Advances in Drilling and Completion Fluid Technologies for Protecting Oil and Gas Reservoirs: Research Progress and Development Trends

Abstract

The exploration and development of oil and gas reservoirs present significant challenges in achieving objectives such as increased reserves, enhanced production, and improved efficiency. The protection of reservoirs has been internationally recognized as a crucial technology for enabling high output with minimal investment, specifically due to the susceptibility of the drilling and completion phases to severe damage. The resulting harm significantly reduces oil and gas production and may cause drilled wells to become non-productive, thereby hampering oil and gas field discoveries. Over the past half-century, scholars have extensively researched and developed four generations of temporary plugging-based technologies for oil and gas reservoir protection, including shielding temporary plugging, fine temporary plugging, temporary plugging with physio-chemical film, and biomimetic temporary plugging. These advancements have progressively enhanced the effectiveness of reservoir protection. However, the increasing depth and complexity of oil and gas exploration and development have rendered previous technologies inadequate in providing sufficient protection, resulting in amplified risks to drilling safety such as circulation loss, sloughing, obstruction, drill pipe sticking, and blowouts. To overcome these challenges, the development of drilling and completion fluid technologies capable of forming a liquid casing during drilling has emerged as a novel solution for safeguarding oil and gas reservoirs. The successful implementation of this technology on a large scale enables the efficient development of untapped oil and gas resources, marking a breakthrough in reservoir protection. It also identifies future research directions and has practical implications for field technicians and scientific professionals.