how to define, in the field
development scenario, where to drill the wells.
Now, during this lesson, we will see how to drill them.
1. First of all, lets see how to describe the subsurface characteristics, in order to plan
the design of the future well and to define the phases of the drilling job.
2. Then, well describe the drilling system, and how the driller can manage the drilling
process safely.
During the exploration phase a well is needed to confirm the presence of oil or gas in the
reservoir.
Some appraisal wells are needed for the delineation process.
Moreover, at the end of the reservoir strategy study, a reservoir model defines how to
develop the field, and, more particularly, where to drill the wells and the contribution of
each of them to the production plateau.
The role of the driller is to build these wells required for the field development.
A well is an expensive item. It must be carefully studied and planned before being drilled.
The well preparation phase involves coordinated work between geoscience engineers and
drilling/completion engineers.
During the drilling process, the mud is in contact with the rock, which contains a fluid within
the grains.
A fluid always flows from high pressure to a lower pressure. If the mud pressure is higher
than the pore pressure, the formation fluid cannot enter the well. It remains in the
formation and there is no risk of blowout.
During the drilling process, the mud is in contact with the rock, which contains a fluid within
the grains.
The mud pressure has to be lower than the frac pressure, in order to avoid the rock being
fractured. To conclude, keep in mind that the mud has to be designed so that the mud
pressure belongs to the interval between the pore pressure and the frac pressure. This
interval is called the mud window.
Both Ppore, in red, and Pfrac, in
blue, can be plotted on a
(pressure/depth) graph.
The mud pressure has to be in the
yellow zone, which is called the
mud window. For each lithology to
be drilled, the mud has to be well
adapted to its characteristics. The
well is therefore drilled in
different phases, each phase
corresponding to a new mud to be
used.
At the end of a phase, a casing is installed and cemented to protect the well from the
formation already drilled and to finalize the well walls.
W3V13 - Drilling p. 3
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015
W3V13 - Drilling p. 4
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015
How a well is drilled in practice? Mechanically, a vertical force applied on the drilling bit (the
weight on bit), together with a movement of rotation, generates down to the bit the power
necessary to destroy the rock. A hook hangs up the drill string, which is composed of
several tubulars screwed together, and, at the bottom, there is a drilling bit.
Both the weight on bit and the rotation per minute, which is given
by the rotary table located at the rig floor, are controlled by the
driller to maximize the rate of penetration of the bit.
Their optimization depends on several parameters, including the
kind of rock to be drilled: the regulation of the hook height controls
the part of the total weight of the drillstring applied on the bit, the
rotation is often given by a rotary table located at the rig floor.
The mud circuit is combined to the mechanical part of the system.
Firstly, the pump sends the mud at high pressure through the
discharge line, the stand pipe, the rotary hose and the top drive,
into the pipes.
The mud flows in the drill string down to the bit and catches the
small pieces of broken rock, the cuttings, to transport them up to
the surface in the space between the drill string and the well walls.
W3V13 - Drilling p. 5
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015
At the surface, the cuttings, the sand and the silt are removed from
the mud through shale shakers and other systems.
In order to control the well in case of blowout, a Blow Out Preventer is installed between
the top of the well and the rig floor. This BOP stack is composed of an annular BOP and
different rams able to close the well in case of emergency. The size of the BOP is adapted to
the maximum pressure that can be encountered during the drilling process.
W3V13 - Drilling p. 6
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015