IADC/SPE 72290 Drilling Fluids Design and Management for Extended Reach Drilling

C. Cameron, SPE, Halliburton Energy Services

Copyright 2001, IADC/SPE Middle East Drilling Technology This paper was prepared for presentation at the IADC/SPE Middle East Drilling Technology held in Bahrain, 2224 October 2001. This paper was selected for presentation by an IADC/SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the International Association of Drilling Contractors or the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the IADC or SPE, their officers, or members. Papers presented at the IADC/SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the IADC and SPE. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract This paper focuses on the potential problems facing the operator in extended reach exploration and development drilling. A practical review is presented of world-wide extended reach drilling fluid experience with examples of successful technology application from specific projects. Critical drilling fluid success factors in the planning and construction of an extended reach well include borehole stabilisation, hole cleaning, lubricity and equivalent circulating density (ECD) management. The latest techniques in monitoring drilling fluid and wellbore behaviour while drilling an extended reach well are also introduced. Introduction Drilling extended reach wells involves some critical issues that can pose significant challenges for the operator. From the drilling fluids perspective, these include: Narrow Mud Weight/Fracture Gradient Window ECD Management Hole cleaning Torque and Drag Borehole stability Lost Circulation Barite Sag The drilling fluid is a key success factor in extended reach drilling (ERD) and, historically, oil or synthetic base muds have tended to be the fluids of choice. However, in the current era of increasingly stringent environmental constraints, the industry is striving to expand the fluids technology envelope with the development of more inhibitive water-based mud systems, in conjunction with suitable lubricants, to replace invert emulsion muds.

Drilling fluids for ERD wells are engineered to provide a flatter rheological profile in order to minimise the effect of the fluid rheology on ECD. Performance-enhancing products are used to boost the low shear rate viscosity, a critical factor in achieving good hole cleaning and avoiding barite sag. Experience on some of these ERD operations has led to the development of many torque and drag reducing products and techniques. For example, a novel fibrous lost circulation material was found to dramatically reduce torque and played a major part in the successful drilling of world-record ERD wells at Wytch Farm and Tierra del Fuego. Unique downhole hydraulics and hole cleaning modelling software has been used in conjunction with down-hole pressure while drilling (PWD) tools to accurately plan and predict fluid hydraulics and cuttings transport to great effect on the worlds longest wells. Now incorporating the effect of cuttings loading in the annulus, together with the effect of pipe rotation and pipe eccentricity, this software has become an invaluable operational tool. Fluid Selection Invert emulsion muds have been the key ingredient in successful long reach drilling developments in many areas of the world, e.g. Wytch Farm, Argentina and the Gulf of Mexico. This is the direct result of their ability to provide high lubricity, stabilise reactive clays, preserve hole stability, resist contamination and produce firm, dry cuttings. Torque and drag readings and the potential for differential sticking are substantially lower, using an invert system, with an enhanced ability to slide and less tendency for cuttings bed compaction. All these factors combine to make invert emulsion muds the fluids of choice for extended reach wells. Invert emulsion muds, based on mineral or synthetic base fluids with low kinematic viscosity, are well proven in the field and provide a low ECD, excellent hole cleaning and cuttings suspension and extremely stable mud properties. The most suitable water-base fluids currently available for ERD drilling, when shale inhibition is required, are potassiumbased, non-dispersed, polymer muds containing glycol or silicates. When inhibition is not required, low solids polymer formulations or mixed metal silicates may be used. These systems will provide the required hole cleaning and their use, with a suitable lubricant, can be highly effective. Current inhibitive water-based mud systems containing

