Managed Pressure Drilling Avoids Losses while Improving Drilling and ECD Management in the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

Abstract A number of oil fields in the Gulf of Thailand are characterized by severely depleted gas sands and unstable coal and shale. Operators drilling high angle and horizontal wells in those fields often have to contend with problems associated with high equivalent circulating density (ECD) and the narrow operating margin between fracture gradient and borehole stability. Reaching total depth in those fields without losing returns is possible but it requires careful management of the ECD, vigilant hole cleaning practices, and controlled drilling. Unfortunately, success comes at the expense of drill time which is unavoidably reduced by those same conventional practices. Automated Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) was a solution used by one operator to improve drilling efficiency while still avoiding losses and maintaining wellbore stability. By taking advantage of the MPD system’s ability to manage the BHP when the mud pumps are off the operator was able to reduce the static mud weight below wellbore stability and the ECD below the fracture gradient. With the reduction in mud weight the operator was also able to change the mud rheology in other ways that contributed to improved hole cleaning. Managed Pressure Drilling was initially used in a three well program in 2007 and later in an extended six well program in 2009. For most of the wells the drilling plan was the same: conventionally drill out of the 9–5/8” casing with an 8–1/2” bit down to the top of the depleted zones, lighten the mud density and rheology, bring the MPD system on line and drill through the depleted zone to the next casing point. However, midway through the second program the well plans changed and MPD was used to drill the entire 8–1/2” section. For all nine wells, the MPD system remained the same: a dynamic pressure control system with an integrated real-time hydraulics model, an automated manifold and backpressure pump, and early kick detection equipment. Even though the trajectory changed from well to well, surface and downhole conditions remained relatively constant in terms of borehole and drill string geometry, stratigraphic sequence, mud rheology, drilling practices, MPD system, and rig type. Such relatively constant conditions created favorable circumstances for the comparison of conventional and MPD practices. Results show that MPD enabled the operator to avoid losses and achieve noticeable improvements in drilling efficiency and ECD management. In addition, there were noticeable improvements in MPD performance in terms of transition times and BHP control.