TOPIC 4

Formation pore pressure - Magnitude of the pressure in the pores of a formation

Estimation of pore pressure importance in well planning and operations?

 Affects casing design and mud design
 Increases chances of drill pipe sticking and well control problems
 Helps to predict and detect high-pressure zones where there is a risk of a blowout

Pressures in the borehole do not exceed the fracture pressure or fall below the pore pressure in the
formation being drilled. So it is important to determine the formation fluid pressure and the fracture
pressure. This recquires understanding of the rock mechanical properties and geological aspects of
rock mechanics.

Geological aspects that are important in petroleum related rock mechanics for drilling
operations:
Rock mechanics - theoretical and applied science of the mechanical behaviour of rock and rock
masses. The rock mechanical behavior is dependent on the age of the deposition, and the
complicated natural process from an initial state as loose sediment to the present state as a rock.

Rock mechanical properties:

(5) Mechanical parameters:
 2 elastic parameters (Young's modulus, Poisson’s ratio)
 3 strength parameters (Friction angle, tensile strength, Uniaxial compressive strength)

Grain shape - involves both the roundness (angularity of corners) and sphericity
Grain sorting - grain size distribution, differences affect petrophysical characteristics of the rock.

Underground Stresses - Resistance of the formation matrix to compact.

Vertical stress:

If the density of the rock varies with depth:

Formation or Pore Pressure - fluid pressure found within the pore spaces of the formation, expressed
as an average vertical pressure or equivalent mud weight.
The pore fluid carries part of the total stresses in the formation and relieves the rock matrix from part
of the load.
Where there is a a prediction and detection of high-pressure zones there is risk of blowout. Such are
associated with thick shale sequences which have trapped connate water released during deposition.
Under normal compaction, the pore fluid remains in communication with the surface, the fluid
pressure is equal to the hyrdrostatic pressure. So pore fluid is dependent on the density of the fluid in
the pore space and the depth of the pressure.

Normal pore pressure - When formation pore pressure = theoretical hydrostatic pressure for a given
vertical depth. In terms of pressure gradient, pressure gradient corresponding to hydrostatic gradient
of a fresh or saline water column.

Under normal compaction:

Abnormal pressure - Formation pressure above or below the hydrostatic gradient.

Due to this abnormal pressure, the pore fluid expels out from the pore space.
Overpressured formation pressure- Pressure gradient higher than normal pressure gradient.
Underpressured formation pressure (subnormal pressure)- Pressure gradient less than normal
pressure gradient. Leads to lost circulation and differential sticking.

Underpresssured formation pressure may occure due to:

 Thermal expansion
 Formation foreshortening
 Precipitation
 Depletion
 Outcrop aquifer

Over pressures formation pressure may occur due to:

 Incomplete sediment compaction
 Massive rock salt deposition
 Repressuring from deeper levels
 Phase changes during compaction
 Salt formation

Overburden Pressures - vertical pressure at any point in the earth.

Vertical stress - Combined weight of the formation matrix and fluids overlying a formation
At equilibrium:
Overburden pressure = sum of vertical matrix stress + normal formation pore pressure
Pore pressure estimation
Detecting and/ or estimating the abnormal formation pore pressure:
 Predictive techniques - applied before drilling
 Geophysical measurements - indicate potential for over pressures such as salt domes
 Analysing data from nearby wells
 Seismic data used to identify transition zones
 Offset well histories - mud weights used, stuck pipe, lost circulaation or kicks
 Wire line logs or mud logging information
 Detection techniques - applied while drilling a well, detect an increase in pressure in the
transition zone
 Drilling parameters such as drilling rate of penetration, torque, drag etc.
 Drilling mud parameters such as
 Gas content
 Flowline mud weight
 Temperature
 Pit volume
 Flow rate
 Hole fill up
 Drill cuttings
 Shale cuttings
 Bulk density
 Shale factor
 Shape
 Size
 Confirmation techniques - Applied after drilling, confirm the abnormal pressure existence
 Well logging
 Direct pressure measuring devices

Fracture Pressure - Pressure required to induce fractures in a rock at given depth. The pressure
above which the injection of fluids will cause the rock formation to fracture hydraulically.