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glycols, etc., while achieving excellent results, still do not match the performance of oil or synthetic base muds. They produce aqueous filtrates that can result in the onset of timedependent hole instability effects over an extended drilling period. This increases the potential for packing off and mechanically stuck pipe. However, these problems occur to a much lesser degree with silicate muds. Silicate drilling fluids exhibit remarkable shale stabilising properties, resulting in gauge hole and the formation of firm, discrete cuttings when drilling reactive shales. Silicate muds are now replacing inverts in certain applications. Silicate muds are low solids polymer systems formulated in seawater or monovalent brines with the addition of a soluble silicate complex for inhibition. The mechanism of inhibition is due principally to a precipitation reaction, which occurs on contact with divalent ions present at the surface of the shale, rapidly sealing or partially sealing the pore spaces. A silicate skin or pressure barrier forms which allows mud hydrostatic pressure to support the borehole wall in a similar manner to an invert emulsion mud. The transmission of mud pressure to the shale and time-dependent increase in near-wellbore pore pressure are thus significantly reduced compared with conventional water-based muds. Where the required mud weight is not a constraint, mud salinity can be raised to control osmotic pressure and further restrict water migration. Glycol-enhanced water-based mud systems offer the advantages of enhanced shale inhibition, improved filter cake quality, reduced fluid loss and reduced dilution rates. Shale destabilisation, leading to borehole breakout, is reduced when using a glycol enhanced mud. Glycol solubility with temperature can be adjusted by altering the glycol concentration or the salinity of the mud system. As the temperature of the mud system increases, under conditions of constant salinity and glycol concentration, a micro-emulsion begins to form in the water phase above the cloud point. Eventually, the glycol is completely clouded-out and is totally immiscible. Research and field experience suggests that maximum inhibition is provided by the glycol within this temperature window. For most glycols to be effective, an inhibiting ion (preferably potassium) needs to be present. In environmentally sensitive areas, the use of potassium acetate or potassium formate may be preferred to potassium chloride. Whether an oil-based, a synthetic based or a water-based drilling fluid is selected, solids control efficiency is paramount for the control of low gravity solids and minimisation of dilution volume. Optimal solids control equipment for an ERD well would include four linear motion shale shakers, ideally preceded by four scalping shakers, plus two high speed centrifuges. Downhole Modelling To successfully drill an ERD well, it is crucial to be able to accurately predict the following parameters under actual down hole conditions: Static and dynamic temperature profile in the well Hydraulic pressures

Annular pressure loss and ECD Mud rheology Pressure to break gels Specially designed proprietary software is used to predict down-hole rheology and mud density under static and dynamic conditions, taking into account downhole pressure and temperature effects. Down-hole pressure drops, surge and swab pressures and pressure required to break mud gel strength in the hole may be accurately predicted. This software may be used during pre-well planning and subsequently at the well site in real-time to calculate hydraulics and ECD under down-hole conditions. Field validation by comparison with downhole PWD tools has provided invaluable feedback and demonstrated excellent agreement between the model and real-time data. Fluid volume changes in the well due to expansion or contraction are calculated for shutdown periods without circulation, when surface mud cools down and mud down-hole heats up. The software is used to perform look ahead, what if scenarios for ECD, swab/surge, etc. and has proven useful in extended reach, HPHT, deepwater and slimhole drilling. Drilling fluid rheology and hydraulics are optimised for the anticipated drill rates. By establishing guidelines for drilling and tripping, use of the downhole rheology/density model, during the planning phase of the well, can reduce the lost circulation risk. The model is subsequently used at the rig-site to manage ECD while drilling. The software predicts the cuttings loading in the annulus, cuttings bed height, the effect of drill string rpm and pipe eccentricity and the maximum recommended drill rate for the given conditions. Use of the software assists in optimising hole cleaning efficiency while minimising ECD. The downhole model incorporates Bingham Plastic, Power Law and the Yield Power Law or Herschel Bulkley model. Of these, the Herschel Bulkley model is typically used for annular hydraulics calculations since it most closely simulates actual mud behaviour over the shear rate range encountered. This model is seeing increasing application, especially in the realm of high angle wells, as it allows more accurate modelling of fluid flow in the area under the drillpipe, i.e. on the low side of hole, where very low shear rates occur. The software allows input of surface rheology, measured using a six speed rheometer, to model downhole rheology at actual annular shear rates at any depth in the well, taking into account the temperature and pressure regime at that depth. This has been accomplished by building a matrix database of Fann 75 rheometer data to characterise the fluid behaviour. Oil and synthetic base muds were tested under a series of varying pressure and temperature conditions, at different base fluid/water ratios and mud densities. The model will also accept real-time Fann 75 data, derived during the course of the well, to improve the accuracy of the predictions. Gels strengths play a major role in downhole pressure changes. In wells with a small mud weight/fracture gradient, drilling window, the pressure required to break circulation can easily result in fracturing the formation if simple precautions

