Advanced Mud School

Part VI Horizontal Wells

Presented By:
Jeff Imrie

August 2006
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Why Drill Horizontally

• Increasing Production and Reducing Overall
Drilling and Completion Costs
• Cost experts agree that horizontal wells have
become a preferred method of recovering oil and
gas from reservoirs in which these fluids occupy
strata that are horizontal, or nearly so,
– they offer greater contact area with the
productive layer than vertical wells
– While the cost factor for a horizontal well may
be as much as two or three times that of a
vertical well, the production factor can be
enhanced as much as 15 or 20 times,
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Why Drill Horizontally

• Applications for horizontal wells include
the exploitation of thin oil-rim
reservoirs, avoidance of drawdown-
related problems such as water/gas
coning, and extension of wells by means
of multiple drainholes.
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Why Drill Horizontally

• During the 1950s, the Soviet Union drilled 43
horizontal wells, a considerable effort with
respect to the equipment available then.
• Following their foray into horizontal drilling,
the Soviets concluded that while horizontal
wells were technically feasible, they were
economically disappointing or, in other words,
not profitable.
– As a result, they abandoned the method.
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What is a Horizontal Well

• Unlike a directional well that is drilled
to position a reservoir entry point, a
horizontal well is commonly defined as
any well in which the lower part of the
wellbore parallels the pay zone.
• The angle of inclination used to drill the
well does not have to reach 90° for the
well to be considered a horizontal well.
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Multilateral Wells
• Like horizontal wells, multilateral wells
justify their existence through their
economics.
• Defined as a single well with one or more
wellbore branches radiating from the
main borehole, they can be an exploration
well, an infill development well or a re-
entry into an existing well.
– They all have a common goal of improving
production while saving time and money.
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Multilateral Wells
• Multilateral-well technology has not yet
evolved to the point of horizontal-well
technology.
• The complexity of multilateral wells ranges
from simple to extremely complex.
• They may be as simple as a vertical wellbore
with one sidetrack or as complex as a horizontal
extended-reach well with multiple lateral and
sublateral branches.
• While existing techniques are being applied and
fresh approaches are being developed,
complications remain, and the risks and chances
of failure are still high.
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Horizontal wells - Overbalanced

• Most horizontal wells are completed
without cementing or perforation
– May have slotted liners
– Open Hole completion
– Gravel Pack completion
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Horizontal wells –
Overbalanced Mud Systems
• A horizontal mud system should have the
following characteristics:
– Formation damage control:
• The horizontal mud system should not contain clays
or acid-insoluble weight materials which can
migrate into the formation and plug pores.
• It should be formulated with breakable or acid-
soluble viscosifiers, fluid-loss materials and
properly sized plugging agents, all of which limit
fluid loss to the formation and assure good clean-
up.
• The filtrate should be formulated to prevent clays in
the producing zone from swelling, migrating or
plugging the formation.
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Horizontal wells –
Overbalanced Mud Systems
– Formation damage control cont.
• The filtrate should be formulated to prevent clays in
the producing zone from swelling, migrating or
plugging the formation
• The filtrate should be compatible with formation
fluids so that it will not precipitate mineral scales.
• The fluid and filtrate should not change the wetting
characteristics of the formation from either water-
wet to oil-wet or from oil-wet to water-wet.
• The filtrate should not form emulsions with
formation fluids and block the formation.
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Horizontal wells –
Overbalanced Mud Systems
– Drillability:
• The horizontal mud system should provide
good hole-cleaning, lubricity and inhibition.
• It should minimize hole enlargement and
provide wellbore stability.
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Horizontal wells –
Overbalanced Mud Systems
– Compatibility with completion equipment
and procedures:
• Particles should be sized for formation pore
throat bridging yet be small enough to pass
through completion equipment.
• The fluid should be formulated with acid-
soluble, water-soluble, oxidizer-degradable or
solvent soluble materials, which will not cause
precipitates or emulsions.
• Breakers should be compatible with formation
fluids and horizontal mud system filtrate.
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Horizontal wells –
Overbalanced Mud Systems
• Susceptibility to different types of formation
damage varies greatly and is dependent on the
formation type and well conditions.
• Some formations tolerate a wider range of
horizontal mud system composition more than
others.
• When production is from carbonate fractures,
significant amounts of insoluble materials can
be tolerated without a significant reduction in
productivity.
– Usually, fluids which invade these types of
formations can be produced back from the well
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Horizontal wells - Overbalanced

