Gas Hydrates Drilling

Hydrates - Why are they important?

n A very large potential source of natural gas

n A hindrance to the natural gas industry
Þ Often cause plugging of lines and
equipment (like an “ice” plug)
n In drilling, under well control situations,
hydrates may plug lines and chokes

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• The presence of clathrates at a given site can
often be determined by observation of a
"Bottom Simulating Reflector" (BSR), which is
a seismic reflection at the sediment to
clathrate stability zone interface caused by the
unequal densities of normal sediments and
those laced with clathrates.
 A Natural Gas Resource?
n Conditions for hydrate formation are satisfied
in more than 90% of the ocean floors, but
hydrates will only be present if there is a source
of natural gas and a structure suitable for gas
accumulation
n It has been estimated that total worldwide
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hydrate resources are as much as 10 m , or
twice as large the combined fossil fuel resource.

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 A Natural Gas Resource?
n Possibly as much as 98% of the hydrate
resource is below the world’s oceans
n The remaining 2% that is found on land, below
permafrost, is estimated to be twice the size of
the conventional natural gas resourse
n Natural gas has been produced from hydrates
for decades in Russia

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• The potential risk and well problems must be
considered due to presence of gas hydrates
while drilling.
• For initial assessment of these risks, the
potential existence of solid gas hydrates at the
particular well location is needed.
• For this, a superposition of gas hydrate stability
curve and the natural temperature gradient is
carried out usually, see Figure
The following parameters must be considered
prior to drilling operation
• Gas composition that forms gas hydrates;
• Formation water salinity (salts act as
thermodynamic inhibitors);
• Formation pressure profile and pressure profiles
inside the well;
• Formation temperature profile and temperature
profiles inside the well; and
• Sediment/gas hydrate and mud component/gas
hydrate interaction mechanism.
• To mitigate these drilling risks a Process-
Knowledge Management System (PKMS) has
been developed.
• This PKMS allows the capture, verification, and
intelligent use of explicit and tacit knowledge,
and is constructed to allow exploitation of the
knowledge from multiple field experts,
company best practice policies, and latest
technological findings.
The individual activity group considered in
PKMS are
• Making Hole (any form of depth changing actively);
• Open Hole Activity (general non-depth changing activity with no
circulation);
• Running Casing (activity necessary to put the casing in place);
• Cementing (activities carried of during cementing); Circulation
(general non-depth changing activity at which circulation takes
place);
• Cased Hole Activity (similar to Open Hole Activity but with casing
in place);
• BOP (operational to install and test the BOP); and
• Handling Tools (general non-depth changing activity with no
circulation).
 A Problem in Drilling?
n Where hydrates are present in-situ in
petroleum reservoirs, they can cause blowouts
if drilled into inadvertently.
n Extreme conditions of temperature and
pressure mean that hydrates may form during
the drilling process if fluids containing water
come into contact with the reservoir fluids.

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 A Problem in Drilling?
n Formation of solid hydrates can plug up
subsea risers, choke and kill lines, and BOPs
n Conditions during well shut-in are particularly
favorable for hydrate formation if high
pressures are combined with falling
temperatures and there is sufficient time for
equilibrium to be reached

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 A Problem in Drilling?
n Water depths near the West Shetlands and
Hebrides rapidly reach 1,000 meters or more,
o
with seabed temperatures down to -2 C
n In the deepwater regions of the Gulf of
Mexico the seabed temperature is typically
o
around 4 C or even lower
n Such extreme conditions present risks of
hydrate formation

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 Where are Hydrates found?
n Hydrates are found in situ in the deep oceans of
the world, on the ocean floor or in the
sediments below the seafloor
n Hydrates are found in situ in permafrost regions
n Hydrates are also found in extraterrestrial
environments

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 Hydrate-Related Drilling Problems

n Choke and Kill line plugging

n Plugging of wellbore below the BOPs
n Plug formed around the drillpipe inside
casing, in the the BOPs or in the riser,
preventing drillstring movement
n Plug formed in the BOPs preventing full BOP
closure
n Plug keeping BOPs from opening
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 Hydrate-Related Drilling Problems

There are two basic types of hydrate-related

drilling problems:

n Drilling through formations already

containing natural hydrates, and

n Experiencing drilling conditions that may be

conducive to formation of hydrates

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 Techniques for drilling through Zones
containing Hydrates
n Reduce the temperature of the drilling mud
n Drill at “controlled” drilling rates (not too
fast - to reduce heat generation rates)
n Increase mud weight - if possible
n Increase mud circulation rate to ensure
turbulent flow to achieve better cooling and
to remove any gas