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are not taken. High gels can also cause problems of excessive swab and surge and, during a well-testing phase, can hinder the transfer of pressure required to operate down-hole test tools. The in-built routine, designed to calculate the pressure required to break gels, can be used to minimise the potential for losses when breaking circulation and to predict the requirement for treatment of the mud to reduce gels prior to running casing. ECD Management ERD wells are characterised by a high ratio of horizontal departure to total vertical depth (TVD) and this gives rise to a fundamental problem. The increasing length of the annulus and the associated increase in annular pressure loss (APL) with depth, for a given circulation rate, is not matched by an equivalent increase in formation strength. This reduces the mud weight/fracture gradient window and can limit pump rate to the extent that achieving adequate solids transport can be difficult, particularly in enlarged hole sections. Thus, on ERD wells, minimising ECD can be critical to the success of the project. A balance has to be established between running the fluid with a minimum plastic viscosity and the requirement to clean the hole and suspend solids. At the same time, sufficient flow rate is required to minimise cuttings bed formation without producing excessive ECD. An invert emulsion drilling fluid should ideally be built around a base fluid having a low kinematic viscosity, coupled with effective emulsifier and fluid loss additives and a top grade organophilic clay. The quality of the weighting agent will also play an important role in optimising rheology. Specialised organoclays have been developed as suspending agents to enhance yield stress while avoiding significant impact on plastic viscosity. A base fluid with a low kinematic viscosity will aid in achieving a flatter rheological profile, enhancing hole cleaning in large diameter hole sections, ratholes, riser etc., while contributing to lower ECD. Hole Cleaning Hole cleaning is critical in the high angle sections of ERD wells, particularly in long 12 tangent sections, and the provision of three mud pumps is considered essential in extended reach drilling. Cleaning the hole without inducing excessive ECD, resulting in down-hole losses, is a major issue. Experience has shown that deviated holes with hole angles in the 40 to 65 degree range are the most difficult to clean. This is due to the tendency of cuttings to form beds and to slide back down the hole. Formation of cuttings beds can be suppressed to a degree by using good suspension characteristics, i.e. by boosting the low-end rheology. Continuous monitoring of standpipe pressure/pump output ratios, cuttings volumes and torque and drag will help in detecting cuttings bed formation. Flow rate is the primary hole-cleaning parameter and maximum pump rate, within the constraints of maximum ECD and the potential for downhole losses, will provide optimal hole cleaning. On one, high profile ERD project, a flow rate of

1000-1100 gpm is used in the 12 hole section. Use of 6 5/8 and 5 drill pipe allows a 1,000 gpm flow rate to be maintained to a depth in excess of 5,000 metres. Relatively high rheology mud is used in this section, keeping Fann sixspeed rheometer 6 and 3 rpm readings around 20 and yield point around 30 lb/100 ft2. As a result, neither pills nor backreaming are generally required. One option, when ECD is a constraint, is the use of circulation subs with bypass flow to boost annular velocity. These help achieve a more uniform fluid velocity when placed in the string near diameter changes in the annulus, e.g. above the top of a liner. Their use can improve hole cleaning without exceeding ECD limits. Controlled drilling (where practicable), sweeps, short trips and optimised flow rates can all have applicability. By coordinating flow rates and rates of penetration, the annular cuttings concentration can be minimised and the potential for losses reduced. In deep deviated wells, the pump pressure can be a limiting factor in achieving the required flow rate for hole cleaning and consideration is frequently given to the use of larger diameter drill pipe (5 or 6 5/8) to allow higher flow rates. Of course, annular pressure loss and ECD limits have to be taken into consideration to avoid losses and this may preclude the resulting reduction in the annular clearance. Torque and drag monitoring, recording drill string pick-up weight and slack-off weight, will provide a good indication of hole cleaning efficiency and borehole stability. Inadequate hole cleaning may require the use of high density or tandem pills, increased rpm while circulating off-bottom or backreaming. Monitoring of cuttings volume and weight at the shakers, e.g. by using a trough which fills and automatically dumps the cuttings at a pre-set weight, provides continuous real-time feedback on hole cleaning and cuttings transport. As a result of cuttings regrinding by the drill string, there is a tendency for fines to build up on the low side of the hole as a compacted bed and cleaning this out can be difficult. Use of a novel synthetic fibre material, in hole cleaning sweeps, helps to minimise and clean out fine solids build up on the low side of the hole. The fibres tend to form a mat that carries solids to the surface. Flow Regime. Field and laboratory experience has shown that horizontal hole cleaning can be optimised by pumping in turbulent flow, as the ability of laminar flow to move cuttings off the low side of the hole is limited. On the other hand, turbulent flow can result in hole erosion, with increased levels of filtrate invasion as filter cake is removed or fails to form, and drilled solids are not held in suspension during connections. The use of a laminar flow regime, at maximum flow rate, coupled with sweeps and mechanical methods for moving cuttings beds, is usually the preferred option. In a reservoir with a low fracture gradient, hole cleaning calculations suggest that a drilling fluid with a low yield point will provide minimum ECD. However, in practice, a compromise must be reached to minimise the potential for sag.