• Lower permeability sandstones and
depleted or unconsolidated sandstone
reservoirs do not tolerate fluid and
particle invasion without causing
extensive damage.
– Detailed knowledge of the formation,
permeability, pore pressure, mineralogy
and formation fluid composition must be
called upon to assist in selecting the
proper horizontal mud system
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Horizontal wells – Taking a Kick

• Most horizontal wells are development
wells, this means that the reservoir
should have already be well understood.
– The chances of taking a kick in a
horizontal well are reduced
– Surge and swab pressures are still a
factor
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Horizontal wells – Taking a Kick

• Well control procedures
– Well control procedures are identical to
vertical wells
– Remember only the vertical component of
the well will give you hydrostatic pressure
– Drill bit should be on bottom when killing
the well
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Horizontal wells – Lost Circulation

• Lost circulation is treated similar in
horizontal well as in vertical wells issues
include:
– Sensitivity of the formation to LCM
material
– Difficulty in spotting pills
– Chances for differential sticking while
dealing with losses are much higher
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Horizontal wells – Lost Circulation

• Curing lost circulation in horizontals
– Always pull out to the first available casing
string, mix enough LCM to fill the HZ
section
– Mix LCM as reservoir and hole conditions
dictate
• Particle size distribution
• Fibers
• Gunk squeeze
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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced

• Under balanced drilling can reduce lost
circulation, minimize differential
sticking, increase drilling rates, and, most
importantly, create higher productivity
completions because formation damage is
minimized.
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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced

• To maximize benefits, extreme care must be
taken to keep drilling and completion operations
underbalanced at all times.
• The rate of return from wells drilled
underbalanced is typically higher.
• Techniques for drilling underbalanced include
– Lightweight drilling fluids,
– Gas injection down the drill pipe,
– Gas injection through a parasite string
– Foam injection.
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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced

• Nitrogen is typically used because of its
relatively low generation cost, scale control and
low potential for downhole fires.
• Nitrogen injection down the drill pipe is the
most cost effective when electromagnetic
measurement-while-drilling (MWD) is used.
• Despite added cost and time, parasite injection
of nitrogen is the preferred method when
electromagnetic MWD is not possible.
• Foams are more stable than aerated systems, but
they are more costly
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Lightweight Drilling Fluids.
– The simplest mechanism to reduce
hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore is the
use of lightweight drilling fluids, such as
fresh water, diesel or lease crude.
– The primary problem with this approach is
that hydrostatic pressure can not be
reduced enough to remain underbalanced
in many reservoirs.
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Gas Injection Down Drillpipe.
– With this technique, air or nitrogen is added to the
drilling fluid and it is pumped directly down the drill
pipe.
– Advantages of this technique include:
• Hydrostatic advantage gained over entire vertical
depth,
• Wellbore does not have to be specifically designed
for underbalanced condition,
• Less gas is required to achieve given pressure
compared to parasite injection
• Penetration rate may be improved.
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Gas Injection Down Drillpipe Cont
– Disadvantages of this technique include:
• an overbalanced condition may occur if the
well is shut down
• exotic MWD systems are required.
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Gas Injection Via Parasite String.
– With this technique, a second pipe is run outside
of the intermediate casing.
– Advantages of this technique include:
• No operational differences,
• Constant bottom hole pressure is achieved, and
• Standard MWD equipment can be used.
– Disadvantages of this technique include:
• Additional costs are incurred,
• Additional time is required,
• Larger diameter surface casing is required.
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Foam Versus Two Phase Flow.
– A nitrogen foam system is less damaging to water
sensitive formations and has been used on a
limited basis.
– The additional nitrogen requirements to generate
stable foam have made this cost prohibitive in
most cases.
– Aerated systems with gas/liquid ratios varying
from 10-to-1 to 50-to-1 are simple and flexible, but
pressure control/gas surging can be a problem.
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Horizontal wells –
Underbalanced Mud Systems
• Foam Versus Two Phase Flow.
– The margin of safety for aerated systems
is typically larger than for more stable
systems, such as foams.
– Foams also exhibit some sensitivity to
hydrocarbons, so large inflows of
hydrocarbons can destabilize them.
– Temperature limits of current foams, about
180° F, restrict the use of foam to depths
less than 12,000 ft.
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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced Equipment

• Specialized
equipment is
required to run
an
underbalanced
well
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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced Equipment

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Horizontal wells – Underbalanced Equipment

• Compressors
• Mist pumps
• Gas separators
• Pressure boosters
• Rotating BOP
• Closed loop system