HOLE PROBLEMS
Avoid hole problems if at all
possible to reduce costs
© 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Lost circulation
➢While drilling all
the fluid pumped
into the drill
string returns to
the mud tank at
the surface
➢It is a closed
system
2 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Lost circulation
➢Lost circulation
is when all or a
portion of the
circulating fluid is
lost to the
formation
3 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Lost circulation
➢Shallow formations with high porosity
and permeability
−Shallow sands
−Increase viscosity and/or add LCM
−LCM is Lost Circulation Material -
anything that is cheap and readily
available
4 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
➢Lost circulation due to secondary
porosity
−Usually use LCM first
−Drill without returns
−Pump cement plugs
−Gunk squeeze
−Diacel squeeze
−Thixotropic muds
−Drill with air or aerated fluids
5 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Differential Pressure Sticking
➢Across from a permeable formation
➢Stuck while the pipe was not moving
➢Can occur anywhere in the hole
➢Can circulate without a problem
6 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
7 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Prevention
➢Don’t let the pipe sit without moving
➢Use spiral drill collars
➢Stabilize drill collars
➢Replace drill collars with HWDP
➢Reduce pressure differential
➢Thin filter cake
➢Add oil to mud (reduce friction
coefficient)
8 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Getting unstuck
➢Pull or slack off (jar) the maximum
immediately
➢Spot oil or a proprietary product
➢Reduce pressure by U-Tube
➢Reduce pressure by pumping
nitrogen
➢Washover stuck pipe
➢Sidetrack
9 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Keyseat
➢Occurs high in the hole
➢Got stuck while pipe was moving
➢If not stuck, may go down but not up
past a point
➢Can still circulate without difficulty
➢Can occur in any formation
10 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
KEYSEAT FORMATION
11 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Prevent keyseat
➢Minimize dogleg severity – BHA
design
➢Reducing the number of drill collars –
adding HWDP
➢Drill with a downhole motor and
minimize rotation of the drill string
➢String ream potential keyseat
12 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Getting out of the hole
➢Work pipe through the keyseat area –
back ream
➢If stuck, back off well above the stuck
point
➢Run jars and jar down
➢Sidetrack
➢If in acid soluble formation, spot acid
13 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Sloughing shale
➢Four causes of sloughing shale
−Water sensitive
−Tectonically stressed
−Over pressured
−Combination of above
14 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Water sensitive
➢Shale has highly reactive clays
➢Usually associated with younger and
softer shale
➢Absorbs water
➢Use a more inhibited mud –
depending upon how long the
formation will be open
15 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Water sensitive
➢Salt can be added to the mud –
sodium, potassium, magnesium,
calcium
➢Some polymers will help to inhibit
shales
➢Lignosulfonate muds
➢Oil based muds
➢Reduce API fluid loss
16 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Tectonically stressed
➢Large differences in stresses will
cause sloughing
➢Usually associated with heavy
faulting
➢Forms and elliptical hole when it
sloughs
➢Increasing mud weight may slow it
down
17 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Over pressured shale
➢Mud weight in wellbore is too low
➢Pressure differential exceeds the
tensile strength of the shale
➢Fails in long, thin pieces
➢Increase mud weight
18 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Boulders
➢River beds
➢Volcanics
➢Glacial fill
19 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Squeezing formations
➢Salt can cause problems while drilling
➢Salt causes casing collapse while
producing
➢Design casing for 1 psi/ft collapse
➢Drill with salt saturated mud or oil
based mud
20 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
➢Marl
−Increase mud weight
➢Shale
−Buildup of gumbo on walls of hole
21 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Deviation problems
➢Caused by the formation
➢Bed dip
➢Harder formations
Gas cut mud
➢Usually not a problem
➢Very little hydrostatic pressure is lost
22 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Hole Problems
Hole cleaning
➢Stick pipe if hole is not clean
➢Excess torque and drag
➢Tight hole on trip out
➢Bridges on trip in
➢Fill on bottom after a trip
➢Packing off
23 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
Poor hole cleaning may be
responsible for up to 70% of all
drilling problems
Drag forces on a particle will
determine how fast a particle will
fall through a fluid
24 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
Gravity will cause the
particle to fall through
the fluid
When the drag forces are
equal to the acceleration
due to gravity, the
particle will reach its
terminal velocity
25 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
The settling or slip velocity of a
cutting can be calculated with
the following equation
( P − f )
0.71
d p1.6
Vs = 346.6
e0.6 f 0.4
26 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
In order to clean the
hole, the drilling fluid
velocity must exceed
the settling velocity of
the particle so that the
net particle velocity is
up the hole
V p = V f − Vs
27 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
If the hydraulics are designed
properly, annular velocity is fixed
Settling velocity must be
changed by manipulating mud
properties such as viscosity or
mud weight
Viscosity is the preferred method
28 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
Symptoms of sloughing or hole
cleaning
➢Drag or tight hole on trips or
connection
➢High torque levels
➢Fill after trips or while making
connections
➢Difficulty getting logs to bottom and/or
difficulty in running casing.