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Mechanical Methods. Pipe rotation and reciprocation will assist in mechanically disturbing a cuttings bed, allowing improved cuttings removal. Field studies indicate that pipe rotation while drilling enhances the hole cleaning efficiency by up to 25%. If extensive sliding for directional work is being performed, occasional high-speed rotation of the drilling assembly at 150-180 rpm should stir up and help clean out any cuttings beds that have accumulated. Ideally, the drillstring should be rotated at all times while drilling, if at all possible, even when running downhole motors. This action will force the cuttings up-wards to the high side of the hole into the faster moving mud. During periods of sliding or orientation, it is recommended that sufficient time is allocated to rotating the drillstring while circulating prior to making a connection. This will assist in lifting any cuttings from the low side of the hole and transport them away from the BHA, reducing the risk that they may pack off around the drillstring. Rotation can have a very positive effect in the high angle sections of the hole and is essential for improved hole cleaning. The directional equipment should satisfy that requirement. However, it is important that care is taken in the use of high drill-string rotary speeds as this can cause hole damage in certain circumstances. Rotary continuous technology is being investigated by the industry to avoid stopping rotation and circulation during connections and prevent cuttings settlement. In near vertical hole sections, one must rely on mud properties and flow rate Hole Cleaning Sweeps. If cuttings returns do not appear to be sufficient for the drilling rate, perhaps because of pump rate limitations, one option is to pump a high-density pill at maximum pump rate, while rotating the drillstring at maximum permissible rpm. The pill should be of such volume as to extend for 100 to 150 metres along the annulus. Care should be exercised to ensure that excessive amounts of highdensity pills are not pumped due to their effect on hydrostatic head. A new coarse grind barite temporary weighting material has been developed for weighted hole cleaning sweeps and trip slugs so as to maintain a uniform mud weight, a critical requirement in ERD wells and in any well with a narrow mud weight/fracture gradient window. This temporary weighting agent is easily removed at the shakers, ensuring that the active system mud weight is not affected. This procedure also avoids the requirement to handle weighted sweeps on surface and avoids base oil treatment to counter increases in active system mud weight, thus reducing dilution costs and avoiding downtime required to stabilise the mud weight. If high rpm cannot be used, e.g. because a bent motor housing is in use or a short radius well is being drilled, high density pills are less effective and a tandem pill might be considered. Tandem pills can be very effective in extended reach and horizontal drilling. They typically consist of a low viscosity pill (water, base oil or mud premix) followed by a weighted viscous pill. The low viscosity pill should be pumped in transitional or turbulent flow for maximum benefit and to

