Kick Tolerance Margin

Well Control/Well Kill Method

• When the primary control is loss, there will be a formation fluid enter the
borehole (because the pressure in the wellbore is less than the
formation’s). The event is called well kick.
• The formation fluid entering the borehole is named influx
• When this happened, a special procedure called well control / well kill
method has to be done:
• Drillers
• Engineers
• The procedure is basically a method to recover the primary well control
• The intention are to displace the wellbore with the weightier fluid and to
circulate out the influx
Kick Illustration
• A vertical well has been drilled to 8000 ft MD and been penetrated reservoir
• A 9 ppg mud has been used to drill a reservoir that has been predicted a hydrostatic pressurized reservoir.
Actual reservoir pressure 4276 psi (equivalent to 10.27 ppg)
• A kick occurred and some volume of influx enter the wellbore which has 1000 ft MD of height

𝑃𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒
= 0.052𝑥𝑇𝑉𝐷𝑀𝑢𝑑 𝑥𝑀𝑊
0 psi ? psi + 0.052𝑥𝑇𝑉𝐷𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑥𝐺𝑎𝑠 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑃𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 3276 + 100
7,000 ft 9 ppg
𝑃𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 3376 𝑝𝑠𝑖
8,000 ft

𝑷𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 = 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒓 − 𝑷𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆

9 ppg 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 4231 − 3376
3744 psi 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 900 𝑝𝑠𝑖
1,000 ft

0.1 psi/ft
10.27 ppg ED 10.27 ppg ED
4231 psi 4231 psi
Kick Illustration (2)
• A vertical well has been drilled to 8000 ft MD and been penetrated reservoir
• A 9 ppg mud has been used to drill a reservoir that has been predicted a hydrostatic pressurized reservoir.
Actual reservoir pressure 4276 psi (equivalent to 10.27 ppg)
• A kick occurred and some volume of influx enter the wellbore which has 1000 ft MD of height

900 psi
𝑃𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑑 = 4231 + 250 (𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒)
0 psi
𝑃𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑑 = 4450 𝑝𝑠𝑖
7,000 ft

9 ppg
8,000 ft

4450
𝑀𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑑 =
(0.052𝑥 8000)
? ppg
𝑀𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑑 = 10.69 𝑝𝑝𝑔
1,000 ft

0.1 psi/ft
10.27 ppg ED 10.27 ppg ED
4231 psi 4231 psi
 0 1000 2000 Presssure (psi)3000 4000 5000
0
Pressure vs TVD Chart
900 psi
1000 (Dinamakan Initial Shut-in Pressure) Formation Pressure
MW Intitial
MW after Killing
2000 Well bore Pressure after Shut in Well
Top of Reservoir

3000
Depth (ft)

4000

5000

6000

7000

Top of Reservoir Gas Gradient

8000
 Gas Kick
• A gas volume will expand as traveling up to the surface according to Boyle Law
• It will decrease pressure exerted in the fluid column

𝑝1 𝑉1 = 𝑝2 𝑉2
𝑝1 𝐴ℎ1 = 𝑝2 𝐴ℎ2
900 psi 1047 psi
3,000 ft
4231 1000 = 0.052𝑥3000𝑥9 ℎ2
ℎ2 = 1836 ft
7,000 ft

9 ppg
9 ppg 𝑷𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 = 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒓 − 𝑷𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒊𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏 −
1,856 ft

𝑷𝒈𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏 −
0.1 psi/ft
𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
= 4231 − 0.052𝑥9𝑥6144 − 0.1𝑥1836
3,144 ft
1,000 ft

0.1 psi/ft 9 ppg

𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 1047 𝑝𝑠𝑖
10.27 ppg ED 10.27 ppg ED
4231 psi 4231 psi
 Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
0
Pressure vs TVD Chart

Formation Pressure
1000
MW Intitial
Pressure Shut in when Gas Expanded
2000 Top of Reservoir
Pressure Shut in Intial
3000
Depth (ft)

4000 Gas Column

5000

6000

7000
Top of Reservoir
8000
 Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
0
Pressure vs TVD Chart

Formation Pressure
1000
MW Intitial
Pressure Shut in When Gas Expanded + BP
2000 Pressure Shut in when Gas Expanded
Top of Reservoir
3000 Pressure Shut in Intial
Depth (ft)

