Problems caused by abnormal pressures

An optimum mud weight is required to drill a hole in the most safe and efficient manner. High
mudweights lead to lost circulation, differential sticking, poor quality wireline / MWD logs and formation
damage which has an adverse effect on any future production. Low mud weights lead to borehole
instability kicks and problems with casing. Knowledge of the pore pressure regime in the well allows this
optimum mud weight to be run. Ideally the mud weight should be close to BUT above the formation
pressure. The point where pore pressure equals the mud weight is called the balance point. When the
mud weight is greater than the pore pressure this is an overbalanced situation, while when mud weight
is below the pore pressure this is underbalanced.