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Drilling Through Salt: Constitutive Behavior And Drilling Strategies

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DRILLING THROUGH SALT: CONSTITUTIVE BEHAVIOR AND
DRILLING STRATEGIES
Maurice B. Dusseault
GEOMEC A.S. and Porous Media Research Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario Canada, N2L 3G1
Vincent Maury
GEOMEC A.S., 12 Avenue des Pyréneés, 64320 IDRON, France
Francesco Sanfilippo
GEOMEC A.S., Via Cairoli 106, Casalmaggiore (CR), 26041, Italy
Frédéric J. Santarelli
GEOMEC A.S., Olav Duuns gate 12, Stavanger N-4021, Norway

ABSTRACT: Drilling through salt sections requires that the particular properties of salt, its creep behaviour and high solubility,
be recognized and incorporated in the drilling plan. Salt is a viscous material and creeps under differential stress; the creep rate is
a strong function of both temperature and stress difference (actually underbalance between the mud pressure and the vertical
stress). A simple model approach to account for these effects in a reasonably quantitative manner is described.
Problems encountered in drilling through salt include hole closure leading to stuck tools, differential dissolution of beds of
carnallite, bischofite and other halides, encountering stiff and non-viscous stringers in salt strata, and exiting salt into non-salt
rocks, always a challenging phase of the drilling. Strategies for successful salt drilling involve recognizing salt closure behavior,
stresses, and adjusting drilling fluid density and temperature to minimize problems. Casing design issues in salt are also discussed.

Salt does not present as serious drilling problems as

1. INTRODUCTION
Large oil and gas reservoirs are associated with salt
structures. Domal structures in the Gulf of Mexico
(GoM – Jurassic salt emplaced during the Tertiary),
Williston basin (Mid US Continent Devonian age)
the North Sea (Zechstein age salt emplaced in the
Cretaceous), Iran (Zagros salt plugs, which in some
areas outcrop), Brazilian and West African offshore
basins, and other areas, provide targets for
exploratory oil and gas drilling. Sub-salt resources
are found in the GoM salt tongue regions, in large
areas in Kasakhstan (Kashagan and Tengiz), and in
other areas. These may involve drilling through as
much as 1500-2500 m of salt to depths of 5-9 km.
Drilling through salt is rapid if there are few non-
salt beds. Typical ROP of 15 to 40 m/hr means that
a 1000 m section can usually be drilled in two or
three days with a PDC bit. ROP is important
because speed minimizes hole closure from creep.
Salt is essentially impermeable, so the effect of
drilling fluid density (MW) on ROP is small. MW
management can be used to control closure rate
while sustaining reasonable penetration rates.
However, high MW carries risks of lost circulation
in non-salt zones, and this risk must be properly
managed through knowledge of stresses.
fractured shale, but there are challenges such as
washouts, rapid borehole closure, mud weight con-
trol issues, and casing placement decisions. Subsalt
overpressure or pressure reversion may exist, and
extensive rubble or sheared zones are common
underneath salt tongues or adjacent to diapirs. It
may be difficult to decide where salt ends and non-
salt sediments start: salt-infilled rubble zones and
salt with 30-40% non-salt shale and sand inclusions
can exist within salt beds, or at the boundaries of
salt structures. However, most drilling problems
within salt are managed relatively easily by
considering salt properties during planning and
drilling. Issues arising in drilling around salt
structures are discussed elsewhere [1].
Salt is found as salt tectonics structures (domes,
ridges, salt tongues, pillows…) as undeformed
bedded sedimentary salt, and as mixed domains, as
in the GoM, PreCaspian Basin, South Atlantic
margin basins (Brazil, Angola…), Canadian Scotian
Shelf and the Central Graben area and more
southern parts of the North Sea. Because of viscous
behavior at modest stresses and temperatures, salt
can be tectonically mobilized solely because of
density differences between salt (2.16 g/cm3 for
pure NaCl) and other sediments (2.3 – 2.6 g/cm3).
Figure 1 shows cases ranging from shallow bedded
salt to deep diapiric structures. In salt tongues
(sheets) and bedded salt cases, well trajectory
choice is limited, but with diapiric structures, a wide
range of drilling trajectory choices exists, including
paths which avoid salt altogether, and other paths
designed to pass through as much salt as possible.
Which is chosen depends on the geomechanical
state of the rocks surrounding the salt, the depth (T,
σ) and creep rate of the salt, and other factors, some
experiential, some gleaned from analysis.
500
10 20 30 40 T (ºC)
Z (m)
• Choose a suitable constitutive law for creep
• Calculate borehole closure rates as functions of
depth and activating stress (σv – pb)
• Assess the risks and if necessary execute
thermal (cooling and heating) calculations
• Choose the best mud weight program for the
casing program and trajectory
• Monitor hole performance and be prepared to
modify the program appropriately
• Be prepared to act decisively when exiting thick
salt structures.
Figure 1 (Left and Below): Some Conditions Encountered in
Drilling Salt
0

North Caspian
c) Basin Sequence
1000 Bedded salt zones
1 Weak Tertiary and
Cretaceous clastic

