OIL–BASED

MUDS
Presented By:
Visaya, Glenndelle B.
Altura, Neil Dominic R.
Dapito, Mark Jesus L.
Limbo, Bonn Adam V.
Famodulan, Jonellie Joy Nicholle F.
Perez, Ma. Kristelle M.
 4.0
Oil Based Mud

4.1
Water in Oil Emulsions
S
NT

4.2
TE
N

Wettability Control
CO

4.3
Balanced Activity

4.4
Viscosity Control

4.5
Filtration Control
INTRODUCTION
OF OBM

Visaya, Glenndelle B
 DISADVANTAGES OF USING OIL IN
THE DRILLING FLUID

❑ Higher initial cost

❑ More stringent pollution controls
required
❑ Reduced effectiveness of some logging tools
(resistivity logs)
❑ Detection of kicks more difficult due to gas
solubility in base oil
SOME APPLICATIONS OF OIL – BASED MUDS

❑ To drill and core ❑ To reduce

pay zones corrosion
❑ To drill troublesome ❑ As a completion
formations fluid (during
❑ To add lubricity in perforating and
directional drilling workovers)
(preventing stuck
pipe)
THREE TYPES OF OIL – BASED MUDS IN COMMON USE

❑ Full oil (water content

<5%)

❑ Invert oil emulsions

(water content 5–50%)

❑ Synthetic or Pseudo oil

based mud
CRUDE OIL

first oil base drilling fluid and

was used to complete
shallow, low pressure zones.
 OIL BASE DRILLING
FLUIDS COMPANY
(HUGHES DRILLING
FLUIDS)
formed by George Miller to
manufacture, market and service
the first commercial oil base
drilling fluid, Black Magic.
BLACK MAGIC

❑ Composed of air blown asphalt dispersed in a

diesel oil which contained naturally
occurring naphthenic acid, quick lime, and 5% by
volume water.

❑ It is used as a completion fluids for low

pressure and/or low permeability sands, coring
fluids and to free stuck pipe.
ASPHALT

❑ The primary viscosifier and fluid loss control

additive.

❑ Contributed on very high apparent and plastic

viscosities and consequently was detrimental to
drilling rates when compared to a water mud of the
same density.

❑ Much more expensive per unit volume than water

mud.
INVERTS OR INVERT EMULSION MUDS

❑ It means that water is emulsified in oil ( water – in – oil

emulsion).
❑ Developed to contain and tolerate a much greater water
volume than true oil muds.
❑ Rheology can be controlled by altering oil/water ratios.
❑ Allows the system to have adequate weight material
suspension and filtration control with lower viscosity
and gels.
❑ Oil/ water ratios ranged from 55/45 to 70/30.
WATER CONTAMINATION

❑ An acute problem causing excessive viscosity and

water – wetting of solids, necessitating
replacement of the system or at least dilution with
new mud.

❑ Requires adjustment of mud properties by the

addition of oil and emulsifiers in invert
emulsions.
 SYNTHETIC OR
PSEUDO OIL BASED
MUDS
synthetic fluids such as esters
and ethers.
Water-in-oil
Emulsion

Altura, Neil Dominic R.

Water-in-oil Emulsion

❑ The water in invert emulsion muds is dispersed as small droplets throughout

the oil. Emulsifiers coat the droplets, preventing them from coalescing and making
the mud unstable. A calcium or magnesium fatty acid soap is often used as an
emulsifier in an oil-based mud or OBM. The long hydrocarbon chain of the soap
molecule tends to be soluble in oil while the ionic portion tends to be soluble in
water.

❑ This reduces the surface energy of the interface and keeps the water droplets in
the emulsion. Other types of emulsifiers can also be used like: naphthenic acid soaps
and soaps from tree sap. The effectiveness of the emulsifier depends on the
alkalinity and electrolytes present in the water phase and also on the temperature
of the mud. For good mud properties there must be a balance between oil
and water. The water droplets help to:
• Support the barite
• Reduce filter loss
• Build viscosity and gel strength
❑ Invert emulsion drilling fluids are mixtures of two immiscible liquids: oil (or
synthetic) and water. They may contain 50% or more water. This water is broken
up into small droplets and uniformly dispersed in the external non-aqueous
phase. These droplets are kept suspended in the oil (or synthetic) and prevented
from coalescing by surfactants that act between the two phases. Figure
compares two water-in-oil emulsions of substantially different water content.
Provided the droplets are equal size, the system with the least water would be
more stable due to the greater distance between droplets, thereby reducing the
chance of coalescence.

