PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT Volume 37, Issue 2, April 2010 Online English edition of the Chinese language

journal Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2010, 37(2): 232236. RESEARCH PAPER

Drilling fluid technology for horizontal wells to protect the formations in unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs
Yue Qiansheng1,2,*, Liu Shujie3, Xiang Xingjin1
1. School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China; 2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; 3. Research Center of CNOOC, Beijing 100027, China

Abstract: Major factors that cause damage in drilling in unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs include: invasion of solids in drilling fluid, incompatibility between the liquid phase of drilling fluid and crude oil, and hydration and expansion of reservoir clay minerals. Therefore, a solid-free weak gel drilling fluid system for horizontal wells to protect the formations was developed that contains seawater + 0.1%0.2% NaOH + 0.2% Na2CO3+ 0.7% VIS + 2.0% FLO + 2.0% JLX, weighed with KCl or sodium formate. The drilling fluid system has unique rheological properties, temporally independent gel strength, and excellent lubricating and inhibition performance. It is compatible with formation fluids, it not only meets the needs of horizontal well drilling, but also effectively protects the reservoir. The technique is well performed in tens of horizontal wells in offshore oilfields, such as WC13-1, BZ34-1, NP35-2, and BZ25-1 oilfields. Key words: unconsolidated sandstone; heavy oil reservoir; formation damage; horizontal well; solid-free weak gel drilling fluid

Introduction
As horizontal wells have a bigger oil drainage area, they are widely used for the development of heavy oil reservoirs with unconsolidated sandstones. Domestic research in China has concentrated on the mechanism of sand production and measures for sand control in unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs[18], there is less research on drilling fluid and formation protection.[912] In this paper, the Bohai Bay Basin is used as an example, for analyzing the characteristics of unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs and their damage factors. A solids-free weak gel drilling fluid system is developed to meet the requirements of drilling fluids used in horizontal wells. The drilling fluid system has unique rheological properties, excellent lubricity with good compatibility with reservoir fluids, high inhibition without pollution of solid, so it can meet the demands of horizontal well drilling. At present the drilling fluid system has been widely used for horizontal well operations in offshore oilfields.

field, Suizhong(SZ) 36-1 Oilfield, Qinghuangdao (QHD) 32-6 Oilfield, Bozhong(BZ)25-1 Oilfield and Nanpu (NP) 35-2 Oilfield have been discovered. Most of these oilfields are heavy oil reservoirs. The reservoirs are developed mainly in the Minghuazhen (MHZ) Formation, Guantao (GT) Formation and Dongying (DY) Formation. They are shallowly buried with poor diagenesis, loose cementation and higher shale content. They are reservoirs with high porosity and high permeability. Reservoir temperature is low, generally below 80qC. The reservoir characteristics are shown in Table 1. 1.2 High shale content in the reservoirs

In the reservoirs, shale content is high. The clay minerals are mainly of swellable montmorillonites or interbedded of illite and montmorillonite with high montmorillonite content; next is kaolinites and illites, which are mainly distributed on intergranular pore surface and in pore throats (Fig. 1) 1.3 Oil is heavy

1 Characteristics of unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs

1.1 Shallow reservoir burial depth and low temperature The Bohai Bay Basin is an important offshore area of oil accumulation in China. In the area, the Penglai (PL)19-3 Oil-

The unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs in the area have crude oils with the characteristics of mid-high density, midhigh viscosity, and high content of gel asphalt. The crude oil is heavy.

Received date: 28 Aug. 2008; Revised date: 19 Dec. 2009. * Corresponding author. E-mail: yueqiansheng@163.com Foundation item: CNOOC Key Technology Research and Development Project of the Technological Research on Reservoir Protection of Depleted Reservoirs (CNOOCRC-SZ361-002) Copyright 2010, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.

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Table 1 Oilfield SZ 36-1 QHD 32-6 BZ 25-1 NP 35-2 LD 5-2 Major reservoir Lower DY FM. MHZ FM. Lower MHZ FM. Lower MHZ FM. Ed2

Characteristics of unconsolidated sandstone oilfields in the Bohai Bay Basin Permeability/103 m2 02010 000 40010 000 3006 000 1005 000 0101 320 Crude type Heavy oil Heavy oil Heavy oil Heavy oil Heavy oil Cement status Unconsolidated sandstone Unconsolidated sandstone Unconsolidated sandstone Unconsolidated sandstone Unconsolidated sandstone Content and type of clay mineral Aver. 12%, mainly montmorillonite 7%25%, mainly interbed of illite and montmorillonite 2%41%, interbed of illitemontmorillonite and kaolin >10%, montmorillonite and kaolin 5%8%, mainly montmorillonite