Z(km)
sequence

1500
Eastern Alberta a) 2 Strong Jurassic and
Igneous bedrock
Triassic siltstones,
carbonates, snds
Z - km Different 3
well paths Kungurian Thick salt beds,
1 100ºC
Salt Beds brine pockets
Residuum
4
2 Subsalt sediments,
gas, po ~ 17 kPa/m
oil
3 Sheared salt, 2. IN SITU CONDITIONS
shale, anhydrite
2.1. Stresses and Temperatures
4 Carnallite zone Figure 2 shows a profile of a thick salt tongue in the
GoM. The temperature is ~0°C at the sea floor, and
~80°C at 5.5 km subsea. In the cases sketched in
Fig 1, the geothermal gradient is on the order of 20-
b) GoM Salt Diapir
25°C/km, typical values for sedimentary basins, but
there is a lower geothermal gradient, on the order of
Assuming that salt dissolution issues in the drilling 15°C/km in the GoM deep offshore area. These
fluid are properly managed, the two major concerns low T gradients facilitate salt drilling, compared to
are borehole closure through creep, and borehole North Sea cases where gradients within salt
instability when exiting salt or in cases of sharp approaching 38°C/km have been found.
lithology contrasts (e.g. anhydrite/salt interfaces). Because salt rocks are viscous and flow slowly at
Casing point choices must account properly for all non-zero shear stress states, one may assume that
stresses so that drilling can proceed at low blowout σv = σHMAX = σhmin = γ ⋅ z , where γ is the mean
and lost circulation risk.
overburden bulk density. Careful measurements in
To manage drilling risks, it is necessary to: mines and LOT or FIT values obtained during salt
drilling all tend to confirm this condition. Isotropic
• Determine the in situ conditions, T(z), σ(z)
stresses are only found in viscous rocks and very
soft mud; in frictional materials such as sandstone,
limestone and shale, the in situ stresses are
invariably unequal. Because salt is a viscous liquid,
the term under-balance is used herein to mean a
mud pressure less than the vertical stress pb < σv.
Stress, pressure, MPa
0 50 100
0 critical periods as small as 1 hour have been
Fluid pressures
H2O, ρ ~ 1.025
σv
1
Soft seds, ~ 1.9
2 14
3
Salt, ~ 2.16
1.2 g/cm3
1.4 g/cm3
4
1.6 g/cm3
1.8 g/cm3
5 Figure 3: Salt Closure, North Sea Well. Black bars represent
Z(km)
80ºC
Sub-salt sediments σh
Figure 2: Thick Salt Sheet, Deep Offshore GoM
The vertical stress is plotted with depth in Fig 2 as a
solid line, as well as dotted lines for pressures that
would be applied from a borehole full of a static
fluid. When an offshore deep water borehole is full
of a drilling fluid and penetrates a large sequence of
salt, it is not possible to equilibrate the stresses by
drilling mud pressure at both the top and bottom of
the salt. Suppose one wishes to balance the stress
while drilling at the base of the salt to avoid all
creep; when the fluid is static at ρ = 1.8 g/cm3, there
is a surplus pressure at the top of the salt sequence
of >10 MPa. But, if it is necessary to stay below
the fracture pressure in the soft sediments at the top
of the salt, for which a 1.3-1.4 g/cm3 mud would be
used, there would be >18 MPa underbalance (σv –
pw) at the salt base, and creep closure would be an
issue, especially with high T cases. It is best, in
most circumstances, to place a casing shoe into the
salt as far below the salt top as possible.
This discussion shows that a high creep rate
potential exists and it is difficult to balance the rock
stresses in deep water conditions (leaving aside
technologies such as sea-floor booster pumps or gas
lift). Thus, closure rate potential must be evaluated
to see if borehole closure is a potential problem.
Direct well closure rate measurement the best
approach to determine creep rate (rather than
laboratory measurements on cores). Running
successive caliper logs is feasible, but expensive. It
is best to monitor tripping conditions during bit trips
and short trips, and Fig. 3 illustrates this for a North
Sea well drilled with OBM. It shows a periodic
recurrence time for critical closure with the chosen
mud weight. In some regions (Williston Basin),
reported in dirty salts – i.e. rich in clay – making
drilling almost impossible.
Drilling Days – Zechstein Salts
0 5 10 15 20 25
Depth (‘000 ft)
15
16
17
back-reamed sections while tripping.
2.2. Permeability and Pore Pressures
Under stress, sedimented granular salt continues to
compact, expelling brine, until porosity is totally
occluded (φ < 2-4%). Even after this, particularly
with high stresses and temperatures, salt continues
to compact until a brine-filled porosity of 0.3-1.5%
remains. This consists of thin, dendritic voids at
grain boundaries, but for practical purposes, salt
permeability can be taken as zero. Flow through
salt in engineering time scales (<100 years) occurs
in non-salt lithologies or through introduced flaws
(e.g. hydraulic fracture). A filter cake cannot form,
and 100% of the mud pressure acts directly on the
salt. The same is assumed of rocks where pores are
filled with precipitated salt: there is no inter-
communicating flow path, therefore the concept of
pressure as a state descriptor is not useful.
Though fluid flow and pore pressure concepts are
not applicable to salt, brine pockets can be
encountered, sometimes with po approaching σv. In
bedded salts of lithostratigraphic complexity, there
can be non-salt zones where porosity is filled with
brine that can enter the well. Estimating po in brine
pockets is impossible; in our experience, in a typical
sub-Zechstein field, brine pockets from 1 to 2.2
equivalent SG pressures can be encountered during
drilling. Brine kicks and gas inflows in intact salt
sequences are often of small volume and generally
inconsequential, but high pressure brine pocket
kicks in Pakistan led to casing collapse and surface
brine flow for many years.
3. A CONSTITUTIVE MODEL FOR HALITE
Since chances of obtaining salt core and performing
comprehensive constitutive testing are exceedingly
rare, to analyze borehole closure rate it is necessary
to adopt a constitutive law that captures first-order
processes, yet is simple enough to be used in
sensitivity studies with field calibration.
3.1. Minerals in Salt Strata
Natural “salt” deposits are usually pure NaCl
(halite) crystals of 1 – 20 mm mean grain diameter
with 0-15% insoluble materials such as shale beds
or intercrystalline clay (“chaotic salt”). Deep
bedded salts (>2000 m depth) and all diapiric or
tectonically mobilized salts have undergone
recrystallization. Non-salt mineral content is lower
and the crystalline fabric more uniform, with
crystals of 5 mm to 10-20 mm. Other halides may
exist in beds of limited thickness and extent, such as
the 3-6 m thick “potash” beds of ~50% KCl, ~50%
NaCl being mined in Saskatchewan and elsewhere.
Sylvite (KCl) behaves similarly to halite, but there
can be beds, streaks or mixtures of carnallite,
bischofite, tachyhydrite, polyhalite, and other rare
halides. When encountered, they can present
particular difficulties; coping with such cases is
discussed later.
Thin streaks of shale or other halides is of great
interest in mining, where pillars can be seated on
other mineral types, or where differential strain
rates in roof strata lead to slab detachment and roof
falls. In drilling, these minerals may not cause
problems if zones are thin as they tend to be weak
