Tripping and Reaming
Practices
Terminology
Drag or over pull : During POOH
Held up or set down : During RIH
Hook load = String wt in mud + Block wt
If the present hook load is more than the last hook load,
then it is over pull or drag
If the present hook load is less than the last hook load,
then it is held up or set down
Drag experienced in directional well
Good reaming practices
Ream clear the drilled section before making connection.
Rotate string to clear cutting bed in high angle sections.
Problematic formations to be control drilled to plug
pores and avoid annulus loading.
Keep eye on torque. Very high and abrupt torque are
observed. Ream patiently and avoid giving WOB. When
torque fluctuation subsides, ream ahead
Good reaming practices (contd)
In open hole d/string be kept in motion all time.
Monitor / record / analyze & clear, if possible the up &
down drags.
Circulate & clean hole thoroughly before POOH.
Never force string out or in with sustained up & down
drag- Clear all tight spots patiently.
Use correct WOB from earlier experience to avoid severe
torques
Contd.
Always wash down last single/stand of DP to bottom.
Swabbing means tight hole- liquidate it before further
POOH.
Normally while reaming pump discharge should be same
as discharge during drilling.
After reaming a portion make sure cuttings are circulated
above BHA before picking up string.
As far as possible allow only downward motion of string
after pipe connection.
Others
If torque is trapped in the string release slowly to avoid
un-screwing of d/string.
While handing over charge, shift in charge to pass on all
information regarding well behavior.
Reaming should be done only if un-avoidable.
Well angle build up/ drop to be handled with great care.
BHA change to be avoided in one section if not
necessary.
Record OD, ID & lengths of all components of string
Keep an accurate record of pipe tally.
Never snap wire line from rope socket of a stuck wire
line tool.
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Tripping through a tight hole
Dont try to push thru tight spots while tripping.
Ream / back ream to clear tight spots while tripping in /
tripping out.
Dont ever apply over pull on a tight spots while pulling
out. Try to push down in compression.
Dont apply set down weight on hold ups while tripping
in. Apply over pull.
General guidelines for tripping / reaming
POOH first 5 stands slowly to avoid swabbing
If POOH very fast, string may get stuck permanently
If POOH slowly, gives time to react and avoid getting
stuck
Have a good check on hole fill up
If all OK, proceed to POOH
POOH speed not to be too fast in Open hole.
General guidelines for tripping / reaming
Minimum required circulation time should be given
before tripping out.
Dont pull thru gradually increasing up-drag.
Varying mud properties indicate problem in the well.
Sufficient pump discharge should be given before
tripping out / during reaming.
reaming rate should be slow.
Wiper trip & short trip
Thickness of mud cake in the well is time dependent also.
Wiper trips help in sizing thickened mud cake up to
casing shoe and maintain the gauge of the hole..
It also helps in evaluation of well cleaning status &
condition.
Wiper trip is recommended every 24 hrs or 200-300 m
of drilling whichever is earlier.
Based on specific well / area experience the duration can
be increased.
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Contd.
Short trips may be done to evaluate the freshly drilled
hole section.
It may not help in evaluating the entire open hole section
up to casing shoe.
Before wiper trip enough mud circulation should be
given to clean the cuttings from the well.
Before short trip also ,especially in a directional well,
sufficient mud circulation should be given to clean the
well off drilled cuttings.
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Wiper trip
String pulled out from bottom to last casing shoe
Recommended before running casing or logging
Gives time for formation to react & come into well
If recommended, do not avoid wiper trip as it may help in
detecting problematic area
If held up repeatedly experienced during wiper trip and
lot of reaming is carried out, consider another wiper trip
before final POOH
Wiper trip also recommended while drilling with PDC
bits. ROP is faster and bit needs cooling time to avoid
overheating and damaging PDC compacts
Always keep watch on over pulls during wiper trip
If equipment failure, make wiper trip and repair
equipment
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Short trip
String pulled out from bottom by a few stands say, 5
stands. String is not pulled out from bottom to last
casing shoe
String is pulled above the problem zone and run back to
bottom immediately. No waiting time in OH
Recommended repeatedly when drilling a long hole
with PDC or other high performance bits
Recommended when over pulls or held ups experienced
frequently during drilling
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Trip tank: Hole fill up
Always use during POOH
Note down mud taken by hole for every 5 stands (For 5
DP, say 0.1 cu m for one stand)
If hole taking required mud, everything OK
If hole taking more than required mud, mud loss or mud
being lost on surface
If hole taking less than required mud, well kick or flow
into the well
For 6-1/2 DC, say 0.25 cu m for one stand
For 8 DC, say 0.5 cu m for one stand
Be very alert during D C pulling out, fill after every stand
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Mud pump for filling hole
Not recommended but can be used
Check flow line for return flow and see no of strokes for
calculating amount of mud required
Do not run pump too fast
Use hole fill mode during trip to count mud strokes as it
stops counting mud strokes as soon as flow is detected
though pump keeps on running
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LOT
To measure strength of formation below casing shoe
as it is expected that this will be the weakest
formation in the next phase of open hole.
May be true and may not be true
Never use mud pump for this
Use only cementing unit as it can pump at slow rate
and amount of mud pumped and returned can be
measured accurately
Will help in deciding max MW possible in the new
phase of drilling
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