Drilling Problems and Drilling Operations - Essay Example

Drilling fluids have several purposes during the drilling operations. With the discovery of large oil fields during the twentieth century a need arose for deep drilling operations and that is how drilling fluids came into prominence. With the advancement in drilling technologies, drilling fluid also known as drilling mud is being used to provide buoyancy, cooling, and lubrication during the drilling operations. Drilling operations may cause several problems and some of them are listed in the following paragraphs.

At times, reservoir rocks get damaged while forcing drilling fluid into them. This happens due to the use of too heavy overbalance during the drilling operation. The drilling fluid clogs the pores reducing the permeability of the rock. This results in formation damage that reduces or prevents production from the reservoir rock after the completion of the well. Lost circulation is another issue that is caused due to creation of highly porous and permeable formations in the subsurface. The drilling fluid gets into the formation without forming a filter cake.

The lost circulation problem is solved by pumping down the fibrous materials such as ground pecan hulls, mica flakes, sugar cane hulls, or even shredded cellophane material into the well. They get into the pore spaces of the lost-circulation formation and swell up there closing off the formation and solving the problem. Blowout is caused due to unexpected pressure in the subsurface and fluid comes out of the subsurface rocks known as Kick.