Overbalanced & Underbalanced

Drilling

Dr. Amit Verma

Assistant Professor
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, India
Overbalanced/ Conventional Drilling
Controlled Pressure Drilling(CPD)
 UNDERBALANCED DRILLING
 In underbalanced drilling (UBD), the hydrostatic head of the
drilling fluid is intentionally designed to be lower than the
pressure of the formations that are being drilled.
 In underbalanced drilled wells, a lighter fluid replaces the
fluid column. The hydrostatic head of the fluid may naturally
be less than the formation pressure, or it can be induced by
adding natural gas, nitrogen, or air to the liquid phase of the
drilling fluid.
 It’s result may be an influx of formation fluids that must be
circulated from the well and controlled at surface.
 Conventionally, wells are drilled overbalanced. In these
wells, a column of fluid of a certain density in the hole
provides the primary well-control mechanism. The pressure
on the bottom of the well will always be designed to be
higher than the pressure in the formation
Overbalanced Drilling (OBD) : Preservoir < Pbottom hole = Phydrostatic +
Pfriction + Pchoke.
UBD : Preservoir > Pbottom hole = Phydrostatic + Pfriction + Pchoke.
Schematic diagram for selection of pressure window for UBD [Mitchell, 2011]
UBD Application
 Why Drill Underbalanced

Maximizing hydrocarbon recovery.

Minimizing pressure-related drilling problems.
 Maximizing Hydrocarbon Recovery
 Reduced Formation Damage. There is no invasion of solids or mud filtrate into the reservoir
formation. This often eliminates the requirement for any well cleanup after drilling is completed.
 Early Production. The well is producing as soon as the reservoir is penetrated with a bit. With
suitable surface equipment available, oil can be collected as soon as a productive zone is opened
during UBD. While drilling ahead to penetrate more zones, the produced oil is accumulated. It is
possible for UBD wells to be paid for by the oil produced during drilling stage.
 Reduced Stimulation. Because there is no filtrate or solids invasion in an underbalanced drilled
reservoir, the need for reservoir stimulation, such as acid washing or massive hydraulic fracture
stimulation, is eliminated.
 Enhanced Recovery. Because of the increased productivity of an underbalanced drilled well
combined with the ability to drill infill wells in depleted fields, the recovery of bypassed
hydrocarbons is possible.
 Increased Reservoir Knowledge. During an underbalanced drilling operation, reservoir
productivity and the produced fluids can be measured and analyzed while drilling. This allows a
well to be drilled longer or shorter, depending on production requirements. An operator is also
able to determine the most productive zones in a reservoir in real time and obtain well test
results while drilling.
 Minimizing Pressure-Related Drilling Problems
 Increased penetration rate: UBD avoids overbalanced pressure to the rock below the drill bit.
Removing this confining pressure makes the rock easier for the bit teeth to cut and frees the
generated cuttings from the bottom of the hole. This helps bottom hole cleaning and increases the
penetration rates (ROP). ROP can be increased as much as ten times over that for mud drilling in
equivalent formation.
 Minimized Lost Circulation: Lost circulation occurs due to flow of drilling fluids forced by hydrostatic
head in to the formation with natural fractures or having very high permeability. The overbalanced
pressure can create fractures in depleted petroleum reservoirs and can cause lost circulation
problem. Underbalanced drilling is the means of minimizing lost circulation problem in drilling
naturally fractured formation and pressure depleted reservoirs.
 Minimized Differential Sticking: Pressure differential is associated with mud cake formed against
permeable zones during overbalanced drilling. Pipe sticking occur when the tool in the hole can not
be pulled out with out exceeding the working load of the equipment or string. There is no filter cake
during underbalanced drilling. Therefore the pipe sticking is not there.
 Environmental Benefits: Chemicals used in mist and foam drilling are normally biodegradable
surfactants that do not pose significant environmental concerns. Formation fluids produced during
UBD need to be handled with closed surface systems to minimize the potential for environmental
contamination.
 Limitations of Underbalanced Drilling
 Well Bore Stability Problems: Due to lower well bore pressure in UBD, the well bore stability
is less as compared to OBD. Large shale fragments are observed in UBD which are due to
caving in or sloughing shale in well bore wall. This type of problem occur in water sensitive
clay formations. Change in shale water content due to water adsorption or dehydration
induces additional rock stresses near the well bore which can cause destabilizing in well bore.
Sudden sloughing can cause sticking of drill string in bore hole. Use of high volume dry air and
gas in UBD can result in well bore washout due to erosion against soft rock intervals. Well
bore instability puts a limit on the applicable well bore pressure for UBD.

 Liquid Influx Problem: Liquid influx includes water inflow and oil production. Excess water
inflow significantly increases flowing bottom hole pressure and reduces gas velocity, resulting
lower carrying capacity of air/ gas which in turn can cause stuck pipe, if not monitored closely.
The disposal cost of the water is additional problem. The other component of liquid influx is
oil influx (oil production). Oil production during drilling requires the surface equipment's able
to handle the produced oil at the production rate.
 Directional Drilling Problems: UBD can be carried out using liquid (oil and water)
where reservoir pressures are not so low. Most UBD operations use aerated fluids that
are highly compressible. Conventional tools used in directional drilling work only for
incompressible fluids. Mud pulse telemetry measurement tools (MWD) tools can not
operate with compressible fluids used in UBD. This is because that the pressure pulses
generated by MWD tools do not propagate through compressible fluid to the surface
with detectable amplitude. Conventional down hole motors used in directional wells
operate on incompressible fluids. Their performance also deteriorate while using with
compressible fluids.
 Safety Issues : Down hole fires and explosions occur under certain conditions during air
drilling and their consequences are severe. The bottom hole assembly can melt or burn
away. Down hole fire can be avoided by using inflammable gas such as nitrogen and
natural gas. Switching from one gas to other gas is not easy so the down hole fire can
be minimized by using mist or foam drilling with sacrificed penetration rate. Vibration
can cause drill string failure and personnel injury. The high noise level is detrimental to
human health. These problems can be minimized by using mist or foam drilling with
low penetration rate.
 Economic Considerations: Cost of excessive water and hydrocarbon handling versus
gains in penetration rate and well productivity is measure economical issues increasing
cost of well operations. The savings from increased penetration rate due to
underbalanced drilling may not compensate the cost of liquid handling. The gain in well
productivity due to UBD may not justify the drilling cost.
SELECTION OF UNDERBALANCED DRILLING
TECHNIQUES