Drilling Engineering Problems and Solutions

A Field Guide for Engineers and Students

M. E. Hossain, M. R. Islam

• Publisher: Wiley-Scrivener
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781118998649
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Energy

Completely up to date and the most thorough and comprehensive reference work and learning tool available for drilling engineering, this groundbreaking volume is a must-have for anyone who works in drilling in the oil and gas sector.

Petroleum and natural gas still remain the single biggest resource for energy on earth. Even as alternative and renewable sources are developed, petroleum and natural gas continue to be, by far, the most used and, if engineered properly, the most cost-effective and efficient, source of energy on the planet. Drilling engineering is one of the most important links in the energy chain, being, after all, the science of getting the resources out of the ground for processing. Without drilling engineering, there would be no gasoline, jet fuel, and the myriad of other "have to have" products that people use all over the world every day.

Following up on their previous books, also available from Wiley-Scrivener, the authors, two of the most well-respected, prolific, and progressive drilling engineers in the industry, offer this groundbreaking volume. They cover the basic tenets of drilling engineering, the most common problems that the drilling engineer faces day to day, and cutting-edge new technology and processes through their unique lens. Written to reflect the new, changing world that we live in, this fascinating new volume offers a treasure of knowledge for the veteran engineer, new hire, or student.

This book is an excellent resource for petroleum engineering students, reservoir engineers, supervisors & managers, researchers and environmental engineers for planning every aspect of rig operations in the most sustainable, environmentally responsible manner, using the most up-to-date technological advancements in equipment and processes.

Chapter 1
Introduction

1.0 Introduction of the Book

Albert Einstein famously stated, “Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been.” It is no surprise that any engineering project begins with defining a problem. However, the degree and the magnitude of the problems vary due to the nature of an engineering endeavor. Petroleum resources are the lifeline of modern civilization and drilling operations form the most important component of the petroleum industry. As such, drilling engineering has numerous problems, solutions of which are challenging. Added to this complexity is the fact that drilling operations involve the subsurface – clearly out of our sight. In absence of direct evidence, the best a drilling engineer can do is to speculate based on existing geological data and experience of the region. As a result, planning of drilling and its implementation is one of the greatest challenges for planners, administrators, and field professionals. To complete an engineering project, the planning phase must have all possible problem scenarios, followed by projected solutions. This is because once the problem occurs, one doesn’t have the time to figure out the solution impromptu. This book is designed to help in solving likely problems encountered during drilling operations. Of course, the list of problems is not exhaustive but the science established in solving the problem is comprehensive, thereby allowing operators to draw upon personal experiences and use this book as a guideline. This chapter introduces the fundamental aspects of the drilling problems faced by the drilling operators, drillers, crews, and related professionals in general. It identifies the key areas in which drilling problems are encountered, along with their root causes.

1.1 Introduction of Drilling Engineering

Despite recent concerns about their sustainability, petroleum resources continue to be the lifeline of modern civilization. This role of oil and gas will continue in the foreseeable future. Petroleum production is inherently linked to drilling technology, ranging from exploration to production, from monitoring to remediation and environmental restoration. Nearly one-quarter of the petroleum industry’s entire exploration and production budget is dedicated to drilling expenses. The complete cycle of petroleum operations includes seismic survey, exploration, field development, hydrocarbon production, refining, storage, transportation/distribution, marketing, and final utilization to the end user. The drilling technology has been developed through the efforts of many individuals, professionals, companies and organizations. This technology is a necessary step for petroleum exploration and production. Drilling is one of the oldest technologies in the world. Drilling engineering is a branch of knowledge where the design, analysis and implementation procedure are completed to drill a well as sustainable as possible (Hossain and Al-Majed, 2015). In a word, it is the technology used to unlock crude oil and natural gas reserves. The responsibilities of a drilling engineer are to facilitate the efficient penetration of the subsurface with wellbore and cementing operations that range from the surface to an optimum target depth, while minimizing safety and environmental hazards.

