UNDERBALANCED DRILLING TECHNIQUES Engineering, Equipment, Drilling Practices / Monitoring, and Selected Case Histories 700.AL.52110. 11. 12. UNDERBALANCED DRILLING TECHNIQUES TABLE OF CONTENTS Bannion, D. B. et al; Underbalanced Drilling, Promises and Perils Saponja, J.; Engineering Considerations for Jointed Pipe Underbalanced Drilling Lunan, F. and Curtis, F.; Underbalanced Drilling Operations. Correct Operating Procedures Using a Closed Surface Control System to Drill for Oil and Gas Rovig J.; The Evolution of Stable Foam as an Underbalanced Drilling Medium Atherton, G. M.; Recent Experiences with Underbalanced Coil Tubing Drilling Onshore UK, Including Re-entries and Multi-laterals Doremus, Case Histories Inderbalanced Drilling with Coiled Tubing. Techniques and Wilson, J.; Optimizing Drilling of Underbalanced Wellbores with Data Acquisition Systems Geoservices; Underbalanced Drilling (UBD) System — Presentation and Description Mullane, T. J., et af; Benefits of Underbalanced Drilling. Examples from the Weyburn and Westrose Fields, Western Canada Crerar, P. and Atkinson, P.; Underbalanced Re-entry Horizontal Drilling in the Welton Field, Onshore U. K. Surewaard, J, ef al; Underbalanced Operations in Petroleum Development, Oman Cagnolotti, E, and Curtis, F.; Using Underbalanced Technology to Solve Traditional Drilling Problems in Argentina uBpToct.D0c_ REV. 11/1095 GecoservicesUnderbalanced Drilling, Praises and Perils D. Brant Bennion, F. Brent Thomas, Ronald F. Bietz, and Douglas W. Bennion Hycal Energy Research Laboratories Ltd. Presented at the First International Underbalanced Drilling Conference and Exhibition, The Hague, Netherlands, Oct. 2-4, 1995, ABSTRACT Underbalanced driling has been ulized with increasing frequency to minimize problems associated with invasive formation damage which often greatly reduce the Productivity of oil and gas reservoirs, particularly in open hole horizontal well applications. Underbalanced dling, when properly designed and executed, minimizes of eliminates problems associated with the invasion of Parficulate matter into the formation as well as a mutitude of other problems such as adverse clay reactions, phase trapping, precipitation and emulsification which can be caused by the invasion of incompatible mud filtrates in an overbalanced condition. In many underbalanced driling ‘operations, additional benefits are seen due to a reduction in dling time, greater rates of penetration, increased bit life, a rapid indication of productive reservoir zones and the 3otential for dynamic flow testing while dling Underbalanced driling is not @ solution to all formation damage problems. Damage due to poorly designed and/or executed underbalanced drilling programs can rival or even greatly exceed that which may occur using a well-designed conventional overbalanced drilling program. Potential downsides and damage mechanisms associated with underbalanced drilling will be discussed. These include: References and illustrations at end of paper * increased cost and safety concerns; + difficulty in maintaining a continuously underbalanced condition (due to such factors as pipe connections in rotary driling, bit trips, mud pulsed logging, bit jetting and flushing effects, localized depletion and subsequent repressurization effects, poor knowledge of initial reservoir pressure, multiple zones with differing initial Pressures, slug flow and liquid holdup in the vertical section of the wellbore and mechanical problems with surface equipment or gas supply sources); * spontaneous imbibition and countercurrent imbibition effects; + glazing, mashing and cuttings induced damage; ‘+ macroporosity gravity induced invasion; ‘+ dificulty of application in zones of extreme pressure and permeability; ‘+ politicaV/career risk associated with championing a new and potentially risky technology, This paper discusses reservoir parameters required to design an effective underbalanced or overbalanced drilling rogram, laboratory screening procedures to ascertain the effectiveness of underbalanced drilling in a specific application and presents screening criteria with respect to the types of reservoirs which present good applications for underbalanced drilling technology.2 UNDERBALANCED DRILLING, PRAISES AND PERILS DUCTION Underbalanced driling (UBD) is a technique in which the hydrostatic pressure in the circulating downhole fluid system, while driling the well, is maintained at some pressure less than the pressure of the target formation of interest. This condition can be generated naturally with low density fluids (clear fresh waters or light hydrocarbon systems) in some situations where high natural pressure exists Inthe formation. In most situations, the tunderbalanced condition is generated artificially by the concurrent injection of some type of non-condensable gas with the circulating fluid system. The gas most commonly uitiized is nitrogen due to its avalabilty and transportation ‘concems, but underbalanced operations have also been executed using air, natural gas, flue gas or reduced oxygen Content air (semi-permeable membrane unit processed), depending on the specific reservoir situation under consideration. Underbalanced driling techniques have often been applied for horizontal wells where formation damage ‘concems have been of particular import due to longer fluid contact times and a greater prevalence of open hole Completions in horizontal vs vertical well applications. This results in the fact that even relatively shallow invasive damage can significantly reduce the productiviy of a horizontal well in comparison to a cased and perforated vertical well. Underbalanced technology, however, has application to vertical wells and therefore both types of operations will be addressed in this paper. When the underbalanced condition must be generated artificially this is most often mechanically done by a process known as dil string injection. In this process, the non- condensable gas is injected directly into the dril string at surface reducing the density of the entire circulating fluid ‘system in both the injection path (inside the string) as well as in the retuming fluid flowing back to surface in the annular space outside the string. Specialized surface equipment for pressurized flow, solids separation, cuttings sampling and well control is required for this operation and hhas been discussed by other authors’ and is illustrated in Figure 1. A drawback of the through pipe injection method is that conventional mud pulsed logging techniques cannot be used while maintaining an underbalanced condition, due to the presence of a compressible gas in the fluid system. In addition, the underbalanced condition is lost or ‘compromised on a regular basis if a rotary rig is used due to the necessity of breaking for periodic pipe connections as the driling process proceeds. The use of altemate mechanical configurations, such as a parasite tubing string (Figure 2A) or concentric dril sting (Figure 28) eliminates this concem and allows continuous underbalanced ‘operation and conventional MWD operations by injection of the non-condensible gas directly into the returning fluid stream at some intermediate location in the annular wellbore®. Added cost and complexity are the downsides of this application as well as a greater propensity of flushing Of the formation due to the application of full hydrostatic pressure directly at the drill bit jet ports which will be discussed in greater detail later in the paper. Reservoir characterization and the proper placement of the well in viable producing reservoir pay obviously play a Crucial role in determining the final performance of any well drilled in either an overbalanced or underbalanced mode. ‘The discussion presented in this paper assumes that the well has been placed in a suitable location in the formation of interest. ‘The objective of this paper is to present and discuss the Potential advantages and disadvantages that are associated with underbalanced driling operations and provide a set of feservoir screening criteria which operators may wish to Consider when deciding if underbalanced drilling is a proper application for a given project. ADVANTAGES OF UNDERBALANCED DRILLING A variety of reasons present themselves as to why underbalanced drilling may be considered for a given reservoir application, some of these being: Reduction in Invasive Formation Damage Many formations are susceptible to a variety of different ‘types of formation damage during overbalanced driling operations, which may include: ‘+ Physical migration of in-situ fines and clays caused by high fluid leakoff velocities at highly overbalanced cconditions*. ‘+ Tho invasion of artificial or naturally generated solids Present in the mud system into the formation matrix (particularly an issue in open hole completions where penetration of physically shallow but potentially very severe damage of this type by perforatingfracturing is ‘not normally considered)‘, ‘+ Apoor knowledge of the formation pore size distribution exists or a significant bimodal size distribution exists Which makes the design and formation of a lowD.B. Bennion, F.B. Thomas, R.F. Bietz, D.W. Bennion 3 Permeability sealing filter cake to inhibit deep invasive damage in an overbalanced mode difficult. ‘+ High permeability zones presenting the potential for severe invasive fluid loss (large macrofractures, highly interconnected large vugs, extremely high permeability ‘sands or intererystalline carbonates) e» ‘+ Susceptibility to aqueous or hydrocarbon phase traps which may result in the retention of water-based or hydrocarbon-based invaded fluid filtrates which may Cause a permanent reduction in the productive capacity of the near wellbore region due to adverse relative permeability effects®*, * Potential adverse reaction between invaded fitrate and the formation (swelling clays, deflocculatable clays, formation dissolution, chemical adsorption, wettability alterations, etc) ‘+ Potential adverse reaction between invaded fitrates and in-situ fluids (emulsions, precipitates, scales)! Increased Rate of Penetration (ROP) Many UBD operations exhibit significantly greater ROPs than conventional overbalanced applications. This can reduce driling time significantly in extended reach horizontal sections, improve bit life and, in general, tends to reduce drilling costs, UBD Provides a Rapid Indication of Productive Reservoir Zones Since the hydrostatio pressure of the circulating fluid systern ina truly underbalanced operation is less than the formation, Pressure, a condition of net outflow of formation fluids (ol, water or gas) should occur. Proper flow monitoring of the ‘produced fluids at surface can provide @ good indication of Productive zones of the reservoir and act as a valuable ald in the geosteering of the well (it @ horizontal application). Transient holdup in the horizontal portion and slug flow in vertical sections of the pipe must be taken into consideration in the correlation of the location of the surges of produced fluids to productive zones. Significant production of liquid hydrocarbons (as gas is usually fiared) {during the driling operation may provide some early cash netback to partially defer some of the additional costs associated with the UBD operation. Up to 2,000 m? of oll (approx 11,000 bb!) of hydrocarbon fiquids have been Produced during some Canadian UBD operations. Abllity to LWD/MWD Through the Use of Electronic Telemetry Tools ‘Amajor drawback in past UBD operations was the inability to MWD/geosteer while using gas charged fluid systems (unless a parasite or concentric dil string configuration, which allows pulsed logging up an entirely liquid-filed drill string, was used). The development of electronic telemetry tools which directly transmit downhole information back to ‘surface while driling, even in an underbalanced mode, have proven highly useful in UBD operations. Depth and temperature limitations on these tools still currently limit their applicability in deeper wells, but it is expected that, as technology continues to advance in this area, even deeper wells can be driled using this method. Ability to Flow/Well Test While Drilling Recently, several operators have taken advantage of the flowing condition occurring during UBD to conduct either single or multirate drawdown tests to evaluate the Productive capacity of the formation and formation Properties during the driling operation (in a static mode or while driling ahead in some situations). The analysis of these tests is obviously complicated by the fact that, Particularly in horizontal wells, a number of productive zones may be simultaneously flowing, particularly later on in the driling operation, but some valuable insight into formation properties can be obtained in some situations. The primary reason for drilling in an underbalanced mode ‘must be economically motivated so that an operator feels that the increased cost, and other potential downsides of UBD, are offset by a potential significant increase in well productivity or other technical or operational concems which an be attributed to UBD. A proper understanding of some of the potential adverse phenomena which may be associated with UBD is essential prior to implementing any UBD program. These will now be discussed. DISADVANTAGES OF UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Expense - Underbalanced driling is usually more expensive than a conventional driling program, particularly if driling in @ sour environment or in the presence of adverse Operational or surface conditions (remote location, offshore, etc). Also, as will be discussed in greater detail in the following sections, there is little advantage to driling a well in an underbalanced mode ifthe well is not completed in an tunderbalanced fashion. This often results in additional costs for snubbing equipment required to strip the dril string fromhi 4 UNDERBALANCED DRILLING, PRAISES AND PERILS the hole in an underbalanced flow condition. A portion of this expense may be offset by increased OP conditions resulting in a reduction in driling and rig time and the fact that, if the well can be died in a truly underbalanced fashion, limited or no completion work will be required, reducing the cost of extensive and expensive completion and stimulation treatments which may often be required in severely damaged horizontal and vertical wells. Safety Concerns - The technology for driling and completing wells in an underbalanced fashion continues to improve and, with recent developments in surface control equipment, rotating blowout prevention equipment and the increased usage of colled tubing in UBD, has increased the reliabilty of many UBD operations. The fact that wells must be drilled and completed in a flowing mode, however, always adds safety and technical concems in any dling operation. The use of air as the injected gas in an UBD ‘operation, although effective at reducing the cost of the ‘operation, can cause concems with respect to flammability and corrosion problems. Considerable work has been conducted recently in high pressure testing to ascertain safe combustible limits of produced mixtures of natural gas, cil and driling mud with both conventional and oxygen- reduced content air’. Figure 3 provides a schematic ilustration of a typical combustible gas flash envelope for a given air - reservoir fluid UBD application. Due to the Unique configuration of the flash envelope which is generated for each particular reservoir fiuid composition, the flash envelope testing is usually required for each particular reservoir fluid system/gas composition under consideration. Failure to Maintain a Continuously Underbalanced Condition During Drilling and Completion and Resulting Formation Damage - A major factor in the disappointing results from many UBD operations conducted in the past is, the fact that the underbalanced condition is not maintained 100% of the time during driling and completion operations. Figures 4A - 4D illustrate the phenomena of damage ‘associated with this phenomena and this is elaborated on in greater detail in the iterature®*. ‘The major issue here is that, since the formation pressure is greater than the circulating fluid pressure in a truly underbalanced operation, there is no impetus for the formation of any type of sealing filter cake on the surface of the rock. Obviously, this is advantageous with respect to formation damage concems, which may be associated with the influx of potentially damaging fitrate or mud solid into the formation, butt also ‘means that the protective abilty and presence of this fiter cake as a barrier to fluid and solids invasion is negated. If the formation is abruptly (or gradually) exposed to a condition of or periodic pulses of overbalance pressure, very rapid and severe invasion of fitrate and associated ‘solids may occur. In some situations, the damage is more significant than if a properly designed overbalanced system had been used in the first place, due to the fact that invasive depth and profile can often be minimized in many overbalanced systems with the proper mud and bridging agent design. ‘There is @ large number of potential reasons why an underbalanced condition may be lost during driling, some of these being: ‘+ Ia rotary tig is used, the underbalanced condition is ‘compromised