prevent high-side channelling. A tandem pill might consist of 30-50 bbl of unweighted, low viscosity premix followed by a 16-18 ppg weighted pill, sized to balance out at the circulating system mud weight. The low viscosity pill in turbulent flow will scour cuttings from the cuttings bed into the main annular flow path. The weighted pill, with its increased buoyancy, can help in lifting the disturbed cuttings out of the hole as they fall out of the base oil pill. Prior to pumping such a pill, the effect on the hydrostatic head and borehole stability, as the pills are pumped out of the drill string, should be carefully examined. Tandem pills should be treated with care as their use has occasionally caused packing-off and stuck pipe with loss of the hole section. These problems have usually arisen because of too low a pump rate resulting in the base oil channelling up the high side of the annulus, causing the low side cuttings bed to avalanche downhole and bury the BHA Pills containing fibrous lost circulation materials have proved to be excellent hole cleaning sweeps on high angle and extended reach projects and can help to reduce problems associated with the accumulation of fine drilled solids in the tangent section. The return of all pills at the surface should be monitored at the shakers to gauge their effectiveness. In the case of all pills do not stop or reduce the circulation rate before the pills have been evacuated from the hole. To do so could result in material dropping out of the pill and possibly avalanching downhole. Circulating Clean. Long, high angle 12 1/4 holes, reaching over 80 degrees, often require up to four times bottoms up to clean up, possibly more, even with 1100 gpm flow rates. Circulating time may be long but it is usually worth it, as subsequent trips can prove trouble-free as a result. Increased rpm will assist in cleaning a cuttings bed, should one have formed. A minimum of 120-150 rpm has been found to be beneficial while drilling ERD wells at high angle. When circulating clean, the drillstring should ideally be rotated and reciprocated at least one single or one stand off bottom to avoid under-cutting the hole and inadvertently side-tracking. It should be noted that high rotation can induce cavings and a close watch should be kept at the shakers during this procedure to determine both the upside and the downside to high rotation. If the downside is greater than the upside, the rotation procedure should be stopped or different rotary speeds tried. Trips. When tripping out of the hole care must again be taken to avoid dragging cuttings bed accumulations up the well bore where they may pack-off around the BHA. Close attention should be paid to the torque and drag plots. These will give a good indication of the rate of cuttings bed development. When pumping out of the hole, use of maximum allowable pump rate is encouraged as less than this and the assembly will only be lubricated over any cuttings bed, effectively packing the cuttings and increasing the drag during the next trip in the hole.

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Prior to tripping, if any concern exists in regard to hole cleanliness, consideration should be given to pumping a high weight or tandem pill while on bottom. This is especially important if no pills have been pumped during the section drilled. If it is necessary to back-ream all the way out, it may be prudent to stop and circulate the hole clean half way out and again at the casing shoe. This may help avoid overloading the annulus. The drill string should be reciprocated over a stand while circulating. When back-reaming out, it is again important that flow rate is maintained at drilling gpm, not lower. If this is not done, the bed is merely moved back up the hole by the top stabiliser until a point is reached where the bed packs off around it. Torque Reduction In minimising torque and drag levels, a smooth well profile is important. Low dogleg severity and well tortuosity all assist in reducing torque and drag. Many operators have adopted a well path with a modified catenary profile to reduce frictional losses along the drill string. Rotary steerable systems control borehole inclination and azimuth while continuously rotating and result in a smoother wellbore with the added benefit of improved hole cleaning. Remedial torque reduction techniques include the use of drill-pipe protectors and torque reduction bearing subs. Substantial torque reduction on ultra-extended reach wells, at Wytch Farm and Tierra del Fuego, has been achieved as the result of additions of a proprietary fibrous lost circulation material to the active system. A reduction approaching 25% has been observed on these wells and the use of this material proved a major factor, along with the advent of rotary steerable systems, in achieving 11 kilometre offset, worldrecord wells. Controlled continuous additions are required while drilling to maintain the concentration above a threshold level that must be reached before a significant reduction in torque and drag becomes apparent. Water-based muds have been used to drill ERD wells with horizontal departures up to 7.6 km. The horizontal departure of the current world record ERD well, drilled by BP at Wytch Farm using oil-based mud, is 10.7 km. When long tangent sections are drilled with water-based fluids, considerable dilution and centrifugation is often required to control the drilled solids content of the mud. Oxygen corrosion can also be a concern when drilling long sections with polymer muds. The use of a lubricant cocktail has achieved dramatic reductions in the torque inside casing in high departure wells in Alaska, with reductions of up to 50-60% at two fields on the North Slope. Friction factors were reduced to around 0.120.20 from 0.28-0.38 for the untreated mud system. The lubricant cocktail has the ability to endow a water-based fluid with a lubricity approaching that of an oil or synthetic base mud and substantial cost savings have been made, together with reduced environmental impact. In one case, their use eliminated the requirement for oil-based mud or a rig upgrade to complete an ERD project.