To initiate a fracture in the wall of the borehole, the pressure in the borehole must be greater than
the least principle stress in the formation and to propagate, the pressure must be maintained greater
than this.

Importance of studying formation fracture gradient:

 Selecting casing seats
 Prevent lost circulation
 Helps in planning hydraulic fracturing
 Helps in selecting the production/ injection areas.

Factors that affect fracture gradient:

 Type of the rock
 Degree of anistropy
 Formation pore pressure
 Magnitude of overburden
 Degree of tectonics action in the area

Methods for estimating fracture pressure

 Direct Method
 Technique where mud is used to pressurize the well until the formation fractures
 Formation breakdown pressure = surface pressure at fracture + hydrostatic pressure of mus
inside the hole (Leak-off test)
 Predicted surface leak-off pressure:

 Indirect Method
 Uses stress analysis to predict fracture gradient
 Based on theoretical and empirical correlations

Hubbert and Willis Model

 Fracturing occurs when the applied fluid pressure exceeds the sum of minimum
effective stress and formation pressure.
 Controlled only by magnitude of effective stress
 Not applicable in soft rocks
 Fracture gradient is a function of - Overburden stress, formation pressure, relationship
between horizontal and vertical stresses.
Mathews and Kelly Model
 Formation fracture increases with depth even in normally pressured formations

Procedure for calculating fracture gradients using Mathew Kelly technique:

 TOPIC 5
Need for directional drilling:
 Discovery of oil and gas reservoirs at locations that were unsafe, uneconomical,
or impossible to erect a rig over
 Described by well survey: TVD, Inclination from vertical direction (α), and
azimuth (ϵ)
Functions of directional drilling:
 Multiple wells from a single platform / a single well
 Most economical way of developing off shore fields
 Onshore drilling to off shore locations
 Land rigs are cheaper than off shore rigs
 Inaccessible locations
 HC deposits below religious, traditional or environmental important and
sensitive areas
 Relief well
 Used to kill wells that are on fire by intercepting borehole eg. Geothermal
wells
 Sidetracking
 Used to bypass obstructions that have been lost in the well
 Salt dome drilling
 Bypass overhanging hard salt cap to access the HC deposits beneath the salt
dome, preventing hole washout, corrosion, and loss circulation
 Fault controlling
 Drill into faulted subsurface formations without crossing the fault line.
 Long and thin reservoirs
 Optimise well-reservoir contact
 Single well intercepting multiple targets
 Targets are well aligned to be intercepted by a single directional well
without much complexities.

Definition of terms:
Kick off Point
Location at a given depth below the surface where the
well bore is deviated from the vertical in a given
direction.
Well Inclination
Angle by which the well bore deviates from the vertical
End of Buildup
Location where the well bore has finished increasing.
Hold Angle
Occurs where the inclination of the borehole is held
constant
Tangent Section
Occurs after a build where the inclination of the
borehole is held constant for a certain distance
Start of Drop
Location where the borehole starts dropping inclination
End of Drop
Location where the well borehole finishes dropping
inclination.
Target Displacement
Lateral distance from the surface location to the target

Target Location
Point defined by geographical coordinates at a given true vertical depth.

Drop of Rate (DOR)

Rate at which the inclination decreases expressed in degrees per 100ft or degrees per 30m of the
coarse lengt.

Build-up Rate (BUR)

Change of inclination of a well bore where the angle is increased. The rate is usually expressed in
degrees per 100ft or angular increase per 30m of the MD.

Turn Rate
Rate a well profile turns in azimuth direction, expressed in degrees per 100ft or angular increase per
30m of the MD.

Dog-leg Severity (DLS)

Normalized estimate of the overall curvature of an actual well path between 2 consecutive directional
survey stations, according to the minimum curvature survey calculation method. (degrees/ 100 feet)

TVD
Vertical distance from the well surface reference point to the station of interest.

Measured Depth
Distance from the well surface point to the station of interest along the actual well path.

Horizontal Displacement (HD)

Distance between 2 points along a well-bore projected into a horizontal plane or plain view.