each time gas injection must be terminated to make a pipe connection. Figure 5A ilustrates this phenomena. Circulating out to pure gas prior to each pipe connection tends to minimize the effect of these overbalanced pulses (Figure 5B), but increases in pressure of several hundred to several ‘thousand kPa are still common in some operations. ‘+ Periodic kill jobs to conduct bit tris result in balanced to full hydrostatic pressure being required to control the well unless the string is snubbed out in a flow mode. A ‘compression wave occurs in front of the pipe when rerunning the string if rapid running of the pipe occurs which can also aggravate the overbalanced condition. It is recommended for @ given underbatanced operation that, if the string cannot be removed in an underbalanced mode and run in slowly after bit replacement, a new bit be used prior to drilling and the well terminated when the bit expires if close to desired total length in the target formation (for a horizontal application), rather than risk impairment of the entire horizontally drilled section to date by a bit trip to obtain 100 or 200 meters of additional well length. ‘© Periodic hydrostatic kill jobs to conduct conventional ‘mud pulsed logging programs for MWD and geosteering purposes can have adverse effects due to fluid invasion. ‘The use of electronic telemetry MWD tools can eliminate this problem for wells less than approximately 2500 ‘meters in TVD. + Ifa concentric or parasite string configuration is used to obtain a continuous underbalanced condition, since a full hydrostatic column of fluid is present in the contre of the aril string, full hydrostatic pressure willbe present at the jets on the dil bit. Orfice effects will drop this pressure somewhat as the fluid moves through the jets, butD.B. Bennion, F.B. Thomas, R.F. Bietz, D.W. Bennion 5 Possible flushing and an overbalanced condition may stil, exist directly at the rock - bit interface which would not, bbe detected by downhole pressure recorders adjacent to the bit as pressure will drop rapidly as the fluid leaves the bit area as the pressure in the majority of the etuming fluid column will be controlled by the arasite/concentric string injection scheme. Localized depletion effects may occur in situations where formation permeability is low, underbalance pressure is high of reservoir volume accessed by the Well is limited. Figure 6A illustrates this phenomena. It can be seen, as in any well production application, that a pseudo steady state flow condition will begin to be forced in zones of the reservoir which have been penetrated during an UBD operation and are in a Condition of dynamic flow. In a situation such as this, the flowing equilibrium sandface pressure will ultimately ‘approach that of the circulating underbalanced fluid. In this scenario, it can be seen that even a slight increase in effective downhole pressure, which the operator may consider to be still well within a condition of true uunderbalance based upon the original reservoir Pressure, will result in an overbalanced condition in the near wellbore region and the potential for fluid and solids Invasion. The degree of severity of this problem wil depend on the reservoir parameters under consideration and the speed at which the formation tends to repressure the depleted zone during the overbalanced Period. It is likely that unless formation permeability is extremely high that some invasion may occur prior to repressurization. This phenomena s illustrated in Figure 6B. Although high permeability formations will repressure ‘more quickly, itis also likely that these zones will be operated in a less underbalanced condition due to surface flow restriction considerations. This means that there will be less margin for error in an overbalanced ppulse situation as we would be operating much closer to the original reservoir pressure in this situation than in a lower permeability scenario. A poor knowledge of original reservoir pressure may result in operating in an overbalanced condition when we are contemplating an underbalanced situation for a given set of operating conditions. Good metered flow of excess oil, water or gas from the formation is a good indication that a true UBD condition has been achieved, but may not always be practically measurable in formations which exhibit very low permeability and correspondingly low production rates. * The intersection of multiple reservoir zones which may be at significantly different pressures, due to the Presence of permeability barriers, may result in rossflow between individual zones and a condition where underbalanced conditions may be obtained in some higher pressure zones and overbalanced conditions and invasive crosstlow from higher pressure zones may be occurring in lower pressure zones penetrated by the well. ‘+ Slug flow and liquid holdup occur in the vertical section of the wellbore in most UBD operations where gas and liquid are being concurrently injected. This results in problems with sizing of surface equipment to handle Periodic high rate surges which occur at surface conditions and also results in downhole pressure swings and surges which may be comparable in magnitude to those induced in making pipe connections in rotary criling operations and may result in invasion in lower ressure/depleted zones of the reservoir. This Phenomena is illustrated in Figure 7 . *+ Since the underbalanced condition in most situations is a condition that is naturally foreign to the reservoir, it must be maintained by delicate contro! and the use of special surface injection and control equipment. Unfortunately, this means that the operation is at the mercy of smooth and trouble free operation ofall of the equipment on the lease and uninterrupted supply sources of the non-condensable injected gas to ensure @ continuously underbalanced condition. In many ‘operations, technical equipment or supply problems may ‘ccur which may result in the physical loss of the underbalanced condition for a period of time and may negate much of the effort expended to drill lunderbalanced in the portion of the well drilled prior to that time, due to invasive damage effects associated with elther kiling the well or exposing it to a balanced shut-in condition with mud in the hole. ‘Spontaneous imbibition and Countercurrent imbibition Effects - Due to adverse capillary pressure relations, it is possible to imbibe water-based (and in some cases hydrocarbon-based) fluids into the formation in the near wellbore region where they may cause a reduction in permeability due to rock-fluid or fiuid-uid incompatibility effects, or a reduction in flow capacity due to aqueous or hydrocarbon phase trapping and relative permeability ettects. The absence of a sealing and very low permeability filter cake, which can act as a barrier to long-term ‘spontaneous imbibition effects (as long as high initial spurta ha 6 UNDERBALANCED DRILLING, PRAISES AND PERILS. loss is not present) created during a conventional well designed overbalanced driling operation, can result in Potentially more severe problems with imbibition being Present in a UBD operation than an conventional ‘overbalanced operation. “A detailed discussion of aqueous Phase trapping and countercurrent imbibition effects is Contained in the literature. Figure 8 illustrates the basic mechanism of an aqueous phase trap. In an UBD operation, imbibition effects can cause phase trapping and damage problems in a number of different reservoir scenarios, some of these being: + Water wet gas reservoirs that exist in a dehydrated state of sub-irreducible saturation. These types of formations ‘are common in very tight gas reservoir scenarios or in zones which have undergone significant regional migration of gas over geologic periods of time. Figure 9 illustrates the phenomena of spontaneous countercurrent imbibition for a reservoir of this type. It can be seen that, due to the very low initial water saturation there is @ very strong tendency to countercurrently imbibe the water based mud filtrate into the formation to reach an equilibrium capillary pressure value. The greater the difference between the initial and true irreducible water ‘saturation exhibited by the formation, the more severe the problem. Due to the asymptotic nature of most capillary pressure curves near the irreducible water saturation, the practical magnitude of applicable underbalance pressures can be seen to be insufficient to counteract most countercurrent spontaneous imbibition effects. ‘+ Water wet oll or gas bearing formations at relatively low underbalance pressures where the UBD operation is being executed at the top of the formation out of the