and soft so that it is easy to sustain a borehole and
to back-ream if hole gauge problems develop. An
exception may develop in chaotic salt, where even
small creep closures lead to debonding and
sloughing of chunks of clayey salt into the borehole.
In drilling with NaCl-saturated WBM, non-salt
zones are preferentially dissolved because the
aqueous fluid is not saturated with respect to them,
and this dissolution tends to counteract any squeeze.
Hole enlargement issues may arise in these zones,
or else they will have to be redrilled when running
into the hole, and such redrilling takes only a few
minutes. However, mud properties may change
dramatically, especially if Ca++ or Mg++ cation
halides are encountered. Thus, the creep behavior
of other halides is generally of secondary interest,
and one may focus on the creep behavior of NaCl.
If there are difficulties associated with rapid closure
of a zone of non-NaCl halide minerals, the only
practical method of reducing the problem is to raise
MW to a level close to the stress to reduce creep.
3.2. Halite (NaCl)
Halite (NaCl) is a natural mineral deposit of low
porosity; this low porosity is brine-filled, and the
brine plays an important role in creep behavior.
Before 1975-1985, salt creep was modeled with
empirical equations, such as a fractional time
exponent (e.g. ε& = At a ), to emulate triaxial tests
and model pillars or field data. These non-physical
equations lumped all phenomena in one term so
different processes could not be deconvolved. For
example, in a mine creep leads to pillar widening
and thus slowing of the closure rate (creep stress is
reduced). Empirical equations based on such data
cannot lead to a physically correct constitutive law
because macroscopic creep is a function of
constitutive behavior combined with geometry and
stress changes. It is now clear that these must be
treated separately and correctly, using continuum
mechanics approaches [2].
Pursuit of a physics-based constitutive law for salt
has been quite successful, though in complex cases
(e.g. salt/shale mixtures, mineralogical complexity,
small-scale heterogeneity) substantial uncertainty
exists. The major aspects of the physics of salt are
discussed in order to rationalize the model used.
At conditions encountered during salt drilling (T =
10-150°C, σv - pb = -10 to +30 MPa), lattice bonds
in halide minerals are strongly ionic, whereas bonds
in most minerals (quartz, feldspar, calcite) are
covalent. Only at high temperatures are ionic
energies overcome and can lattice deformations take
place in a dry polycrystalline material without
accumulating damage. Processes involved in high
temperature creep, within 10-20% of the melting
temperature (in °K) do not have to be considered in
drilling, so these mechanisms are irrelevant.
A single dry salt crystal shows no transient creep
behavior. Once some stress threshold is exceeded,
dislocation glide and climb within the lattice
dominate creep. If the applied stress is high, the
dislocation processes evolve rapidly toward the
generation of Griffith cracks, leading to
accumulating damage, and perhaps weakening.
An assemblage of salt crystals evidences complex,
self-organized behavior because of the structural
interaction of crystals and boundaries, and because
of the presence of water. Transient creep occurs
whenever stresses are changed because external
loads must be distributed at the lowest energy state
within the crystalline structure, which takes time
(strain). Also, transient creep is larger when there is
damage, as in microfissured core specimens
(because of de-stressing during coring). In a
borehole, transient behavior occurs for a short time
after drilling, and damage level is minimal because
a high σr continues to act on the salt from the
drilling fluid. Transient creep during drilling can be
ignored: it is attenuating and inconsequential.
Because of brine in the non-connected intergranular
porosity, a process known as FADC (fluid-assisted
diffusional creep) affects salt creep over a T and σv
range typically found during drilling. FADC
appears to be a critical component of the
mechanisms that dominate creep, and these involve
salt dissolution at highly stressed points, diffusional
transport, and precipitation in regions of low stress,
thereby allowing for simultaneous mass transfer and
stress equilibration. If an external deviatoric stress
is maintained, as in the vicinity of a borehole where
pb ≠ σv, steady-state creep continues as long as the
crystalline fabric of the salt rock remains the same.
Because creep distortion is modest (∆r/r < 20%),
given that a borehole remains open for a limited
time, effects associated with change of water
content or salt fabric are small; it is reasonable to
assume that a physically-based steady-state creep
law will suffice for borehole closure simulation.
In summary, based on our experience and on
observations, we will assume the following:
• Transient creep strains in boreholes are small
and can be ignored for practical purposes.
• At conditions encountered in salt drilling,
induced damage (microcracks) is of no
consequence because of high confining stress
and the tendency of salt to anneal during creep.
• Except in chaotic salt, creep failure or strain
weakening will not occur in salt with a
reasonable MW.
• It is thus sufficient that a constitutive law for
salt account only for steady-state creep.
A η
E
∆σ
E2
B E1 η1
η2
∆σ
C η1
E
K
η2
∆σ
Fig 4: Several Simple Constitutive Models for Salt
Figure 4 shows several simple rheological models
to represent salt behavior, with the bottom two
showing elements of transient response or multiple
mechanisms (many highly complex models have
been suggested). We claim that the first model is
sufficient to simulate salt behavior in drilling. The
viscosity η is not Newtonian, nor is it independent
of temperature, but the Young’s modulus may be
taken as constant at 31 GPa and the Poisson’s ratio
for elastic stress changes is 0.36. The viscosity
(steady state strain rate - ε&ss ) is expressed as:
n −Q
 σ − pb 
ε&ss = A  ⋅ e RT (1)
 σo 
σ - pb is the difference between in situ stress (σv)
and borehole pressure (generally pb = MW·z),
termed the plastic stress. The Arrhenius thermal
activation term has the activation energy Q for
creep; Q = 95 kJ/mole is recommended for borehole
conditions, though the literature reports values from
55 to 272 kJ/mole. Specimens from Avery Island in
southern Louisiana and the Palo Duro bedded salt
from New Mexico gave Q values of 55 kJ/mole and
90 kJ/mole respectively in the temperature range of
25ºC to 200ºC, but European research has tended to
give higher values. Note that different mechanisms
have different activation energies, but we assume
that one dominates. “A” is a constant determined
through calibration, and σo is a normalizing stress
value that we commonly take to be 10 MPa.
 diagram (Munson and Dawson data). It appears that
only one mechanism acts in the range of drilling,
. therefore a single exponent creep law is justified.
ln(εss) )2
- pb Finally, we note that determining the constant A
> (σ
independently is laborious [6], thus, in predicting
) 1, -Q/R
- pb hole closure rates, experience is required and field
(σ calibration is desirable.