Vertical Section (VS)

Distance between any 2 points along a well bore projection into a vertical section plane.

Azimuth
The angle in the horizontal plane measured from a fixed reference direction (eg. True North) usually
measured clockwise.
 0-degree azimuth coincides with North, 90-degree azimuth with East, 180-degree azimuth with
South, and 270-degree azimuth with West
 Three azimuth reference systems:
 Geographic North - Points to the North Pole
 Grid North - In the direction of the positive ordinate axis of the specific grid used for a
particular survey.
 Magnetic North - Measured by simple magnetic compass, Magnetic azimuth are not
constant due to the movement of the north and south magnetic poles hence there might
be an error due to local magnetic fields variations.

Types of Directional Drilling

 Horizontal Drilling
 Drilling a well through a formation at a well inclination of 90 degrees from the vertical
 Vertical Section
 Built Section which starts at 0 degrees from the vertical and continues to build
gradually until 90 degrees
 Horizontal Section that penetrates the formation of interest
Classification of horizontal wells:

Advantages:
 Long laterals increase reservoir-well contact and improve reservoir productivity.
 Increase exposure of pay zone
 Helps avoid the gas and water coning problem by providing the less draw-down pressure

Disadvantages:
 More comples due to higher build rates and drift angles, and tangent and horizontal sections
 Problems increase with increasing depth, higher angles, and longer horizontal sections
 High stresses in equipment are common
 Good hole cleaning is difficult to attain
 Fishing is difficult and less successful

Applications:
 Naturally fractured tight reservoirs
 Thin dry reservoirs
 Less wells needed to develop a field

 Multi-lateral Drilling
 Drilling of multiple branches of well bores from a single wellbore
Main Components:
Laterals
Well bores drilled from the main well bore
Branches
Well bores drilled from another lateral
Junctions
Points at which well, laterals and branches intersect with one
another
Trunk
Primary well from which mutliple laterals emerge

Advantages:
 Cuts initial costs of drilling first vertical section and surface facilities
 Minimises drilling equipment
 Increases production due to increased reservoir contact
 Reduces environmental contact and disturbances

Disadvantages:
 Installation and retrieving of some necessary tools during drilling or after completion is high risk
 Sand control from the legs is not easy to perform
 Difficulty in modeling and prediction due to sophisticated system
 Construction is complex
 Difficulty in stimulation and cleanup

(3) Major Steps:

1. Drilling of the main well bore
2. Sidetracking from Main Well bore - drilling a new well bore from the main well bore
3. Drilling the laterals- the individual laterals are directionally drilled as horizontal wells

 Extended Reach Drilling (ERD)

 Long radius horizontal well where the measured depth is twice the TVD
 Careful selection of bit is important as round trip takes 48 hours.
 Helps facilitate drilling into environmentally sensitive areas

 Coiled Tubing Drilling (CTD)

 Metal piping 1” to 3.25” in diameter, reentry drilling service that enables operators to
effectively find HC pockets untapped in the reservoir.
Coiled Tubing (CT) - Any continuously-milled tubular product manufactured in lengths that require
spooling onto a take-up reel, during the primary milling process.

CTD:
 Hydraulically controlled from the surface
 Produces powerful high velocity water jets capable of fracturing the casing and formation rock
continuously deep into the formation
 Utilises a small rig and less voluminous surface equipment
 Reduces the number of steel pipes, volume of drill mud, volume of drill cuttings, and
volume of cements used.
 Reduce environmental impact
 Drilling is not interrupted for pipe connections

Key elements of a CT Unit:

 Injector Head - Provide the surface drive force to run and retrieve the CT
 Reel - Storage and transport of the CT
 Control Cabin - Equipment operator monitors and controls the CT
 Power Pack - Generate hydraulic and pneumatic power required to operate the CT unit

Benefits of CTD:
 Permit cheaper, faster, and safer drilling of more stable holes because pipe connections are not
required
 Efficient live well intervention
 Rapid mobilisation and rig up
 Ability to circulate while run-in-hole (RIH) or pulling out open-hole (POOH)
 Reduced trip time, resulting in less production downtime
 Reduced crew/ personnel requirements
 Cost is significantly reduced
 CTD significantly reduces environmental impact