capillary transition zone. In this situation, the water saturation in the formation directly adjacent to the wellbore is at some saturation level close to or at the ieducible saturation, However, the presence of a ‘water-based fluid in the wellbore is equivalent to the artificial placement of a water-oll or water-gas contact directly adjacent to the formation face. It can be seen from Figure 10, ifthe underbalance pressure is relatively {ow in this situation, that, in the zone marked "imbibition zone", it is stil possible to imbibe fluid in a countercurrent fashion and cause damage. This problem can be largely mitigated by operating at a relatively ignificant underbalance condition to ensure that we hhave sufficient drawdown present to counteract this effect. A proper understanding of the wettabilty, initial water saturation and water-oil or gas-water capillary pressure characteristics of the formation is essential in the design of a proper UBD process to minimize ‘concems with capillary imbibition effects. Case studies of this phenomena appear in the literature®. ‘+ Equivalentimbibition effects can occur with hydrocarbon based fluids in oil wetted formations which exhibit sub- itreducible oil saturations. This can occur in oil wetted retrograde condensate formations producing under the dew point pressure, or gas-bearing formations containing naturally oil wetted minerals (ie - pyrobitumen, elemental sulphur, asphaltic precipitates or residual heavy bitumen saturations), or a low oil sub-irreducible oil saturation, caused by displacement of an original oll column from the zone by gas over geologic time. ‘+ Water-wet formations in general will not spontaneously imbibe oil-based fluids and conversely oil wetted formations will not imbibe water-based fluids (although if high fluid loss conditions exist under overbalanced conditions, these fluids an stil be easily displaced via Pressure in a damaging fashion into the near wellbore matrix). Thus, a proper understanding of formation wettability and then coupling this with the base fluid ‘selection for an UBD program can minimize some of the problems associated with countercurrent imbibition effects. Glazing, Mashing and Cuttings Damage - In any driling ‘operation, drill cuttings are generated by the erosive action of the dril bit on the formation. The size and quantity of cuttings in the circulating fluid stream depends on the formation type, bit type, ROP and fluid system under ‘consideration. Fluid systems used in UBD operations and gas/air dril operations may suffer from problems due to: ‘+ Glazing or mashing is a polishing of the surface of the wellbore caused by direct action of the bit at the formation face (particulary severe when driling hard formations at low ROP's of using dull or damaged bits) oF polishing of the formation face by poorly centralized dril string. The glaze generally consists of formation fines, which are generated and milled by the dil bit action which forms a thin, pottery glaze like paste and coats the surface of the formation. Straight gas drill operations are particularly sensitive to this problem due 10 the poor solids transport properties of most pure gas, systems, very fine dust like cuttings which are generated when turbine type mud motors are used and the poor heat transfer capacity of gas which results in very highHW D.B. Bennion, F.B. Thomas, RF. Bietz, D.W. Bennion 7 fock-bit temperatures which aggravate the glaze formation process. ‘+ Glazing in general tends be @ relatively shallow process with the physical depth of the glaze extending only a few mm into the formation. Cased and perforated completions, therefore, rarely encounter significant impairment in productivity due to this problem as the damage is easily penetrated with a typical perforation charge. Very heterogenous formations containing large ‘vugs or natural fractures also tend to be less sensitive to this type of damage due to the inabily of the glaze to occlude large porosity features of this type. Relatively homogeneous sandstone or carbonate formations completed in an open hole mode, therefore tend to be the most susceptible to this type of damage. In carbonate formations the glaze tends to be dominated by acid soluble limestone or dolomite constituents and can often be removed by a tubing conveyed light acid wash. This is in comparison to the more difficult to Temove silicate-based glaze generated in sandstone formations. Macroporosity Gravity Induced Invasion - In formations which exhibit macroporosity (very large open fractures, large interconnected vugs), physical gravity induced invasion of circulating driling fluid and solids can occur into these features on the lower side of a horizontal wellbore. This phenomena is illustrated in Figure 11. If the fractures or vugs are small and the underbalance pressure sufficient, the natural orifice jetting action of the fluid from these {features into the wellbore will be sufficient to counteract this Phenomena, but if low underbalance pressures or very large porosity features are present resulting in a low superficial fluid velocity at the wellbore - porosity feature intersection, gravity dominated invasion may occur in some situations, Difficulty of UBD Execution and Control in Zones of Extreme Permeability - It is unfortunate that one of the best applications of UBD technology, that of extremely high permeability formations (ie- macrofractured chalks, grossly ‘vugular carbonates, highly unconsolidated high permeability sands) also presents one of the major challenges in UBD in that effective control of these formations when they exist at naturally high initial pressure, even at relatively low underbalance pressure conditions, becomes problematic, and the risks associated with handling of huge volumes of produced fluids and high pressures on surface becomes too costly and risky to consider a UBD operation, particularly in extreme or offshore operating conditions. As the technology for UBD continues to advance, it is expected that improvements in surface handling and contro! equipment may allow UBD technology to be applicable to a wider spectrum of formation applications of this type. Career and Political Risk of Failure - Underbalanced diiling, like any advanced technology, often needs a ‘company champion to step forward and put forward a case for @ good application of an UBD operation. in many companies, having a successful frst application of any new technology is important for that technology to be considered {or future application. Therefore, proper selection of a good ‘candidate reservoir for UBD is doubly important for a first operation, as a poorly executed operation resulting in a failure will more often than not result in the technology being discounted as too risky for future applications where it may, in fact, provide significant economic advantage to a ‘conventional overbalanced operation. ENING CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF _A FORMATION FOR UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Although a properly executed underbalanced operation will give favourable results in almost any situation, comparable results may often be obtained with considerably less cost and risk with a conventional well-designed overbalanced driling program in some reservoir applications. A list of information which should be obtained prior to designing the driling program for any reservoir for optimum performance would include: Reservoir Parameters. 1. Range of permeability, porosity and pore throat size distribution existing in the formation for bridging calculations and evaluating fluid loss potential (determined from routine core analysis, petrographic image analysis and mercury injection porosimetry data). 2. Presence of macroscopic heterogeneities (vugs and fractures) and aperture size of these porosity features if present (Determined from downhole imaging, micro resistivity logs and in some cases goniometric core analysis on representative core samples). 