SPE-202418-MS

New Cementing Spacer Technology Cures Total Lost Circulation in an

Offshore Exploratory Well

Juan Abad and Ann-Marie Ekwue, Baker Hughes; Francisco Bermudez, Impact Fluid Solutions

Copyright 2020, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition originally scheduled to be held in Perth, Australia, 20 - 22
October 2020. Due to COVID-19 the physical event was postponed until 17 - 19 November 2020 and was changed to a virtual event. The official proceedings were
published online on 12 November 2020.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
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Abstract
During the drilling process of exploratory wells, the formation data is often limited; most of the time drilling
engineers must estimate the pore pressure and fracture gradients. This information is critical for designing
the drilling fluid, spacers, and cement slurry as to provide the necessary density and rheological properties.
An error in estimating the pore pressure or fracture gradients can induce wellbore instability and lost
circulation. If these losses are not controlled, during the cementing job the programmed top of cement
(TOC) will not be achieved, zonal isolation will be compromised, and the casing string will not be fully
supported. These problems can lead to additional expenses such as remedial jobs, non-productive rig time,
use of additional materials, costly logistics, etc.
This paper presents a case history with a critical cementing job in which the operator was drilling an
offshore exploratory well in Southern Mexico when an area with constant gas flow with a narrow pore-
pressure to fracture-gradient window was encountered. The operator had to increase the density of the
drilling fluid, which in turn induced total losses.
The cementing company recommended pumping a unique spacer technology that enabled circulation to
be regained while pumping the cementing job. This technology is an ultra-low invasion cementing spacer
that creates an impermeable barrier on the face of the formation through differential pressure. This barrier
helps to isolate the formation from the total equivalent circulating density (ECD), thus allowing circulation
even in situations where the ECD approaches or slightly exceeds the fracture gradient.

Introduction
Lost circulation is defined as the partial or total loss of drilling fluid or cement slurry to a formation. It
can occur at any depth and in almost all types of formations. Lost circulation is considered as one of the
most important problems to control during the construction phase of the well and it is associated with: 1)
high cost, which includes loss of drilling fluid or cement, poor cement job, loss of rig time, and loss of
geological information; and 2) high risk, as loss of the hydrostatic column that may result in a blowout or
other well-control situations.
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If the operator experiences circulation problems during the drilling stage, this indicates a potential
problem to both the cementing service company and the operator since cementing fluids are inherently
denser than the drilling fluid and thus will almost certainly exacerbate any unresolved lost circulation
problems and lead to bigger problems.
The loss of circulation can occur in highly permeable formations, natural fractures, induced fractures, or
cavernous formations. If losses occur during drilling, the operator will try to regain circulation by adding
lost circulation materials (LCM) to the drilling fluid and by modifying the properties of the drilling fluid.
The probability or risk of incurring lost circulation can be reduced by:
1. Increasing the fracture gradient of the formation
2. Reducing the placement pressure during the cementing job

Successful Cementing Practices

Jordan et al. (2019) listed the best cementing practices to optimize the quality of the cement job. Several
of those points are worthy of inclusion in this discussion as risk reduction mechanisms in the overall
preparation for cementing operations.

Conditioning the Drilling Fluid

When the operator reaches total depth and needs to trip the pipe out of the hole for a variety of reasons –
such as to perform logging – circulation stops and the drilling fluid remains stagnant for a period of time in
the hole. During this non-circulating time, the gel structure of the drilling fluid increases, as it is designed
to provide hydrostatic pressure to hold the wellbore fluids in place and to support cuttings during static
conditions while aiding cuttings removal during dynamic conditions. This gel structure is often exacerbated
by high-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) static conditions.
Before the cementing job begins, and to ensure there is good fluid mobility after running the casing
or liner, i.e., under non-circulating, static conditions, the drilling fluid needs to be "conditioned". This
process involves reducing the gel strength, yield point, and plastic viscosity to the minimum possible
values. Circulation is used to "break" the gel structure of the stagnant drilling fluid. During this process of
conditioning the fluid, the well must be circulated a minimum of two-hole volumes (Ilesanmi et al. 2014).

Movement of the Pipe (Reciprocation / Rotation)

Reciprocation means movement of the casing up and down during the cementing job and is used more
frequently than rotation for cement placement (Bittleston and Guillot 1991). Reciprocation causes a shear
stress between the casing and the drilling fluid to provide better erosion action; this stress will be higher at
the surface of the casing and reduced towards the formation. This movement should start from the beginning
of circulation to the end of the displacement and does not have to be fast; two to three minutes per cycle
(20 to 40 feet per stroke) is sufficient.
Rotation is the circular movement of the casing and causes the mud to move around it. Rotation should
also be done from the start of circulation to the end of displacement. Typically, the casing should be rotated
at the rate of 3 to 10 rpm with the torque being monitored. This type of movement is less common since it
requires special surface equipment such as rotary cement heads and power swivels.