)2 4. BOREHOLE RADIAL CLOSURE MODEL

- pb
(σ -Q/R 4.1. The effect of stress (σv – pb)
A numerical or analytical model that links the
1/T
system parameters and the stress difference to the
Figure 5: Temperature and Creep Rate rate of radial closure is needed to complete the Deleted: 4

design process. In this axisymmetric case it is

In Fig. 5, the effect of T on creep rate is presented.
In general, for one mechanism, the slopes are
assumed to be the same for different stress levels; in
fact, there is a weak confining stress effect, but it is
small and can be ignored (as in Equation 1).
Choice of an exponent n is a highly contentious
issue. Back-analyses from large-scale mine cases
[3.4] lead inexorably to a value of 3.0, no matter
what the theoretical arguments. Similarly, back
analysis of laboratory data for radioactive waste
repository studies [5] suggests that n = 3.0. In a
mine, there is another faster creep process (stable
microcracking) that does not occur in a borehole
because of the confining stress of the drilling fluid.
-200 0 200 400 600
-1
Temperature (oC)
-2 Dislocation Glide Creep
-3
LT Dislocation
possible to extract a closed-form approximation for
steady-state closure. We use the method developed
by Bogobowicz et al. for steady-state closure of
openings in non-newtonian viscous materials [7].
3  3 (σ v − pb ) 
n
νo = r ε&o   (2)
2  n σo 

Here, vo is the borehole closure rate, n is taken to be
3.0, and ε&o is a calibrated strain rate coefficient, or
is chosen based on comparison of the salt being
drilled to “other salts” if possible. It represents the
salt creep rate at 20°C; for dry salt that creeps
slowly, ε&o ≈ 0.002 yr-1, for a salt that creeps rapidly
800
(e.g. with carnallite around the salt crystals or with
1,000 unusually high moisture content), ε&o ≈ 0.02 yr-1.
100 If vo can be determined independently [8], ε&o for
that particular salt can be calculated. Suppose one
10
σ (MPa)

Climb Creep is drilling with an OBM with no salt dissolution,

Log (σ/µ)

