A

WINTER INTERNSHIP
PROJECT REPORT

DETAIL ANALYSIS OF STUCKUP IN AN

INCLINED WELL

Under the guidance of

MR. V.K JHA

Chief Engineer (Drilling)
Institute of Drilling Technology, ONGC, Dehradun
UTTRAKHAND, INDIA

Prepared by:
ADITYA SHANKAR (B.TECH 3RD YEAR)
UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY
PREM NAGAR DEHRADUN

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly we would like to thanks ONGC for giving us such immense support to
enhance our educational knowledge by giving us the opportunity to do a internship
at IDT. We are very much obliged showing our gracious attitude to management of
IDT for giving us an opportunity to pursue our winter internship in particularly.
We are highly appreciated to our respected mentor MR. V.K JHA, CHIEF
ENGINEER (DRILLING) sir for giving us the opportunity to work on this
project. He sincerely enlightened and taught us throughout the project. Particularly,
his always open door questions, means we can directly contact him at any stage of
difficulty at any point of time, is highly appreciated. We are very greatful to you
sir.

We would like to thank IDT, ONGC librarian, Mr. Ashok Kumar ,DGM
(Drilling) IDT, ONGC who provided us with required books and articles.

ADITYA SHANKAR

UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY

DATE:

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Aditya shankar, S/O Mr. Rambali yadav a
student of B.Tech 3rd year, Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Uttaranchal University, Dehradun had worked on the project
“DETAIL ANALYSIS OF STUCKUP IN AN INCLINED WELL”
at Institute of Drilling Technology(IDT) ONGC , Dehradun under my
supervision during Jan 2nd , 2017 to 3rd feb , 2017
Mr. Aditya shankar is sincere and hardworking. They are always
desirous to learn. I wish them success in their career and all future
endeavors.

Date: ( V.K JHA )

Chief Engineer (Drilling)
IDT, ONGC, Dehradun
UTTRAKHAND, INDIA

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 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION OF ONGC
 Vision of ONGC
 Mission
2. ACTIVITIES AT ONGC
 Exploration activities
 Drilling activities
 Production activities
 Environmental protection and CSR
3. INTRODUCTION TO IDT
 Institute of Drilling Technology
4. GTO ( Geo Technical Order )
5. ROTATRY DRILLING RIG
6. DRILLING RIG TYPES
 On-shore drilling rigs
 Off-shore drilling rigs
7. DRILLING COMPLICATION OR PROBLEM
8. PIPE STICKING
 Differential Pressure Pipe Sticking
 Mechanical Pipe Sticking
9. DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE PIPE STICKING
 Causes of differential pipe sticking
 Differential sticking force
 Indicators of differential stuck pipe
 Initial actions
 Secondary actions
 Freeing differential stuck pipe

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  Reduction of hydrostatic pressure
 Methods of reducing hydrostatic pressure
 Spotting pipe release agents
 When the string is free

10. MECHANICAL PIPE STICKING

 Hole pack off

 Shale instability
 Unconsolidated formation
 Cement blocks
 Junk falling in the well
 Mobile formations
 Undergauge hole
 Ledges
 Micro doglegs

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 FIGURES

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 1. INTRODUCTION OF ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas corporation)
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian
multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Dehradun,Uttarakhand, India. It is a Public
Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India, under the administrative control of the
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is India's largest oil and gas exploration and
production company. It produces around 70% of India's crude oil (equivalent to around 25% of
the country's total demand) and around 60% of its natural gas.
ONGC is ranked as the Top Energy Company in India, Fifth in Asia and 21st globally as
per Platts Top 250 Global Energy Rankings; Maintains place as World's Third ranked E&P
Company in the list. Ranked 21st among global Oil and Gas Operations industry in Forbes
Global 2000 list of the World's biggest companies for 2014; Ranked 176 in the overall list -
based on Sales (US$ 29.6 billion), Profits (US$ 4.5 billion), Assets (US$ 53.8 billion) and
Market Value (US$ 46.4 billion). Only Indian energy major in Fortune's Most Admired List
2014 under 'Mining, Crude Oil Production' category (No. 7 worldwide - Up 3 places from
previous year) . Ranked 26 in 'Transparency in Corporate Reporting' among the world's 124
largest listed companies published by Transparency International (Up from 39 in 2012).
Ranked 217 in the Newsweek Green Rankings World's Greenest Companies 2014 (up from
386 in 2012)

ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by Government of India, which currently holds a
68.94% equity stake. It is involved in exploring for and exploiting hydrocarbons in
26 sedimentary basins of India, and owns and operates over 11,000 kilometers of pipelines in the
country. Its international subsidiary ONGC Videsh currently has projects in 17 countries. ONGC
has discovered 6 of the 7 commercially producing Indian Basins, in the last 50 years, adding over
7.1 billion tonnes of In-place Oil & Gas volume of hydrocarbons in Indian basins. Against a
global decline of production from matured fields, ONGC has maintained production from its
brown fields like Mumbai High, with the help of aggressive investments in various IOR
(Improved Oil Recovery) and EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) schemes. ONGC has many
matured fields with a current recovery factor of 25-33%. Its Reserve Replacement Ratio for
between 2005 and 2013, has been more than one. During FY 2012-13, ONGC had to share the
highest ever under-recovery of INR 494.2 million (an increase of INR 49.6 million over the
previous financial year) towards the under-recoveries of Oil Marketing Companies (IOC, BPCL
and HPCL).

Vision of ONGC:
To be global leader in integrated energy business through sustainable growth, knowledge
excellence and exemplary governance practices.

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Mission:
 Dedicated to excellence by leveraging competitive advantages in R&D and technology
with involved people.
 Imbibe high standards of business ethics and organizational values.
 Abiding commitment to safety, health and environment to enrich quality of community
life.
 Foster a culture of trust, openness and mutual concern to make working a stimulating and
challenging experience for our people.
 Strive for customer delight through quality products and services.

2. ACTIVITIES OF ONGC:

The activities of the ONGC cover the entire gamut of activities starting from Geo-scientific
Surveys, Drilling, Production, Processing and Transportation of oil and gas, refining to power
generation. Its marketing activities are on hold due to current decline in crude prices and huge
subsidy burden on marketing margins. ONGC has also ventured into gas based power generation
activities in Tripura. The organization has started power generation through wind farms in
Gujarat. In line with its vision of sustainability of energy security front, ONGC has embarked on
R&D activities and other initiatives in the field of non-conventional source of energy. It’s CBM
(Coal bed methane) project has already been put on production.

Exploration activities:
The organization has excellent capacities for seismic data processing and interpretation. Its
scenic data processing center at Dehradun as well as four regional centers is capable of
processing about 16 million standard record of seismic data annually. ONGC has discovered 6
out of the 7 producing Basins of India.

Drilling activities:
Till data ONGC has drilled more than 11627 wells onshore and offshore both exploratory and
developmental. ONGC drilled its first well in Jwalamukhi. It has got highly skilled drilling crew.
For skill up gradation manpower and technological inputs and operational support, ONGC has
got a Well-equipped drilling institute at Dehradun which is much sought after by Indian drilling
and multinational and foreign companies for its various training courses. ONGC has been able to
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sustain its production through innovative new drilling technologies like horizontal, ERD and
multilateral drilling which help in drastically increasing production for existing wells.

Production activities:
ONGC has a number of production facilities and installations which help in production of
hydrocarbon from drilled wells. In on land areas these comprise of work over rigs 240
production installation 17500 KMs pipelines. In offshore area these facilities consist of 194 un
manned platforms, 22 process platforms, 5 well cum process platform, 7 water injection platform
and 4500 KMs of pipelines.

Environmental protection and CSR (Corporate social responsibility):

ONGC has got all its installations including some R&D and training institutes certified as per
ISO standards for quality, health, safety and environment protection. Environment protection is
being its prime concern. ONGC is the only PSU to have five of its CDM projects registered with
the united Nations Framework convention on climate change ( UNFCC). ONGC has decided to
earn mark 2% of its profit towards expenditure on various CSR projects.

3. INTRODUCTION

Institute of Drilling Technology

IDT is a premier institute of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in the entire South- East Asia. Its
two training schools are much sought after not only by Indian drilling companies but
international drilling companies are also queuing up to get their drilling and other professional
trained here. IDT established in 1978, is also acknowledged at the foremost center in south-east
Asia for R&D work on various aspects of drilling technology ranging from well planning,
drilling fluid engineering, optimization of drilling parameters to casing and cementation with an
experienced and highly qualified manpower resources and sophisticated equipment for scientific
experimentation. IDT is in position to carry out quality R&D work and provide backup
consultancy for drilling operation. The institute also caters to the training needs- drilling,
cementation and mud engineers of ONGC and there organization engaged in oil well drilling.

