DRILLING FLUID

Management
INTRODUCTION
 DRILLING FLUIDS
Drilling Fluids are the Colloidal systems, containing
solids, liquids and gases as per the requirements,
basically to transport the drill cuttings from the
bottom of the well to the surface, with out damaging
the well bore and well formations.
Drilling Fluids are as important for drilling an oil and
gas well as the blood for the human body. The cost
for maintaining a good drilling fluid may be 5 to 10
percent to that of the cost of the well, but it’s bad
maintenance may cause the damage to thousand
times or even more
Schematic diagram showing circuit of drilling fluid
through a well in rotary drilling.
IMPORTANT GEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS FOR
DRILLING AN OIL/GAS WELL

Different Types of Rocks to

be Drilled
Igneous Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
Metamorphic Rocks
Igneous Rocks :
These rocks are formed by the solidification of molten
mass of earth crust called Magma. These are very hard
rocks to drill. No Oil/Gas is found in these rocks.

Sedimentary Rocks :
These rocks are formed by the erosion of any type of
rock by water and wind flow and followed by the
cementations by the over burden pressure of further
sedimentary depositions. These are the most soft rocks to
drill among all the three types of rocks. Oil/Gas is mainly
found in these rocks only.

Metamorphic Rocks :
These rocks are formed by the temperature and
pressure application on Sedimentary rocks. These rocks are
having drilling hardness between sedimentary and Igneous
rocks. Very little oil/gas is found in these rocks.
 IMPORTANT SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Soft Clays
• Clay Stone
• Shale
• Sand Stone
• Silt Stone
• Lime Stone
• Basement
 IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF ROCKS

• Consistency of the Rock

• Ductility of the Rock
• Hydrate ability of the Rock
• Hardness of the Rock
• Abrasiveness of the Rock
• Strength of the Rock
• Different stresses on the Rock
 IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF ROCKS
• Pressure of the Rock
• Temperature of the Rock
• Fracture strength of the Rock
• Porosity of the Rock
• Permeability of the Rock
• Geo-structures of the Rock-Reservoir
• Dip of the Rock
• Strike of the Rock
 IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF
DRILLING FLUIDS
• Removal of the cuttings from the
bottom of the hole and to transport to
the surface.
• Suspension of the cuttings and the
weighting materials on stopping the
drilling fluid circulation.
• Leaving the cuttings and undesirable
solids at the surface when passing
through solid control equipments.
• Balancing the formation pressures.
• Preventing falling of the wall of the well.
 IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF
DRILLING FLUIDS
• Making filter cake at the wall of the well.
• Transmitting the hydraulic horsepower to the
bit.
• Helping in getting certain information of the
well about the formations drilled.
• Cooling and lubricating of the bit and drill
string.
• Supporting partial weight of the drill string
and casing.
• Neutralizing the formation fluids, gases and
other materials
 REMOVAL OF THE CUTTINGS FROM THE
BOTTOM OF THE HOLE AND TO TRANSPORT TO
THE SURFACE

• Density of the drilling fluid.

• Viscosity of the drilling fluid.
• Type of flow of the drilling fluid.
• Rotation of the drill-pipe.
• Shape, size and density of the cuttings.
SUSPENDING CUTTINGS AND WEIGHTING MATERIALS
ON STOPPING THE
DRILLING FLUID CIRCULATION
In order to posses this suspension ability,
drilling fluid may have good thixo tropic properties,
which are contributed by the charged clay particles
present in the drilling fluids.

LEAVING THE CUTTINGS AND UNDESIRABLE

SOLIDS AT THE SURFACE WHEN PASSING
THROUGH SOLID CONTROL EQUIPMENTS
The viscosity and gelation properties of the
drilling fluid may be so designed that it may leave the
cuttings and other undesirable solids at these surface
equipments.
 BALANCING THE FORMATION PRESSURE

• Overbalanced drilling fluids – the pressure

exerted by the drilling fluid column exceeds
that of the formation pore pressure.
• Under-balanced drilling fluids – the pressure
exerted by the drilling fluid column is lower
than that of the formation pore pressure.
• The sub-surface pressure – combination of
the weights of the formation solid matrix and
the interstitial fluids, i.e., oil, gas or water in
the rocks.
 PREVENTING FALLING OF THE
WALL OF THE WELL

(a) Formation swelling effect of the drilling fluid.

(b) Hydrostatic head of the drilling fluid.

FORMATION OF FILTER CAKES ON THE

WALL OF THE WELL

Thin and Non-porous filter cake formation is

desirable on the wall of the well as it provides a good
plaster on the wall.
 TRANSMISSION OF HYDRAULIC
HORSEPOWER TO BIT

• Drilling fluid is the medium which transmits the

hydraulic horsepower available at the surface to the
bit.
• Operation of drilling fluid motors \ turbines for drilling
high angle wells, are totally dependent on the
hydraulic horsepower of the drilling fluids.
HELPING IN GETTING CERTAIN INFORMATIONS
ABOUT THE FORMATION DRILLED