3. Presence of potentially sensitive minerals in the formation (clays, anhydride, halite, etc). Determined by petrographic analysis of cores, sidewall cores or cuttings (XRD, SEM and thin section). If potentially sensitive minerals are present (je. smectite clay, mixed layer clays, high concentrations of deflocculatable kaolinite or= UNDERBALANCED DRILLING, PRAISES AND PERILS other water-sensitive materials), the reaction of these materials with the proposed base mud filtrate/kil fluid should be carefully evaluated as it is highly likely, in ‘most operations, that a certain amount of this fluid will be invadedimbibed into the formation. . In-situ initial saturation conditions of water and oil (if present). Log based evaluations or regular core analysis can sometimes give erroneous estimates of intial saturation if the core and near wellbore region has been flushed with driling fluids or the core has been improperly handled or preserved and allowed to be desiccated or flushed with foreign fluids during the analytical process. Well calibrated deep induction logs generally give a reasonably good indication of Swi when coupled with data from hydrocarbon based coring programs. Recent improvements in radioactively traced low invasion coring programs with conventional water based systems has greatly improved the technology for the acquisition of accurate initial water saturation data at relatively low cost!" . A Knowledge of the true irreducible water or oil ‘saturation level and capillary pressure characteristics of the formation will be required to determine if the initial reservoir saturation is at or in excess of the irreducible level to ascertain if phase trapping effects will be problematic. irreducible saturation data is best obtained from capillary pressure or dynamic desaturation tests conducted in a porous plate cell with restored state type core. Approper understanding of the wettability of the formation will be required to ascertain the potential for imbibition ‘and phase trapping effects and quantify the potential for high fluid loss rates to water based filtrates in an overbalanced mode (common effect in strongly oll wetted systems due to high endpoint relative permeabilities to water). Combined Amot/USEM wettability tests are recommended on preserved/restored state core for this evaluation as this technique provides @ quantitative definition of the degree of water/oil wetness (as well as quantifying hybrid wettability conditions such a neutral, mixed or spotted wettability) and provides oll-water capillary pressure and saturation data (required in point 5), as a byproduct of the test. Presence of multiple potential zones and exact pressure expected in each zone. . Concentration, composition and size distribution of natural drill solids expected to be generated by the driling process (it is assumed that the new fluid system will be used after setting an intermediate casing string in most scenarios). The concentration and size distribution of these solids will be a function of the solids contro! program contemplated for use in the field. Fluid Parameters 1. Composition of in-situ reservoir fluids (oll, gas and water) - (determined using standard analytical techniques for oil, gas and water analysis). 2. Flash limits of reservoir fluids with air if air is considered for use as the gas medium for a given UBD program {not required if a non combustible gas is used) - determined by direct flash envelope testing of the given reservoir fluid system’. 8. Evaluate potential emulsion, scale and precipitation potential of the base drilling fluid with the in-situ formation fluids (determined using API compatibility test and computer simulation techniques). LAB SCREENING TECHNIQUES A variety of laboratory techniques are available to determine both the properties described in the previous ‘section and to quantify the effect of underbalanced driling ‘on a given formation. The specifics of the equipment and procedures used for this type of testing have been described in other work"? and a schematic illustration of a typical underbalanced coreflood evaluation apparatus appears as Figure 12. A basic suite of tests conducted to contrast overbalanced vs underbalanced drilling operations would be as follows: Underbalanced Lab Evaluation 1. Obtain representative preserved or restored state samples at correct initial oll and water saturation conditions. 2, Measure intial, undamaged reference permeability to cil for gas (depending on the reservoir type under consideration) at varying conditions of drawdown pressure encompassing the range of expected field drawdown pressures (to observe presence of capillary or turbulence effects).Wh be D.B. Bennion, F.B. Thomas, R.F. Bietz, D.W. Bennion 9 3. Conduct an underbalanced dling fluid test by Circulating the proposed diling fluid in an underbalanced mode across the core face with the maximum expected underbalance pressure gradient across the core while continuously tracking permeability for a 24 hour period or until a stablized dynamic Permeability is obtained. 4, Degrade underbalance pressure in several stages, allowing 24+ hours equilibration at each stage to ‘observe if countercurrent imbibition effects are apparent land cause a reduction in permeability as underbalance pressure is reduced. Conclude with measuring gas Permeability after a balanced flow phase. 5. Expose core to an overbalanced pulse with base drilling ‘mud, including expected conoentration of dill slids/mud solids for a 5-60 minute period (duration and magnitude of the overbalanced pulse depend on the type of drilling ‘operation and potential problems expected). 6. Conduct a variable drawdown pressure return Permeability test with gas or oll to determine the threshold pressure required to mobilize any damage induced by the overbalanced pulse and ascertain if damage is reduced by increasing drawdown pressure and final amount of damage remaining at the maximum expected drawdown pressure (if damage is severe Potential stimulation treatments could be evaluated at this time). This procedure provides a good indication as to whether countercurrent imbibition effects are going to be problematic ‘and how much underbalance pressure must be maintained to minimize their effect. An indication of the severity of formation damage and depth of invasion to be expected it the underbalanced condition is compromised can also be Provided by this type of test as well as the ability of formation pressure (or stimulation treatments) to remove the damage. Overbalanced Lab Evaluation 1. Core procurement and initial permeability measurements are identical to those described previously for the underbalanced lab tests. 2. Conduct an overbalanced driling fluid test by circulating actual field quality mud (containing drill and mud solids and bridging agents) in a turbulent fashion across the core face at the maximum expected overbalance pressure. Observe fluid loss rates, filter cake buildup and sealing potential and depth of filtrate and solids invasion. A spectrum of muds, from conventional systems which may commonly be used (ie. gel chemical) to more sophisticated polymer, MMH, etc. type blends with specialty sized bridging and fluid loss agents, may be evaluated to obtain the optimal system {or overbalanced operations. 3. Conduct a variable drawdown pressure retum permeability test with gas or oil to determine the ‘threshold pressure required to mobilize any damage induced by the overbalanced pulse and ascertain if damage is reduced by increasing drawdown pressure and final amount of damage remaining at the maximum expected drawdown pressure (it damage is severe Potential stimulation treatments could be evaluated at this tim This test sequence illustrates how damaging a conventional overbalanced drilling program may be (in comparison to either a well executed or poorly executed underbalanced Program from the proceeding test program matrix) and provides an indication if comparable or superior potential Performance may be obtainable and less cost and risk from @ specially tailored conventional type drilling system in comparison to an underbalanced operation. Additional details on this type of test procedure are provided in the literature* ‘Types of Reservoirs Suitable for Underbalanced Drilling Based upon the information presented, certain types of reservoirs are more applicable for underbalanced driling Operations than others. Prime reservoir types where underbalanced drilling has been successful in the past include: * High permeability (>1000 mD) consolidated intercrystalline sands and carbonates. At high formation pressures, well control issues may limit the utility of UBD due to surface processing and handling issues. ‘+ High permeability poorly/unconsolidated sands (some risk of wellbore collapse present in some situations, however, a number of underbalanced operations have been conducted successfully in unconsolidated sands). At high formation pressure, well control issues may limit the utility of UBD due to surface processing and handling and sand production issues.10 UNDERBALANCED DRILLING, PRAISES AND PERILS ‘+ Macrofractured formations (fracture apertures generally greater than 100 microns), if fracture aperture starts to exceed 1000 - 2000 microns, some possibility of gravity induced invasion on fractures on the bottom of the wellbore exists at low underbalance