-4
1 and that pb is constant. The drill string is withdrawn
HT Dislocation
-5 Climb Creep with acoustic (ultrasonic) logging of hole diameter,
Fluid 0.1
or a caliper log is lowered to measure diameter
Assisted
-6
Diffusional 0.01 (over time if desired). These data give borehole
Creep - closure versus time, which is used to determine ε&o
-7 FADC Coble Nabarro
0.001 directly. In practice, monitoring trip conditions can
Creep -Herring
-8 Creep 0.0001
also be used (Fig. 3). If there are zones with other
halide minerals, it is unlikely that good closure rate
data can be collected because of continued
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Homologous Temperature dissolution of these materials during drilling, even if
OBM is used (the aqueous phase of the OBM may
Figure 6: Creep Mechanisms in a σ - T Plot (σ can be taken as be saturated with NaCl, and this means that as other
~ σv – pb in a reasonable first approximation)
minerals are encountered, they can be dissolved into
Fig. 6 shows the T and σ range in typical drilling the aqueous phase, reducing apparent closure rate).
conditions (ellipse), plotted on a mechanisms
 4.2. The effect of temperature heating of the salt at the shoe increases the closure
Salt has a high thermal conductivity coefficient (κ) rate at that point, significant cooling at the bit
and can dissipate T differences much more rapidly reduces the closure rate at depth. Hence, drilling
than shales and limestones. For example, at 20°C ahead rapidly helps to reduce total creep closure at
and 100°C, thermal conductivities of 5.6 and 4.2 the base of the salt interval. There is also the effect
Wm-1K-1 have been given. A κ range for salt is of σθ redistribution from T-effects: cooling causes
therefore 6 and 4 Wm-1K-1, about 2 to 3 times salt shrinkage around the borehole;,this reduces (σ1
higher than κ for shale, limestone, and sandstone. – σ3)max, and redistributes it farther out into the rock
mass. Reduced σ1 – σ3 means a slower closure rate.
It is necessary to account for T effects in long salt
sections (e.g. 2000 vertical m), as ∆T can be as high T
cooling
as 45-70°C between the salt top and bottom. T in tanks
effects are accounted for in model simulations by heating casing
replacing the salt material property ε&o with ε&T :
 Q 1 1 
  −  
ε&T = ε&o ⋅ e  R  298 273+T 
(3) geothermal shoe
temperature
Here, the product r· ε&o plays the same role as A in +T
mud
Eq. 1 and allows an empirical temperature effect
down
estimate. Depending on Q, the creep rate increases pipe
on the order of a factor of two for every 16-18°C.
However, reality is not so simple: depending on mud -T
temperature
various factors, such as hole size, circulation rate,
riser heat loss, and so on, the mud temperature may depth cooling bit
be higher or lower than the salt in situ, and this Figure 7: T vs. Z for a Typical Onshore Circulating Well
leads to a non-uniform T(r,t) in the borehole wall.
T - ºC
Though T(r) is easy to calculate if ∆T is constant,
this is rarely the case, and a numerical solution is 0 20 40 60 80
used to determine T(r,t). Because of the non- 0
linearity in Eq. (1), a correct creep calculation now
requires a numerical radial closure calculation. sea
T - mud
Fortunately, the error arising from an assumption of (GoM)
a uniform temperature seems to be modest, 1
compared to the uncertainty in material parameters.
This suggests that the method outlined is soft
sufficiently robust for practical application. strata
2
A critical part of drilling is setting of casing.
Depending on depth, there may be a 10-16 hour
period between stopping circulation and setting
casing. During this period the hole bottom must not 3
Depth - km

close excessively so that casing cannot be installed.

