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PETE 406 UBD

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PETE 406 - Underbalanced Drilling, UBD

Lesson 9 Benefits of Underbalanced Drilling UDM - Chapter 3

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Benefits of Underbalanced Drilling

Increased Penetration Rate Increased Bit Life Reduced Differential Sticking Minimize Lost Circulation Improved Formation Evaluation Reduced Formation Damage
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Benefits of Underbalanced Drilling

Reduced Probability of Differential Sticking Earlier Production Environmental Benefits Improved Safety Increased Well Productivity Less Need for Stimulation
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Increased Penetration Rate

In permeable rocks, a positive differential will decrease penetration because
increases the effective confining stress which
increases the rocks shear strength Therefore increasing shear stress (by drilling UB) increases penetration rate

and increases the chip hold down effect

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Chip hold down effect

Bit tooth As drilling fluid enters the fracture, the pressure differential across the rock fragment decreases, releasing the chip

Crack in the formation

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Effect of Pressure Differential

In permeable rocks penetration rate is a function of the differential pressure not the absolute pressure
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Micro-bit test

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Gas drilling vs. mud drilling

Mud

Gas

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Penetration rate as a function of the differential pressure across the workfront

For permeable rocks

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Penetration rate in impermeable In impermeable rocks Bit tooth rock, the

Crack in the formation

instantaneous initial pressure in the crack itself is close to zero, i.e. the penetration rate is now a function of absolute wellbore pressure.

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Field example switching from air to mud

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Switch to mud

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Increased Bit Life???

Increased vibration with air drilling may actually decrease bearing life Bit may drill fewer rotating hours but drill more footage - fewer bits

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Effect of UBD on cutting structure of roller cone bits

Mechanical Specific Energy, MSE, is defined as the mechanical work that must be done to excavate a unit volume of rock

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The work done by the bit is:

WOB ROP W 2 60RPM where torque(ft - lb)

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The volume of rock excavated per revolution is:

V

d ROP
2 b

240RPM d b bit diameter (feet)

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The mechanical specific energy is give by:

480 RPM 4WOB MSE 2 2 d b ROP d b

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480 RPM 4WOB MSE 2 2 d b ROP d b 1. Bit torque is not a function of borehole pressures. 2. Penetration rates generally increase with decreasing borehole pressures. 3. MSE are therefore, usually lower at lower borehole pressures

What does this mean?

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What does this mean?

4. Therefore, cutting structure wear rates (in terms of distance drilled) should be inversely related to the MSE 5. If the bit has to do less work to remove a given volume of rock, its cutting elements should wear less. 6. A bit should be able to drill more footage, when drilling underbalanced.
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Reduced Differential Sticking

Fs = AcDPms*144 sq.in./sq.ft. Fs = force required to free pipe (lbf) Ac = contact area (sq. ft) DP = pressure differential across the mud cake (psid) ms = coefficient of friction
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Example
Contact area is 30 feet long and 0.25 ft wide Pressure differential is 300 psid The coefficient of friction is 0.3 The force to free the pipe (in excess of string weight) is 30 x 0.25 x 300 x 0.3 x 144 = 97,200 lbf Note equation 3.5 in text is incorrect
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Minimized Lost Circulation

If the pressure in the wellbore is less than the formation pressure in the entire open hole section, lost circulation will not occur.

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Improved Formation Evaluation

Production rates while drilling UB can be measured with no filtrate invasion occurring No filtrate invasion can mean more accurate LWD measurements.

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Reduces formation damage

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Formation damage mechanisms during drilling (overbalanced)

Scales, sludges or emulsions due to interaction between filtrates and pore fluids Interaction between aqueous mud filtrate and clay particles in the formation Solids invasion

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Formation damage mechanisms during drilling (overbalanced):

Phase trapping or blocking Adsorption of drilling fluid additives, leading to permeability reductions or changes in wettability Migration of fines Generation of pore-blocking organic byproducts from bacteria entering the formation from the drilling fluid
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Formation damage mechanisms during drilling (underbalanced):

Temporary overbalance Spontaneous imbibition Gravity-induced invasion Wellbore glazing Post-drilling damage Mechanical degradation
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Temporary overbalance
Can be intentional to:
kill well for trips, transmit MWD surveys, log the well, completion and WO operations

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Temporary overbalance
Can be unintentional:
Slug flow or liquid holdup causing fluctuations in annular pressure High fluid pressures across the face of diamond and TSP bits Near wellbore production reduces the formation pressure near the face of the wellbore

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Temporary overbalance
Can be unintentional:
Varying pore pressure along the wellbore Excessive surge pressures Equipment malfunctions or procedural errors

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Spontaneous Imbibition
Due to capillary effects - even if drilling underbalanced The underbalance pressure necessary to prevent water from being drawn from an aqueous drilling fluid into the formation will depend on the initial formation water saturation and the pore sizes
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Gravity-induced invasion
Can occur during UBD in the formation produces from natural fractures or vugs

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Wellbore glazing
UBD can result in high wellbore temperatures due to the friction between the rotating drillstring and the borehole wall. This can cause a thin low permeability glazed zone

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Post-drilling damage
Due to:
Killing the well for completion Cementing Mobilization of fines during production Liquid coning in gas reservoir

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Mechanical degradation
Rock around the wellbore experiences a concentration of in-situ stresses due to drilling the well. As the wellbore pressure is lowered, the effective stresses increase, resulting in a decrease in porosity and available flow channels leading to reduced permeability
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Earlier Production
With the necessary equipment on location during UBD operations, produced fluids can go to sales. Open-hole completions are sometimes performed. If the well is drilled and completed underbalanced, wells from depleated reservoirs will not need swabbing.
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Environmental Benefits
Closed loop systems produce less wasted drilling fluids

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Less Need for Stimulation

If the formation is not damaged during drilling and completion, stimulation to remove the damage will not be needed

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Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering

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