1.

Introduction

Well productivity can be significantly affected by damage near to wellbore area

caused by drilling. Thus, this technical Project discusses the formation damage caused
by oil-based mud
From the time a drill bit enters the pay zone until the well is put on production, a
formation is exposed to series of operations and fluids that can impair its productive
capacity.
This reduction in productivity is termed as formation damage.
It can be defined as the alteration of producing formation near the wellbore due to
the introduction of foreign fluids and the consequent interaction with the fluids and
formation [1].
Previous field and laboratory studies showed that the operations during
drilling, completion, workover, production, and stimulation works are potential
sources of formation damage.
During drilling, formation damage attributes primarily from two sources: filtrate
invasion from a drilling fluid and the accompanying invasion and migration of solids.
The damaging solids may come directly from fluid system or from the formation
The intrusion and deposition of these mobile particles lead to the blockage of pore
throats, which include a reduction in permeability of the formation [2].
The major cause of damage during drilling is due to the invasion of mud solids.
During drilling, the bridging mud solids, whose range in size varies form larger to
slightly smaller than the pore openings of the rock, build up on the wellbore to form
a low permeability filter cake.
Particles which are smaller than the pore opening flow into the formation along
with the mud filtrate.
These solids form internal bridges at pore restrictions and cause reduction in
permeability of the rock .
The numerous mechanisms that result in formation damage may be generally
classified as to the manner by which they decrease production;

(1) Reduced absolute permeability of formation due to plugging of pore channels

by induced particles.
(2) Reduced relative permeability to oil due to an increase in water saturation or
oil-wetting rock.
(3) Increased viscosity of reservoir fluid results from emulsions or high
- viscosity treating fluids.
2. The objective of this Project can be summarized in the following points :

Evaluation of various reservoir rocks towards the impact of the

A. formation damage, caused by various types of drilling fluids,

on oil and / or gas productivity.
B. Delineate the pore channels blocking by the fine particles which
may either caused by drilling fluids invasion from the pore walls.
C. Minimize the formation damage using different treatment methods
To improve the properties of formation productivity exhibit good
rheological properties
D. a mud should have low fluid loss, low fine solid concentration
should form a thin, impermeable mud cake.
E. Oil-based and synthetic oil-based mud, under most conditions,
make excellent low damage fluids. Indeed this was the reason
for their initial development. They possess low spurt loss,
which minimize particle invasion, and their oil filtrate
does not cause water block and does not mobilize water
sensitive clays.

3. Drilling Fluids
Generally, the drilling mud is the main source of contamination and damage
due to the invasion of foreign fluids and / or solids into the exposed section
around the well bore. During stimulation treatments ( acidizing, hydrolic fracturing, etc. )
the fluids used may also have some undesirable effects.
show that all types of drilling mud can cause damage to the formations
and select the best remedial acid to increase the formation productivity after
contact with drilling mud.
Return permeability decreases when the filtrate loss and chemicals increase to
achieve mud off and to control shale swelling respectively.
Return permeability increases when the illite content and
diesel oil increase in the mud.
A. Oil base drilling fluids

Oil base drilling fluids are defined as suitable oil is the external or continuous
phase. There are two oil base mud systems; true oil - base system and invert
emulsion system depend on the ratio between oil and water (Dawson, 1950).
Oil base muds are used mainly in special drilling conditions such as; drilling
through producing zones, water - soluble formations, sensitive shale
sections, high temperature deep wells and to prevent and relieve stuck pipe.
Using oil muds after the initial production of the permeable zone can elimininate
formation damage due to the mud cake invasion Oil base mud does not
cause clays, which present in most are producing formations, to swell therefore,
little formation damage occurs.

4. Problems of statement:

A. Invasion of incompatible or damaging mud filtrates into formation causing

permeability impairment due to clay swelling, clay deflocculation on the
formation emulsion or insoluble precipitates.
B. Fines migration induced by high fluid loss rates due to highly overbalance or
underbalance drilling operations.
C. The permanent entrainment of solids contained in the drilling fluids.
This could include mud components such as viscosifiers (ie, bentonite) or
weighting agents include barite and Ilmenite.
D. Physical adsorption of polymer and other mud Additives
E. Adverse relative permeability effects associated with the permanent trapping of
invaded water or oil – based mud filtrate in the near wellbore region.

The study shows that all drilling fluids systems may cause damage to rock
formations. The damage ratio depends on the petrophysical parameters of the
reservoir rocks and characteristics of the drilling fluids components.
 In general, drilling fluids containing imported or local bentonite which satisfies
API and OCMA specification can cause formation damage.
The damage ratio caused by unweighted water based mud amounts to 54.0%. The
damage ratio increases to 79.0% by the addition of weighting agents (barite or
Ilmenite) which increases the density of the drilling mud.
Formation damage induced by oil – based mud investigated in this research is
attributed principally to various mud components mainly fine solids. These fines
are derived by diesel oil and emulsifiers into the formation causing severe
plugging of the pore throat.
The damage ratio 57% increases to 83% by increasing the density of the oil based
mud by addition of barite and Ilmenite as weighting agents.
Lower reduction in permeability occurs when low solids drilling fluids are applied
in the drilling operation.
The damage ratio increases when the density of the fluid increases.

5. Minimize formation damage

To minimize formation damage caused by drilling

fluids components an acid mixture composed of hydrofluoric acid (HF) and
hydrochloric acid [HCl] was applied on the core rocks after being saturated by
drilling fluids. Various trials using different acid and acid mixtures at different
ratios were attempted to improve the damage ratio for all sandstone core rocks of
the studied areas.
Acid mixture treatment improves permeability reduction caused by water based
mud ranges amounts to 6.5%. return permeability damage by Ilmenite water based
mud ranges to 22% after treatment by acidizing.
The remaining damage ratio caused by barite water based system after treatment
amounts to 26%. Formation damage caused by oil based mud treated by acidizing
and the damage ratio improved to 20% Return permeability damage by Ilmenite
oil based mud amounts to 20% after treatment. Whereas the remaining damage
ratio caused by barite oil based mud after
treatment increases to 26%.
A. Acidizing

Acidizing in reservoirs uses hydrochloric acid to remove formation damage and

stimulate well performance.
Many experimental and theoretical studies in carbonate acidizing have confirmed
the existence of an optimal acid injection rate at which major wormholes are
formed, and the benefit from stimulation is maximized.
This optimal rate depends on reservoir conditions, rock properties
and chemical reaction rate. At high reservoir temperature, the optimal rate of
hydrochloric acid is usually too high, and it sometimes is beyond the maximum
injection allowed (the rate to avoid fracturing formation).

6. Well History
7. Work over History
8. REFERENCES