Calculations for the lowest salt point is a critical salt strata
one in the process of active borehole planning. sequence
4
Fig. 7 shows a schematic T vs. Z curve for the
drilling fluid in the case on an onshore drilling
operation. In the upper part of the salt interval, the
salt is heated; in the lower part, it is cooled 5 sub-salt geothermal
substantially with respect to in situ T. This has the gradient
strata
interesting effect of reducing the difference in hole
closure rate with depth as a function of temperature: Figure 8: T vs. Z for an Offshore Deep Water Case
 A quantitative diagram of T(z) in the drilling fluid
(Fig. 8 is an example for a deep offshore case) can
be generated by commercial software, giving a
reasonable estimate of the ∆T between the borehole
fluid and the virgin rock. Including all T diffusion
effects into creep analysis makes it necessary to
adopt a numerical model to predict closure, entirely
feasible, but likely unnecessary in practical cases.
All the required elements for design and hole
planning in salt have been defined. It is necessary
to have knowledge of the stresses and temperatures
at various depths, and also information about
fracture pressures in non-salt rocks, whether
overpressures are expected beneath salt, and so on.
These are normal parameters that are collected as
part of any drilling program.
5. DESIGN STRATEGY
In drilling thick salt sections, MW and T issues
related to creep closure can be quantified
reasonably well in advance, and a program chosen
to reduce closure problems.
1000
Closure (%/d)
C
130º
10
100º
C salt is the last drilled, MW can be adjusted to the
70ºC
0.1
40ºC
0.001
σv – pb - MPa
0 5 10 15 20
Figure 9: A Closure Chart with T and Underbalance Effects
Charts can be generated with creep laws and radial
closure models: Fig. 9 is an example with both
variables of underbalance and T included. Closure
is expressed as percent per day, for a given creep
law (different choice of A or ε&T ). In this case, a
“rapidly creeping salt” was assumed. For running
of casing (12 hour time lag), 1% closure is
acceptable, and because the depth gives the ambient
T, a mud weight can be chosen to give a value of
closure commensurate with perceptions of risk and
uncertainty. Also, one may study the rate of T
diffusion into the borehole, using either a simple
axi-symmetric diffusion model, or if desired, a
numerical model may be used (at any depth above
the bit in Figs 7, 8, T = ƒ(z,t)). A T(r,t) example for
a circular borehole is given in Figure 10.
80
T - ºC
t = 0 hr
70 0.5 hr
1 hr
10 hr
2 hr
60
∆T
50
borehole radius
Radius - m
40
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Figure 10: T(r,t) for a Salt at ∆T = 32°C
Consider a sequence such as that shown in Figure 2.
The salt at the base is much warmer than the salt at
the top, and a creep-rate difference of ×6 is a
reasonable expectation. Therefore, it becomes more
important to keep σv – pb smaller at the base to keep
the hole open. How small this should be depends
on the time the hole is open, the diameter of the
casing to be run with respect to the drillhole
diameter, and other factors. Because the lowest
desired level for the out-trip before running casing.
In this case, for safety, it may be most appropriate
to assume a “rapidly creeping” salt, and use a low
σv – pb value by increasing MW. Upper salt strata
can sustain some “overbalance” (pb > σv) because
any hydrofracturing tendency in salt is counteracted
by its impermeable nature and the limited extent to
which a fracture would grow. Upper salt is also
usually heated, so there is tendency to a higher
tangential stress.
With a creep model linked to underbalance and
temperature, one can design salt drilling activities
quantitatively and study scenarios equating risks
and costs with factors such as borehole closure rate
and ROP. Models are calibrated to reality,
extrapolated to other cases and “windows” of
acceptable closure rates and underbalance defined
in terms of acceptable risk, with charts for specific
areas to define MW ranges for different depths, T
gradients, and so on. These charts are refined
quantitatively as real data become available from
salt drilling.
6. STRATEGIES IN SALT DRILLING
Because salt is impermeable and geochemically
inert (except for its high solubility), no chemical
means can be taken to improve hole stability: only
stress and temperature can have any effect.
6.1. Pressures and Stresses
Pressures must be compared to stresses to assess
uphole fracture potential, but in salt, it is possible to
drill overbalanced at the shoe, if it is intact salt with
a thick salt sequence above the shoe (>150 m). This
is because salt has some tensile strength that is more
“reliable” than other rocks because it is unfractured,
because salt at the shoe is being heated by the
warmer mud arising from depth (hence σθ is
increased), and because fractures will tend to be of
limited length and aperture. At the shoe, an
overbalance of no more than 5 MPa is advised, and
in general, less than 3 MPa is preferred; great care
should in all cases be exercised when pb > σv at the
salt shoe.
6.2. Penetration Rates
Because salt has no porosity or pore pressure, ROP
is less sensitive to degree of balance (σv – pb) than
permeable rocks (shales, sandstones…). A PDC bit
designed for salt, which has a low UCS compared to
limestones, anhydrites and low-φ sandstones, may
encounter problems in cases where salt alternates
with stronger, stiffer rocks. Also, extremely rapid
penetration rates lead to severe bit wandering in
salt, but these problems are easy to rectify. In fact,
a high ROP helps reduce salt closure issues.
However, frequent anhydrite or dolomite layers do
not always allow high ROP..
6.3. Drilling Fluid Type
Mud system choice must address two issues - the
chemical composition of the water phase and the
choice of OBM versus WBM.
With respect to water phase chemical composition,
multiple choices are possible but all are guided by
mineralogy. A general rule is to saturate the water
phase with the most soluble salt(s) to be
encountered (except if they are only present in thin
streaks). Thus, NaCl is usually used in the GoM,
Williston and Permian Basins, whereas KCl-MgCl2
is used in the North Sea Zechstein wells because of
thick bands of bischofite and carnallite. Failing to
follow this strategy may lead to serious problems of
mud contamination, flocculation and difficulty in
advancing. To continue drilling, the mud system
has to be changed, and in the interim delays, often
including density maintenance problems, hole
closure is large enough to require full section
reaming or a sidetrack.
Should one use WBM or OBM? Using salt
saturated WBM with sheared attapulgite for
