TM 6004 – Teknik Pemboran Lanjut

TORQUE IN HORIZONTAL, DEVIATED

AND VERTICAL WELL

Babas Samudera Hafwandi (22220003)

Program Studi Magister Teknik Perminyakan ITB
1
OUTLINE

1. Introduction
2. Torque in Vertical Well
3. Torque in Deviated Well
4. Torque in Horizontal Well
5. Case Studies
6. Conclusion
7. Standard Related.

2
1. Introduction
• Torque it is the moment required to rotate the drill string that
will overcome the rotational friction between the drill string
and the well bore, as well as the torque on the bit.
• The torque observed on the surface is usually higher than the
torque caused by the drill bit; this is mainly because of the
rotational friction torque in the well.

3
1. Introduction (Continued)
• The torque loss is greater in deviated wells, especially in
complex or extended reach and horizontal wells, where
torque is a major problem due to the rig and drill string
torque limitation.
• However, the torque loss would be zero in a perfectly vertical
well, except for the small viscous torque generated by the
mud.

4
1. Introduction (Continued)
• There are many parameters that cause torque along the drill
string. The main parameters are calculated, whereas some of
the parameters cannot be calculated.
• They are summed together and included in the friction factor.
• The main causes for excessive torque are hole instability, key
seating, differential sticking, poor hole cleaning, and
wellbore friction.

5
1. Introduction (Continued)
• There are three types of torque observed downhole:
1. Frictional torque
Contact loads between the drill string and casing or open hole
section of a well generate frictional torque. It is the only torque
type generated while rotating off bottom in a perfectly cleaned
wellbore.

6
1. Introduction (Continued)

2. Mechanical torque:
Mechanical torque is caused by cutting accumulations in the
wellbore due to poor cleaning because of poor hydraulics;
therefore, there is an increase in friction inside the wellbore. In
addition, unstable formations such as sloughing and swelling
formations, which are affected by the drilling fluid, generates
mechanical torque.

7
1. Introduction (Continued)

3. Bit torque
Bit torque is generated from the interaction between the drill
bit and the formation. The factors affecting bit torque are
WOB, RPM, formation characteristics, bit design variations,
bit wear, and hydraulics.

8
1. Introduction (Continued)
• There are many parameters that cause torque along the drill
string. The main parameters are calculated, whereas some of
the parameters cannot be calculated.
• They are summed together and included in the friction factor.
• The main causes for excessive torque are hole instability, key
seating, differential sticking, poor hole cleaning, and
wellbore friction.

9
2. Torque in Vertical Well
•  The following two equations can be used to calculate the
maximum torque that can be given before the minimum
torque yield of the drillpipe is exceeded.

...............................................................(1)

Where:
Q = Minimum torsional yield strength (lb-ft).
10
2. Torque in Vertical Well (Continued)
•Y m = minimum unit yield strength, psi
J = polar moment of yield inertia =
do = outside diameter, in
di = inside diameter, in.

11
2. Torque in Vertical Well (Continued)
•  When drillpipe is subjected to both torsion and tension, as is
the case during drilling operations, Eq.1 becomes:

........................................................(2)

Qt = Minimum torsional yield strength under tension (lb-ft).

12
2. Torque in Vertical Well (Continued)
•Y m = minimum unit yield strength, psi
J = polar moment of yield inertia =
do = outside diameter, in
di = inside diameter, in
P = weight carried, lb
A = cross sectional area, in2.

13
3. Torque in Deviated Well
• Torque in deviated wells is the important parameters that
have to be taken into account to design well paths and modify
the drilling parameters like WOB, RPM etc.
• As torque appear due to contact between the drill string and
formation, normally in vertical wells there is no such concern
because the contact between drill string and formation is very
little (negligible).

14
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• However, in a deviated well, torque is assumed to be caused
entirely by friction forces that result from the drill string and
wellbore contact.

15
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• Fig. 1. shows the forces acting on a drill string while the
direction of motion is upwards.
• The direction of axial force is downwards as it occurs in the
opposite direction of pipe motion. The direction of rotation is
clockwise looking downhole, hence, torque generated is
counter-clockwise.
• The weight of drill string component is parallel to the gravity.
The normal force is the effect of gravity on the pipe.

16
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• In order to calculate torque values, the normal force has to be
calculated first.
• Tensional force occurs at the lower part of the drill string
component.
• The coefficient of friction is also highly important and
depends on surfaces, drill string and wellbore.
• The product of normal force and coefficient factor represents
the magnitude of friction force.

