Drilling Kick Statistics

Abstract

ABSTRACT A drilling occurrence is a non-routine event that may be encountered while drilling a well such as a water flow, lost circulation, a kick or a blowout. In Alberta information on occurrences are reported on the drilling tour reports which are submitted to the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), the Government regulatory body. Drilling information is extracted and stored on an integrated database. The drilling ocurrences and specifically the kicks and blowouts, for a ten year period (1979-1988) have been analyzed to determine trends and frequency rates. The kick information extracted included the well identifier, the operation in progress, the occurrence date, the occurrence depth, the well's total depth, the finished drilling date, and the type of well (development or exploratory). The analysis indicated that the risk of a kick is significantly greater for exploratory wells than for development wells, and also increases significantly for deeper wells. The analysis of the operation in progress at the time of the kick indicates similar rates for both development and exploratory wells, and that failure to keep the hole full is the major cause of kicks with drilling with inadequate density fluid a close second.