viscosity had already showed its limitations as early
as the 1970’s. A salt-saturated WBM at surface
conditions is not saturated at downhole conditions,
leading to washouts, often beyond mechanical
caliper limits. Cementing then becomes extremely
difficult, and the irregular cementation leads to
irregular casing loading and consequent early casing
collapse (many examples around the world have
been well documented).
To avoid this, WBM must be “oversaturated” at
surface conditions. One claimed way of doing this
is to use chemical additives to increase salt (NaCl)
solubility under surface conditions. However, field
testing of this technique has shown mixed results.
In some cases, caliper data showed better profiles –
i.e. less enlargement – in other cases it did not.
Furthermore, laboratory dissolution tests have
shown that few commercially available chemicals
had any significant benefit. Also, this approach was
not appropriate for other salt saturated muds such as
the KCl-MgCl2 systems used in the North Sea.
Another WBM technique has been developed by
North Sea operators: the mud is heated on surface
through the use of a heat exchanger so that surface
temperature becomes equal to downhole circulating
temperature. (The hot fluid source is generally
produced hydrocarbon on the same platform.) By
salt saturating the hot mud, less downhole
dissolution occurs, and the method has proved
highly successful and is favored by several
operators involved in sub-Zechstein plays in the
southern North Sea.
Using OBM with an appropriate water phase
salinity will strongly reduce if not suppress
dissolution. As a consequence, salt closure may
become a more important issue because there is no
dissolution to counteract it; this can lead to serious
tripping difficulties. For example, in Williston
Basin deep drilling operators are known to short trip
the hole every stand to fight against salt closure,
hence losing extensive amounts of drilling time.
In OBM, an obvious method is to use as high a mud
weight as possible to minimize σv – pb. However,
salt horizons are often surrounded by thief zones –
fractured formations where losses are frequent.
Using a high mud weight is not feasible everywhere
and particularly not where several salt zones have to
be drilled in one section, with intervening zones
where losses can occur.
The second method to fight salt closure is to use bi-
centered bits and under-reamers close behind the bit
to enlarge the hole and gain time; this technique has
been tried in practice with various degrees of
success. Its main downside is that under-reamers
and bi-center bits do not react well when hitting
repeated hard anhydrite and dolomite streaks.
The third method to minimize closure is to cool the
mud and use the temperature sensitivity of salt
creep, which can be quantified using analysis.
Thus, a choice is to be made between OBM and
WBM. OBM has minimal ability to dissolve salt,
even other halides encountered in thin beds. OBM
is favored for drilling the upper hole where drilling
goes from ductile shales and mudstones into salt.
Where lost circulation is common above salt, WBM
is cheaper. In continuous salt sections, NaCl-
saturated WBM is favored.
In theory, salt dissolution using a slightly undersatu-
rated aqueous base drilling fluid is an option to cope
with creep closure; in fact, this is achieved naturally
in the drilling process from the changing
temperatures with depth and precipitation of salt in
the surface mud tanks. Furthermore, because the
hole bottom is the zone of the largest underbalance
and therefore highest closure rate, the salt is
preferentially removed from the most appropriate
region. In fact, however, most of the resaturation of
the drilling fluid takes place from dissolving salt
from the drill cuttings rather than from the borehole
wall, and this controlled dissolution strategy is
difficult to use in a quantitative manner, and is in
general not advised, unless the salt section can be
drilled rapidly in just a few days, so as not to lead to
washouts.
6.4. Drilling Other Halides
If OBM is being used, when a seam of a mineral
such as bischofite or carnallite is encountered, the
saline aqueous phase of the OBM (~40% by
volume) is unsaturated with respect to the new
mineral. Because the aqueous phase was NaCl
saturated, there will be a slow dissolving of the new
minerals, precipitation of NaCl in the mud (the
common ion effect) and gradual hole enlargement
will tend to occur in the region of the new minerals.
However, there is little direct contact between the
aqueous phase globules and therefore the
dissolution rate is slow.
If the creep rate of the non-salt halide bed is higher
than that of NaCl at that [T, σ]-state, the higher
dissolution rate focused in the new mineral zone
tends to over-compensate for this behavior, and this
leads to fewer borehole closure problems.
6.5. Cooling the Mud
Clearly, because of the T-sensitivity of salt creep, it
is a viable strategy to cool the mud deliberately [9].
Offshore, this may happen automatically because of
heat transfer through the riser (Fig 8). This means
the mud going back down the hole is thoroughly
chilled (although the use of seafloor booster pumps
changes matters). Onshore, the cooling effect of the
riser is lost and mud may come out of the hole at
70-80°C (as in Kazakhstan salt drilling). In these
cases, there is merit in considering cooling the mud
through heat exchange (a problem in desert areas,
but not in the shallow Caspian Sea conditions for
the Kashagan oil field).
In the case of setting casing in a rapidly closing salt,
it is possible to circulate cooled mud for 10-15
hours before tripping to run casing, taking
advantage of the reduced creep rates and the more
favorable stress conditions around the wellbore. As
a rule, circulate with the coolest mud possible
without rotation, and circulate 1.5 hours for each
hour that the hole will be in a static condition.
6.6. Exiting Salt
A critical period in drilling is when salt is being
exited, either at the base of a thick salt section (Fig
1c) or from the flank of a salt dome (Fig 1b). If a
zone of pressure reversion and stress reversion
exists below the salt, sudden lost circulation can
take place. If there is trapped overpressure, high po
can be encountered. In many locations a rubble
zone with salt-occluded porosity (hence low k)
exists, and a good strategy in these cases is to place
a strong casing with the shoe below the base of the
continuous salt beds, reducing all types of well
control risks. The salt blocking the pores helps in
keeping troubles at bay while completing the well.
If the sediments below the salt are not salt blocked
