DRILLING FLUID ENGINEERING
By:
Mohammed Khalid. H
Self Introduction
Mohammed Khalid Hussein
Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering from University of Baghdad (2023)
Drilling fluid engineer at COSL Sep-2023 / Mar-2025
Drilling fluid engineer at Schlumberger (SLB) Mar-2025 / Now
Certificates: IWCF level 3 & IADC level 2, COSL 2nd international mud school. Summer
internship at Schlumberger (SLB) , Well testing segment (Basra), safety course from Iraqi
drilling company (IDC).
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Agenda
❑ Introduction to Drilling Fluids
❑ Functions of Drilling Fluids
❑ Circulation System
❑ Drilling Fluids Properties (WBM)
❑ Common problem (Mud losses) (indications & solutions)
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❑ Introduction to Drilling Fluids
➢ Drilling fluids is a fluid to be circulated or pumped, from the surface, down the drill string,
through the bit and up to the surface via the annulus, during drilling operations.
➢ The criticality of Drilling Fluids can be seen from the expression: “Drilling Fluids is often
described as the blood in the human body”
➢ Drilling fluids will not only affect the drilling efficiency or well costs but also have a direct
impact on the risks associated with the drilling operations.
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❑ Functions of Drilling Fluids
➢ Control subsurface pressures
➢ Remove cuttings from the hole
➢ Support and stabilize wellbore
➢ Suspend cuttings / weight materials after
stopping circulations (Gel strength)
➢ Cool and lubricate the bit and drillstring
➢ Transmit hydraulic horsepower to clean bit
and bottom of borehole
➢ Reduce corrosion
➢ Seal permeable and fractured formations
➢ Minimize Reservoir Damage
➢ Ensure data collecting from the well
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1. Control subsurface pressures
As drilling progresses, hydrocarbon bearing formations may
be drilled into. Sufficient hydrostatic pressure must be exerted
by the drilling fluids to overbalance the formation pore
pressures to prevent influx into the borehole.
The mud hydrostatic pressure balancing the formation pore
pressure can be calculated with the following equation:
HP (psi)= 0.052* TVD (ft) * Mud density (ppg)
If Hydrostatic Pressure > Formation Pressure ( over balance)
If Hydrostatic Pressure = Formation Pressure ( balance )
If Hydrostatic Pressure < Formation Pressure (under balance)
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➢ Control subsurface pressures
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➢ What are the consequences of using an
unsuitable mud density?
Drilling fluids density is used to control formation
pore pressures and maintain shale stability while
avoiding fracturing the formation. If the fluid
hydrostatic pressure cannot be controlled properly,
either being too high or too low, the following
problems may occur:
➢ Kick & blow out
➢ Lost circulation
➢ Hole instability
➢ Stuck pipe
➢ Slowing the rate of penetration (ROP).
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2. Remove cuttings from the hole
➢ The drilling fluids must also be capable
of carrying cuttings from the well
efficiently and maintained a suitable
ECD.
➢ There is many factors effecting on the
cleaning of the hole:
➢ Fluid Velocity
➢ Hole angle & Size
➢ Pipe rotation
➢ Density
➢ Viscosity
➢ Cuttings size, type and density
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➢ Remove cuttings from the hole
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B
A
Q 1 / Which case is more complex for hole cleaning?
Q 2 / What is your suggestion for improving hole cleaning?
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3. Support and stabilize wellbore
➢ Fluid hydrostatic pressure acts as a confining
force on the wellbore. This confining force, acting
across the wellbore and prevent it from swelling
toward the hole ( Mechanical stabilization) .
➢ The chemical composition of the drilling fluids it
playing a pivotal role in the wellbore stability by
the chemical reaction between it and the
wellbore or sealing it by mud cake (Chemical
stabilization). but maybe some of this chemical's
aren't suitable which may react with formation,
causing swelling.
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4. Suspend Cuttings / Weighting Materials
➢ When circulation is stopped, drilling fluids must suspend the
drilled cuttings and weighting materials. Several factors affect
suspension ability：
• Density of the drilling fluids
• Viscosity of the drilling fluids
• Gelation, or thixotropic properties of the drilling fluids
• Size, shape and density of the cuttings & weighting material
➢ Gel strength is the measure of the minimum shear stress
required to cause limited shear rate or to cause movement.
Its units are (Ib/100 ft2).
➢ Gel strength can be one of the following forms: 1) Rapid –
Soft (best one) 2) Rapid – Hard 3) Slow – Soft 4) Slow – Hard
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5. Cool and Lubricate the Bit and Drill
string
➢ Heat source
➢ Bottom hole temperature from Formation
➢ Heat generated by friction between the bit and
bottom hole rock/the drill string and wellbore
➢ Cooling and lubrication
➢ Circulating drilling fluids transports heat away
from these frictional sites
➢ Utilize the lubrication of drilling fluids to reduce
friction
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6. Transmit Hydraulic Horsepower to Clean Bit
and Bottom of Borehole
➢ One measure of cuttings removal force is hydraulic
horsepower available at the bit, which is also called
jetting. Jetting from the bit nozzles is also beneficial
for cutting the rock for an increased rate of
penetration, in addition to clean the cuttings away
from the bit.
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7. Reduce Corrosion
➢ The drilling fluids will be in a continuous
contact with the mud pumps, surface pipelines
and drillstring and the casings. Therefore,
corrosion is also one of the key factors on the
selection and maintenance of drilling fluid
systems.
