Hole Problems

Lost Circulation Problems

Sticking and torquing pipe

Sloughing or caving shales

High pressure zones

 1. Lost Circulation
Problems

 Definition:

The partial or complete loss of drilling fluid

during drilling, circulating or running casing or

loss of cement during cementing.

  circulation may be lost if

1. The total pressure exerted on a formation

exceeds the formation pressure.
2.The openings in the formation are about
three times as large as the biggest
particles present in the mud in substational
quantity.
 Formations at where lost
ofcirculation occur

1. Coarse permeable, unconsolidated

formations.
2. Vugular and cavernous formations.
3. Fractured, faulted, jointed and fissure
formation.
Figure 1 , Lost circulation in a porous, permeable zone
Figure 3 , Induced fracture caused by high surge pressure, results in lost circulation
Figure 2 , Lost circulation due to natural fractures
Figure 4 , Lost circulation in a cavernous limestone
Figure 5 , Lost circulation resulting from a surface casing leak
 Severity of lost circulation

1. Seeping loss 0.2 – 2.0 cu m./hr

2. Partial loss 2.0 – 8.0 cu m./hr
3. Complete loss – with the static mud level
at the depth of 60-150 m.
4. Partial or complete loss to deep induced
fractures.
5. Severe complete loss – with the static mud
level at the depth 150-300 m.
 Methods of locating lost
circulation zones

1. Temperature survey.

2. Radioactive tracer survey.

3. Spinner survey.
 Temperature survey

Temperature
Depth

Under static conditions

Lost circulation zone

While pumping
 Radioactive tracer survey

 A gamma-ray log is first run to establish the normal

radioactivity of formation in hole and act a basis for
comparison. A small quantity of radioactive material is
then displaced into the hole around the area where
the thief zone is expected.

 A second gamma-ray log is run and compared with the

base log.

 The point of loss of the new log, where the

radioactive material is lost, is the thief formation.
 Spinner survey

 A spinner attached to the end of a cable is run in

hole to the place where loss of circulation is
suspected.

 The spinner will rotate in the presence of any

vertical-motion of mud such as encountered near
a“thief” zone.

 - The speed of the rotor is recorded on a film as a

series of dashes and spaces.
 Methods of Restoring Circulation

1. Waiting period

2. Reduction of mud density

3. Deliberate mud gellation

4. Reduction of pump pressure

 Waiting Period

 Is one of the best methods, which can be

recommended in all instances.

 The well should be left quiet for 6 – 8 hours. This

allows the hole to heal itself.

 Solids present in the mud probably enter the thief

zone, filtration cake is deposited and mud gellation
takes place.

 All these factors contribute to restore the

circulation.
 Reduction of mud density

By diluting with water or by adding oil that decreases

pressure of the mud column and may be sufficient to
restore circulation
 Deliberate mud gellation

By treatment with lime, cement, gypsum or even salt

may help to restore circulation in case it is lost in
shallow coarse permeable sand or gravel
 Reduction of pump pressure

• By decreasing the rate of circulation or chemical

treatment to cut down mud yield point may restore
circulation due to the corresponding decrease of
pressure losses in the annular space.
 Sloughing or caving shale
• A primary goal in drilling any well is to maintain
a stable Well bore--one where the hole size is
about equal to the bit diameter, and where the
borehole does not "cave in." Unfortunately, the
chemical and mechanical processes involved in
drilling can make this goal difficult if not
impossible to attain. Shale are major obstacles
to maintaining hole integrity, although other
rock types (e.g., loose gravels or
conglomerates) can cause problems as well.
 Sloughing shales

• are products of chemical interactions

between the formation, the drilling mud and
the mud filtrate.

– Interaction mechanisms involve the water in the

mud and the clay minerals in the shale.
• Clay minerals commonly found in shales include
montmorillonite(Active clay content), illite,
chlorite and kaolinite (sand,carbonate and organic
materials are also present to varying degrees).
These clay minerals are hydrateable--that is,
they absorb water. Hydration occurs because of
differences in electrochemicalpotential between
the water in the drilling fluid and the ions in the
clay particles.
  This potential difference generates
forces which can be of significant
magnitude

• The difference between overburden stress and

pore pressure
– The greater this difference, the more compacted is the
formation, and the greater is the hydration force. In normal
pressured environments, deeper shales are usually more
compacted and have a higher tendency to absorb water than
do
shallow formations.
• The osmotic pressure across the shale
interface

– Where a water-based mud is present and there is

a significant difference between mud filtrate and
the formation water salinities, shale acts as a
semi-permeable membrane, resulting in osmotic
pressure. When the mud filtrate and formation
water salinities are equal, osmotic forces do not
develop. (In the case of a continuous oil-phase
mud, the layer of emulsifiers and oil film that
surrounds each drop of non-continuous water acts
as the permeable membrane).
 Conclusion:

Hydration results in volumetric swelling

and an increase in formation pressure,
which causes shale to break off from
the sides of the hole and fall into the
well.
 control hydration and prevent
sloughing
1. use a mud system that contains an inorganic
salt--such as sodium chloride or potassium
chloride--to match the formation water
salinity.
2. Adding a polymer or other agent to salt mud
to mechanically restrict the flow of mud into
the formation can also prove effective.
3. Oil base muds are likewise used to inhibit
the chemical interactions that cause
sloughing.
3. Sticking and torquing pipe

Definition:

