Patent ID: 11885205
Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC E | IPC E

Claim 0:
1. A method for fracturing a formation, the method comprising:
drilling a wellbore into the formation;
measuring a time-dependent permeability and a time-dependent thickness of a filter cake formed by a first drilling mud;
determining a time-dependent permeability model based on the measured time-dependent permeability of the filter cake;
determining a time-dependent thickness model of the filter cake based on the measured time-dependent thickness of the filter cake;
measuring a permeability of the formation;
selecting a breakdown pressure model based on (i) the time-dependent thickness of the filter cake, (ii) the time-dependent permeability of the filter cake, and (iii) the permeability of the formation;
using the selected breakdown pressure model to predict the breakdown pressure of the formation, wherein using the selected breakdown pressure model comprises using the time-dependent thickness model of the filter cake and the time-dependent permeability model of the filter cake in the breakdown pressure model;
determining a critical mud weight based on the predicted breakdown pressure; and
pumping a second drilling mud into the wellbore to fracture the formation, the second drilling mud having a mud weight within 10% of the critical mud weight.