Drilling a Medium-Radius Horizontal Well With Aerated Drilling Fluid: A Case Study (1991)

Drilling a Medium-Radius Horizontal Well With Aerated Drilling Fluid: A Case Study S.B. Claytor; S.B. Claytor Smith Intl. Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar K.J. Manning; K.J. Manning Smith Intl. Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar D.L. Schmalzried D.L. Schmalzried Marathon Oil Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 1991. Paper Number: SPE-21988-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/21988-MS Published: March 11 1991 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Claytor, S.B., Manning, K.J., and D.L. Schmalzried. "Drilling a Medium-Radius Horizontal Well With Aerated Drilling Fluid: A Case Study." Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 1991. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/21988-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractMany formations throughout the world are sensitive to oil and water based drilling fluids and are best drilled with air as the drilling medium. However, positive displacement motors do not typically operate well with air. In addition mud pulse telemetry MWD tools will not operate reliably in an air environment. In the second quarter of 1990, Marathon Oil Company successfully drilled a medium radius horizontal well in Jackson County, Michigan using an aerated mud system and an electromagnetic telemetry link MAD tool. This paper will describe the pre-well planning paper will describe the pre-well planning and practical aspects of drilling the well with emphasis on the hydraulic system and drilling fluid mixture.IntroductionIn early Spring of 1990, Marathon Oil Company began planning the Frazier #2–29 HD-1 horizontal well that was to be drilled is Jackson County, Michigan. The well objective was to delineate the Trenton/Black River groups to the northeast approximately one mile from current production in the Stoney Point field. Figure 1 shows the location of Jackson County within the state of Michigan and the location of the Frazier well relative to the Stoney Point Field. The Trenton and Black River groups contain naturally fractured dolomite reservoirs that are stratigraphic traps within these regional limestone units. These reservoirs contain compartments of enhanced porosity associated with the fractures that have relatively consistent spacing and orientation. The narrow, near vertical, fracture-related compartments make this reservoir an ideal candidate for a horizontal drilling application. The Frazier well was originally proposed as a medium radius horizontal well.Drilling horizontally in this reservoir not only helps to intersect the fracture-related compartments, but also has several engineering advantages. Horizontal wellbores minimize investment costs by eliminating the need to drill multiple vertical, possibly dry holes in an attempt to find these narrow features. These horizontal wells effectively drain a much larger area and reduce the number of wells needed for development. In addition, a horizontal wellbore has a lower producing drawdown than a vertical well for any fixed production rate. This tends to minimize gas production rate. This tends to minimize gas and water coning problems while conserving reservoir energy and improving the ultimate recovery.The discovery bottom hole pressure (BHP) of the Stoney Point Field was approximately 1,500 psi or 6.7 ppg equivalent at a true vertical depth (TVD) of 4,300 feet. Because this reservoir is vugular and fractured, drilling with 8.5 ppg fluid will result in at least a partial loss of returns, and in some cases, fluid returns may be lost entirely. Losing fluid returns not only creates well control problems, but can result in formation damage and loss of expensive drilling fluid. Therefore, the Frazier well was planned with the contingency of using an aerated brine drilling fluid with a density of 6.7 ppg equivalent at 4,300 feet TVD to balance the anticipated 1,500 psi BHP.P. 759 Keywords: information, directional drilling, drilling operation, build rate, horizontal extension, aerated drilling fluid, assembly, steerable bha, spe iadc 21988, build portion Subjects: Drilling Operations, Drilling Fluids and Materials, Directional drilling, Drilling fluid management & disposal This content is only available via PDF. 1991. SPE/IADC Drilling Conference You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.