For reduction in torque whilst running casing, the use of solid glass beads has been developed, which act as ballbearings between the casing or open hole and the drill pipe or casing. These beads can withstand temperatures up to 1400F and down-hole pressures up to 48,000 psi. The glass beads are chemically inert and do not affect the base mud system. Procedures have been developed for ensuring the maximum benefit is derived from their application. Bore-Hole Stability Hole Stability plays a major role in extended reach drilling. In ERD wells, well construction time increases almost exponentially with horizontal departure, resulting in increased trip times and increased open hole exposure at high angle. An in-house proprietary borehole stability model takes into account both physical and chemical aspects of the interaction of drilling fluid with the shale and can accurately predict a safe mud density window and optimum salinity as a function of hole inclination and azimuth. Key success factors in the prevention of well-bore instability include: Drilling fluid design in line with geo-chemical and geomechanical properties Design of the fluid with a flat rheological profile to avoid high ECD and minimise pressure transients Optimisation of wellbore azimuth and inclination relative to in-situ rock stresses and bedding planes Design of the fluid to eliminate flow regimes that may promote formation washout Optimised procedures for hole cleaning, tripping, surge/swab reduction and mud loss avoidance Well-bore Breathing During well-bore breathing or ballooning, losses occur while circulating but fluid is regained when the pumps are turned off. The fundamental mechanism for ballooning, the opening and closing of induced or in-situ micro fractures while drilling, can be explained by reference to the fracture propagation pressure. When the bottom hole pressure or ECD equals or exceeds the Fracture Propagation Pressure (FPP), a stable radial fracture is propagated. When the pumps are turned off, the ECD falls below the FPP and the in situ horizontal stress causes the fracture to close. The closing of the fracture pushes the mud back into the wellbore. Thus some volume of mud is lost every time the ECD exceeds the FPP and then regained when the pressure drops below the FPP, as long as there is a stable radial fracture propagation. If the ECD exceeds the FPP sufficiently, fracture propagation becomes unstable and the resultant large fracture extension causes massive mud losses. Research has shown that both water and invert emulsion muds produce the same fracture initiation pressures. However, one of the drawbacks to using an invert system is that these muds rsult in a lower fracture propagation pressure than water based systems. This means that in deepwater drilling or on extended reach wells, losses can be more difficult to cure

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when using an invert system. Laboratory work has confirmed the field observation that breathing is more predominant with OBM and SBM systems. Accurate interpretation of the leakoff test (LOT) provides valuable insight into estimation of the formation closure stress, which is the minimum stress that has to be exceeded to propagate a fracture in the formation. Losses that occur during wellbore breathing appear to take place to fractures in non-permeable formations, i.e. predominantly shale. There is no loss of mud or filtrate to matrix permeability, only whole mud into the fracture network. Pressure while drilling (PWD) data clearly shows this phenomenon on connections. The normal method of stopping these losses is to ensure that the ECD is lower than the FPP. Use of granular lost circulation materials such as calcium carbonate or ground marble will do little to stop breathing. However, use of a novel resilient carbon lost circulation material has proven effective, on numerous deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico, in reducing the occurrence of wellbore breathing. This material works by increasing the fracture propagation presssure of the formation when drilled with invert mud systems. Independent laboratory tests have shown improvement in FPP of up to 90% when used in diesel oilbased mud. This material is added as a pre-treatment to the mud system to help reduce the risk of losses and increase fracture propagation pressure. The product is composed of highly resilient, dual composition carbon particles. When packed under compression in a fracture, these particles expand or contract and maintain the seal without being dislodged or collapsing, when fracture width changes as a result of pressure changes in the wellbore. Barite Sag Barite settlement or sag is a key issue in high angle or extended reach wells. It is a problem that we can probably never eliminate but can successfully manage by a combination of drilling fluid design and good operational practices. In a deviated well, barite sag can lead to fluctuations in mud weight, downhole mud losses, well control problems, borehole instability and stuck pipe. Critical hole angles lie in the 5075 range. Barite sag is essentially a dynamic phenomenon but often becomes apparent after a period when the mud has remained static in the hole for some time. Any operation that induces low shear rates, e.g. slow circulation rates, running casing, wireline logging or even gas bubble migration, has the potential to accelerate sag. Flow loop tests have shown that settling is minimal while mud is static in the hole but barite beds begin to form as flow is initiated. Increasing the low shear rate viscosity of the fluid generally helps to reduce the potential for sag but may not eliminate it. Drillpipe rotation also helps to minimise the problem and can virtually eliminate sag at 150 rpm or more. Similarly, sag tends not to occur with annular velocities over 100 ft/min.