pressures). At high formation pressures, well control issues may limit the utility of UBD due to surface processing/handing issues. * Underpressured/depleted formations where conventional drilling would exert more than 7000 kPa (1000 psi) hydrostatic overbalance pressure. ‘* Formations containing significant concentrations of water-based mud filtrate sensitive materials (expandable clays (>1%), deflocculatable clays (»5%)), anhydride, halite, etc. + Formations exhibiting severe potential incompatibility issues with base filtrates (emulsions, sludges, Precipitates). * Dehydrated formations exhibiting sub-irreducible water saturations or hydrocarbon saturations may be candidates for UBD using the appropriate based filtrate to avoid countercurrent imbibition and phase trapping problems (water for oil wet systems and oil for water wet systems). Warning Flags for Underbalanced Drilling ‘+ High pressure zones exhibiting high flow and control capacity; * Large pressure pulses occuring due to pipe connections, mud pulsed MWD logging, bit trips, bit jetting effects, localized depletion effects at high drawdown rates and uncertain knowledge of original reservoir pressure; ‘+ Multiple reservoir zones at differing pressures * Excessive slug flow and liquid holdup in the vertical section of the well; ‘* Locations where supply or mechanical problems are likely to occur; ‘+ Use of water based systems in dehydrated (low Swi) tight gas reservoirs; + AirlGas drilling in lower permeability homogeneous sandstones or carbonates. Underbalanced drilling, like any technology, has specific applications. Formations exhibiting uniform matrix qualities, average to low permeabilities, normal pressures and an absence of potential rock or fluid incompatibiliies can often be drilled and completed successfully at a lower cost with conventional driling technology if a proper understanding of reservoir parameters is obtained. Only through careful reservoir characterization can it be determined which reservoirs are the prime candidates for viable application of UBD technology to obtain a maximum retum on investment. ONCLUSIONS ‘This paper has discussed the potential advantages and disadvantages of UBD operations and presented a list of potential damage mechanisms and high risk areas associated with UBD. A list of reservoir parameters advisable to obtain and screening tests and criteria to consider when evaluating if a particular reservoir is a candidate for UBD has been presented. Experience has indicated that, when care is taken in the design of an UBD program, in the right circumstances significant technical and ‘economic benefits can be obtained. Conversely, application of a poorly conceived and executed UBD program can often result in additional costs, greater damage and reduced production in comparison to a well-designed conventional overbalanced program. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to express appreciation to Hycal Energy Research Laboratories for the database used to publish this Paper and to Maggie Irwin and Vivian Whiting for their assistance in preparing the manuscript and figures. REFERENCES 1. Lunan, Brian, "Surface Control Systems for Underbalanced Drilling", JCPT, September, 1995. 2. Tiechrob, Robert, et al, "Use of A Concentric Drill String ‘System for Underbalanced Completion* Oi! and Gas, Journal, 1994, 3. Eng, John, et al, "Velocity Profiles in Perforated Completions", JCP7, October, 1993. 4, Bennion, D.B. Thomas, F.B., Bennion, D.W., Bietz, F., "Fluid Design to Minimize Invasive Damage in Horizontal Wells", Paper presented at the Canadian ‘SPE/CIM/CANMET International Conference on Recent, ‘Advances in Horizontal Well Applications, March 20-23, 1994, Calgary, Canada.D.B. Bennion, F.B. Thomas, R.F. Bietz, D.W. Bennion 5. Bennion, D.B., Biotz, R.F., Thomas, F.B., Cimolai, M.P., “Reductions in the Productivity of ‘Oil and Low Permeability Gas Reservoirs Due to Aqueous Phase ‘Trapping’, JCPT, Volume 33, No, 9, November 1994. 6. Bennion, D.B., Thomas, F.B., Bietz, R.F.,. Bennion, D.W., "Water and Hydrocarbon Phase Trapping in Porous Media - Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment, Paper presented at the 46th Annual Technical Meeting of The Petroleum Society of CIM in Banff, Alberta, Canada, May 14-17, 1995. 7. Mehta, Raj, et al,"Flash Tests to Determine Combustible Limits for Underbalanced Drilling’, Paper presented at the UNITAR Conference, Houston, Texas, February, 1995. 8. Bennion, D.B., Thomas, F.B., "Underbalanced Driling of Horizontal Wells: Does it Really Eliminate Formation Damage?", Paper SPE 27352 presented at the 1994 ‘SPE Intemational Symposium on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, February 7-10. 9. Bennion, D.B., Thomas, F.B., "Recent Investigations Into Formation Damage in Horizontal Wells During Overbalanced and Underbalanced Drilling and ‘Completion Procedures", paper presented at the 2nd Annual Conference on Emerging Technology - Colled Tubing - Horizontal Wells - Extended Reach and Multilaterals, Aberdeen, Scotland, June 1-3, 1994, 10. Crowell, Eric, et al, "Use of Tracers to Determine Reservoir Conformance", Paper presented at the First Annual Conformance Control Conference, Houston, Texas, PNEC, August, 1995, 11. Crowell, Eric, et al, "Using Petrophysical Properties to Determine Bypassed Pay Potential’, Paper presented at the First Annual Conformance Control Conference, PNEC, Houston, Texas, August, 1995.soeyng 01 suming ju + 889 + ni jo wimjoy ys Burns yénowyy, 4 sep + uojoofuy pry dung J9)5uUeN, spog 4 A i — “mT i S Joye le Pee ane - qwourinb3 uoRDaI°9 Lo suming pezunsseicy (se6 jeimjeu ~paonpas 20 uel seg — ja pasa Tale SNLVYVddV ONITHYG GSONVIVEYSGNN TWOIdAL b aynolaFormation bi FIGURE 2A PARASITE STRING INJECTION CONFIGURATION FOR UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Pure Mud Ng eo Gas External Intermediate Casing NM Drill String Mud + Gas + Cuttings FormationFIGURE 2B CONCENTRIC STRING CONFIGURATION FOR UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Pure Mud Yq ‘Mud + Gas eens Casing To Allow Gas Injection mh | ’ ae | | : | Outer Casing sting ~~ | (comented) ~ 1 Slots in Innes a “¥—__inner Casing String a NN rill String + Cuttings Formation (non-cemented)FIGURE 3 TYPICAL COMBUSTIBLE FLASH ENVELOPE CONFIGURATION FOR MIXTURES OF PRODUCED GAS/OIL AND AIR FOR UNDERBALANCED ba Pressure DRILLING (At Maximum Circulating Pressure) Combustion/Explosion Region Rich Combustion Region Lean Non-Combustion| Region Percent Combustible Gas (In Air)FIGURE 4 SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF FLUID & SOLIDS LOSS IN OVERBALANCED UNDERBALANCED OPERATIONS [=] Filtrate HB soties Invasion Invasion 8) Overbalanced driling - ineffective fluid loss control ee“ Matrix System Fracture System b) —Overbalanced driling - effective fluid loss contro! ; \\ —— — Matrix System Fracture System - ©) Underbalanced driling - no mud, solids invasion {\ \\ \\ {\ 4 4 — : ¢ sil KG - —¥3- OR Ss ~ — ~ — Matrix System Fracture a Yigular System 4) Underbalanced driling - effect of overbatanced pressure pulse Matrix Fracture / ~~ Vagular— System System SystemPressure Pressure FIGURE 5A TYPICAL BOTTOMHOLE PRESSURE SURVEY DURING AN UNDERBALANCED DRILLING OPERATION Hysrostatic Time FIGURE 5B TYPICAL BOTTOMHOLE PRESSURE SURVEY DURING AN UNDERBALANCED DRILLING OPERATION (N2 Circulation Prior To Connections) Hydrostatic TimeFIGURE 6A PSEUDO-STEADY-STATE DEPLETION CONDITION IN THE NEAR WELLBORE REGION DURING UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Wellbore Formation eircutation FIGURE 6B INVASION DURING AN OVERBALANCED/REDUCED UNDERBALANCE CONDITION PHASE IN THE NEAR WELLBORE DEPLETION REGION Invasion —<——__ Reire (rgina) Repressurization Peandiaceou, uoisindx3 Bnig ysuex) Brig dnpuing Brig Mold pasiedsiq SUNSSAYd SONVIVEYSGNN 3AILO343 NI NOLLONGSY V NI ONILINSAY NOLLOAS IWOLLYAA YVINNNV NI MO1d oms zayndldKi Relative Permeability (fraction) FIGURE 8 MECHANISM OF AQUEOUS PHASE TRAPPING IN AN OIL OR GAS RESERVOIR - RELATIVE PERMEABILITY RELATIONS 1.0 ns \ | \ \ \ \ \ \ \ kewnax 2 Sw, SWrr o 5 ’ A B © oa | i i i Srl 00 01 02 03 04 05 068 o7 O08 089 Water Saturation (fraction)5,000 Capillary Pressure (kPa) 1500 kPa Underbatance NX ° FIGURE 9 ILLUSTRATION OF SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION DURING UNDERBALANCED DRILLING Zone of ! potential spontaneous Equilibrium ' Swi= 47% Swi= 1 Swine = x 20 40 Cy 80 Water Saturation (%) ‘Countercurrent imbibition of water to counteract capillary sracjont i ; Formation | 3000kPa = Gas — Circulating Fluid G 1500 kPag Dri StingFIGURE 10 COUNTERCURRENT IMBIBITION IN A NORMALLY SATURATED RESERVOIR Well Location SWire ‘Transition Zone ‘w-olg-w contact imbibition Zone Capillary Pressure Water SaturationFIGURE 11 GRAVITY INDUCED INVASION IN UNDERBALANCED DRILLING OPERATIONS Upside Fractures - | | —e—— 0 1 2 39 40 6 © 7100S H0Stz0St30 Sa. ‘TIME (rin) FIGURE 8 - Bottomhole Pressure Recorder and Drawdown Determination 3,000 2.500BOTTOMHOLE PRESSURE (kPa) 6.500 6000 t ' | i_| | sco |__| [LARGE UOUD SLUG AY START T JOF CIRCULATION TT ] 000 4500 000 3,500 3,000 [DRILL STRING CONNECTION | j 2,500 — T er) ‘TIME (ein) 4 5 670 m0 120130 FIGURE 9 - Friction Effects from Actual Bottomhole Recorder 140 BOTTOMHOLE ANNULAR VELOCITY (m/sec) 425 376 3254 [300 Litersimin >! 