The institute has following divisions:

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 Drilling (R
& D) TG
Patent com.
& Drilling Fluid
Consultancy (R & D) TG
Group

IDT
Operation
Cementing
Audit & BM
(R & D ) TG
Group

Operation
Well Control
monitoring
School
Group
Drilling
Technology
School

. Figure 1- IDT, DEHRADUN

4. GEO TECHNICAL ORDER (GTO)

This programming of the well which covers all geological and other technical data and serves as
guide during the course of drilling is termed as “geotechnical order”. The various input data are
thoroughly analyzed and Geo technical order (GTO) is prepared which provides broad guidelines
for drilling of the well.

GTO furnishes the following details

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 1) General data like well name, well number, area, location, water depth, elevation, well
type, category, objective of the well etc.

2) Geological data consists of following details:

 Depth
 Age
 Formation
 Lithology
 Interval of coring
 Electro logging
 Collection of cuttings
 Dip Angle
 Oil/gas shows
 Formation pressure
 Formation temperature
 Mud loss/caving zones

3) Mud parameters consists of

 Type of mud
 Specific gravity
 Viscosity
 pH
 Percentage of sand
 Filtration loss

4) Drilling data includes

 Casing policy and rise of cement
 Type of drilling
 Type and size of bit
 Number of bits expected
 Weight on bit
 Round per minute of rotary
 Stand pipe pressure
 Pump discharge
 Bit nozzle details
 Drilling time

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 5. ROTARY DRILLING RIG

Figure 2- ROTARY DRILLING RIG

 INTRODUCTION

A rotary drilling rig may be thought of as a factory, or manufacturing plant . It is designed to

produce only product-namely, hole .A rig differs from other manufacturing facilities, however, in
that it is transitory-that is, it must be frequently moved. This requirement of portability does not,
however, place too much off limitation on a rig’s capability to drill or make hole. In fact, many
large rigs are designed to drill holes to depths that approach 35,000 feet. Yet such rigs can be

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rigged down (disassembled), moved perhaps several miles to a new well site (drilling location),
be rigged up (assembled), and used to drill a new hole.

6. TYPES OF DRILLING RIGS

 On-shore drilling (land)

 Off-shore drilling (Marine)

1) On –shore drilling rigs:

An Onshore drilling rig is a machine which creates holes in the ground. Drilling rigs can be
massive structures housing equipment Used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas
extraction wells, Or they can be small enough to move manually by one person. These Rigs
mainly used for oil drilling, water drilling, or for any mining purpose.

Mobile rigs are very small rigs and can be easily moved from one place to another. These are
used in mineral exploration drilling, blast-hole, water wells and environmental investigations.

Conventional rigs are very large in size. They are capable of drilling thousands of meters into
the earth crust. Mainly for oil and gas purpose this rig is used, because as we know
hydrocarbons are generally found in the deeper of the earth crust. Movement of these types
of rigs are generally done after the completion of desired depth drilling. These rigs are then
broken into small parts, loaded into trucks or tractors and transported to other place. Along
with the main components, which will be discussed later, other equipment can force acid or
sand into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil and natural gas; and in remote locations
there can be permanent living accommodation and catering for crews (which may be more
than a hundred).

2) Off-shore drilling rigs:

An off –shore drilling rig is a large structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and
process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore
for refining and marketing. Power system and most rigs components are similar whether a rig
is drilling on land or off shore. After the hole is started in the ocean floor, it is drilled in much
the same way as it would be on land. Special techniques and equipment are required to
extend the pipe and other equipment from the ocean floor to the above water drilling
platform where the well can be maintained and serviced or to complete the well and install a
wellhead on the ocean floor, floating off-shore drilling is done using a marine rising system.

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 The riser is connected to the well controlling equipment (BOPs) on the ocean floor and to
the drilling vessel at the water surface.

MARINE RIGS

Bottom support Floaters

Platform Barges Jackup Semisubmersible Drillship

Figure 3-type of offshore rigs

7. DRILLINGS COMPLICATION OR PROBLEMS

It is almost certain that problems will occur while drilling a well, even in very carefully
planned wells. For example, in areas in which similar drilling practices are used, hole
problems may have been reported where no such problems existed previously because
formations are non homogeneous. Therefore, two wells near each other may have totally
different geological conditions. In well planning, the key to achieving objectives successfully
is to design drilling programs on the basis of anticipation of potential hole problems rather
than on caution and containment. Drilling problems can be very costly.