Drilling the Reservoir In recent years, the practice of completing wells with a deviated or horizontal open hole section has become established as a means of achieving improved productivity. The improved reservoir drainage and productivity that can be achieved from a horizontal well has had a major impact on the economics of some developments. Along with the increased use of open-hole technology, there has been a significant development in the field of specialised drill-in fluids. This has followed from a recognition that the fluid used to drill the upper hole sections may not be appropriate for the payzone. It was realised that the reservoir drill-in fluid should be designed to meet the specific characteristics of the reservoir in order to be minimally damaging. This last requirement is particularly important as, in open-hole completions, there is no perforation stage to bypass any permeability damage. Use of a dedicated reservoir drill-in fluid means that specific aspects of the payzone, such as clay stabilisation and compatibility with formation water, can be addressed directly. It avoids any requirement to reach a compromise with the different requirements of the upper hole drilling fluid. It is important to maintain a tight HPHT filtrate and a mud density sufficient to maintain adequate hydraulic support for the formation. The filtration characteristics of the mud should be such that there is a rapid deposition of a tough, impermeable, erodible filter cake. Fann 90 and particle plugging apparatus (PPA) are used to determine the optimum concentration and particle size distribution of bridging materials. Incorporation of sized ground marble in the drilling fluid can reduce the risk of losses and differential sticking while drilling permeable formations. Selected to match the pore throat size distribution of the formation, the ground marble reduces filtrate invasion and formation damage by quickly bridging on the face of the well-bore and promoting the formation of a thin, tough filter cake. As marble is a metamorphic rock, it is more resistant to attrition than bridging agents based on limestone that degrade more quickly, resulting in failure to bridge. The use of ground marble, combined with suitable lubricants, has been instrumental in the successful drilling of a number of wells with high differential pressures, up to several thousand psi, without losses. Well Characterisation Well characterisation procedures can make it possible to rapidly identify a fluid influx and to distinguish it from other sources of flow-back (e.g. wellbore breathing), providing early kick detection. The rapid identification of a kick, or the onset of lost circulation, can result in significant time and cost savings and contribute to improved safety. The fluid flow-back profile observed when the mud pumps are shut down on a connection can be the result of a number of sources: surface equipment drainage, fluid compressibility, thermal expansion, wellbore breathing or a fluid influx. This flow-back is compared in real-time with a base-line flow-back

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profile that has been recorded with the drillstring inside a cased and cemented wellbore prior to drilling out of the shoe. Baroid and Sperry-Sun have worked together in developing this procedure which involves automatic monitoring of surface flow-back and use of the downhole modelling software. The ability to accurately identify downhole events and make the correct response to prevailing drilling conditions helps to reduce non-productive time and drilling cost. The Future Improvements to existing mud systems to meet new environmental regulations and the development of highly inhibitive water-based drilling fluids, that offer performance to match invert emulsion muds, have a high priority in the industry. Development of new lubricants for these high performance water-based muds, drag reducers to lower drill string or coiled tubing pressure losses and drilling fluids with inherently lower ECD will represent a major step forward in our extended reach drilling capabilities. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the management of the Baroid PSL of Halliburton Energy Services for permission to publish this paper. References
1. Davidson, E. and Stewart, S., Baroid: Open Hole Completions: Drilling Fluid Selection, paper SPE 38284 presented at the SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference, Bahrain, November 1997 Hemphill, T, SPE, and Pogue, T, SPE, Baroid Drilling Fluids: Field Appliction of ERD Hole Cleaning Modelling paper SPE 37610 presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, March 1997. Meader, A, and Allen, F, BP Exploration, Riley, G, Schlumberger: To the Limit and Beyond The Secret of World-Class Extended-Reach Drilling Performance at Wytch Farm paper IADC/SPE 59204 presented at the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, New Orleans, February 2000. Naegel, M. et al, Total Austral S.A.: Extended Reach Drilling at the Uttermost Part of the Earth paper SPE 48944 presented at the PE Annual Technical Conference, New Orleans, September 1998. Power, D.J., SPE, and Hight C., Baroid, Weisinger D., SPE, and Rimer C., SPE, Vastar Resources Inc.: Drilling Practices and Sweep Selection for Efficient Hole Cleaning in Deviated Wellbores paper SPE 62794 presented at the 2000 IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 2000. Rojas, J.C., SPE, BP Exploration, Bern, P.A, SPE, BP Exploration, Fitzgerald, B.L., Baroid, Modi, S. SPE, BP Exploration, Bezant, P.N., SPE, BP Exploration: Minimising Down Hole Mud Losses paper SPE 39398 presented at the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Dallas, March 1998.

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