➢ Corrosion classifications
• Electrochemical corrosion
• Oxygen corrosion
• Carbon dioxide corrosion(CO2)
• Hydrogen sulfide corrosion H2S
• Bacterial corrosion
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8. Seal Permeable and Fractured Formations &
Minimize Reservoir Damage
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9. Ensure data collecting from the well
➢ Achieve data collecting from the well as per
program
➢ Gather cuttings at surface with integrity with
inhibitive mud system
➢ Utilize Logging While Drilling Devices for
wells with difficulty of running wireline logs
➢ Drill and maintain a stable wellbore with
inhibitive drilling fluid to ensure the delivery of
logging and completion program
➢ Provide hydraulic pressure to down hole
assembly (BHA) as mud motor,
measuring while drilling (MWD), logging while
drilling (LWD)
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❑ Circulating System
➢ The circulating system is used to circulate
drilling fluids down through the drill string and up
the annulus, carrying the drilled cuttings from
the face of the bit to surface.
➢ Components
▪ Mud pits or tanks
▪ Mud pumps
▪ Standpipe & Rotary hose
▪ Drillstring
▪ Mud return line
▪ Solid control equipment
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Solid control equipment's
➢ Shale Shaker
➢ Desander
➢ Desilter
➢ Centrifuge
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❑ Drilling Fluids Properties
➢ Density
➢ Rheology & Gel Strength
➢ Filtration
➢ PH
➢ Sand content
➢ Retort test
➢ Salinity & Hardness
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❑ Common problem
(indications & solutions)
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Lost circulation
➢ refers to the phenomenon that part of the well fluids (drilling fluid, workover fluid, cement
slurry, etc.) is lost into the formation during drilling and workover operations.
➢ "Lost circulation" is a complex downhole situation in which the drilling fluid enters into the
formation during oil and gas well drilling operation.
➢ Consequences
❑ Result in a Non-Productive Time (NPT) and more rig time
❑ Lose a large volume of mud and increase well cost
❑ Cause reservoir damage
❑ Interfere with geological logging
❑ Cause other complex downhole conditions and major accidents such as hole collapse,
sticking, well control etc.;
❑ Have a negative impact on the drilling fluid properties due to requirement of adding more
LCMs into the mud system.
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Q\ Why lost circulation happen?
1) the bottom hole pressure is higher than the Formation Break Down Pressure of any
weaker zone! In other words, if P mud > P Fracture the formation will be broken down and
losses will be induced.
2) Already fractured formations. For formations already being fractured, downhole losses
will occur when mud pressure is higher than the Minimum Horizontal Stress. In other words,
there will be lost circulation. And its in some causes cause wellbore caving.
3) Lost circulation during well killing operation
And cementing operations or (bad drilling practice)
4) Lost circulation when tripping in or running
casing (Surging pressure).
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5) For new formation, and exploration wells mud pressure needs to exceed formation breakdown
pressure to induce losses.
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6) High ECD (Equivalent circulation density) and aim to manage the bottom hole mud
pressure < formation fracture or breakdown pressure or P mud < P Fracture
𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
ECD= 𝑀𝑊 + 0.052𝑋 𝑇𝑉𝐷
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7) Interbedded Formations
Shale zones interbedded with Anhydrite and making
a thin and weak formations
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*HINT: Lost circulation mostly occur at dolomite layers because this layers are naturally Vuggy
*HINT: Lost circulation mostly occur at dolomite layers because this layers are naturally Vuggy
Due to dolomitization process
Due to dolomitization process
CaCo3 (Limestone) CaCo3.MgCo3 (Dolomite)
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8) Depleted reservoirs
When pore pressure depletes, the formation fracture gradient is also reduced
Below is the pore pressure decline in a field development after stopping water
injection
Pore pressure
Time
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9) Sloughing shale or Clay (closed annular space)
First challenge I face it.
There is a problem happened on depth around 2399 meter (mud losses) .That losses happen due to the bit Balling and
accumulation of the sticky shale and clay around the stabilizer so that lead to reduction of the flow out and increase the
pumping pressure and with mud high density (2.28 g/cc) and this pressure of pumping mud that lead us to fracture the
formation and the ECD increase more than fracture pressure
2.37 g/cc due to the (FIT/LOT) results of offset.
The suggested solution is to completely POOH ( Wiper trip) and clean the string and check if we can remove the stabilizer
from the string or not. But the final solution was just clean the string and prepare lost circulation material (CaCo3 limestone
with different sizes (large, medium and fine particles), LCM) at the store then RIH and begin the drilling operation but slowly
with monitoring the tanks volume and parameters on the screen actually the mud losses still happen but with acceptable
range less than 1m3 until the mud losses start decline until completely stop and continue the drilling to the target depth with
high flow rate.
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9) Sloughing shale or Clay (closed annular space)
First challenge I face it.
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Lost circulation indications
❑ Sudden drop in mud return rate
❑ Drop in mud pit volume
❑ Drop in mud pump pressure
❑ Increase (WOH) weight on hook
❑ Torque increasing
❑ Wellbore instability
❑ Finally kick or blow out ( Wellbore breathing).
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Mud losses classifications
❑ Seepage losses rate if < 3 m3/hour
❑ Moderate losses rate 3-10 m3/hour
❑ Sever losses rate 10-20 m3/hour
❑ If there isn't return Completely losses
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Solutions
❑ Using LCM material if its doesn't work using cement plug
❑ Reduction of mud weight
❑ RIH slowly to reduce the effect of surging pressure
❑ Using high inhibited mud to reduce shale sloughing
❑ Reduce ROP and ensure high wellbore clean efficiency
And using suitable mud properties to reduce ECD
❑ Wellbore strengthen by using bridging material
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❑ Well bore stability by using inhibited mud
❑ Using blind drilling, mud cup technique or under balance
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Description solution
Mud loss
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THANK YOU
Any question?
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