Applications of CTD:
 Cementing
 Plug Cementing
 Squeeze Cementing
 Logging
 Drilling
 Producing
 Fishing
 Scale Removal

Well Planning Trajectory:

Target:
 Setup by the geologist that will describe a certain point as the target and specify the acceotable
tolerance.
 Targets are selected to be as large as possible

Directional Drilling Tools

 BHA maintains the well trajectory in directional drilling:
 Drill bit
 Sub – Cross-over sub and Navigation Sub
 Drill collars: Non-magnetic drill collars (NMDC) and Short non-magnetic drill collars
(SNMDC)
 Drilling jars
 Roller reamers
 Key-Seat wiper
 Down hole motor
 Stabilizers: Integral Blade Stabilizers and Welded Blade Stabilizers
 Measurement while drilling (MWD)/Logging while drilling (LWD) tools
 Heavy weight drill pipes (HWDP)
 Deviating tools: Whip stocks and Jetting

Well Survey - Process of tracking the position of directional wells

(inclination, azimuth, grid north)

Reasons to track the movement of bits/ well:

 Make sure the well is moving along the planned course
 Ensure well does not collide with other wells
 Estmate dog led severiity (DLS)
 Ensure well does not go outside legal boundary
 Able to know the exact bottom location of a well in case of a blow out where a relief well will be
needed to intercept the well at this bottom location.

Survey Tools

Choice depends on:

 Well type
 Total well depth
 Maximum inclination
 Potential drilling problems
 Limitations of survey tools etc.

 Tools measure well parameters and generate signals in form of mud pulses that represent each
parameter.
 Pulses are transmitted via mud column to surface computer at rig floor
 Computers are equipped with programs to decode received pulses and translate them to
inclination, azimuth, and other directional parameters.
 Surveys are run at different depth intervals (survey station)
 Depth of survey station is the length of the BHA
 Prone to errors from measuring devices or from translation of measured parameters into
directional measurements.
 Measuring devices are affected by borehole environment such as mud temperature and
pressure which cause the device to malfunction, presence of materials such as steel when
measuring Earth’s magnetic field.
 Embedded in drill collars to protect them from harsh drilling environment.

 Survey tools can be classified into:

 Magnetic Survey Tools - Measure horizontal component of Earths magnetic field to estimate the
inclination and azimuth of any point within a borehole.
 Measuring While Drilling Technique (MWD) - developed to evaluate drilling parameters down-
hole and transmit information to the surface while drilling a well.
 Gyroscopes - Measure changes in azimuth with respect to a per-defined reference direction.
  Used inside drill strings steel and casings because they are free from magnetic interference.
 Include:
 Gyro Single Shot Surveys
 Gyro Multi-Shot Surveys
 Surface Read-out Gyroscopes
 Gyrocompass (North Seeking Gyroscope)

TOPIC 6

3) Distinct Operations in Casing design process:

1. Selecting of the casing sizes and setting depths
2. Definition of the operational scenarios which result in; burst, collapse, and axial loads being
applied to the casing
3. The calculation of the magnitude of these loads and selection of an appropriate weight and
grade of casing.

Factors affecting Casing Design:

 Stress analysis and its application for the design of casing strings (Pressure vessel capable of
withstanding the expected internal and external pressures and axial loading)
 Safety margin to allow for future deterioration of the casing for unknown forces which may be
encountered through, corrosion, wear and thermal effects.
 Loading conditions during drilling and production
 Strength properties of the casing seal
 Degree of deterioration of the pipe during the well’s lifetime
 The availability of casing

Design criteria:
 Collapse pressure < collapse strength of the casing
 Casing should be designed for collapse, burst and tension

Approaches to Casing Design:

(4) Major Steps followed in casing design considerations:
1) Design Process
a) Selection of casing sizes
b) Selection of setting depths
c) Definition of deign properties; collapse pressure, burst pressure, yield strength, tensile
strength, compressive strength
d) Calculation of magnitude of properties
2) Design Properties
a) Collapse strength or loading
b) Burst strength or loading
c) Yield strength-tensile and compressive
d) Bi-axial loading considerations
e) Effect of bending
3) Design Porcedure
a) Collapse pressure calculation
b) Burst loading calculation
c) Tensile/ compressive strength calculation
4) Safety Factor

Selection of casing sizes

Selection of Setting Depths
Based on pore-pressure gradients and fracture gradients of the formations to be penetrated.

