Barite Sag Occurrence and Resolution during Angolan Completion Operations

McNerlin, Brandon; Oakey, N.

doi:10.2118/147005-ms

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 13 publications

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“…Manganese tetroxide retains relatively high specific gravity and small particle size, which reduces particle settling and sagging in high mud weight formulations. Manganese tetroxide particles have a spherical shape of (4 µm) in size and specific gravity of (4.8 g/cm 3 ) which leads to lower contact in particle-to-particle interactions [11,12] . Field studies show that when Manganese tetroxide is used in oil-based drilling fluids, there was less formation damage and high amount of productivity.…”

Section: Research and Reviews: Journal Of Chemistry E-issn:2319-9849mentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a New Reservoir-Friendly Drilling Fluid for Higher Gas Production

Al-Yami

Aljubran

Wagle

et al. 2018

Day 2 Tue, November 13, 2018

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Drilling gas reservoir requires high mud density to balance the reservoir pressure. To formulate such fluids, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was used because of its high acid solubility. However, due to the high concentration of CaCO3 required for high density drilling fluid, sticking might occur which might result in fishing and/or sidetracks operations. To minimize sticking problems, barite (BaSO4) is added with CaCO3 to reduce the amount of solids needed to formulate the drilling fluid. However, barite can cause potential damage because it does not dissolve in commonly used acids. Drilling fluids were developed at a wide range of densities using CaCl2 salt with Manganese Tetroxide (Mn3O4). No similar formulations were developed before to the best of the authors’ knowledge. The properties of small particle size (D50=1 microns), spherical shape and high specific gravity (4.9 g/cm3) of Mn3O4 make it good weighting material to reduce solids loading and settling compared to CaCO3 (2.78 g/cm3 and D50=10 microns) and BaSO4 (4.20 g/cm3 and D50=20 microns). The objective of this study is to show the lab work involved in designing water-based drilling fluids using CaCl2 / Mn3O4. The experimental work in this paper involved rheological properties, thermal stability, API and HT/HP filtration. The data generated from this study showed that Lignite and Vinyl amide/vinyl sulfonate copolymer are recommended to provide good rheological stability and filtration control for CaCl2/Mn3O4 drilling fluid. Polyanionic cellulose polymer and starch can used to formulate KCl/Mn3O4 drilling fluid with good properties at 300 °F.

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Section: Research and Reviews: Journal Of Chemistry E-issn:2319-9849mentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a New Reservoir-Friendly Drilling Fluid for Higher Gas Production

Al-Yami

Aljubran

Wagle

et al. 2018

Day 2 Tue, November 13, 2018

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Open Hole Fluid Displacement Analysis - Forward vs. Reverse Circulations

McNerlin

Gao

Mohiuldin

et al. 2013

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Angola is home to two of BP's largest subsea developments, Greater Plutonio and PSVM. High rate production wells have been achieved through the use of long open hole gravel pack completions, with alternate path screen design. Since the screens are deployed in conditioned oil based mud, the open hole is displaced to aqueous fluid prior to gravel packing the well. The early Greater Plutonio wells extensively utilised what is referred to as the 'conventional,' 'forward,' or Heel-to-Toe technique to displace the oil based fluid to water based. However, depletion of some of the reservoir sands increased the likelihood of screen plugging in wells with long open hole sections, as demonstrated by a handful of incidents. Also, the tight pore pressure to fracture gradient (PPFG) windows and small screen gauge sizes in the PSVM development made the 'forward' technique less suitable to adopt as a basis of design. As such, both projects developed a different displacement technique referred to as 'reverse' or Toe-to-Heel circulation to overcome the issues of sand control screen plugging and small PPFG windows. Work was performed to confirm that service tools could maintain full functionality, the fluid pill train properties were appropriate, and that hydraulic models could adequately predict the ECDs generated during the displacement. Eight open hole gravel pack wells, across both projects, have now been successfully completed using the Toe-to-Heel technique. Using the data from these wells, along with the existing data set from the earlier Greater Plutonio wells, it has been possible to determine a set of guidelines which indicate which technique is best suited under certain conditions. This paper briefly describes the history of the two projects, details the operational differences between both methods, describes the evolution of the modelling work done for ECD prediction, including several pros and cons associated with each method. The actual displacement data is also presented, and is compared with the predictions from the initial modelling simulations. The development of even more accurate modelling techniques is also discussed.

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Design and Implementation of a Water-Based Micronized Weighting Agent Fluid System for Deepwater Drill Stem Testing Operation in Environmentally Restricted Location

Motta

Loureiro

2021

Day 1 Tue, March 23, 2021

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The use of micronized weighting agents, in multiple operations, have become more commonplace over the years, with current applications now going far beyond their targeted original purpose of reducing pressure losses in extended reach wells. This specific case reports the development of a fit for purpose system engineered to tackle multiple challenges such as: limitation in using heavy density brines composed of bromides in an offshore environment; hydrate suppression under Drill Stem Test (DST) conditions; weighting agent sagging control; plugging of downhole tools due to heavy solids loading; proper pressure transmission for downhole tools activation; and formation damage prevention. The operation involved the following steps: 1 - development of a Water-based Micronized Weighting Agent Fluid System (WBMWAFS), laboratory testing, simulation evaluation and testing validation for all target properties; 2 - development of an appropriate DST approach with the usage of a designed set of explosives to minimize formation damage and the interaction of the DST fluid with such cargos; and 3 - the evaluation of the overall system performance in order to validate the integrated approach used to design such solution. The DST results indicated that the WBMWAFS is capable of delivering all the technical requirements for a trouble-free operation, with no significant register of weighting agent sag, hydrates or with any variation in fluid properties, whilst enabling a DST operation that demonstrated a negative skin damage during the clean-up period and no damage associated with the WBMWAFS. The WBMWAFS performance opens the possibility of the application of this type of fluid as a replacement for high-density clear brines in many challenging environments.

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Barite Sag Occurrence and Resolution during Angolan Completion Operations

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Development of a New Reservoir-Friendly Drilling Fluid for Higher Gas Production

Development of a New Reservoir-Friendly Drilling Fluid for Higher Gas Production

Open Hole Fluid Displacement Analysis - Forward vs. Reverse Circulations

Design and Implementation of a Water-Based Micronized Weighting Agent Fluid System for Deepwater Drill Stem Testing Operation in Environmentally Restricted Location

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