2012 AAPL ANNUAL MEETING SPONSORS

PLATINUM

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

SAN FRANCISCO SEMINAR

GOLF

58th Annual Meeting - San Francisco

June 13-16, 2012

Downhole
Drilling
Problems:
Drilling
Mysteries
Revealed!
Kelli Fereday, BP

AAPL - Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Todays Goal
Drillers have a term for downhole problems that can not be
diagnoosed or understood:

OILFIELD MYSTERIES
The objective of this session is to turn these mysteries into
understandable and solvable opportunities for improvement

AAPL - Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Downhole Drilling Problems

Industry Prevalence
Types of Drilling Trouble Time
Impact on Well Safety, Time, and Cost
Causes and Diagnosis of Drilling Problems
Examples and Remedies for Common Problems

Downhole Failures
Stuck Pipe
Lost Circulation
Wellbore Stability
Well Control
Q&A

AAPL - Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Typical Drilling Time Breakdown

Making Hole!

Inefficient
Invsible Lost Time; 25%

Productive Time; 50%

Non-Productive Time; 25%

Drilling Problems

Impact on the Industry

Biggest Impact - HSE
Many drilling problems
are also associated with
increased risk to
personnel

Example: Stuck Pipe May Require

Jarring which can lead to dropped
objects

Example: Lost Circulation may lead to

Lost of Well Control, resulting in
potential Damage to the Environment,
Fire and/or Harm to Personnel

Impact on the Industry

Efficiency
Estimates are as much
as 10-40% (25% on
average) of drilling time
is non-productive time!
US Rig Count ~1980
rigs, projected need by
2017 is 2500, or
approximately a 25%
increase
Imagine being able to
close that gap through
improvements in drilling
performance alone.
US E&P Budget is about
$170BB annually - > $$
$

Baker Hughes Rig Count

www.bakerhughes.com

How do we diagnose NPT?

Drilling Reports
Rig Morning Reports
Mud Reports
Cuttings Analysis

Downhole and Surface

Measurements
Benchmarking

Sources of NPT Deepwater Industry Example

Downhole
Problems

Equipment
Problems

Top Sources of Downhole Problems

1. Downhole Equipment Failures
2. Downhole Cement Problems
3.
4.
5.
6.

Stuck Pipe
Lost Circulation
Wellbore Stability
Well Control

Likely
Related
to
Geology

Downhole Equipment Failures

A single equipment failure can
Compromise the integrity of the well
Cost Millions of Dollars to Repair

Common Equipment Failures

Casing
Drillpipe
Downhole Motors
Downhole Measurement Tools
MWD
LWD
Vector Motors
www.nov.com

Downhole Cement Problems

Cement Left in Pipe
Premature Setting
Surface Equipment Pump
Failures

Cement Not Setting

Properly
Cement never sets Bad
Shoe or No Shoe Test
Cement allows for gas
migration
Cement seeps away into faults
or fractures Partial or
Total Losses

Picture from Halliburton

website:
generic example of a
cemented wellbore

Stuck Pipe
1. Differential Sticking
Pressure-related
The pipe is sucked up against the
formation due to a difference in pressure

2. Mechanical Sticking
A mechanical obstruction
Could be from the formation, wellbore
geometry, or tool failure

Differential Sticking A Pressure Problem

Mechanical Sticking Dirty Wellbore

Too many solids in the
wellbore!
Indications:

Formations Fall

higher pump pressure

in on the pipe!
fill on bottom
more pull required to move pipe
excessive cuttings on shakers
restricted circulation

Why?
Unconsolidated Formations
Poor Hole Cleaning

Prevention
maximise flow rates and rpm
Better mud properties
drill more slowly

Mechanical Sticking Obstructions

Obstructions
Indications:

more pull required to move pipe

can still circulate
Increased torque
Unable to make hole

Tool Failures or
Junk in Hole

Why?
Junk in the Wellbore
Hole Geometry

Prevention
equipment QA/QC
housekeeping
correct drillstring/BHA design
Doglegs or Underguage Hole

Stuck Pipe How do we get free?

Pull Harder (but dont break it)

Jar on Pipe
Cut Pipe and Fish
Increase or decrease circulation
Pump other types of fluids or
chemicals

Lost Circulation
Conventional drilling utilizes
continuous fluid flow down the
drillpipe to:
Remove cuttings
Maintain pressure
Cool the bit

Key indicator in understanding what

is happening downhole
Circulation must be maintained at all
times
If the circulation is interrupted
because fluid is flowing into the
formation, that is called Lost
Circulation

Lost Circulation - Causes

l
ura
t
a
N

Induced

Lost Circulation - Solutions

LCM
Prevention

Wellbore Stability
An unstable wellbore can result in:
Stuck Pipe
Lost Circulation
Loss of the entire wellbore

2 Main causes are:

Chemical Instability
Reactive Formations

Mechanical failure of wellbore

Faults
Insufficient Mud Weight

Well Control
Well Control means the ability to keep the hydrocarbons where
they belong at all times in the ground.
Common terms
Taking a Kick
Blowout

Most dangerous downhole problem

Well Control
What causes loss of well control?
Multiple Barrier Failures

Industry Methods dealing with Well Control

Wellbore Monitoring
Well Kill Methods - how to safely remove
hydrocarbons from the wellbore
Circulating Methods
Non-circulating Methods

Mud

BOP

Pressure

Equipment Failures
Loss of fluid pressure in the pipe
counteracting the natural pressure existing in
the formation

Industry Challenges
The Great Crew Change
Peak Age of Petroleum Engineers
80

Pete Stark, VP of industry relations for IHS

60
40
20

43

50

60

2000

2006

2012

Well Complexity

Technology Game-Changers

Rig Automation
Advanced Downhole Tools
Real-time montioring
Managed Pressure Drilling
Simulators for Training

www.weatherford.com

Q&A