Definition of Design Properties:

Collapse pressure, Burst Pressure, Yield Strength, Tensile Strength, and Compressive Strength

Collapse Pressure- difference between external and internal pressure (External pressure - Internal
Pressure)
 Affected by axial stress and if external pressure exerts collapse failure will happen.
 Factors (2): Axial Stress, API design factor

Burst Pressure - Higher internal pressure than external pressure (Internal Pressure - External Pressure)
Yield Strength - Stress at which a material begins to deform plastically
Compressive Strength - Resistance of a material to breaking under compression (Plot Force Vs
Deformation)

Calculation of Magnitude of Properties

Assumptions:
 Collapse - Hydrostatic pressure increases with depth
 Burst - Assume full reservoir pressure all along well bore
 Tension - Tensile stress due to weight of string is highest at top

Worst possible cases:

 For collapse design, assume that the casing is empty on the inside (Pinside = 0 psi)
 For burst design, assume no “backup” fluid on the outside of the casing (Poutside = 0 psi)
 For tension design, assume no buoyancy effect
 For collapse design, assume no buoyancy effect.
Collapse Strength
Assumptions:
 The most severe lost circulation problem after cementing and continuing to drill the next section
 The most severe collapse loading anticipated when the casing is run.
 For both cases, the maximum possible external pressure results from the drilling fluid in the hole
when the casing is placed and cemented.
 The beneficial effect of cement is ignored
 Th e detrimental effect of axial tension on collapse pressure rating is considered
 The beneficial effect of pressure inside the casing can also be taken into account
 A safety factor is applied (1.1)

Instability is sensitive to factors such as ovality (is the amount of out of roundness of a hole), the ratio
of tube diameter to wall thickness, yield strength, type of steel heat treatment, and localized wall
reduction.

Burst strength - Internal yield pressure for pipe (Internal radial load > external radial load)
Assumptions:
 Based on well-control condition assumed to occur while circulating out a large kick
 The burst design should ensure that formation fracture pressure should be exceeded before the
burst pressure of the casing is reached.
 The formation fracture pressure is used as a safety pressure release mechanism.
 The design pressure at the casing seat is equal to the fracture pressure plus a safety margin.
 The pressure inside the casing is calculated assuming that all of the drilling fluid in the casing is
lost to the fractured formation leaving only formation gas in the casing.
 The external pressure (backup pressure) outside the casing is assumed to be equal to the normal
formation pore pressure
 A safety factor is assumed (1.1-1.2)

Barlow model: Determine the minimum internal yield pressure for tubular (API TR 5C3)
API Burst

Yield strength - tensile and compressive

Yield strength - Ability of a metal to tolerate gradual progressive force without permanent
deformation. (Tensile loading and Compressive loading)

Axial tension loading - results from weight of the casing string suspended below the joint of interest.
Pipe body yield strength - Tension force that causes the pipe body to exceed its elastic limit.
API - Pipe body yield strength as the axial load in the tube which results in stress = material minimum
specific yield strength.
Biaxial and triaxial loading
 Azial load on a casing can affect the burst and collapse ratings of that casing
 Tensile load imposed on a tubular increase, the collapse rating decreases and burst rating
increases
Effect of bending
 When a casing is forced to bend the axial tension on the convex side can increase significantly
 Coupling must be considered during the casing string design
 Sharp bends should be checked
 Dog-leg severity exceeds 10 degrees per 100ft
Torsion
 Torque is applied but limited to the connection makeup torque

Design Procedure
(3)Casing design process operations:
1. Selection of the casing sizes and setting depths
2. Definition of the operational scenarios which will result in burst, collapse and axial loads being
applied to the casing
3. Calculation of the magnitude of these loads and selection of an appropriate weight and grade of
the casing.
Safety Factor
Increase the actual loading figures to obtain the design loading