Victus™ Intelligent MPD Allows Operator to Combine Two Hole Sections, Eliminating Contingency Liner String in Unconventional Gas Reservoir

Maintain a constant bottomhole pressure (CBHP) with a lighter mud density to drill several formations with a variant pressure regime in a zone with neighboring fracking activity.
Navigate through a drilling window without the need to halt drilling before reaching the section total depth (TD) and running a contingency liner string.

While conventionally drilling similar wells in the field, the operator had to separate two challenging sections by running a 7-in. liner to cover the first formation and drilling a 5 7/8-in. lateral section.
The managed pressure drilling (MPD) team suggested using a lighter mud density while drilling the 8 1/2-in. section, maintaining constant bottomhole pressure while the well was monitored for kicks and losses.
The bottomhole pressure was controlled to avoid high overbalance and induced losses using MPD techniques to instantaneously respond to well behavior without the need to increase the mud density.
Engineers optimized the killing operation and mitigated overkilling challenges by evaluating the well during drilling operations.

The well was successfully drilled to TD, avoiding kicks and losses.
By using MPD, the operator eliminated the need to run a contingency 7-in. liner, a technique often used in conventional operations.
The use of a CBHP and lighter mud density allowed the selection of the optimum trip mud density, preventing losses and ballooning effect problems.
Across the 13 wells of this operation, the application of MPD techniques saved the operator $450,000 USD per well, equating to an approximate value of $5.85 million USD for the entire campaign.

Details

Location

Onshore Middle East

Well Type

Horizontal, unconventional gas reservoir

Formation Type

Tight sandstone

Hole Size

8-1/2 in.

Pressure

100 to 105 lb/ft³ (1,603 to 1,681 kg/m³ )

Depth

7,400 to 17,400 ft (2,255 to 5,303 m)

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Victus™ Intelligent MPD