Drill pipe sticking is the phenomenon, when

the drill string cannot be pulled out of the
bore hole at an over pull equal to the tensile
strength of the drill pipe.
  Causes of pipe sticking

1. Pressure differential.
2. Thick filter cake and narrowing the bore hole.
3. Shale sloughing.
4. Accumulation of caving and cuttings in the
annular space.
5. Key seats.
6. Mud thickening.
7. Carelessness of personnel.
  Types of pipe stuck

1. Differential Pressure Sticking.

2. Key Seating.

3. Solids Accumulation & Mechanical Sticking

 Differential Pressure Sticking

Definition:
– When pipe becomes
stuck in the filter cake
opposite an exposed,
permeable formation
having a pressure less
than that of the mud
column, we have a
situation known as
differential pressure
sticking.
- The sticking force, or pulling force required to
free the pipe, is equal to the differential pressure
multiplied by the contact area (A) and the friction
coefficient (f) between the pipe and the filter cake
How does the likelihood of differential
? pressure sticking can be reduced
• Keep the pipe moving Avoid allowing the drill string
to remain motionless in open hole. When interruptions
are unavoidable (e.g., during connections), keep
shutdown time as short as possible.

• Lower differential pressure Lowering the mud weight

is an effective means of prevention, but is limited by
safety considerations.

• Minimize friction There are a number of additives

available for reducing friction in the mud and
preventing differential pressure sticking. Chemical oil
emulsion mud can also be very effective.
• Reduce contact area We can reduce the contact
areas of both the filter cake and the drill string by

– maintaining desirable mud properties, particularly a

low filtration rate and minimum solids
concentration

– using spiral drill collars and heavy wall drill pipe in

place of smooth drill collars

– using internal (or internal-external), rather than

external upset tool joints

– stabilizing the drill string

 Key Seating

Definition
Key seating can occur in
any well that has dog-
legs (abrupt changes
in drift or azimuth
angle). It results
from the drill pipe
wearing a slot into the
side of the well bore.
 How does key seating occurrence prevented?

1. Prevent dog-legs from forming in the first place

2. Maintaining good deviation control

3. Avoiding sudden changes in hole angle or

direction.
 The remedy of key-seat

• operators often run a key seat wiper above the drill

collars Upon locating a key seat, the driller can use
this tool to ream through it.

• The tool's outside diameter is slightly larger than

that of the drill Collars.
Solids Accumulation & Mechanical
Sticking

Definition:
When the drill pipe
stuck by the
accumulation of
solids
Causes of mechanical stucking

 Sloughing or heaving
 Mud sticking Mud contamination
 Lost circulation sticking
 Cement sticking, Pump breakdowns, leaking
tool joints and inaccurate displacement
calculations.
 Blowout sticking Kicks or blowouts.
 so can you guess the surface
indication of ;
1. Differential Pressure Sticking.

2. Key Seating.

3. Solids Accumulation & Mechanical Sticking ????

:Use that as a guide

Circulation / Rotation / Pulling
 Methods of determination of the
free portion of a stuck drill string

To free a drill string which is stuck in the

borehole, it is necessary first of all to
determine the upper point of the stuck part of
the string or the lower point of the free
part of the string.
 Electromagnetic instruments

• An electro magnetic instrument consists

essentially of

1. Two electromagnets

2. Telescopic joint

3. Sensitive electronic strain gauge placed between

the electromagnets.
 Freeing the stuck drill string

• The most popular technique of freeing

the pipe is spotting oil or oil base mud
around the stuck portion of the drill
string.
 Spotting

• Oil (Diesel or crude) or an oil base mud ispumped

into the annulus and left there for some time.
• It wets the drill collars and drill pipes,
• reduces friction and adhesion forces between
thedrill string and the filter cake,
• reduces clay hydration and makes it easier to pull
the drill string out of the well bore.
 4. High pressure zones
Definition:
• Normally pressured formations are open hydraulic
systems; they have unblocked communication with
adjacent formations and, ultimately, with the
surface.
• They do not exceed native hydrostatic pressure,
because any pressure buildup rapidly dissipates to
neighboring intervals.
• Abnormally pressured formations, on the other hand,
are closed systems. They are sealed by structural
traps or low-permeability barriers that keep high
pressures from dispersing.
 Causes of Kicks and Blowouts

1. the lack of skilled crews.

2. The overburden pressure exceeds the

hydrostatic pressure.
 Signs of kicks

 Rate of penetration increases.

 Change in shape and size of cuttings.
 Increase in rotary torque.
 Increase in drag.
 Sloughing shale.
 Increase in gas content.
 Increase in flow line temperature.
 Decrease in shale density.
 Increase in chloride content.
  Methods to Kill the Kick

1. Wait and weight method

2. Driller’s method.

3. Volumetric method
1. Wait and weight method

The well is shut-in until the mud (kill mud) can

be weighted up in the pits to the required
density or the reserve heavy mud can be
conditioned to the required density. The kill
mud is then circulated into the well displacing
the kick.
2. Driller’s method .
Two separate circulations are required with this
method to kill a well.
In the first circulation the influx is circulated
out, at a constant pump rate, using the same
mud density that is in the hole at the time of
the kick. During the second stage circulation,
the well is brought under control by
circulating the required kill mud into the hole
in the same manner as described in the ‘Wait
and Weight method’.
3. Volumetric method

The volumetric method can be used to control

the gas expansion, migrating up-hole, during
the shut-in period. This only occurs when the
influx is gas.
Thank you for your attention
No questions

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