17
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)

Axial Force

Normal Force

Rotation
Torque

Tension Compression

Weight

Fig. 1. Forces acting on the drill string (Caglayan., 2014)

18
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• Calculation of the normal force is the first step in calculating
the load increments for an element of the drillstring. Fig. 2
shows the forces acting on a short, slightly curved element.
• The net normal force, Fn is the negative vector sum of normal
components from the weight, W, and from the two tension
forces, Ft and Ft+Δ Ft.

19
Ft + ΔFt
3. Drag and Torque in
Deviated Well
(Continued)
θ+Δθ, α+Δα

Fn

Ff + μFn Fig. 2. Forces acting on

θ,α drillstring element during
pickup (Johancsik et al.,
Ft
W 1984)
20
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• Even though the axis of the element is assumed to be an arc
of a circle, this circle is not usually vertical and therefore the
net normal force is not usually in the vertical plane.
• Fortunately, the friction calculation requires only the
magnitude of the normal force, not its direction.
• The magnitude of the normal force is

21
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
•…………………(3)
 

Where:
Fn = Net normal force acting on element, lbf
Ft = Axial tension acting at lower end of element, lbf
Δα = Increase in azimuth angle over length of element,
degrees.

22
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
•Δθ
  = Increase in inclination angle over length of element, rad
= Average inclination angle of element, degrees

23
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
•  The equation for normal force leads immediately to equations
for the tension increment:
………………………………………..(4)

Where:
Fn = Net normal force acting on element, lbf
ΔFt = Increase in tension over length of element, lbf
μ = Sliding friction coefficient between drillstring and
wellbore, dimensionless 24
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
•W  = Buoyed weight of drillstring element, lbf
= Average inclination angle of element, degrees.

• The plus or minus sign allows for pipe motion either up or

down, the plus sign is for upward motion where friction adds
to the axial load and the minus sign is for downward motion
where the opposite is the case.

25
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
•  For the torque calculation
…………………………..………………………..(5)

Where:
Fn = Net normal force acting on element, lbf
M = Torque, ft-lbf
μ = Sliding friction coefficient between drillstring and
wellbore, dimensionless
26
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)

r = radius of drillstring element, lbf.

• The calculation of torque starts from the bottom of the drill

string and calculated at one-meter intervals.
• Each calculation are performed and added from bottom to top
of the drill string up to the surface.

27
3. Torque in Deviated Well (Continued)
• In order to ensure a realistic approach to torque calculations,
friction factors should be considered carefully.
• For standard drilling operations, the coefficient of friction
with water-based mud would be around 0.25 for cased
section. For open hole section it would be around 0.35. The
coefficient of friction is dependent upon the condition of the
well, the formation, mud selection, penetration rate.

28
4. Torque in Horizontal Well
• Torque in horizontal wells is the important parameters that
have to be taken into account to design well paths and modify
the drilling parameters like WOB, RPM etc.
• Knowledge of torque will enable the selection of an optimum
well profile and optimum size and weight of the drillstring
and its components.

29
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
•1.  Horizontal Section
The torque on the pipe (Th) in the horizontal section is given
by :

………………………………………………(6)

Where:
Th = Torque on the pipe, lb-ft
OD = Outside diameter of tool joint, inch.
30
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
Wm = Average buoyant weight of pipe, lb/ft
L = Length of hole or pipe section, ft.

31
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
•2.  Final Build-up Section
For WOB < 0.33 x Wm x R, Use :

………………………………………………(7)

Where:
Th = Torque on the pipe, lb-ft
OD = Outside diameter of tool joint, inch.

32
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
Wm = Average buoyant weight of pipe, lb/ft
L = Length of hole or pipe section, ft.

33
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
•2.  Final Build-up Section
For WOB > 0.33 x Wm x R, Use :

…...……(8)

Where:
Th = Torque on the pipe, lb-ft
OD = Outside diameter of tool joint, inch.

34
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
Wm = Average buoyant weight of pipe, lb/ft
L = Length of hole or pipe section, ft
WOB = Weight on bit, lbf
R = Buildup radius, ft.

35
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)
•3.  Straight Sections of Hole

…………………………………...……(9)

Where:
T = Torque, lb-ft
OD = Outside diameter of tool joint, inch.

36
4. Torque in Horizontal Well (Continue)

Wm = Average buoyant weight of pipe, lb/ft

L = Length of hole or pipe section, ft
f = Friction factor, dimensionless
θ = Inclination angle, degree.