The most prevalent drilling problems include:

 Pipe sticking
 Lost circulation
 Hole deviation
 Pipe failures
 Borehole instability

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  Mud contamination
 Formation damage
 Hole cleaning
 H2S-bearing formation
 Shallow gas
 Equipment and personnel-related problems

8. PIPE STICKING

During drilling operations, a pipe is considered stuck if it cannot be freed from the hole
without damaging the pipe, and without exceeding the drilling rig’s maximum allowed hook
load.

Pipe sticking can be classified under two categories:

 Differential pressure pipe sticking

 Mechanical pipe sticking

9. DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE PIPE STICKING

Differential pressure pipe sticking ( Stuck pipe ) occurs when a portion of the drill string
becomes embedded in a mud cake (an impermeable film of fine solids) that forms on the wall of
a permeable formation during drilling.
It is a problem that occurs when drilling a well with a greater well bore pressure than formation
pressure, as is usually the case. The drill pipe is
pressed against the wellbore wall so that part of its
circumference will see only reservoir pressure,
while the rest will continue to be pushed by
wellbore pressure. As a result, the pipe becomes
stuck to the wall, and can require millions of
pounds of force to remove, which may prove
impossible. In many cases the drilling fluid (mud)
weight is reduced, thus relieving the pressure
difference and releasing the stuck pipe string.
Should this option be unavailable, as in sour gas
wells, a specialty fishing company is called to Figure 4:- Differential pressure pipe sticking
retrieve the stuck pipe or 'fish'. Many options exist
once a fishing company is on site: oil or nitrogen
may be pumped down the well, or the fish may be 'washed over' using a carbide shoe on

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a string of washpipe. Jarrin is not usually attempted with differential sticking due to the massive
amount of pressure that holds the pipe in place.

 Causes of differential pipe sticking:

During all drilling operations the drilling fluid
hydrostatic pressure is designed and maintained at a
level which exceeds the formation pore pressure by
usually 200psi. In a permeable formation, this
pressure differential (overbalance) results in the
flow of drilling fluid filtrates from the well to the
formation. As the filtrate enters the formation the
solids in the mud are screened out and a filter cake
is deposited on the walls of the hole. The pressure
differential across the filter cake will be equal to the
overbalance.

When the drillstrings comes into contact with the

filter cake, the portion of the pipe which becomes Figure 5-stuck up of drillstring
embedded in the filter cake is subjected to a lower
pressure than the part which remains in contact with the drilling fluid. As a result, further
embedding into the filter cake is induced.

The drillstring will become differential stuck if the overbalance and therefore the side loading on
the pipe is high enough and acts over a large area of drillstring. This is shown in (Figure-5).

 Differential sticking force:

Mathematically, the differential sticking force depends on the magnitude of the overbalance and
the area of contact between the drillpipe and the porous zone. Hence
Differential force= (mud hydrostatic – formation pressure) x area of contact
The force required to free a differentially stuck pipe depends upon several factors, namely:

 The magnitude of the overbalance. This adds to any side forces which already exist due
to hole deviation.
 The coefficient of friction between the pipeand the filter cake. The coefficient of friction
increases with time, resulting in increasing forces being required to free the pipe with
time.
 Hence, when differentially stuck, procedures to free the pipe must be adopted
immediately.
 Indicators of differential stuck pipe:

 Drillstring can not be moved at all, i.e. up or down or rotated

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  An increase in torque and drag,
 Constant drilling fluid movement
 Losing mud while drilling permeable zones

These are the signs and indicators of the differential stuck pipe. Sticking occurs when the drill
string is stationary as the drill string cannot be rotated or moved up or down.
Differential-pressure-pipe-sticking problems may not be entirely prevented. If sticking does
occur, standard field practices for freeing the stuck pipe include:

 Initial Actions:

 Circulate at maximum allowable rate

 Work MAXIMUM Limit torque down to the stuck depth and hold the torque in the string
if the bit is off the bottom, slump the pipe with right-hand torque held in it. If the bit is on
bottom, Pull to the maximum immediately and jar Apply right-hand torque to try to get
movement to stuck point
 Stop or reduce pump speed to minimum
 Slack off to MAXIMUM set-down limit
 Allow sufficient time for a hydraulic jar to trip
 If the string does not come free, hold torques in the string and continue jarring down with
maximum trip load

 Secondary Actions:

 Mud-hydrostatic-pressure reduction in the annulus, consider all aspects of well control

before
 lowering hydrostatic pressure
 Oil spotting around the stuck portion of the drill string
 Washing over the stuck pipe

 Freeing differentially Stuck pipe:

There are basically two ways in which a differentially stuck pipe can be released:

 Reduction of hydrostatic pressure

 Spotting pipe release agents

 Reduction of Hydrostatic Pressure:

The reduction of hydrostatic pressure is the obvious and most successful method of freeing a
differentially stuck pipe. The lowering of the hydrostatic pressure reduces the side loading forces
on the pipe and therefore reduces the force required to free the pipe from the filter cake.