During drilling, any formation, the formation cuttings

and the formation fluids / gases are reaching to the surface with
the drilling fluid. By the analysis of returned drilling fluid from
the well bore, the presence of certain formations and formation
fluids may be established with the depths in the well.
 COOLING AND LUBRICATING THE
BIT AND DRILL STRING
In the process of drilling operation, huge
amount of heat is being generated due to the
friction at the bit and the points where the drill-
string comes in contact of the wall of the well
bore. A part of this heat is transmitted into the
formation but the major portion is being taken
by the drilling fluids for dissipation at the surface.
The lubricating efficiency of the drilling fluid
also contributes a lot to improve the penetration
rate of the bits, bit life, failure and fatigue of the
drilling equipment and the drilling
complications, resulting to a considerable
saving of money, material and man power.
 PARTIAL SUPPORT OF THE
DRILL-STRING AND CASING
Based on well known, Archimedes principle, when
ever the drill – string or casing are in the borehole, they
displace drilling fluid, equal to their volume, resulting to
the reduction in their weight, equivalent to the weight of
that displaced drilling fluid. This reduction in the weight
of drill string or casing helps in reducing the hook load,
ultimately, the load on the rig mast.
NEUTRALISING THE FORMATION FLUIDS,
GASES AND OTHER MATERIALS
Composition of the drilling fluids should be designed,
keeping in view the presence of hazardous gases – H2S,
CO2, etc., in the formations to be drilled, so that they may
not affect the drilling fluids operations adversely.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF
DRILLING FLUID

• Minimum damage to the formation

• Minimum damage to the surface and sub-
surface drilling equipment
• Minimum damage to environment
• No damage to persons handling it
• Minimum damage to itself from formation
materials and physical conditions
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Type of Well
What type of well is to be drilled, i.e. Wild Cat,
Exploration, Development. Infact, the requirements of
informations and facilities vary with the type of well and the
amount of risk also vary. Summary of control wells from the
nearby area should be before designing any programme for
any well.

• Formations to be drilled
Which formations are likely to be encountered during
drilling of any well, have the direct relation with the
properties of drilling fluids. So the knowledge of different
formations with their specific characteristics, may help in
planning a more suitable drilling fluid to drill them smoothly.
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Pressure & Temperature Conditions
The temperature and pressure profile of the well is
also an important factor to design the drilling fluids as
their stability and working efficiency are temperature
dependent.

• Expected Drilling Problems

The well problems likely to be encountered during
drilling based on the experiences from nearby area should
be well understood so that the preventive measures can be
taken. Drilling crew should be ready to face those
problems with required inputs with the expected
calculated risk.
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Selection of Rig / Drilling Equipment
Rig should be well equipped with good drilling fluid
circulating and solid control system. Sufficient power supply
should be available to run the rig equipments. For drilling
highly inclined wells, top drive system should be fitted with
the rig. There may be certain limitations of the rig so the
drilling plan should be prepared accordingly.
• Availability of Drilling Fluid Materials
Most advanced drilling fluid system should be used to drill an
oil / gas well depending on the requirement of the well as the
cost of drilling fluid may be maximum upto 10 percent to the
well cost but the damage of the well due to poor drilling fluid
system may be upto 1000 times even more. On the other side,
the availability of the drilling fluid materials should also be
kept in view before designing the drilling fluid policy for any
well.
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Training to the Drilling Crew
Drilling crew should be well trained for handling the
problems of the well, rig and systems. Well
experienced and knowledgeable technical hands
should be posted at the rig during critical operations
and drilling difficult sections so that they can take the
discussions on the spot without any delay. Proper
communication network should be available to contact
any expert on the subject in event of any major
complication at the rig and if required, facilities to
transport him to the rig immediately. Infact, the cost
of any major rig complication may be much more than
the expenditure on the export / super export.
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Nature of the Reservoir
Drilling fluid should be designed keeping in-view the nature of the
reservoir rock to be drilled. Formations damage by drilling fluid is
an important factor for consideration before entering the bit in
production zones, as it may lead to missing an oil / gas horizons in
an exploratory well and loss of huge production in a development
well. This effect is predominant in marginal oil fields in the case of
exploratory well and depleted oil fields in the case of development
wells. Now-a-days a number of formulations of drilling fluids are
used as non-damaging drilling fluids.

• Casing Policy
Suitable casing policy should be decided in order to isolate different
formation based on pressure profile and different type of formation
of producing zones. Provisions of one or two casings may be kept
to cover any un-expected situations / complications in the well.
Parameters of the different casings should be well defined.
 DRILLING FLUID MANAGEMENT
• Geo-Technical Order
For every well GTO should be prepared
covering following parameters
• Name, location, type and purpose of the
well to be drilled
• Formations expected to be encountered.
• Temperature and pressure profile
• Zones of interest
• Expected hole problems
 Geo-Technical Order

• Type of drilling fluid to be used

• Different parameters of drilling fluid
weight, viscosity, pH, Sand contact
etc.
• Casing policy
• Deviation from vertical
• Hydraulics
• Bit proposal to run
• RPM/Weight on bit
• Rig days well depth
• Cost analysis
 DRILLING FLUID PROGRAMME
• Name of the well
• Drilling for casing size.
• Interval
• Expected formations
• Temperature and pressure profile
• Expected well problems
• Type of drilling fluid and its composition
• Drilling fluid parameters to be measured viz. viscosity,
PV, YP, Gels, Solids, F/L, pH, Sand content
• Fluid hydraulics, i.e., discharge with the view bit
clearing, hole cleaning, good hydraulics but not
causing hole erosion.
• Cost of drilling fluid / drilling
No compromise on the basic
requirements of the rig, drilling
equipments and drilling fluid materials.
Before spudding for well / starting
drilling for new casing interval, all basic
requirements should be at site. Exposure
of open hole should be minimum possible,
specially in case of water base drilling
fluid is in use.