Casing Centralization
Centralizers are used to position the casing in the center of the hole to improve mud removal and ensure
cement is placed completely around the casing, and therefore critical to achieving a better cement job.
Often, service companies utilize advanced simulation software to determine the optimal placement of the
centralizers for a given required standoff. The industry standard is to have at least 70% standoff.
SPE-202418-MS 3

If centralizers are not used, the casing will never be in the center or near the center of the open hole. If
the casing is not centered, fluids will flow on the side of least resistance which will be on the wider side of
the annulus creating channeling of the cement on the wider side only. An indicator of a channeling problem
occurs when cement returns are observed earlier than expected. This will create a false top of cement and
will require remedial work to ensure a quality cement barrier isolates the wellbore from the formation.
Typically, a squeeze job must be performed to remediate the cement placement.

Spacer Systems
Spacer systems are carefully designed fluids with specific densities and rheologies to displace the drilling
fluid from the well and prevent mixing of the drilling fluid and the cement. It is critical to use spacer systems
to achieve effective drilling fluid removal. There are two primary functions of spacer fluids. The first is to
separate the mud and the cement slurry because these two fluids are typically incompatible. The second
function includes the physical assistance of mud removal by pushing the drilling fluid out of the wellbore
so an effective cement bond can be achieved. When designing a cement job, service companies should
ensure adequate attention to spacers systems because they have a large impact on the success of the overall
cementing operation and quality of the wellbore integrity.

Spacer System with Wellbore Shielding Technology

The spacer system used in this case history is a unique technology that achieves the two primary spacer
functions – separating the drilling fluid from the cement slurry and assisting in removing the drilling fluid
from the wellbore – and also performs three additional functions:

• The spacer system with wellbore shielding technology (WBS) allows the cement to be circulated in
situations where the increase in ECD during cement placement in the annular space causes induced
losses in systems without the WBS technology.
• The spacer with WBS technology can mitigate existing losses allowing the service company to
pump heavier cement than they would otherwise and improve the chances of achieving a quality
cement job.
• Mitigate fluid loss to the formation that can lead to gas migration problems.

Fluid loss from the cement slurry is the main cause of reduction in volume and quality of the cement.
Fluid loss to the formation reduces the cement volume; therefore, the cement slurry's hydrostatic pressure
decreases, potentially allowing formation gas to migrate, compromising zonal isolation. The spacer with
WBS technology pumped ahead of the cementing slurry forms a barrier before the gas can migrate. This
barrier will eliminate or drastically reduce the loss of fluid to the formation. If there is no cement volume
loss, the correct volume and hydrostatic pressure can be maintained in the wellbore to prevent gas migration
problems.

Sealing Mechanism of WBS Technology Spacer

The wellbore shielding particles form micelles in the spacer fluid. These micelles are drawn to the formation
pore throat by lower formation pressure to form a bridge across small fractures or the permeable formation.
Figure 1 shows the progressive collection of the micelles at the pore/annulus interface due to the differential
pressure. This is a flexible bridge allowing the micelles to deform at the face of the formation without
penetrating the fracture, hence the tip of the fracture will not see the full pressure and the fracture will not be
propagated. As long as the differential pressure exists with the annulus pressure greater than the formation,
such as pumping spacer or cementing fluids with higher density, the micelles remain pressed against the
pore openings at the face of the formation to form an extremely low-permeability barrier that prevents
4 SPE-202418-MS

fluid passing into the formation. As the differential pressure drops, the non-damaging micelles return to the
flowing fluid, leaving the formation permeability with essentially no damage.

Figure 1—The formation of the barrier shield between formation pores and annulus is
created under differential pressure. Rendering reflecting (Bottiglieri et al. 2014). Note: The
pressure differential of 1,000 psi is for illustration purposes only and not a requirement.