37
5. Case Studies
1. Vertical Well
• The following data refers to a drill string stuck at the
drillcollars: Drillpipe: 10,000 ft, 5/4.276 in Grade E 19.5 lbm
ft, Class 2. Drillcollars: 600 ft, total weight 80,000 lb. Make-
up torque for drillpipe tool joints = 20,000 ft-lb and the free
point is at 9,900 ft.
• Determine the maximum torque that can be applied at the
surface without exceeding the maximum torsional yield
strength of drillpipe.

38
5. Case Studies
1. Vertical Well (Continued)
• Using Eq. 2.
  2
𝑃

𝑄𝑡 =
𝑑𝑜
√
0.096167 𝑥 𝐽 𝑌 𝑚
2
− 2
𝐴

First, determine the various terms in the above equation.

Since the drillpipe is 100% free at 9,900 ft, the total tensile
load at surface:
P = 9,900 ft x 19.5 = 193,050 lb.

39
5. Case Studies
1. Vertical Well (Continued)
•Calculating
  moment of inertia:
= 28.5383 in4

Calculating cross sectional area of casing

5.27 in2.

40
5. Case Studies
1. Vertical Well (Continued)
•Tensile
  strength : 311,540 lb.
Minimum unit yield strength (Ym) = = = 59,116 psi

Then, torque can be calculated :

= 24,277 ft-lb.

41
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well
• Well No.3 was a case in which high torque and drag were
experienced during and after drilling out a 9-5/8 in. casing
shoe at 12,100 ft.
• The build-and-hold well profile was kicked off at 2,400 ft to
an average angle of 44°.
• The well had several severe doglegs of 4 and 6 ° per 100 ft in
the lower portion of the build zone.

42
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
Table 1. Well no.3 data (Johanscik et al., 1984).

43
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• Initially an attempt had been made to drill out the shoe while
drillpipe rubbers were used to protect the casing and
drillstring.
• However, the torque required to rotate was found to be more
than 35,000 ft-lbf.
• After the pipe was tripped to remove rubbers, the string could
be rotated but only when surface tension was slacked off.
Without WOB, rotation was impossible.

44
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• With approximately 38,000 lbf on the bit, the string could be
rotated with a mean rotating torque of 24,500 ft-Ibf.
• With an estimated 2,000 ft-lbf bit torque, the remaining
22,500 ft-lbf resulting from friction was reduced to a sliding
friction coefficient of 0.39.

45
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• Like torque values, the pickup and slack-off drag values were
very large.
• Pickup weight was 376,000 Ibf, which was 158,000 lbf more
than the calculated rotating string weight of 218,000 ft-lbf.
• The pickup weight value produced a friction coefficient of
0.40. Slack-off weight of 141,000 lbf produced to a
coefficient of -0.40.

46
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• Fig. 3 illustrates tension in the drill string as a function of
depth for Well No.3. Three cases shown are pickup, rotating
off bottom, and slack-off of the drillstring.
• The tension profile while rotating off bottom (no axial
movement) is a smooth curve. The slope of this curve at any
point represents the product of the buoyed drill string weight
per foot and the cosine of the hole inclination angle.

47
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• Axial movement of the pipe produces marked changes in drill
string tension. The most notable changes occur in the build
zone between 2,400 and 4,800 ft where noticeable doglegs
are present.
• In particular, the lower part of the build zone had extreme
doglegs of up to 6°/100 ft. Rapid changes in tension occur in
this area in both pickup and slack-off tension.

48
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• Because friction acts in an upward direction during slack-off,
the slope of this curve illustrates the relative effects of
friction and weight on the string tension.
• Between 4,000 and 4,600 ft, because of the extreme doglegs,
the upward friction force is greater than the increments of
pipe weight, and the string tension actually decreases over
this interval

49
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)

Fig. 3. Drillstring tension vs.

depth from Well No.3
(Johancsik et al., 1984)
50
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)
• A torque profile during drilling is shown in Fig. 4 for the
same well.
• Torque changes in the vertical section of the hole (0 to 2,400
ft) are shown to be small because of small side forces.
• As with tension, torque changes are rapid in the angle build
zone and more gradual in the hold-angle zone.