275 225 175 076 os 4 025 eae f [OL INJECTION 489.7mm (6-12" int. Casing 4120:7mm (¢314") Main Hz Hole ot 8 10 18 20 25 NITROGEN RATE (stma/ 30 35 0 45 min) FIGURE 10 - Bottomhole Annular Velocity vs Nitrogen Rate 503.400 3,350 t 3,300 |_ (GOTTOMMOLE PRESSURE RECORDER f | 3250 - 3200 a L I { L I 3,180 . [ae URE (kPa) 3,100 3,080 u t i 3,000 2,980 2880 | i 2,800 + \ { ~ 2,750 L INULAR BOTTOMHOLE PRESS| | aN 2 i 2,650 | & | J | JBRICL STRING CONNECTION 2,600 }— T 2.850 2,500 ° 5 10 8 20 6 30 35 40 45 50 55 “TIME (rin) FIGURE 11 - Bottomhole Pressure Recorder During Drilling and Connection 100 a ‘STORAGE DURING (CONNECTION SHUTAN TIME FUNCTION (t+ D4iDt 1 2,700 2.750 2,800 2,850 2,900 2,950 3,000 3,080 3,100 3,150 3,200 3.250 3,300 3,350 3.400 3.450 9.500 3,550 3,600 BOTTOMHOLE PRESSURE (kPa) FIGURE 12 - Reservoir Pressure Prediction Using Horner PlotSay TST CT OERTS6 me TT ONITINIC GaONV IvawaaN YOd NOLLWYNDLINOD AOVIS dog Held ‘9305 oar vot UV ONS [ ap wn btyt “ye | = — i 4 sen ja 4 abe PIS ‘wodsussy, 980.018 110 mune i, tt z, ponlSnt qo a 3 =) ant one] _| Hhonones ee ot i C Bis sar s00.9 1-1 CHIOANVH ANY THIXON SHEKEL tt es 0501Drawing DRILL STRING CONFIGURATION FOR [Davisé 1.2 LL Discription: [NDERBALANCED DRILLING _ I Dae: 95.08.18 L__ Well: Example Vertical exZ TT Sate rT ____— Dill Sting Float (Flapper Type) Spacing 10( nt | | | 4 [___—— il Sing Hot (Flpper Tye) 88 9mm (3-1/2") G-105 Drill Pipe IF Connection 4 | _—_———— Drill String Float (Flapper Type) |___— 121mm Drill Collars (29 joints) i |___— Two (2) Dil String Floats Flapper Type) | Two drill str floats in the last 121mm sit Cater stand out of the 121mm bit sub hole 152.4 (6") Bit UBD Engineering Inc.——— wWo‘ogE—————— ar ae tt || 1 ey 1 A aS wsna001 181907039, 6 aa pauconpsoeraumen re [@] our s88a-4 UOB ONY lel @ ® one jl = = | 2 1 IT ele “ eon z = a at 21 909 oe © worcohr loos oes ous 094 084 ors (ow) avi. 0c} cz 00 000006 08 oo Seinsseig @9BLINg SA ojoyWoHOg seINUUY - EL SYNOD! ‘Somesoid aoe}ing fq Po}eoPUI ION + 008 00's o00'2 o0s'z 008'¢ 00'r HO poreea BH ‘syenbopeUy BuLe9ID 10H, 'SNFTONd 310} oos'r (ea) aunssaud UY INNNY 00's 000'9 ooo = | 08'sUNDERBALANCED DRILLING OPERATIONS CORRECT OPERATING PROCEDURES USING A CLOSED SURFACE CONTROL SYSTEM TO DRILL FOR OIL AND GAS ‘FRED CURTIS, NORTHLAND PRODUCTION TESTING LID. BRIAN LUNAN, NORTHLAND PRODUCTION TESTING LTD. ‘FRED CURTIS NOW EMPLOYED AT FRONTIER ENGINEERING & CONSULTING LID. ABSTRACT Underbalanced drilling has now been established as a proven and safe technique to drill for Hydrocarbons in the Western Canadian Basin. The introduction of a true rotating BOP and a closed four (4) phase surface control system “have eliminated the hazards of Grilling in fluid bearing sour reservoirs. The flush’ production increases during and ‘after the drilling phase have Prompted operators to apply this technology to a greater variety of oil and gas fields, This paper describes the evolving technology, teamwork and coordination involved in the evolving science of Underbalanced Drilling practices. Improvements in both the Surface Control equipment and the Downhole Drilling Operation have enabled operators to better plan and utilize these new services. Well Design Procedures, Drilling Fluid Selection, BOP Surface Configuration, Tripping Procedures, Drill String Design, Well Control, Connections and Surveying Techniques are illustrated in the document. The importance of a systematic approach to Underbalanced Drilling is demonstrated by the case study included in the paper. The results gained from good job Planning and correct operating Procedures are described in the text. The case study is reviewed in detail to show the improved results of drilling underbalanced.INTRODUCTION Underbalanced drilling is becoming one of the most promising emerging technologies being used in the Canadian Oil and Gas fields. With the publication of the ERCB guidelines 1D94-3, operators are able to drill both sweet and sour reservoirs; gas filled and liquid filled, safely, utilizing advanced drilling techniques at present found nowhere else in the world. ‘The concept of keeping formation damage to an absolute minimum has prompted operators to go to greater lengths to ensure underbalanced conditions prevail over 90% of the time during the drilling operation. There are many options available to the operator. The importance of teamwork is initiated during pre-spud meetings. The interdependence of service company and operator to work closely together is essential to success. Good planning means good technical results. Table 1. WELL DESIGN Well design can be divided into three main categories: A)New Drill (B) Re-entry (C) Coil Tubing During the planning phase consideration must be given to these three options, the primary drivers being associated cost and efficient reservoir development. In most cases the cost of a new drill is going to be more expensive than a re- entry well. Typical surface set ups are as shown in Figures 1 and Ja. In both cases, any downtime will result in higher operating costs due to the extra associated UBD equipment at the wellsite, a sophisticated MWD system, a proper drilling fluid medium, gasification of the string and the annulus and stringent BOP control with correct Diversion of Fluids is essential. Therefore, a surface handling facility with experienced personnel able to handle a live well is paramount from a safety viewpoint. Well design and pre- planning is essential to success. Figure 2. DRILLING FLUID DESIGN In any Underbalanced Drilling operation the selection of the correct drilling fluid medium is of the upmost importance. Consideration must be given to the possibility of going from an UB drilling situation to an OB drilling situation at any time during the drilling operation. Type of reservoir sandstone/fractured carbonate, pressure both static and flowing, permeability and porosity are all going to influence selection of the correct type of drilling fluid. Accurate formation pressures are a requirement for selecting the correct drilling fluid. Consideration of true turbulent flow conditions, formation compatibility and fluid type and viscosity are primary concerns. Coordination and teamwork between Geology, Reservoir, Drilling and Completions with support from the Service Sectors experience in UBD operations is a prerequisite to success. One of the major considerations for selecting the correct type of drilling fluid is formation pressure gradient. Accurate formation pressures is arequirement for proper UBD job execution. The primary objective of the drilling fluid is to maintain zero solids which brings into play the importance of an efficient surface handling system and experienced personnel operating the total closed loop. To get control of fine solids low yield point fluids are a necessity. ‘This implies that your fluids must be in a turbulent flow regime in high angle or horizontal wells to ensure good hole cleaning and reduce the possible formation of cutting beds at various points in the wellbore. Formation compatibility is a Tequirement in the case of jointed pipe or temporary overbalanced situations that can occur ie connections.If indeed overbalanced, a clean compatible fluid should be able to pass back and forward through the pore throats without damaging the formation. When drilling with native crudes, it may be necessary to control viscosity. This is achieved by dilution with lighter crudes and is playing a more important role as we drill longer horizontal trajectories. Viscosity changes can ensure underbalanced conditions. A consideration must be given to having sufficient kill fluid (1.3 x hole volume) on location as a provision to kill the well at any time, Another consideration that is important for drilling fluids is to have compatible corrosion inhibitors and demulsifiers available. Stable emulsion blocks can be a problem particularly in carbonate sequences. Potential drilling fluids are shown in Figure 3, Gasification can be achieved with Natural Gas or Nitrogen. The Nitrogen can be from a cryogenic source