1.2 Importance of Drilling Engineering

It is well known that the petroleum industry drives the energy sector, which in turn drives modern civilization. It is not unlikely that every day human beings are getting the benefits out of the petroleum industry. The present modern civilization is based on energy and hydrocarbon resources. The growth of human civilization and necessities of livelihood over time inspired human beings to bore a hole for different reasons (such as drinking water, agriculture, hydrocarbon extraction for lighting, power generation, to assemble different mechanical parts, etc.). Only a small fraction of petroleum resources is considered to be recoverable and an even tinier fraction of that is available on the surface, making underground resources virtually the only source of hydrocarbons. The flow of oil is ensured only through drilling engineering playing a pivotal role. Naturally, any improvement in drilling practices will bring multifold benefits to the energy sector and much more to the overall economy.

1.3 Application of Drilling Engineering

Throughout human civilization, drilling in numerous forms played a significant role. As such, the applications of drilling technology are numerous. The applications of drilling range from children’s toys to modern drilling of a hole for the purpose of any scientific and technological usage. Humans have been using this technology for underground water withdrawal from ancient times. Drilling technology is a widely used expertise in the applied sciences and engineering such as manufacturing industries, pharmaceutical industries, aerospace, military defense, research laboratories, and any small-scale laboratory to a heavy industry, such as petroleum. Modern cities and urban areas use the drilling technology to get the underground water for drinking and household use. The underground water extraction by boring a hole is also used for agricultural irrigation purposes. Therefore, there is no specific field of application of this technology. It has been used for a widespread field based on its necessity. This book focuses only on drilling a hole with the hope of hydrocarbon discovery; therefore, here the drilling engineering application means a shaft-like tool (i.e., drilling rig) with two or more cutting edges (i.e., drill bit) for making holes toward the underground hydrocarbon formation through the earth layers especially by rotation. Hence the major application of drilling engineering is to discover and produce redundant hydrocarbon from a potential oil field.

1.4 Drilling Problems, Causes, and Solutions

The oil and gas industry is recognized as one of the most hazardous industries on earth. Extracting hydrocarbon from an underground reservoir is very risky and uncertain. Therefore, it is very important to find out the root causes of its risk and uncertainty. The majority of the risks and uncertainties related to this business are encountered while drilling. As a result, drilling problems offer an excellent benchmark for other practices in petroleum engineering as well as other disciplines. However, the key to having a successful achievement of the drilling objectives is to design drilling programs based on anticipation of potential drilling problems. The more comprehensive the list of problems the more accurate the solution manual will become. The best modus operandi is to avoid running into a scenario where problems arise. This preventative style will lead to safer and more cost-effective drilling schemes. It is well understood that even one occurrence of the loss of human life, environmental disaster, or loss of rig side area can have a profound effect on the welfare of the entire petroleum industry. Some of the drilling problems comprise of drillpipe sticking, stuck pipe, drillstring failures, wellbore instabilities, hole deviation and well path control, mud contamination, kicks, hazardous and shallow gas release, lost circulation, formation damage, loss of equipment, personnel, and communications. There are some other problems specifically related to slim hole drilling, coiled tubing drilling, extended reach drilling, and under-balance drilling, etc. There is a famous saying, “prevention is better than cure”. So, the motto should be “drill a hole safely without having any accident, incident, or harm to this planet, with minimum costs”. The drilling operations should be in a sustainable fashion where the minimization of drilling problems and costs has to have the top priority.