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  The following methods for reducing hydrostatic pressure can be used:

 Circulation and reducing mud weight

 Displacing the choke
 The ‘U’ tube methods

 Circulation and reducing mud weight

In this methods, the drilling mud is circulated and its weight is gradually reduced. The minimum
mud weight required to balance the highest pore pressure in open hole should be determined and
the mud weight cut back in small stages. Close attention must be made to all kick indicators
whilst circulating down (reducing) the mud weight, frequent flow checks should also be made.
Whilst reducing the mud weight, tension should be held on the pipe.

Disadvantages of this methods are:

 It is slow, and remember the force required to free pipe is time dependent,
 The volume increase required may overload the surface pit handling capability. This may
be a serious problem when OBM is used.
 The active volume will be increasing during the reduction in mud weight, making kick
detection difficult.

 Displacing the choke:

This method is applicable to floating rigs where BOPS are placed on the seabed. The hydrostatic
pressure can be quickly and effectively reduced by displacing the choke line to bas oil or water.
The well is shut in using the annular preventer and the displaced choke line opened thereby
reducing the overbalance. Note that the annular preventer isolates the wellbore from the
hydrostatic head of mud in the riser from rig floor to the annular preventer.

The advantage of this method is that if an influx is taken, the well can be immediately killed by
closing the choke and opening the annular. This action again exposes the well to the active
hydrostatic pressure from rig floor to TD.

The disadvantage of this method is that the amount of reduction in hydrostatic pressure is limited
to the water depth. This may well result in a limited reduction in shallow water, or in the case of
deep water, an excessive reduction in hydrostatic pressure.

 The ‘U’ Tube methods:

The U-tube method is used to reduce the hydrostatic pressure of mud to a level equal or slightly
higher than the formation pressure of the zone across which the pipe got differentially stuck pipe
safely without losing control of the well by inadvertently inducing underbalanced conditions. A
pipe spotting agent should be spotted across the permeable zone prior to adopting the ‘U’ tube
methods.

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  Spotting pipe release agents;
The severity of differentially stuck pipe can be reduced by spotting of pipe release agents. Pipe
release agents are basically a blend of surfactants and emulsifiers mixed with base oil or diesel
oil and water to form a stable emulsion. They functions by penetrating filter cake, therefore
making it easier to remove and at the same time, reduce the surface tension between the pipe and
filter cake.

Due to time dependency of the severity of differential sticking, the pipe release agent should be
spotted as soon as possible after differential sticking is diagnosed.

 When the string is free:

 Rotate and work the string
 Circulate at maximum rate to clean the hole
 Check the proper mud specifications

10.MECHANICAL PIPE STICKING

In mechanical sticking the pipe is usually completely stuck with little or no circulation. In
differential sticking, the pipe is completely stuck but there is full circulation. Mechanical sticking
can occur as result of the hole packing off (or bridging) or due to the formation and BHA
(wellbore geometry).

 Hole pack off and bridges settled cuttings.

If cuttings are not removed from the borehole, they accumulate in the well, eventually
causing the hole to pack off, often around the Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) and sticking the
drill string (fig. 6).

Hole pack off can be caused by any one or a combination of following processes:

 Settled cuttings due to inadequate hole cleanings:

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 Figure 6-Hole pack off

Cuttings which are not adequately removed will settle on the lower side of the hole and may
cause the hole to pack off, resulting in stuck pipe.
Due to the tendency of the cuttings to fall to the lower side of the hole, high angle holes are more
difficult to clean than vertical wells. In addition, for effective hole cleaning, the circulation rate
must be higher than the slip velocity of the cuttings. This is more difficult to achieve in deviated
hole than vertical hole.

The major indications of inadequate hole cleaning are:

 mass balance incorrect while drilling
 increase in pump pressure and connection drag
 sudden smooth increase in drag whilst POOH.
The causes of inadequate hole cleaning are:

 Drilling at excessive Rates Of Penetration (ROP) for a given circulation rate. This
generates cuttings faster than they can be circulated mechanically from the annulus.