and stresses or pressures are abnormal, great care
must be exercised in locating the subsalt shoe just at
the exit point, or somewhat above it (though this
point is hard to determine in practice). In such
cases, loading mud with LCM just before exiting
the salt is a strategy to maintain hole control [11].
In the case of salt domes, exiting through the flank
means exiting into a shear zone where the country
rock may be fractured, sheared, and so on. Also,
the thickness of the sediments that may be salt
cemented is often less than in the case of bedded
salt, giving less room for error.
6.7. Cementing Through Salt
Salt will dewater cement through osmotic suction,
generating an annular zone of free water even
though the cement achieved full displacement. This
is not a serious issue in pure salt because continued
closure will eventually expel the brine, giving
uniform loading, but in the case of sedimentary
rocks (matrix-supported) with salt in the pores, a
gap between cement and the rock can be generated.
A good solution to potential salt problems is to use
denser cement. A carefully graded quartz filler
material with a wide grain size range is used, with
D50 ranging from 20 µm (silt) to 500 µm (coarse-
grained sand). Type-G cement content is reduced,
and a superplasticizer agent is added to sustain
pumpability. This allows placement of cement that
is far less prone to shrinkage than conventional
cement, and far stronger as well, so that when it
sets, it tends to generate a stronger overall structure.
Casing problems in salt are usually associated with
differential or irregular displacements at interfaces
between salt and an insoluble rock, or with a
washed out zone [12]. Creep of salt means that
point loads can be generated, and this is the most
dangerous condition for casing impairment. To
cope with this, it is possible to design a casing
string so that a special schedule casing is used
across the zone of concern, so that point loads can
be more easily accommodated without a buckling of
the casing. Also, the more uniform the cement
sheath and the stronger it is, the more likely the
wellbore will withstand a point load arising from
differential closure. The same cannot be said for a
generalized shear displacement if such a
displacement is being load activated by large-scale
and distant loads [10].
7. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS
Drilling salt can be accomplished safely by
applying knowledge of stresses and material
behavior through simple models that capture the
critical aspects of borehole processes such as creep,
heat flux, temperature sensitivity, and so on.
Recommendations for drilling salt follow:
1. Carry out a careful estimate of T and σv before
drilling so that underbalance level and hole
closure rates can be quickly calculated. Because
of viscous behavior, assume that stresses in salt
are isotropic and = σv.
2. In drilling into thick salt bodies (thick tongues,
beds or domes), place the salt casing shoe as
deeply into the top part of the salt bed as
possible to avoid an extra casing string. This is
particularly important offshore.
3. Drill long salt sections with a PDC bit as rapidly
as possible, as time is of the essence in drilling
through creeping materials. Vibration manage-
ment devices may help when non-salt intervals
and xenoliths in the salt strata are drilled.
4. Carry out an assessment of the creep closure
rate likely to be encountered in the worst
conditions. Because of uncertainty, a range of
4-5%/d closure rate seems appropriate as a
maximum rate criterion.
5. In all cases, drilling mud density can be adjusted
to reduce closure rates, but limits exist because
of potential fracture problems at the shoe in salt.
However, the consequences of such fracture are
less serious than in porous strata.
6. Drill with a fluid density sufficient to keep creep
closure below 4-5%/d in the most rapidly
creeping section, which will usually be at the
base of the hole where the salt is hottest and the
underbalance (σv – pb) is the greatest.
7. Either OBM or WBM may be used; in both
cases the aqueous phase is best kept saturated.
It seems of little use to “design” undersaturated
WBM to counteract closure, and additive use to
affect salt dissolution rates is of little value.
8. If other non-NaCl halides will be encountered in
drilling and these minerals have a higher creep
potential than salt, installing back reamers at the
top of the BHA is advised in case of rapid
borehole closure leading to BHA sticking.
9. In rapid drilling of long salt sections, the use of
an under-reamer and stabilizer above a steerable
rotary bit assembly can help achieve high rates
 without excessive deviation. This requires
MWD technology and trajectory corrections.
10. Collection of closure data with acoustic calipers
on trips will help in the calibration of creep
models, which in turn will help guide
subsequent holes in the same salt section.
11. Because salt creep rate is T-sensitive, closure
rate can be reduced through cooling the drilling
fluid. Cooling can be used just before casing
setting so that the hole may be left for 10-15
hours without excessive closure.
12. In drilling through a thick salts to exit at depth,
set casing a few metres after exiting salt so that
the shoe is in matrix-supported sediments where
permeability may be blocked by salt,
minimizing hydraulic facturing or blowouts risk.
13. Casing distress in salt sequences is related to
poor hole profiles or interfaces between salt and
other rocks, leading to point loads on the casing
because of closure. There is merit in using high
density cements (minimum of cement powder,
graded inert filler of sand and silica flour).
Also, a strong cement sheath and steel casing
helps counteract creep tendencies; expandable
liners and casings may have few applications in
salt.
8. SYMBOLOGY
A, a empirical or measured coefficients
E Young’s modulus (i.e. “stiffness)
FADC Fluid-Assisted Diffusional Creep
MW drilling fluid unit weight (mud weight)
n exponent on stress in a creep law
pb borehole pressure, generally mud pressure
R Universal Gas Constant
ROP Rate Of Penetration (in drilling - m/hr)
Q activation energy for a specific process
T temperature (°C or °K)
t time, z depth
γ bulk density, γ : mean bulk density
ε& strain rate (steady state with subscript “ss”)
ε&s ε&T material constants for strain rate
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η viscosity (e.g. of a rheological element)
κ thermal conductivity
σ stress (subscripts 1,2,3 for major,
intermediate and minor stresses)
σ1 - σ3 plastic stress (deviatoric stress)
σo a normalizing stress value
σv, σhmin, σHMAX, principal earth stresses
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