51
5. Case Studies
2. Directional Well (Continued)

Fig. 4. Drillstring tension vs.

depth during drilling from Well
No.3 (Johancsik et al., 1984).
52
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well
• The horizontal well was adopted in shale gas wells in the
Changning block, the Sichuan Basin.
• High torque was observed during drilling operations.
• Study were established for Well H24-1 (a scoop-shape
horizontal well), Well 201-X (aconventional horizontal well)
and Well CN-S (a highly deviated horizontal well) in the
Changning block, to comparatively analyze the drag and
torque and the extend drilling capacity of the three types of
wells

53
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Fig. 5 shows the casing program of Well H24-1. The
maximum well inclination is 105 degree.
• The TVD difference between point A (2292.92 m) and point
B (1972.77 m) is 320.15 m. The maximum well inclination is
91 degree for Well 201-X and is 83 degree for Well CN-S.

54
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well
(Continued)

Fig. 5. Casing program of

three types of wells in the
Changning block (Zhu et
al., 2019)

55
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Given the same RPM and WOB, the drill string wellbore
contact forces in the full hole of Well H24-1 (the maximum
well inclination of 105 degree), Well 201-X (the maximum
well inclination of 91 degree) and Well CN-S (the maximum
well inclination of 83 degree) are shown in Fig. 6.
• The hold section inclination angle has a significant influence
on the contact force of the buildup section.

56
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• The contact force of the buildup section is reduced by 40.3%
by reducing the maximum well inclination from 105 degree
to 91 degree, and is reduced by 52.4% by reducing the
maximum well inclination from 91 degree to 83 degree.
However, the contact force of the hold section has little
change of about 5%.

57
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• The contact between drill string and wellbore can be divided
into high-side contact and low-side contact.
• A highside contact would occur when the drill string rotates
to the upper well wall, and a low-side contact may be formed
when the drill string is lying on the lower wellbore wall.

58
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• In Fig. 6.a-c, as the maximum well inclination decreases, the
high-side contact range and contact force increase
significantly.
• When the maximum well inclination reduces from 105
degree to 83 degree, the high-side contact range increases by
2.9 times, and the high-side contact force increases by 10.5
times.
• The average contact force between each drill string node and
borehole wall in every 400 m drill string, as shown in Table
2.
59
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• It can be seen from Table 2 that the average contact strengths
of three wells have little change in the hold section.
• In the buildup section, the average contact strength of the
scoop-shape well is significantly larger than that of the other
two types.
• The average contact strength of the deeper part of the buildup
section of the scoop-shape well reached 167% of the average
contact strength of the hold section.

60
 5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 6a. Well H24-1 drill string - wellbore contact force in full hole
(Zhu et al., 2019) 61
 5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 6b. Well 201-X drill string - wellbore contact force in full hole
(Zhu et al., 2019) 62
 5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 6c. Well CN-S drill string - wellbore contact force in full hole
(Zhu et al., 2019) 63
 5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
Table. 2. Average strength of contact between the drill string and the
wellbore of three types of wells in the Changning block (Zhu et al.,
2019).

64
 5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
Table. 2. Average strength of contact between the drill string and the
wellbore of three types of wells in the Changning block (Zhu et al.,
2019) (Continued).

65
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
•  The torque can be calculated based on the the drill string
wellbore contact force.
• The Hertz contact theory was used to calculate the drill string
wellbore contact force.

.........................................................................(10)

Where:
k = Impedance coefficient of drillstring and wellbore wall,
dimensionless. 66
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
c = Drag coefficient, dimensionless
r = distance from the drillstring to the wellbore wall, m
Fn = contact force, kN
vr = radial velocity of drill string joints, m/s.

67
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Generally, the friction coefficient between the drill string and
the borehole wall is between 0.2 and 0.3 under water-based
drilling fluid, and is no more than 0.1 under oil-based drilling
fluid.
• Fig. 7 shows the variation of the average torque along the
drill string in Well H24-1 under different drilling fluids.

68
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Fig. 7 indicates that the drill string in the deeper part of the
buildup section is located at the maximum TVD of the full
bore, where the drill string is squeezed by both ends.
• This section has the most significant average torque rise rate.

69
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 7. Steady-state torque of

the drill string of Well H24-1
(Zhu et al., 2019)

70
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Fig. 8 shows the transient torque variation of drill strings
under different drilling fluids.
• As with the average torque, in the maximum vertical depth
section (the deeper part of the buildup section), the
fluctuation value of the transient torque of the drill string
rises the fastest, and at this position the drill string contact
friction with the borehole wall is the most serious.