1.5 Drilling Operations and its Problems

Globally, modern rotary oil well drilling has been continued for over a century. Although, drilling itself has been a technology known to mankind for millennia (going back to Ancient China and Egypt), the earliest known commercial oil well in the United States was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1857. Before this time, such innovations as 4-legged derrick, “jars”, reverse circulation drilling, spring pole method, and other drilling accessory techniques had been patented. Drake’s famed well itself was drilled with cable tool and reached only 69 ft below the surface – a distance far shallower than drilling feats achieved by water wells. Even though M. C. and C. E. Baker, two brothers from South Dakota, were drilling shallow water wells in unconsolidated formations of the Great Plains, it wasn’t until the late 1800s that the Baker brothers were using rotary drilling in the Corsicana field of Navarro County, Texas. In 1901 Captain Anthony Lucas and Patillo Higgins applied it to their Spindletop well in Texas. By 1925, the rotary drilling method was improved with the use of a diesel engine. In the meantime, soon after the Drake well, the Sweeney stone drill was patented in 1866. This invention had essential components of modern-day drilling, such as swivel head, rotary drive and roller bit. In terms of drilling bit, the most important discovery was the introduction of the diamond bit. This French invention of 1863 (although ancient Egyptians were known to use such drills in rock quarries) was put in practice to drill a 1,000 ft hole with a 9” diamond bit in 1876. In terms of drilling mud, the history of early oil wells indicates that natural drilling mud was used, with the addition of locally available clay. It is conceivable that early engineers learned the technique of drilling mud operations by observing the fact that as water collected in situ mud from the formation its ability to clean the wellbore increases. However, the use of mud was formalized by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1913, soon after which significant changes to mud chemistry were invoked. By the 1920s, natural clay was substituted in favor of barite, iron oxide, and mined bentonite clays. With the introduction of a commercial drilling mud company (NL Baroid), mud chemistry has evolved drastically to make access to deeper formations possible (Barrett, 2011). The next quantum leap would come in the 1970s when conventional drilling mud materials were deemed unsafe for the environment and new regulations were introduced. The tradition of environment-friendly drilling operations began.

Today’s sophisticated techniques are allowing unreachable formations to extract hydrocarbon beyond vertical and direction wells. In the 1980s, the petroleum industry went through a revolution during which period horizontal well technology was introduced and perfected. At present, drilling companies can drill vertically, directionally, and horizontally using the available technologies with an unprecedented precision and speed. However, there are gaps in these quantum leaps and certain aspects of drilling remain improvised and in need of modernization. These areas have been skipped because the primary focus of the last few decades has been automation and control rather than overall effectiveness of the drilling operation. Once a drilling site is identified, a drilling team starts to make preparations of rig installation prior to drilling. During the whole process of drilling, there might be numerous problems such as technical, geological, geographical, manpower, management, financial, environmental, and political. This book is limited to a focus on technological, geological and environmental problems and their solutions.

1.5.1 Common Drilling Problems

Farouq Ali famously wrote, “It’s easier to land a man on the moon than describing a petroleum reservoir” (JPT, 1970). Indeed, the petroleum industry is the only one that doesn’t have the luxury of ‘field visit’ or ‘field inspection’. In the drilling industry, the most evident problem is the nature of the job itself. The obvious challenge is that we cannot see with our naked eyes what is really happening inside the subsurface. Even if we plan very carefully, it is almost certain that problems related to drilling operations will happen while drilling a well. Understanding and anticipating drilling problems, understanding their causes, and planning solutions are necessary for an overall well cost control which ensures successfully reaching the target zone.

The most prevalent drilling problems include pipe sticking, lost circulation, hole deviations and directional control, pipe failures, borehole instability, mud contamination, formation damage, annular hole cleaning, hazardous gas and shallow gas (i.e., H₂S-bearing formation and shallow gas), cave-in hole (collapse), bridging in wells, crookedness of wells/deflection of wells, mud cake formation, pollution and corrosion in wells, stacked tools, drillstring failures, kicks, slow drilling, formation damage, and equipment, communications and personnel-related problems. There are some specific problems related to directional drilling which cover directional/horizontal well drilling, multilateral well drilling, coiled tubing drilling, under-balanced drilling, slim hole drilling. To get the true benefits after knowing the real problems and their solutions, we have to know the answers to the following: i) what problems are to be expected, ii) how to recognize the problem signals, iii) what courses of action need to be taken to combat these problems quickly and economically, and iv) how to employ the learning from the experiences and best real-world solutions. The direct benefit of these answers will have an impact on reducing overall drilling cost, assurance of an economically successful hydrocarbon recovery, and improving the performance of the overall well construction.

1.6 Sustainable Solutions for Drilling...