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Techniques to avoid Hydrate Formation while
Drilling

n Keeping the temperature above, or the

pressure below hydrate formation conditions
n Using chemicals to depress the hydrate
formation point, i.e., use “thermodynamic
inhibitors” such as methanol, glycols and
salts (methanol is very toxic)

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Techniques for avoiding Hydrate Formation
while Drilling - cont’d
n Adding chemicals that reduce the rate of
nucleation of hydrate crystals
n Adding chemicals to reduce the rate of
growth of hydrate crystals which have
nucleated
n Adding chemicals that tend to prevent
agglomeration of crystals, so that solid plugs
do not form (kinetic inhibitors)
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 Thermodynamic Inhibitors
n Basically, thermodynamic inhibitors reduce
the temperature at which hydrates will form
n The inhibitor dissolves in the water phase,
increasing the stability of the liquid water
with respect to the hydrate
n An inhibitor like methanol will also enter the
gas and liquid hydrocarbons

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21
 Hydrate-
forming
conditions
for natural
gases

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 Temperatures Profile in the Gulf of Mexico
0

2,000

4,000

6,000
Sea Floor
Depth, ft

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
Temperature, oF
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Temperatures Profile in the North Sea

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 Pressures @ 8.6 lb/gal

2,000

4,000

6,000
Depth, ft

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000
Pressure, psi
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(not the GOM)

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 Results of a
typical hydrate
thermodynamic
test

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 Schematic of
constant-volume
temperature
ramping
experiment

The probability of hydrate formation increases as you

move towards the supercooled temperature

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 Thermodynamic Inhibitors - cont’d
n Salts are the most commonly used inhibitors:
NaCl, KCl and CaCl2
o
n Saturated NaCl (26%) provides a ~21 K
margin relative to pure water
n Glycols and glycerols can also be used
n Mixed inhibitors can be used and their effect
is approximately additive
n 20-23% NaCl polymer muds are the most
commonly used for deepwater drilling
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 Kinetic Inhibitors
n Kinetic inhibitors work by reducing the rate
of nucleation of hydrates, the growth rate of
the crystals, or the agglomeration of the
crystals
n They cannot prevent hydrate formation, but
they may increase the delay between the time
when a fluid enters the hydrate zone and the
formation of a blockage
n These have not been tested in drilling
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 Remedies

Depression of
hydrate-
formation
temperatures
with methanol
and diethylene
glycol

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 Remedies
40% 20%

Inhibition of hydrate
formation temperatures
caused by glycol
0%

Glycols may experience

severe viscosity increases
at cooler temperatures

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 Remedies

Oil-based and synthetic-based muds also require inhibition, since they contain a water
phase
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 Remedies

Note that below ~3,000

ft water depth,
inhibition with salt
alone can not
guarantee a hydrate-
free environment

Seawater
temperature
profile

Effect of gas gravity, mud weight and salt content on

hydrate stability
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 Well Control Remediation Methods

n Prevent hydrocarbons from entering the

wellbore (adequate mud
weight, rapid shut-in)
n If hydrocarbons enter the wellbore, prevent
them from reaching the wellhead
(monitoring, bullheading)
n If hydrocarbons reach the wellhead and BOP,
prevent formation of hydrates (high salinity
mud; glycol mud standby)
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 Well Control Remediation Methods - cont’d
n If hydrates do form, eliminate them
(methanol on standby for pumping down
kill line, heated seawater ready to be pumped
up riser)
n Methods for removing hydrate blockages:
n Depressurization to dissociate the hydrate
n Addition of chemical inhibitors to melt the
hydrate
n External heating to dissociate the hydrate
n Mechanical (drilling)

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 References
n Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases, by E. Dendy
Sloan, Jr., Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York,1998.
n The Properties of Petroleum Fluids, by William D.
McCain, Jr. PennWell Books, Pennwell Publishing
Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1990.
n “Controlling, Remediation of fluid hydrates in
deepwater drilling operations,” by B.Edmonds,
R.A.S. Moorwood and R. Szczepanski, Ultradeep
Engineering, March 2001.

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 References - cont’d
n IADC Deepwater Well Control Guidelines.
International Association of Drilling Contractors.
Houston, Texas, 1998.
n “Lab work clarifies gas hydrate formation,
dissociation,” by Yuri F. Makogon and Stephen A.
Holditch. Oil & Gas Journal, Feb.5, 2001.
n “Experiments illustrate hydrate morphology,
kinetics,” by Yuri F. Makogon and Stephen A.
Holditch. Oil & Gas Journal, Feb.12, 2001.
n SPE, OTC...

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THE END

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