or produced on surface with a N, generating system. Figure 4 and Figure 4a. ‘WELLHEAD CONFIGURATIONS RBOP/Rotating Heads/Double Annular/ RBOP with Double Annular The choice for a rotating BOP must be made by: a)The pressures expected byThe rating of the BOP ©)How sour the expected reservoir fluids and gases are going to be @The reliability and case histories of the unit as proven in the field. Low pressure rated rotating heads are exactly as described and should be used for known low pressure situations. Double annular systems should only be used with a top drive because of the extra wear incurred using a Kelly rotary table system. The RBOP has proven to be a superior tool for stripping over conventional hydril designs because it will keep a constant pressure on the upsets as we are pulling through to the floor. (ref ERCB ID 94-3). ‘The present RTI RBOP ratings are 1500 psi rotating and 2000 psi static. These BOP’s are designed for flowing and not shut in conditions. For example, with the designed 6" outlet one can flow up to 20,000 bbls/d fluid and up to 50 mmef/d fas at 200 psi flowing wellhead pressure through presently working surface control systems. One of the most advanced surface systems is shown in Figure 5.a kt ‘TRIPPING The ideal situation is to trip underbalanced. If one trips underbalanced using the RBOP as a pipe stripping mechanism consideration must be given to snubbing operations at some point during the trip. Table 2. Caleulations are performed before the trip is started but snubbing can be kept to a minimum by allowing the well to flow to the separation equipment during the course of the trip. If snubbing Procedures have to be used, equipment must be compatible with the BOP. The other alternative is to kill the well before the trip. If we do this in horizontal wells it is best to pull the bit out of the horizontal wellbore before placing kill fluid to minimize formation damage. If we trip with the well dead conventional tripping procedures will be followed including trip sheets and proper hole fill Procedures. _ Underbalanced drilling wellhead configurations and tripping Procedures are shown in Figure 6. OPERATIONS Drilling Rig - Service Rigs - Jointed Pipe Underbalanced Drilling is a marriage between drilling operations and completion operations. In the beginning it was difficult to obtain equipment and personnel to conduct UBD operations. As rig crews and service personnel have gained experience the gap between UBD using conventional drilling rigs and service rigs has narrowed. Today it is still important to choose your rig and servi well in advance and with care. Figure 7. Drill string design takes on new conceptions when drilling underbalanced. Due diligence to the fact that most UBD operations are going to require a gasified liquid down the stand pipe implies correct modifications to the drill string is very important. Strategically placed floats now become an essential part of the well control system. As operators become more comfortable with UBD the drilling of holes with other innovative downhole and surface systems will evolve. Figure 8. Coil tubing units due to recent innovations and breakthroughs in technology are showing more promise to becoming a viable alternative. Coil and underbalanced are a perfect match because of the elimination of surveying, connection and tripping _ problems. However, coil technologies have some disadvantages, the major ones on land being cost, depth control and sufficient weight to bit. DRILLING WITH GASIFICATION KEYPOINTS There are several options open to the operator: a) Drilling with Methane - Standpipe Injection - shut the gas off at surface. Bleed off through gas relief port to flare or to pipelineKI b) Drilling with Nitrogen - Standpipe Injection - turn off the gas, maintain positive pressure on the line so when opened up again, one gets gas into the standpipe rather than mud into the gas line ©) Drilling with Nitrogen - Standpipe Injection and Parasite String - turn the gas off at the standpipe and turn the gas on at the parasite string (elegant but expensive) @) Drilling with Concentric Casing Strings - in this case, one can inject continuously while making connections on the standpipe (no gas in the standpipe). The advantages are: we can use conventional MWD systems. Disadvantage is: use more N, and require bigger hole size. SURVEYING KEY POINTS EMWD Technoloy - the main advantage is that it does not require any fluid to survey and it can be configured to have continuous pressure and real time read out to the surface. This shows the operator when balanced, underbalanced or overbalanced. The disadvantages are: (1) that non porous geological formations (je anhydrite) masks the signal and (2) the tools have difficulty performing at greater depths and further out in the horizontal trajectory. MWD Pulse - the advantage is: that it is common. It is relatively inexpensive and the service companies are familiar with the associated equipment. The disadvantage is: that it does not work in two (2) phase flow. For surveying one has to pump straight fluid with no gas. Therefore, more time can be spent surveying than drilling, and the system can go into an overbalanced situation. Steering Tool - the advantage is: one does not need any fluid in the standpipe. ‘The disadvantages are: one can spend more time surveying than drilling and the extra time involved making connections with the wireline in the hole. ‘The reliability of wet connects is getting better but there are some fundamental design criteria to be met for more success including the ability to rotate while connected. GYROS Gyros have very little use in a continuous drilling situation, ‘The only time they have real advantages is when magnetic surveys don’t work ie setting whipstock for re entry operations. Figure 9. CASE STUDY-RICHLAND PETROLEUM CORPORATION 4C8-22/2B3-22-06-14 W2 WEYBURN INTRODUCTION As part of Richland’s continuing commitment to drill wells with leading edge technology in order to recover more hydrocarbons in the Weyburn Field, the above well was spudded as a new hole on September 2, 1994. Surface hole 349mm to 157m, 244.5mm H40casing; 222mm intermediate hole to 1265m. Drill build section 1265m - 1515m. Set intermediate casing 177.8mm_ J55 esg at 1515m. Nipple up R.BOP and BOP's. Enter porosity @ 1559md. Start pumping N, at 30m’ per minute. Drill ahead to 2438m. Total UBD time 42 hrs. including MWD survey time. Figure 10. One drill bit 159mm used from 1414-2438m. Figure 11. Total cost - $576,503. Total drilling time 12 days from spud to T.D... GEOLOGY ‘The upper portion of the Midale Marly is composed of light grey argillaceous dolomites interbedded with stringers of anhydrite. It is a relatively thin reservoir ranging in thickness from less than Im to 5m. There appears to be good intercrystalline porosity with very little oil shows. Below this zone is the porous, oil saturated marly dolomite. 900m of horizontal section was drilled in this zone with porosity ranging from 7- 2%, RESULTS The well was drilled in a fast, efficient manner. The horizontal portion of the wellbore was successfully drilled underbalanced with produced water and nitrogen at approximately 30m°/min. Figure 12 illustrates the surface control system design for this operation. Table 3 describes the test unit specifications. HS varied from Oppm to 150ppm during the horizontal drilling operation. Horizontal section drilled with 1 Reed PDC drill bit. The hole was purged with N, for 1.5 hours, then killed with Blairmore water before running packer in the hole to 1244.5m. 73mm tubing was run into the top of packer. During the horizontal underbalance drilling operation which took 42 hours (1515- 2438=923m) positive liquid production was 4m’ water.After the drilling operation a swabbing operation was initiated. Day 1 - pull 21 swabs - 18.29m° fluid, 9.14m’ oil, 9.15m’ water, 8% HS. Day 2 - pull 17 swabs - 21.32m? fluid, 18.27m’ oil, 3.05m° water, Day 3 - 33 swabs - 26.68m° fluids, 23.62m° oil, 3.09m° water. Rig in rod pumping system, Production results are shown in Figure 13. Well came on at 55m’ oil/day and at 10% water cut. CONCLUSIONS 1) Underbalanced —dril is becoming a viable alternative to overbalanced drilling because of two (2) major reasons: a) The overall excellent safety attitude and standards set by the ERCB (AUEB). Operators and Service Companies in the ‘Western Canadian Basin have shown that sweet and sour oil and gas wells can be drilled safely under nearly all conditions. b) The high rates of penetration, the savings in bit life and the overall efficiency of the closed system means that these wells can be drilled fast and in a cost effective manner,