TECHNICAL & ECONOMICAL

INVESTIGATION OF UNDERBALANCED
DRILLING VS. CONVENTIONAL DRILLING
- A DECISION TREE -

Bader Sarkaz
MSc Oil & Gas Engineering
Supervised by Wynand Hoogerbrugge
The Energy Centre
 Contents of Presentation
 UBD Definition & History.
 Advantages & Disadvantages.
 UBD Candidates.
 UBD Offerings.
 Comparison with Conventional Drilling.
 UBD Screening Process & Selection.
 Conclusions & Recommendations.
 Background on UBD
when the hydrostatic
head of a drilling
fluid is intentionally
designed to be lower
than the pressure in
the formation being
drilled, the operation
shall be considered
“under-balanced”.

• First patented in the US in 1866.

• Flow drilling first introduced in South Texas in the late 1950’s.
• Popular Worldwide, Successful in Canada, Australia and China through the
1970’s.
• Used primarily for low pressure fields, but as technology & techniques became
more refined UBD was successfully applied onshore & offshore worldwide.
 Underbalanced Drilling
 Advantages:
 Increased ROP & Bit Life
 Minimized Hole Problems
 Lost Circulation
 Differential Sticking
 Sensitive Shales
 Rig Time & Cost Reduction
 Earlier & Increased
Production rate
 Continuous Formation
Evaluation
 Increased Ultimate Recovery
 Reduced Environmental
Damage
 Improved Safety
 Disadvantages
 Increased Equipment Cost
 Wellbore Instability
 Maintaining Continuous
Underbalance
 Limitations of MWD &
Geosteering Tools
 Potential Formation Damage
 Spontaneous Imbibition
 Glazing, Mashing & Cuttings
Damage
 Proper Well Control
 Flammability
 Corrosion
 UBD Candidates
Good Candidates Bad Candidates
 Naturally Fractured  High Pressure/High
Reservoirs Permeability
 Underpressured  Swelling Formations
Reservoirs  Unstable Holes
 Horizontal Wells  Macro-Porosity
 Storage Wells  Shallow Wells
 Disposal Wells  Alternating Pressures
 Workovers
 Business Purpose of UBD

Helping to safely improve the

productivity of the reservoirs’
assets at less lifecycle cost, by
enhancing drilling and
reservoir performance through
a portfolio of reservoir
analysis techniques, fluid
systems, well engineering
personnel, and high
technology UBS surface and
downhole equipment.
 UBD Offerings
Performance drilling
 Eliminate NPT due to sticking or lost circulation to achieve
high ROP.
Managed pressure drilling
 Precisely manage/control/contain annulus returns to “walk the
line”.
Reservoir drilling
 Reduce formation damage, discover bypassed pay-zones, and
increase reserves, ultimately increasing net NPV.
Well service
 Cost effective remedial operations in completion, production or
abandonment phases of the well.
 UBD = Unquestionable value
Short term
 Increase production and
reduce drilling costs.
Medium term
 Meet revenue, cash
flow and profit targets.
Long term
 Enhance ultimate
recovery, reduce capex
and increase NPV.
 UBD = Unquestionable Value
Value proposition - gaining new insights

Technical Value Business Value

Reduced
drilling Lower
time and unit development
costs costs

Fewer
drilling Access
to new Increased
problems Old reserves
volumes

Higher
Net Present
Value
Reduced Better Fewer
formation well wells
damage Newer productivity needed

Reservoir
Evaluate while Newest characterization More efficient,
drilling, identify and improved productive wells,
productive Insight reservoir field development
features plans
management
 Underbalanced Vs.
Conventional Drilling
OVERBALANCED
Difficulty handling unpredicted
influx of gas and water
Massive formation damage
Missed productive zone
Lost circulation
Differential sticking
Poor removal of cuttings leads to
slow drilling, more bit damage
Production limited by
formation damage
Net Present Value―is the
well profitable?
UNDERBALANCED
No problem with influx―handled by
the UBD separation system
Reduced formation damage
Production flowing from
unsuspected zone
No lost circulation
Drill to total depth
Better cuttings removal can double
ROP and maximize bit life
Production increased by
50 to 1000 percent
NPV of well increased by two to
10 times or more
 UBD Vs. Conventional
Favors Conventional Drilling Favors UB Drilling
UBS is not a panacea
Competent rock preferred, but not
Wellbore stability issues
crucial
Very low permeability reservoirs Low to high permeability reservoirs

Reservoir impervious to drilling Skin damage from conventional

damage― good stimulation candidate drilling, especially horizontal wells

Sensitive formation; e.g. swelling clays,

No fluid/rock compatibility issues
fines migration, emulsion, etc.
Abnormally pressured reservoirs Normal or depleted reservoir
Acceptable rates of penetration Hard rock formations, short bit life

No desire to appraise while drilling Formation evaluation while drilling

High fluid influx to well Moderate to low fluid influx
Differential sticking, lost circulation
No differential sticking problems
issues
 UBD = Undeniable Success
RESERVOIR DRILLING
RESERVOIR DRILLING
CHALLENGE: Increase CHALLENGE: Save
productivity from water- North Sea field from RESERVOIR DRILLING
sensitive formation abandonment CHALLENGE: Create
better productivity in
poorly producing
reservoir

RESERVOIR DRILLING

CHALLENGE: Improve PERFORMANCE DRILLING

recovery in deep, hot, CHALLENGE:
semi-depleted reservoir Increase ROP, handle
low-volume pockets
of high-pressure gas
PERFORMANCE DRILLING
CHALLENGE: Deter
MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING
saltwater intrusion,
massive lost CHALLENGE: Evaluate
circulation, shale PERFORMANCE DRILLING UBS technology in MPD
swelling application in deepwater
CHALLENGE: Minimize lost
offshore depleted reserves
circulation and reduce
formation damage in highly
fractured limestone
 Candidate Screening & Selection

 Accurately assess  Screening Process

UBS prospects  Data Gathering
 Target the right  Review of Data
reservoirs
 Risked comparison  Screening the
Candidate
of underbalanced
versus  Technical Analysis
overbalanced  Economic Analysis
 Consider costs,
production rates,
projected revenue
and NPV.
 Conclusions
 Significant technical and economic benefits can be obtained when care is taken in
the design of a UBD program. Conversely, application of a poorly one could often
result in additional costs, greater damage, and reduced production compared with
a well designed conventional overbalanced program.

 The decision tree will help identify the UB candidates to choose for in-depth
analysis using tools and software packages available to the industry.

 The Big Question to ask

“Is it productivity enhancement or is it drilling problem/risk avoidance?”

 Generally these drivers are mutually exclusive, in that a UBO Authority/Approval

for Expenditure (AFE) for productivity enhancement will be higher than
conventional drilling AFE approaches, whereas a UBO AFE for drilling problem
avoidance will be less than a conventional drilling AFE.

 Thus a UBO AFE for productivity enhancement must be underpinned by greater

reserves recovery (or grossly accelerated production / reserve recoveries) that
swings the well economics in favour of the UBO solution.
 Recommendations
 Proper screening and candidate selection, detailed planning and
proper execution with experienced personnel should be stressed by
Operators to achieve total success.

 A wellbore stability study specific to the target reservoirs and well

trajectories should be undertaken prior to embarking on any future
UBD campaign.

 The UB decision point should be based on the primary driver for

the application of UBO. Is it productivity enhancement or is it
drilling problem/risk avoidance?

 The economics of a costlier UBD operation versus the

conventional approach, statistical analysis is the only way to
demonstrate the big picture advantage of UBD.
 The End

Please Do Ask any Underbalanced

Questions….

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