Porosity/% 2545 3040 2040 2844 3040

Fig. 1 Photo of scanning electron microscope of unconsolidated sandstones in the lower member of Dongying Formation (1 504.01 505.0 m) of Well SZ 36-1-B19

1.4

Pore throat connection is good

1.5

Stress sensitivity is high

The analyses of cast thin-sections and scanning electron microscope date indicate that the connection of pore throats in unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs is good (Fig. 2). Porosity and permeability are high. They belong to the reservoirs with high porosity and permeability.

The result of stress sensitivity evaluation shows that the unconsolidated sandstone has higher stress sensitivity. Its permeability declines continuously with the increase of net stress. But, when the net stress is decreased, its permeability can not be restored to the initial level, and the damage to permeability is large (Fig. 3). It is possibly related to the argillaceous cementing and poor diagenesis of the unconsolidated sandstone.

Fig. 2 Cast thin section of rock sample from the lower member of the Dongying Formation(1 419.571 420.00 m)of Well SZ 36-1-B19

Fig. 3 Stress sensitivity of unconsolidated sandstones in the lower member of the Dongying Formation (1 449.47 m) of Well SZ 36-1-B19

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2 Mechanism of damage in unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs and countermeasures of drilling fluids
During well drilling, the factors that cause damage in the unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs mainly include the following.[1315] 2.1 Pollution of solids

Because the unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs have the characteristics of high porosity and high permeability, solids in drilling fluids can easily enter the reservoirs. The ability of foreign solids to cause damage is weakened because of the good physical properties in the unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs, small tortuosity factor, good connectivity of pore throats. Therefore the formation damage induced by the invasion of solids of drilling fluids is not paid enough attention. In addition, because of higher stress sensitivity, the size of pore throats in the unconsolidated sandstone would be changed under certain pressure differential. Therefore, the reservoir protecting technique of temporary blocking could not be effective. It would increase the difficulty of controlling the invasion of drilling solids into the reservoirs. 2.2 Pollution of liquids

rheological properties of drilling fluid for drilling horizontal wells. For a good compatibility with reservoir rocks and reservoir fluids, it is required that the treating agent should be a nonionic one with strong inhibition. Certainly, as a drilling fluid for horizontal well drilling, it should meet the needs of horizontal well drilling, that is, it should be capable of borehole cleaning, lubrication and borehole stability.

3 Composition and characteristics of a solid-free weak gel drilling fluid system

3.1 Basic composition The basic formula: Sea water + 0.1%0.2%NaOH + 0.2% Na2CO3 + 0.7%0.9%VIS + 2.0%2.5%FLO + 2.0%3.0% JLX. Where VIS is a flow pattern adjusting agent, which is the core treating agent of the whole drilling fluid; FLO is a modified starch fluid loss additive; JLX is polyglycol anti-sloughing lubricant; KCl or soluble salt such as sodium formate are used to weight it, the treating agents used for the whole drilling fluid are nonionic ones. 3.2 Unique rheological property

The pollution of liquids in drilling fluids to the unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs mainly refers to hydration and expansion of clay minerals and incompatibility with reservoir fluids. 2.2.1 Clay mineral expansion in reservoirs

Because shale content is high and swellable clay minerals are present in the unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs, when liquid inhibition is insufficient in the drilling fluid, the plugging induced by the clay mineral hydration and expansion in the reservoirs will be very serious. 2.2.2 Incompatibility with reservoir fluids

Sodium formate was used to weight the drilling fluid to the density of 1.15 g/cm3. After it was aged for 16 h at 80qC, the characteristics of the drilling fluid was tested. The results showed that the solid-free drilling fluid has a high dynamic-plastic ratio (1.33), the gel strength (static shear force) can restore to a stable state in a very short period (1 min); thus it presents a quick and weak gel characteristic. These characteristics are favorable for preventing the forming of a cutting bed in horizontal wells and improving the ability of borehole cleaning. 3.3 High viscosity at a low shear rate

As oil is heavy in the unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs, if the filtration liquid in the drilling fluids is incompatible with crude oil or formation water, it may mix with crude oil and thicken or induce precipitation by mixing with formation water, thus influencing the flowing of crude oil and blocking pore throats of the reservoirs. 2.3 Technical countermeasures of drilling fluid