❑ As shown in Figure 2, simply emulsifying the two phases causes a tremendous

increase in the contact surface area between the two phases (oil-water interface).
For example, if the containers in Figure 2 were a 2.72 cm cubes with a volume
slightly over 20 cm3 , and 10 cm3 of water were added to 10 cm3 of oil then allowed
to separate (as shown in the upper right corner of Figure 2), the contact surface
area of the interface between the oil and water would be only 7.4 cm2.
To adequately emulsify the
water in oil, there must be
sufficient chemical emulsifier to
form a film around each water
droplet. The emulsion will be
unstable if there is not
sufficient emulsifier. As the
water content increases, the
required concentration of
emulsifier increases.
❑ Emulsified water droplets lowered fluid loss and raised viscosity. The
continuous oil phase of these muds made them act as oil muds — wetting with an
oil film and preventing emulsified water from interacting with water-sensitive
shales and cuttings to provide good wellbore stability. The muds were tolerant
of salt and anhydrite contamination. These muds were emulsions in every sense
and were called “invert emulsion” muds to distinguish them from the
water-base “oil emulsion” muds that were in use at the time.

❑ Today, an invert emulsion mud is a fluid with diesel oil, mineral oil or synthetic
fluid as the continuous phase and water or brine as an emulsified phase. The
emulsified water or brine is dispersed within the oil (see Figure 1). This is the
internal phase. Calcium chloride salt is used to increase the emulsified water
phase salinity to a level where it does not influence (soften or swell)
water-sensitive formations and cuttings.
▪ The emulsified water or brine is
dispersed within the oil
Wettability
Control

Dapito, Mark Jesus L.

 When a drop of liquid is
placed on a solid it will either:
• Spread itself over the
surface of the solution
• Remain as a stable drop

The shape that the drop takes

up on the adhesive forces
between the molecules of the
solid and liquid phases.
❑ When two liquids are present and brought into
contact with a solid, one of the liquids will
preferentially wet the solid. Most natural
minerals are water wet. When water wet solids enter
an emulsion the solids tend to agglomerate
with the water, and settle out. To overcome this
problem surfactants are added to the oil phase to
change the solids from being water wet to being
oil wet.
❑ The soaps added as emulsifiers will also act as
wettability control agents, but special surfactants are
more effective.

❑ A loose emulsion is often due to water wet solids

or free water. When water-wet solids are present the
surface of the mud becomes less shiny and the
cuttings tend to stick to each other and blind the
shale shaker. Barite added for density control must
also be oil wet otherwise the particles will tend to
settle out.
BALANCED
ACTIVITES

Limbo, Bonn Adam V.

Activity

❑ It is the affinity of a substance or potential for water.

❑ This is the reason why rocks absorb water to some extent.
❑ If there is no activity or swelling, this may lead to borehole
instability.
❑ In order to balance the activity of oil-based muds, Calcium
Chloride is added to align the activity of mud (Aw) to the
activity of the formation being drilled.
❑ Either CaCL2 or NaCl can be used to adjust Aw, keeping it at
optimal level of 0.75.
VISCOSITY
CONTROL

Famodulan, Jonellie Joy

Nicholle F.
 Excessive viscosity in an oil-based mud may be result of:

❑ Too much water content- when water is properly

emulsified it behaves like a solid. As the water fraction
increases so does the viscosity.

❑ Drilled Solids- The solids content affects viscosity in oil-based

in the same way as water-based muds. The build up of fine
solids may produce high PV, YP and gel strengths. Finer
shaker screens (120 mesh) should be used to reduce this
effect. Water wet solids may also cause problems with high
YP.
❑ It is recommended that pilot tests should be done to
assess the implications of adding chemicals to the mud
to control viscosity. Emulsifiers and wetting agents
may be added to reduce viscosity.

❑ Water and special viscosifiers (organically treated

bentonite) may be added to the mud to increase
viscosity.
FILTRATION
CONTROL

Perez, Ma. Kristelle M.

FILTRATION ❑ The filtration property of a drilling
fluid is the ability of the solid
components of the mud to form a
filter cake and the magnitude of
cake permeability. The lower the
permeability, the thinner the filter
cake which then lowers the volume
of filtrate from the mud.

❑ A thick filter cake is undesirable in

drilling operations as it
constricts the walls of the borehole
and allows excessive amount
of filtrate to move into the
formation. This could result in
further problems such as
caving, tight pulls, held ups and
stuck ups.
FILTRATION CONTROL
PROBLEMS CAUSED BY POOR FILTRATION CONTROL

Poor filtration control can caused a number of problem in

drilling operations. Excessive filtrate loss and filter cake build up
can lead to:

❑ Formation damage due to filtrate invasion

❑ Increase pressure surge when moving the pipe due to
decreased hole diameter
❑ Cementing problems due to poor removal of
dehydrated, thick filter cake
THANK YOU