Field and Experimental Investigations on the Effect of Reservoir Drill-In Fluids on Penetration Rate and Drilling Cost in Horizontal Wells

In this study, the reservoir drill-in fluid (RDF) was modified and optimized to improve the rheological properties and reduce the filtration properties of the drilling fluid used for drilling the oil-bearing zone horizontally. In polymer science, degradation generally refers to a complex process, by which a polymeric material exposed to the environment and workload loses its original properties. Degradation is usually an unwanted process. In certain cases, however, controlled polymer degradation is useful. For instance, it can improve the processability of the polymer or can be used in recycling or natural decomposition of waste polymer. Thus, the drilling fluid and parameter data of 30 horizontal wells that were drilled in the south of Iraq were collected using several reservoir drill-in fluids (RDFs), including FLOPRO, salt polymer mud (SPM), non-damaged fluid (NDF), and FLOPRO_PTS-200 (including the polymer thermal stabilizer). The obtained results showed that the polymer temperature stabilizer (PTS-200) enabled reducing the filtration rate by 44.33% and improved the rheological properties by 19.31% as compared with FLOPRO. Additionally, the average cost of NDF and SPM drilling fluids for drilling the horizontal section of the selected wells is around USD 96,000 and USD 91,000, respectively. However, FLOPRO-based drilling fluid showed less cost for drilling the horizontal section, which is USD 45,000.

Automated summary

In this study, the reservoir drill-in fluid (RDF) was modified and optimized to improve rheological properties and reduce filtration properties of drilling fluid for horizontal drilling in oil-bearing zones. Controlled polymer degradation proved to be useful in improving processability and cost efficiency of the drilling fluid. Results showed that the addition of a polymer temperature stabilizer (PTS-200) reduced filtration rate by 44.33% and improved rheological properties by 19.31% compared to the standard FLOPRO fluid. The cost analysis revealed that FLOPRO-based drilling fluid had a lower cost of USD 45,000 for horizontal drilling compared to USD 96,000 for NDF and USD 91,000 for SPM drilling fluids.