BROOKFIELD DV-II + viscometer was used to determine the viscosities of 0.7% VIS and hydroxylethyl cellulose (HEC) sea water solutions at different speeds of rotation. The test results are given in Fig. 4. At the same concentrations VIS has higher viscosity at a low shear rate than that of HEC. The lower the shear rate is, the more the difference is, it presents

From the aspect of formation protection, if formation damage in the unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs induced in well drilling is mainly caused by damage of solids and liquids in drilling fluids, the ideal drilling fluid system to use for horizontal well drilling should be one that is solid-free with good compatibility with reservoir rocks and reservoir fluids. For a solid-free drilling fluid system, it is required that it has a polymer treating agent with a function of viscosification and good shear force enhancement to meet the needs of

Fig. 4 Comparison of viscosities of VIS and HEC at a low shear rate

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gel characters, its unique rheological property is favorable for improving the stability of static sand suspensions and effectively preventing the forming of a cutting bed. 3.4 Compatibility with reservoir fluids

The filtration liquid of solid-free weak gel drilling fluid was mixed with heavy oil (crude from SZ 36-1 Oilfield) in different ratios, and the viscosity of the mixture was detected at 50qC. The test result is shown in Fig. 5. The result indicates that after the filtration liquid of solid-free weak gel drilling fluid is mixed with heavy oil, its viscosity is reduced. This is because the polyglycol anti-sloughing lubricant contains a water soluble non-ionic surfactant treating agent, which has a function of emulsifying and viscosity reduction. At the same time, the filtration liquid of drilling fluid is well compatible with formation water, and it is clear without precipitation after they are mixed. 3.5 Inhibition

fluids, the cores of unconsolidated sandstones saturated with the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid were used for a flowing test (cores from reservoirs in the SZ36-1 Oilfield are taken for example).[17] The results show that the permeability recovery ratio of the cores are more than 80% (Table 2). It indicates that the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid does a good job preserving reservoir permeability.

4 Application of the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid

The solid-free weak gel drilling fluid has been successfully used in 3 horizontal wells in the Wenchang 13-1 Oilfield (Well A3, Well A6 and Well A8) (Table 3). The drilling fluid has been popularized and employed in dozens of horizontal wells in the NP35-2 Oilfield, BZ 25-1 Oilfield and BZ 34-1 Oilfield. In practical production, the field performance is excellent, the lubricity is good. No drillpipe sticking or lost circulation occurred in operation. It has a high viscosity at low shear rate, over 40 000 mPDs in field operation (0.3 r/min). The overall effect of reservoir protection is good in combination with breaking operation in completion at the late stage.

Because salts are used to weight the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid, the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid can effectively inhibit the clay mineral hydration and expansion in reservoirs. In addition, the polyglycol anti-sloughing lubricant has an excellent inhibition property[16]. 3.6 Effect of reservoir protection

Conclusions

According to the method of laboratory evaluation on formation damage induced by drilling fluids and well completion

Fig. 5

Compatibility of drilling fluid filtrate with heavy oil Table 2

Unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs have the characteristics of shallow burial, poor diagenesis, loose cementation, heavy oil, high shale content, and good connection of pore throats. They belong to reservoirs of high porosity and high permeability. The major factors of formation damage for unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs induced in well drilling include the invasion of solids in drilling fluid, incompatibility of liquids in drilling fluid with crude oil and clay mineral hydration and expansion in reservoirs. From the aspects of reservoir protection, the ideal system for horizontal well drilling fluid should be solid-free and with good compatibility with reservoir rocks and reservoir fluids. A technique of solid-free weak gel drilling fluid for horizontal well drilling is developed. The drilling fluid has unique rheological property, excellent lubricity and inhibition, temporally independent gel strength. It is well compatible with reservoir fluids.

Effect of reservoir protection of the solid-free weak gel drilling fluid Air permeability/ 103 m2 3 600 4 150 Length/ cm 4.98 4.39 Diameter/cm 2.55 2.49 Initial permeability / 103 m2 240.78 265.35 Permeability recovery ratio/ % 83.6 85.5

Core No. 15# 21#

Depth/m 1 547.35 1 398.20 Table 3

Production of three horizontal wells in Wenchang 13-1 Oilfield Expected production/(m3d1) 700 700 600 Actual production/(m3d1) 1 008 1 010 757 Pump displacement/(m3d1) 600 600 500

Well No. A3 A6 A8

Test date 2002-07-14 2002-07-15 2002-07-17

Choke/mm 26.19 19.84 24.43

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