GE

3087: Drilling
Engineering
Kicks, Kill Operations
Instructor: Tran Trung Dung
Kick
• Unplanned influx of Formation Fluids into the
wellbore.
• Can be oil/gas/water or combined mixture of these fluids
• When? during drilling, tripping, making a connection,
logging, running casing, cementing, NU/ND BOP, etc.
• How? Formation pressure > BHP & mobile formation fluids

• Is it a kick?
• Fluids produced due to underbalanced drilling?
• Fluids produced during a DST/TST
Causes?
• Human errors – incorrect ppg mud
• Abnormal pressure zone
• Correct ppg, but the borehole is not fully filled
(during drilling/tripping)
• (severe) lost circulation (ADE Exercise 4.14)
• Gas cut mud (ADE example 4.5; Exercise 4.9)
• Swabbing (ADE example 4.35)
Kick detection –
Early signs at the surface
• While drilling
• Drilling break – ROP increase (e.g. drilling into a weak
/high pressure zone)
• Change in Cuttings’ shape
• Increase in torque & drag (swab)
• Shale cuttings density change
• Mud properties change (e.g chloride)
• Flow line temperature increases
• Connection Gas/drilled gas (total gas/background gas)
increases
Drilling through shales

Cuttings swelling

Borehole
enlargement/”washout van Oort 2003
 Positive Kick - signs at surface
• “Positive” = almost 100% certain of formation influx
into the wellbore

• While Drilling
• Increase in return flow -> flow show instrument must be
checked/calibrated frequently
• Pit gain: increase of active pit system (pit level)
• Well continues to flow while the pumps are off
• Pump off means ECD decreases -> BHP decreases….
• Pump SPM increase but pump pressure decrease

WHEN A KICK IS SUSPECTED…. Do a FLOW CHECK!!!!

Ballooning phenomenon vs. kick
• Ballooning:
• Formation takes in mud when the pumps are on
• Releases that same mud when the pumps are off

• Small hole, fast drilling: high annular velocity, high ECD

• If you are not sure -> treat it as a kick, meaning
• Shut-in well
• Circulate it out (e.g using the Driller’s method)
• Check if flowback & pressure decreases over time

• Gauge flow back; SIDPP ~= SICP? back calculate depth of

ballooning/kick; your kick tolerance?
 Positive Kick - signs at surface
• “Positive” = almost 100% certain of
formation influx into the wellbore

• While Tripping

• Trip log deviations:

• short fill up when POOH; excessive pit
gain when RIH
• Steel volume in/out <> returning/filling
fluid volume
• Positive flow when pipe is static
• Monitor trip tank volume

WHEN A KICK IS SUSPECTED…. Do a FLOW CHECK!!!!

Example situation
• While POOH with bit at 1100ft from bottom, the
hole failed to take 7bbl of mud from the trip tank.
What are the steps that we have to do?

• FIRST: Do a Flow Check!

• If positive kick -> kill operations
• If no flow: trip back to bottom, monitor return mud
volume, circulate bottoms up
Kick indicators
Indicator Significance
Drilling break Medium
Increase in mud return rate High
Pit gain High
Flow with pump off Definite
Pump pressure increase Low
and rate increase
Drillstring weight increase Low
Gas cutting/salinity change Low
Kick size
• 10 bbls or less: small kick, can be handled safely
• Except for slimhole drilling (why?)

• Exercise: ADE 4.33

&'(
• Kill mud density 𝜌" = 𝜌$ +
).)+",
Kill operations
• Driller’s method
• Wait & Weight method

• What will happen to SIDPP & SICP vs. time as a kick

moving up to the surface?
• Water (incompressible)
• Oil (slightly compressible)
• Gas (highly compressible)
 Quiz #2 – drilling into an
overpressured gas formation
A reservoir at 5,000 ft tvd, (T = 150°F, p = 2,500 psi) experiences a kick of 20,000 scf
of 0.6 gravity gas. The hole diameter is 9 5/8 in. The drill pipe diameter is 5 in. The
drilling mud is 8.65 ppg (0.45 psi/ft gradient).
• Calculate:
• Initial Drill pipe shut in pressure?
• Annulus cross sectional area (ft2)
• Gas z-factor, gas formation factor Bg (rcf/scf), gas density (lbm/ft3)
• Kick gradient (psi/ft) and initial kick volume (rcf), initial kick height (ft)
• Calculate the expected increase in pressure at the top of the annulus (SICP)

• Repeat the problem for a deep reservoir (H = 25,000 ft TVD, T = 450°F, p = 12,000
psi)

• In which case is the kick easier to detect? Shallow or Deep?

Correlations to estimate gas pseudo-critical properties
Review for midterm (19 April 2021)
• 60 minutes
• Closed books, no phones/internet;
• Non-programming calculator only
• 1 A4 cheat sheet

• Format:
• True/False; Multiple choices: 10
• Quick Calculations; short answers: 5
• Problems
• Derive equation 1
• Bit record 1
• Calculations 1-2 (similar to ADE chapter 4 examples/exercises)