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SAN FRANCISCO SEMINAR GOLF

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 Downhole
Drilling
Problems:
Drilling
Mysteries
58th Annual Meeting - San Francisco
June 13-16, 2012
Revealed!

Kelli Fereday, BP

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Today’s Goal

Drillers have a term for downhole problems that can not be

diagnoosed or understood:

The objective of this session is to turn these mysteries into

understandable and solvable opportunities for improvement

AAPL - Copyright © 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Downhole Drilling Problems

• Industry Prevalence
• Types of Drilling “Trouble Time”
• Impact on Well Safety, Time, and Cost
• Causes and Diagnosis of Drilling Problems
• Examples and Remedies for Common Problems
– Downhole Failures
– Stuck Pipe
– Lost Circulation
– Wellbore Stability
– Well Control
– Q&A

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Typical Drilling Time Breakdown

Inefficient “Making Hole!

Invisible Lost
Time
25%
Productive Time
Non-Productive 50%
Time
25%

Drilling Problems
Impact on the Industry
• Biggest Impact - HSE Example: Stuck Pipe May Require
– Many drilling problems Jarring which can lead to dropped
are also associated with objects
increased risk to
personnel

Example: Lost Circulation may lead to

Lost of Well Control, resulting in
potential Damage to the Environment,
Fire and/or Harm to Personnel
Impact on the Industry
• Efficiency
– Estimates are as much
as 10-40% (25% on
average) of drilling time
is non-productive time!
– US Rig Count ~1980
rigs, projected need by
2017 is 2500, or
approximately a 25%
increase
– Imagine being able to
close that gap through
improvements in drilling
performance alone. Baker Hughes Rig Count
– US E&P Budget is about www.bakerhughes.com
$170BB annually - >
$$$
How do we diagnose NPT?
• Drilling Reports
– Rig Morning Reports
– Mud Reports
– Cuttings Analysis
• Downhole and Surface
Measurements
• Benchmarking
Sources of NPT – Deepwater Industry Example

Downhole
Problems

Equipment
Problems
Top Sources of Downhole Problems

1. Downhole Equipment Failures

2. Downhole Cement Problems

3. Stuck Pipe Likely

Related
4. Lost Circulation to
5. Wellbore Stability Geology

6. Well Control
Downhole Equipment Failures

• A single equipment failure can

– Compromise the integrity of the well
– Cost Millions of Dollars to Repair
• Common Equipment Failures
– Casing
– Drillpipe
– Downhole Motors
– Downhole Measurement Tools
• MWD
• LWD
Vector Motors
www.nov.com
Downhole Cement Problems
• Cement Left in Pipe
– Premature Setting
– Surface Equipment Pump
Failures
• Cement Not Setting
Properly
– Cement never sets – “Bad
Shoe” or “No Shoe Test”
– Cement allows for gas
migration
– Cement seeps away into faults Picture from Halliburton
or fractures – “Partial or website:
generic example of a
Total Losses”
cemented wellbore
Stuck Pipe

1. Differential Sticking
– Pressure-related
– The pipe is “sucked” up against the
formation due to a difference in pressure

2. Mechanical Sticking
– A mechanical obstruction
– Could be from the formation, wellbore
geometry, or tool failure
Differential Sticking – A Pressure Problem
Mechanical Sticking – Dirty Wellbore
• Too many “solids” in the
wellbore!
– Indications: Formations Fall
• higher pump pressure in on the pipe!
• fill on bottom
• more “pull” required to move pipe
• excessive cuttings on shakers
• restricted circulation
• Why?
– Unconsolidated Formations
– Poor Hole Cleaning
• Prevention
– maximise flow rates and rpm
– Better mud properties
– drill more slowly
Mechanical Sticking – Obstructions
• Obstructions
– Indications: Tool Failures or
• more “pull” required to move pipe Junk in Hole
• can still circulate
• Increased torque
• Unable to “make hole”
• Why?
– Junk in the Wellbore
– Hole Geometry
• Prevention
– equipment QA/QC
– housekeeping
– correct drillstring/BHA design

Doglegs or Underguage Hole

Stuck Pipe – How do we get free?
• Pull Harder (but don’t break it)
• Jar on Pipe
• Cut Pipe and Fish
• Increase or decrease circulation
• Pump other types of fluids or
chemicals
Lost Circulation
• Conventional drilling utilizes
continuous fluid flow down the
drillpipe to:
– Remove cuttings
– Maintain pressure
– Cool the bit
• Key indicator in understanding what
is happening downhole
• Circulation must be maintained at all
times
• If the circulation is interrupted
because fluid is flowing into the
formation, that is called “Lost
Circulation”
Lost Circulation - Causes

Induced
Lost Circulation - Solutions

LCM

Prevention
Wellbore Stability

• An unstable wellbore can result in:

– Stuck Pipe
– Lost Circulation
– Loss of the entire wellbore

• 2 Main causes are:

– Chemical Instability
• Reactive Formations
– Mechanical failure of wellbore
• Faults
• Insufficient Mud Weight
Well Control
• Well Control means the ability to keep the hydrocarbons
where they belong at all times – in the ground.
• Common terms
– “Taking a Kick”
– Blowout
• Most dangerous downhole problem
Well Control
• What causes loss of well control?
– Multiple Barrier Failures
• Equipment Failures
Mud BOP
• Loss of fluid pressure in the pipe
counteracting the natural pressure existing
in the formation

• Industry Methods dealing with Well Control

Pressure
– Wellbore Monitoring
– Well Kill Methods - how to safely remove
hydrocarbons from the wellbore
• Circulating Methods
• Non-circulating Methods
Industry Challenges
• The Great Crew Change

Peak Age of Petroleum Engineers

80 Pete Stark, VP of industry relations for IHS

60
40 60
43 50
20
2000 2006 2012

• Well Complexity
Technology Game-Changers

• Rig Automation
• Advanced Downhole Tools
• Real-time montioring
• Managed Pressure Drilling
• Simulators for Training

www.weatherford.com
Q&A