71
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• It can be also seen from Fig. 8 that the drag and torque
variation amount is about 18% of its average value.
• Combined with the contact force in Fig. 6a, it is believed that
the drill string of the deeper part of the buildup section and
the hold section of the wells have a “precession” in the
direction of rotation, because the drill string is subjected to
the alternating continuous rising and sudden release of drag
and torque.

72
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 8. Drag and torque transient

variation of the drill string of Well
H24-1 (Zhu et al., 2019).

73
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• The industry expects to extend drilling on the basis of the
current well type and TVD, but there is still no basis for
calculation.
• Taking Well H24-1, the scoop-shape well with severe drag
and torque problem as the object, this paper studied the drag
and torque of drill string under different drilling fluids after
extending the hold section to 600 m, 1200 m and 1800 m.
The results are shown in Table 3.

74
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
Table. 3. Drag and torque of the drill string of Well H24-1
(Zhu et al., 2019).

75
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• Figs. 9 and 10 show the torque of the drill string and its
variation after the hold section is extended to 600 m.
• It can be seen that the most severe contact between the drill
string and the wellbore is still at the deeper part of the
buildup section.

76
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)
• When the buildup section was extended from 4200 m to 4800
m, the overall drag and torque increase by 24.8%, and the
torque variation by 117.0%.
• The drag and torque variation accounts for about 32% of its
average. The higher the ratio, the more serious the precession
of the drill string in the direction of rotation.

77
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 9. Steady-state torque of drill

string after extension to 4800 m
(Zhu et al., 2019).

78
5. Case Studies
3. Horizontal Well (Continued)

Fig. 10. Transient torque of drill

string after extension to 4800 m
(Zhu et al., 2019).

79
6. Conclusion
• Torque it is the moment required to rotate the drill string that
will overcome the rotational friction between the drill string
and the well bore, as well as the torque on the bit.
• The torque observed on the surface is usually higher than the
torque caused by the drill bit; this is mainly because of the
rotational friction torque in the well.

80
6. Conclusion (Continued)
• The torque loss is greater in deviated wells, especially in
complex or extended reach and horizontal wells, where
torque is a major problem due to the rig and drill string
torque limitation.
• Torque loss would be zero in a perfectly vertical well, except
for the small viscous torque generated by the mud.

81
6. Conclusion (Continued)
• The main causes for excessive torque are hole instability, key
seating, differential sticking, poor hole cleaning, and
wellbore friction.
• Torque in horizontal and deviated wells is the important
parameters that have to be taken into account to design well
paths and modify the drilling parameters like WOB, RPM
etc.

82
7. Standard Related (Continued)

1. API Spec 7 (2001)

This specification covers requirements on drill-stem members,
including threaded connections, gauging practice, and master
gauges, including the torque value of each drill-stem members.

83
7. Standard Related (Continued)

2. API RP 7G (2004)
This recommended practice involves not only the selection of
drill string members, but also the consideration of hole angle
control, drilling fluids, weight and rotary speed, and other
operational procedures that related to torque consideration.

84
7. Standard Related (Continued)

3. API Spec 5CT (2002)

Covers spesification of casing and tubing, and including torque

value for each casing and tubing.

85
Refrences
• Zhu, Xiaohua & Li, Ke & An, Jiawei. (2019). Calculation
and analysis of dynamic drag and torque of horizontal well
strings. Natural Gas Industry. ScienceDirect.
• Aarrestad, T. V. (1994). Torque and Drag-Two Factors in
Extended-Reach Drilling. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
• Johancsik, C. A., Friesen, D. B., & Dawson, R. (1984).
Torque and Drag in Directional Wells-Prediction and
Measurement. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

86
References (Continued)
• Eren, Tuna & Kök, Mustafa & Caglayan, Burak. (2017).
Torque and drag field applications in horizontal wells.
International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology.
• H. Rabia, Well Engineering and Construction. Chapter 10 &
13.
• Mitchell, R.F., Miska, S.Z. 2011. Fundamental of Drilling
Engineering. SPE Textbook Series Vol. 12, Houston, USA.
Chapter 8.

87
References (Continued)

• API Spec 7 (2001): Specification for Rotary Drill Stem

Elements. American Petroleum Institute. Washington DC –
USA.
• API Spec 5CT (2002): Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries-
Steel Pipes for Use as Casing and Tubing for Wells. American
Petroleum Institute. Washington DC – USA.
• API RP 7G (2004): Recommended Practice for Drill Stem
Design and Operating Limits. American Petroleum Institute.
Washington DC – USA.

88