 Inadequate annular hydraulics.

 Failure to suspend and carry cuttings to the surface with adequate mud rheology.

 Highly deviated well paths. High angle wells are more difficult to clean, since the drilled
solids tend to fall to the low side of the hole. Beds
of cuttings will form, which are not easily removed.

 Formation sloughing and packing off around the drill string.

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  Not circulating enough to clean then hole before tripping out or making connections.
When circulation is interrupted, cuttings may settle around the BHA and pack
off, sticking the pipe.

 Drilling blind (without mud returns) and not adequately sweeping the hole periodically
with a viscous mud.

 Unintentionally drilling without circulation. The major warning signs and indications of
cuttings settling are:

 Fill on bottom after connections and tripping.

 Few cuttings returning at the shakers relative to the drill rate and hole size.

 Increase in torque, drag and pump pressure.

 Over pull on connections and while tripping out.

 Increase in Low-Gravity Solids (LGS) and possible mud weight and/or viscosity
increases.
Preventive measures to minimize the possibility of settled cuttings are:
 Maintain proper mud rheology in accordance with hole size, ROP and hole inclination.
 In near-vertical wells, sweep the hole with high-viscosity mud. In highly deviated wells,
sweep with low-viscosity/high-viscosity pills. Always circulate until the sweeps have
returned to the surface and the shakers are clean.
 Use optimized hydraulics compatible with the respective hole size, inclination and ROP.
Higher circulation rates always provide improved hole cleaning.
 Control drilling in high ROP or marginal hole-cleaning situations.
 Use aggressive drill string rotation for improved hole cleaning.
 Make a wiper trip after all long motor runs.
 Use drillstring motion (rotate and reciprocate), while circulating at the maximum rate to
disturb cuttings beds and reincorporate them into the flow stream.
 Shale instability

Unstable shale can cause packing off and sticking when they fall into the wellbore. They may be
classified as follows:

 Reactive shales

These are water sensitive shales drilled with insufficient inhibition. Shale absorb water, become
stressed and spall into the well bore.

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 Figure 7- Reactive shale

The main indication that reactive shale has been drilled are increases in the funnel viscosity,
yield point, gel strengths, Methylene Blue Test (MBT) and, possibly, the mud weight. This will
be reflected by increases in torque, drag and pump pressure.

 Pressured shales

These shales are pressured and mechanically stressed by several different factors, including the
weight of overburden, in-situ stresses, angle of bedding planes and tectonic stresses. When
drilled with insufficient mud weight, these shales will slough into the wellbore.

Figure 8-Pressured shale

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Fractured and faulted formations. These are fragile formations which are mechanically
incompetent. They are particularly unstable when the bedding planes dip at high angles.

Figure 9- fractured shale

Large quantities of splintery or blocky shale will be encountered when pressured shales are
drilled underbalanced or when fractured formations slough. Pump pressure, torque and drag will
increase when the hole becomes overloaded with caving shale.
Control of formation instability should start during the planning phase of the well. An inhibited
mud system, matched to the formation with the proper mud weight, will minimize
shale instability. To balance mechanical stresses, highly deviated wells require higher mud
weights than vertical wells. Although the first priority of a casing design is to ensure that the well
can be drilled safely, casing points may have to be adjusted so that troublesome formations can
be cased off. Needless to say, suitable mud properties must be maintained to ensure good hole
cleaning.
If formation caving is detected, respond immediately:

 Stop drilling.
 Sweep the hole with viscous mud.
 Increase the viscosity to improve the carrying capacity.
 Increase the mud weight, when applicable.
 Implement drilling practices to improve cuttings transport and to reduce the possibility of
pipe sticking.

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  Unconsolidated formations

This problem involves formations that cannot

be supported by hydrostatic overbalance alone.
For example, unconsolidated sand and pea gravel
often fall into the hole and pack off around the
drill string. Problems also occur if insufficient
filter cake is deposited on loose,
unconsolidated sand to prevent it from
“flowing” into the wellbore and packing off
the string
Generally, these types of formations are
encountered at shallow depths or when drilling the
production zones. Torque, drag and fill on
connections. are common indicator of such
problems.
Solids-control equipment will be overloaded with
quantities of solids that do not correspond to the
ROP. To drill these formations, the mud should Figure 10- pipe sticking by unconsolidated formations
provide a good-quality filter cake to help
consolidate the formation so that hydrostatic pressure can “push against” and stabilize the
formation. Treatments with seepage-loss material, such as M-I-X-IIE fiber, will help seal
these formations and provide a base for the filter cake. To minimize erosion, avoid excessive
flow rates and avoid any unnecessary reaming or circulating with the BHA
opposite unconsolidated formations. The hole should be swept with viscous gel sweeps to
ensure good hole-cleaning, and filter-cake building.