29 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
A sloughing problem is a hole
cleaning problem
If a hole sloughs, the cleaning
capacity of the well must be
increased
30 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
31 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
The CCI is the Carrying Capacity
Index for a drilling mud
There are only three hole
cleaning variables that can be
controlled at the rig
➢Mud weight
➢Annular Velocity
➢Viscosity
32 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
The hole cleaning variables that
cannot be controlled on the rig
are:
➢Diameter of particle
➢Density of particle
➢To an extent, hole enlargement
33 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
From empirical data, it was
found that hole cleaning was
usually adequate when the
product of the mud weight,
viscosity and annular velocity
was equal to 400,000
The equation determining the
CCI is:
34 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
( )(K )(v )
CCI =
f
400,000
f = Mud weight in ppg
K = drilling fluid viscosity, equivalent cp
v = Annular velocity, feet per minute
K = 511(1− n ) ( PV + YP)
2 PV + YP
n = 3.32 log
PV + YP
35 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
If the CCI is 1.0 or greater, hole
cleaning is assumed to be
adequate
The value of K can also be
determined from a chart of yield
point and plastic viscosity
36 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Lifting Capacity
2000
PV
1800
1600 10 cp
k Viscosity, equivalent cp
15 cp
1400
20 cp
1200
25 cp
1000
30 cp
800 35 cp
600 40 cp
400
200
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Yield Point, lb/100 sq ft
37 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
Hole cleaning in a
vertical well is a
function of
➢Annular velocity
➢Particle diameter
➢Mud viscosity, and
➢Mud density
d p ( P − f )
1.6 0.71
Vs = 346.6
e f
0.6 0.4
38 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
If the annular velocity of the drilling
fluid exceeds the settling velocity of
the particle, the particle will be
carried out of the hole
If not, the particle must be ground
smaller until the settling velocity is
lower than the annular velocity
Vp = Vf – Vs
39 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
In a directional well,
the particle velocity
is still a function of
the velocity of the
fluid and settling
velocity but they are
no longer directly
opposing
The particle will
seek the low side of
the hole
40 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
A cuttings bed
will form on the
Wellbore
Shaker
low side of the
hole unless the
annular
Mud
velocity is high
Cuttings Bed enough to
erode the
Cuttings
cuttings bed
41 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
After a cuttings bed is formed, the
fluid in the annulus will have to
erode the cuttings bed in order to
carry the cuttings up the hole
The bed will continue to grow
narrowing the annular space and
causing an increase in the annular
velocity until the rate of erosion
equals the rate of deposition
42 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
0° and 10°
Wells with inclinations between 0°
and 10° behave the same as vertical
wells
➢Increasing annular velocity and viscosity
will improve hole cleaning
43 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
For wells with inclinations between
10° and 30°, hole cleaning is
affected by the possible deposition
of a cuttings bed on the low side of
the hole. Because the cuttings
bed will slide down the hole even
with the pump on, the cuttings
eventually end up back in the flow
stream. Slightly higher annular
velocities are required in these
wells and increasing the viscosity
and yield point will help.
44 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
The most difficult section of a directional
well to clean is between 30°and 60°. A
cuttings bed will be formed on the low side
of the hole unless the annular velocity is
sufficient to erode the bed. A cuttings bed
can slump after the pump is turned off
causing excessive torque and drag or a
stuck drill string. Increasing the annular
velocity will aid hole cleaning more than
anything else. Thin fluids pumped in
turbulent flow will clean the best, though
water will not clean as good as a low
viscosity mud
45 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
In wells with inclinations greater than
60°, high annular velocities are
required. In reality, the section of the
hole greater than 60° is easier to
clean than the section from 30° to
60°. Therefore, the fluid should be
designed to clean the build section
from 30° to 60°.
46 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
Field experience shows that pipe
movement significantly aids hole
cleaning. While circulating to
clean the hole, the pipe should
be both reciprocated and
rotated. Reciprocation should
be greater than the length of a
joint of drill pipe
47 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved
Directional Wells
In high angle directional wells,
hydraulics may have to be
sacrificed to achieve the annular
velocities necessary to clean the
hole
A minimum annular velocity of 200
feet per minute would require 386
gpm in an 8 ½” by 5” annulus and
1021 gpm in a 12 ¼” by 5” annulus
48 © 2001 PetroSkills LLC, All Rights Reserved