4000 Gas Column

5000

6000

7000
Top of Reservoir
8000
Kick Tolerance Margin
• Maximum kick volume allowed to enter the wellbore before the
casing shoe break
• State in volume unit (bbls)
• Company has policy on how many bbls of kick tolerance margin
allowed
 Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0

1000

2000
Cased Hole

3000
Depth (ft)

4000 Casing Shoe

5000

6000
Open Hole

7000

8000
 Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0

1000

2000
Cased Hole

3000
Depth (ft)

4000 Casing Shoe

5000

6000
Open Hole

7000

8000
 Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0

1000

2000
Cased Hole

3000
Depth (ft)

4000 Casing Shoe

5000

6000
Open Hole

7000

8000
Kick Tolerance Margin Calculation

𝐷−𝐶−𝐵 =𝐴
𝐶 =𝐷−𝐵+𝐴
𝑃𝑔𝑎𝑠 = 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 − 0.052𝑥𝑀𝑊𝑥 𝑂𝐻 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑡 − 𝑋 − 𝑃𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐
𝑃𝐺𝑎𝑠𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛 = 0.1𝑥𝑋
2 2 2
𝐼𝐷ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 − 𝑂𝐷𝐷𝑃 A: Fracture
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝐾𝑖𝑐𝑘 = ∗𝑋 Pressure at Shoe
1029.4
B: Mud Column (Open hole lenght – X) feet
Pressure

C: Gas Column X feet

Pressure

D: Reservoir Pressure
 Kick Tolerance Margin for Gas Influx

X feet
> A bbls

OD drill pipes < OD

BHA, more annular
volume C bbls
X feet
< X feet
A bbls
Boyle Law applied on
gas volume

Situation-1: Gas on Bottom Situation-2: Gas Right Below the Shoe Situation-3: Convert Gas Volume on
Situation-2 (bbls) to the Bottom Hole
Choose the smaller influx volume between A (situation-1) or C (situation-3) Condition (C bbls)
 Kick Intensity
𝑃𝑔𝑎𝑠 = 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 − 0.052𝑥𝑀𝑊𝑥 𝑂𝐻 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑡 − 𝑋 − 𝑃𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐
𝑃𝐺𝑎𝑠𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛 = 0.1𝑥𝑋
2 2 2
𝐼𝐷ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 − 𝑂𝐷𝐷𝑃
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝐾𝑖𝑐𝑘 = ∗𝑋
1029.4

• On the actual case of well design, the reservoir pressure when kick occurred is unknown
• The reservoir pressure used in kick volume calculation is assumed from the mud weight added with
uncertainty
• The assumption is based on that the MW used is optimum (the overbalance value is just correct)
• The uncertainty added to MW is called Kick Intensity
• Common KI value used is 0.5 ppg, means that the uncertainty of formation pressure prediction is 0.5
ppg above MW used.
• This way is the most practical approach. Please note there are other procedure to approach uncertainty
in calculating kick tolerance volume

𝑀𝑊 + 𝐾𝐼 = 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟
 Maximum Initial Shut in Casing Pressure (MISICP)
Presssure (psi)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0

MISICP
1000
𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑪𝑰𝑷 = 𝑷𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄 − 𝑷𝑴𝒖𝒅𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒏
𝑀𝐼𝑆𝐶𝐼𝑃 = 𝐿𝑂𝑇 − 𝑀𝑊 𝑥0.052𝑥𝑇𝑉𝐷 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑒
2000 Gas gradient = 0.1 psi/ft
Oil gradient = 0.3 psi/ft
3000
Casing Shoe
Depth (ft)

4000

Oil Kick
5000

6000

Gas Kick
7000

8000
Step to Calculate Kick Tolerance
• Calculate Preservoir when kick occurred with determined Kick
intensity
• Calculate the height of influx when shoe fracture
• Calculate the kick volume
• For gas influx:
• Calculate kick volume which have the same height but the kick is below the
shoe
• Bring the kick volume above to the bottom hole condition
• Compare the kick volume, chose the smaller one.