 Cement blocks

When cement blocks or junk falls into the wellbore,

they can act as a wedge and jam the drillstring. This
can happen when cement becomes unstable
around the casing shoe or from open-hole plugs and
kickoff plugs

Figure 11-Cement blocks fall into well bore

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 Another type of cement packoff can occur when
circulation is attempted with the BHA
imbedded in soft cement. Pump pressure can
cause the cement to “flash” set and stick the
string.

Figure 12-soft cement pipe sticking

 Junk falling in the well:

Junk from the surface drops into the
wellbore and causes stuck pipe. It could
happen due to several factor, such as poor
housekeeping on the rig floor, rotary table
not covered, or surface/down hole
equipment failure.

Warning signs when you get stuck due to junk

 Observe equipment on surface falling down Figure 13-pipe stuck up due to junk falling in well
hole
 If down hole equipment fails, the drill string gets jammed suddenly without any signs.
 Stuck pipe by the junk can occur at any time.
 Suspicious substances, such as metal, wood, rubber may be found at the shale shaker.

Stuck identification for Junk

 Torque suddenly becomes erratic.

 Drag increases
 Equipment on the rig floor falls down hole.

What should you do for this situation?

 If you get stuck while moving up, jar down with the maximum trip load. Torque may be
applied with caution.
 If you get stuck while moving down, jar up without any toque applied in the drill string.

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Preventive actions:

 Maintain good housekeeping on the rig floor

 Ensure that a hole cover is used all the time when working on a rotary table.
 Maintain tools used on the rig floor in a good condition.
 Inspect downhole tool prior to tripping in a hole.

The formations & BHA (wellbore geometry) can also cause mechanical sticking as follows:

 Key seating:

While drilling, with high tension and torsion in a

drilling string, the drill string creates wear, called
“key seat “ at wellbore where there are changes in
the direction. The soft to medium hard formation
has a great tendency to get key seat. While
pulling out of the hole, BHA gets stuck into the
key seat.

Warning signs when you get stuck due to Key

Seat Figure 14-key seat
 High dog leg severity
 Long drilling hours without reaming back through the high dog leg area

Stuck identification for Key Seat

 This situation occurs when pulling out of the hole only.

 Circulation is not restricted.
 High over pull is suddenly seen when the BHA is pulled into the key seat.
 Tripping back is possible.

What should you do for this situation?

 Because the drill sting gets stuck while moving up, jar down with maximum trip load,
which must be applied. Torque while jarring down can be applied as well.
 Bring the rotation at a slow speed and attempt to ream back with a small over pull into
the key seat areas.

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Preventive actions:
 Do not try to drill with a lot of dog leg severity
 Back ream some areas where high dog leg severity is presented.
 Run a short trip or wiper trip to minimize the key seat.
 Utilize a reamer in high dog leg zones.

 Mobile formations

Mobile formation is caused by overburdened

pressure that squeezes shale and/or salt into a
wellbore. The squeezed formations reduce wellbore
diameter; therefore, the drill string/BHA gets stuck
due to under gauge wellbore.

Warning signs when you get stuck due to mobile

formation

 Salt and shale are drilled. You can see from

the Mud logging samples showing shale.
Moreover, Chloride content must be
increased in case of drilling into salt zones.

Stuck identification for mobile formation

Figure 15- mobile formation cause stuck pipe
 Over pull, down weight and torque are
suddenly increased.
 It could happen at anytime as drilling, tripping in and tripping out depending on how fast
plastic formations are moved.
 Most of the time, the BHA gets stuck at the plastic zones because BHA contains the
largest diameter component.
 Circulation is not restricted or is just slightly restricted.

What should you do for this situation?

 If the drill string is stuck while moving up, jar down with maximum trip load. Torque can
be applied with caution while jarring down.
 If the drill string is stuck while moving down, jar up with maximum trip load without
applying any torque in drill string.
 If you are sure that the plastic formations drilled are salt, you may consider spotting fresh
water to dissolve the salt. However, you need to consider regarding well control issues.

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Preventive actions:

 Use sufficient mud weight to hold back formation movement.