Case History: 7⅝-in. Liner Cement Job

Typically, formation data is limited when drilling exploratory wells. However, the fracture gradient and
pore pressure are critical data for designing a cementing job. If this information is not accurate, losses may
occur while pumping the cementing job.
Density will affect the hydrostatic pressure of the fluids in the wellbore, while the yield point and plastic
viscosity will affect the pumping pressure and friction of the fluids while being pumped.
We can measure the effects of the hydrostatic pressure and the friction of the fluids by calculating the
ECD.
(1)
Where P = Pressure drop in the annulus, psi
 d = density of the fluid, lb/gal
TVD = Total Vertical Depth, ft
0.052 = unit conversion factor to calculate ECD in psi
An operator in Southern Mexico was drilling an offshore exploratory well with total depth (TD) at 1,846
m in an area of constant gas flow with a very tight pore-pressure to fracture-gradient window. The previous
casing was set at 1,207 m. The operator was forced to gradually increase the density of the drilling fluid,
leading to total lost circulation in that zone. The operator needed a solution that would recover circulation
of the well and assure the cement job would create zonal isolation in the presence of high gas.
The cement service company recommended the spacer technology described in this paper to regain lost
circulation. In wells with critical fracture gradients, this spacer technology enables the use of standard
slurry designs and densities where highly extended or special lightweight slurries were previously required.
This WBS technology eliminates the need to compromise on cement thickening times and compressive
strength. The performance of this spacer system enables a tight seal even in highly permeable formations.
This technology is a proprietary, coarse, granular blend of 100% organic biodegradable material proven to
seal permeable gaps up to 4 mm (4,000 µm).
The technical cementing engineers recommended pumping 70 bbl of spacer (Table 1), followed by a
slurry with excellent gas control properties to eliminate gas influx into the wellbore (Table 2). During
the execution of the cement job, the pumping pressure (shown in the chart in Figure 2) increased during
displacement and partial circulation was observed once the cement exited the casing into the annulus, a
good indication of the loss zone being sealed by the spacer.
SPE-202418-MS 5

Table 1—15.8-lb/gal Spacer Design BHST = 62°C; BHCT = 53°C

Formulation

Fresh Water (gal/bbl) 25.32

Foam Preventer (gal/bbl) 0.25

Spacer Settling Agent (lb/bbl) 13.57

Weighting Agent (lb/bbl) 397

Solvent (lb/bbl) 0.5

Surfactant (gal/bbl) 2

Reinforcing Agent (lb/bbl) 20

Table 2—16.2 lb/gal Slurry Design BHST = 62°C; BHCT = 53°C

Formulation

Cement 100% BWOC

Fresh Water (L/sk) 17.81

Foam Preventer (L/sk) 0.04

Anti-Settling Agent (L/sk) 0.05

Fluid Loss Additive (L/sk) 1.24

Dispersant (L/sk) 0.15

Retarder (L/sk) 0.16

Bonding Agent (L/sk) 1.33

Properties

30-min API Fluid Loss (mL) 23

Thickening Time (hh:mm)

06:12
30 Bc
06:28
70 Bc

Time to Reach Compressive Strength (hh:mm)

06:32
50 psi
07:28
500 psi

The custom designed fluid systems were extensively modeled using the cementing software to ensure
effective mud removal and cement placement. At the conclusion of the cementing job, all pressure tests and
cement bond logs (CBL) (Fig. 3) showed excellent hydraulic seal after the first attempt, ensuring proper
zonal isolation.
6 SPE-202418-MS

Figure 2—The chart shows the surface pumping pressure vs pumping rate. Pressure
increased during displacement and partial circulation was observed once the cement exited
the casing into the annulus – a good indication the lost zone was sealed by the spacer.

Figure 3—The Cement Bond Log shows excellent results and a good hydraulic seal.

Conclusions
The use of the new spacer technology, combined with short transition times for the slurries and fluid loss
<30 mL, allowed the cementing company to isolate the formation from the higher ECD during cementing
operations and prevent gas migration. This spacer technology can also help the cementing engineers to
design and utilize cement slurries with standard densities in jobs where a costly light-weight cement slurry
would normally be required.
SPE-202418-MS 7

The results presented in this paper show how the cementing company regained total circulation during the
cementing job. The correct zonal isolation was verified with a Cement Bond Log, which indicates excellent
results. With these results, the operator saved four days in rig time. The operator also avoided costly remedial
jobs.

Abbreviations
BHST Bottomhole Static Temperature
BHCT Bottomhole Circulating Temperature
BWOC By Weight of Cement
CBL Cement Bond Log
ECD Equivalent Circulating Density, lb/gal
LCM Lost Circulation Material
PSI Pounds per square inch
TD Total Depth
WBS Wellbore Shielding

References
Bittleston, S. and Guillot, D. 1991. "Mud Removal: Research Improves Traditional Cementing Guidelines." Oilfield
Review, April 1991, p44–54.
Bottiglieri, A., Brandi, A., Martin, R.S, and Nieto Prieto, R. 2014. "Successful Single Stage Cementing in a Weak
Formation: A Case History in Spain." SPE Energy Resources Conference, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 9-11
June 2014. SPE-169936-MS. 10.2118/169936-MS
Ilesanmi, O., Gill, S., Hilal, B., and Kulakofsky, D. 2014. "Cement Spacer Technology Eliminates Costly Remedial Jobs
While Providing Excellent Bond Logs." SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference, Lago, Nigeria, 5-7 August
2014. SPE-172377-MS. 10.2118/172377-MS
Jordan, A., Albrighton L., Kulakofsky, D., and Ballard, B. 2019. "Wellbore Shielding Spacer System Ease Pressure
Gradient Uncertainty in Exploratory Wells." AADE National Technical Conference, Denver, Colorado, 9-10 April
2019. AADE-19-NTCE-090. Available from http://www.AADE.org