 Back ream and wiper trip should be performed across the suspected rocks.
 Minimize time for open hole exposure.
 Trip in hole with caution prior to entering possible problematic formations.

 Undergauge hole

Undergauge hole can happen when drilling in

hard and abrasive formations where it wears
down a drill bit. When the bit is undergauge
because the abrasive formation wears a bit and
stabilizes, a hole size becomes smaller. When
the new BHA is run in hole, the new bit/BHA
gets stuck into the undergauge hole section.
Additionally, if coring is performed with a
smaller core bit than the next bit, the new bit
can get stuck at the top of the coring section.

Figure 16- undergauge hole is caused by abrasive formations

Warning signs when you get stuck due to

Undergauge Hole

 Drilling into abrasive formations.

 A bit and stabilizers are undergauge.

Stuck identification for Undergauge Hole

 This type of stuck pipe occurs only
when tripping in hole.
 Sit down weight suddenly increases.
 The bit gets jammed off bottom.
 Circulation can be established.

What should you do for this situation?

 This stuck pipe always happening while
the drill string is being moved down,
therefore you need to jar up with
maximum trip load without applying
Figure 17- drill string get stuck at the undergauge section.
any torque in the drill string.

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Preventive actions:

 Properly gauge bit/stabilizer after it is pulled out so you will know the possibility right
away.
 Do not stage weight in order to pass the tight spots. The more weight you put on top, the
harder to free the pipe.
 If the undergauge bit/stabilizer is observed, you need to ream down at least 1-2 stands off
the bottom.
 Reaming at least 1-2 stands above the top of the coring section.
 Trip in hole with controlled speed prior to going to possible problematic areas.
.
 Ledges

Ledges are occurred while drilling in sequential

formations which have soft, hard formations, and
naturally fractured formations. Stabilizers in BHA
and tool joint easily wear soft formations and
naturally fractured formations, however, the hard
formations are still in gauge (hole size not change).
If there are a lot of ledges in the wellbore, the
drillstring can get stuck under ledges.

Warning signs when you get stuck due to Ledges

 Hard and soft streak formations are drilled.
You can easily observe from changes in
ROP.
 Mud logging samples show soft and hard
rocks.
 There is potential for fractured formations to
be drilled.

Stuck identification for Ledges Figure 18- Stuck pipe due to ledges

 Erratic over pull is observed.

 It can be happened while tripping or drilling and it is also related to micro doglegs.
 Circulation can be established without any restriction.

What should you do for this situation ?

 If the drillstring is stuck while moving up, jar down with maximum trip load. Torque can
be applied with caution while jarring down.
 If the drillstring is stuck while moving down, jar up with maximum trip load without
applying any torque in drill string.
 If the drill string is free, you may need to consider back reaming to clear some ledges.

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Preventive actions:

 Minimize big stabilizers.

 Minimize changes in inclination and azimuth.
 Back reaming operation should be performed when the suspected formations are drilled.
Carefully watch the over pull while reaming.
 Slow down tripping sleep when entering possible problematic formations.

 Micro doglegs

Micro dogleg occurs in areas where there are

several corrections in inclination and azimuth and
it most likely happens in hard/soft inter bedded
rock. If there are micro dogleg areas in the well,
the bottom hole assembly can get stuck.

Warning signs when you get stuck due to Micro

Dogleg

 Hard and soft streak formations are drilled.

You can easily observe from the changes
in ROP.
 Inclination and azimuth are frequently
changed. Figure 19- Micro dogleg cause stuck pipe
 Drilling the well with a mud motor
causes this issue because of rotating and sliding operations.

Stuck identification for Micro Dogleg

 Drilling torque and drag are erratic.

 It can happen while tripping or drilling.
 Circulation can be established without any restriction.

What should you do for this situation?

 If the drill string is stuck while moving up, jar down with maximum trip load. Torque can
be applied with caution while jarring down.
 If the drill string is stuck while moving down, jar up with maximum trip load without
applying any torque in drill string.

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  If the drill string is free, you may need to consider back reaming to clear micro dogleg.

Preventive actions:

 Minimize changes in inclination and azimuth

 Back ream operation should be performed when hard/soft streak is drilled.
 Slow down tripping sleep when entering possible problematic zones.

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 REFERENCE

 Drilling Operation Manual; Institute of Drilling Technology, ONGC

 Fundamental of Drilling ; H. Rabia
 www.drillingcontractor.org
 www.drillingformulas.com
 www.petrowiki.com
 www.rigzone.com
 www.statista.com
 www.wikipedia.com

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