Society of Petroleum

Engineers

SPE/IADC 37679

New Applications for Underbalanced Drilling Equipment

Charles R. "Rick" Stone, SPE and Larry A. Cress, SPE, Signa Engineering Corp., Houston, Texas
Abstract the operators began considering this technology for other
In 1987, horizontal operators in the fractured Austin Chalk reservoirs throughout the world. UBD technology has
of South Texas realized that conventional drilling recently included three different types of utilization in
techniques were not economical. The need for a vertical well bores. The first case study was in South
nondamaging technique to drill and complete fractured Louisiana on the re-entry of a well that was scheduled to
carbonates spawned the creation of Flowdrilling (FID) and drill through depleted sands at 16,300 feet. The operator
Underbalanced Drilling (UBD)- The use of clear drilling made three attempts to re-enter and sidetrack around
fluids and the philosophy to address well control problems several fish that were left in the hole. Several different
at the surface pushed the industry to develop new, hole problems and well control problems existed that
specialized surface equipment for UBD drilling. By 1992, could be solved with UBD surface equipment and lower
the surface Rotating Blowout Preventer (RBOP) had been mudweights. The second case study was in East Texas. This
developed and successfully field tested. As UBD became application involved tight gas formations that would give
popular, and engineers began to understand the versatility false readings at the surface as to additional mudweight
of drilling underbalanced, new applications surfaced. Three requirements. The third case study was in Mexico. This
different case studies in this paper danonstrate the success wellbore utilized UBD techniques to drill through a lost
of horizontal UBD techniques and equipment to vertical circulation zone that was on top of a higher pressured
wellbores. zone of interest. Previous attempts to set casing through
the zone had failed or were not economical.
Introducüon
The hydraulically actuated Rotating Blowout Preventer History
has provided the missing link in surface equipment Flow drilling and underbalanced drilling were the final
necessary to expand the flowdrilling techniques components that made horizontal technology flourish. A
developed in Texas from 1987 to 1992. The natural Rotating Blowout Preventer would allow the surface
progression for flow drilling was to expand to deeper and containment of fluids produced to be safely and effectively
higher pressured reservoirs in other areas of the Austin processed. Both gas and liquids must be contained under a
Chalk fomation. True underbalanced drilling techniques variety of conditions. Effective processing of the gas and
were developed in the Giddings, Texas area. In Giddings, fluids at the surface ensures that the operation and
the mudweights used while drilling were less than the flexibility of the equipment does not limit the ability to
reservoir pore pressure, hence the term "underbalanced" continue drilling. All pressure control equipment utilized
drilling. Underbalanced drilling resulted in higher surface must be easy to understand and operate by the drilling
pressures which had to be contained by additional crew. The RBOP and its associated control equipment is
blowout prevention equipment. With the expansion of the user friendly and can be automated or manually controlled
domestic market use of UBD, by the driller. See attached "RBOP Equipment" Drawing.

The RBOP uses an inner and outer packer element. A

secondary expendable quick change packer (QCP) allows
rotation of the drill string to occur 'Thile sealing around the
kelly or drill pipe to prevent the escape of fluids to the
surface. RBOP control panels are selfcontained units. The
typical installation time for the RBOP is four hours with one
hour of training per crew. Replacement of the patented
QCP through the rotary table can be accomplished with or
without pipe in the hole in as little as 15 minutes. See
attached "Cutaway of RBOP" Drawing.

Case Study #1
The operator involved had tried several times to re-
enter a wellbore in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The
reentry candidate had 5-1/2", 26.80# casing set at
16,500 feet. A whipstock was set and a sidetrack was
initiated in the 5-1/2" casing at 15,378 feet in order to

909
go around collapsed casing that had occurred at all a result of excessive mudweight and/or a shale
15,450 feet. A bottom-hole assembly of 3-1/8" drill reaction with the water based mud system. By
collars without stabilization was selected to help with changing to an oil based mud and decreasing the
differential sticking problems. Drilling proceeded in mudweight to 16.5 ppg, it was calculated this problem
the 4-3/8" hole to a depth of 16, 100 feet where shale could be solved. Additionally, to help the differential
and gas problems were encountered. The mudweight sticking problem, the bottom hole assembly was
was increased to 17.5 ppg to help alleviate the gas and modified to consist of a positive displacement motor,
shale problems. The open hole was showing signs of one 3-1/8" monel drill collar and 2-7/8" PH-6 tubing as
increasing torque and drag. Swab and surge pressures a drill string. This bottom hole assembly would help
were causing increased gas problems during trips. the swab/surge problems by reducing the length of
While drilling through partially depleted sands, the the bottom hole assembly. Additionally, by utilizing no
drill string became stuck several times. Oil spotting stabilizers in the bottom hole assembly, sticking
agents were successfully used to free the pipe. At problems across slightly depleted sands were
16.207 feet, the pipe became stuck and the ensuing avoided. Please see the attached "Case Study #1"
fishing job resulted in a fish left in the hole. After a Drawing.
cement plug was set above the fish and dressed off,
drilling proceeded until the pipe became stuck due to Equipment To Solve The Problem
sloughing shale at 16,100 feet. A second fishing job The RBOP was recommended to solve several problems
resulted in a second sidetrack around a fish left in the that were encountered while drilling this well. Swabbing
hole. during trips was the first problem to be addressed. The
swab pressures were high due to the tight clearances
The operator called a meeting to determine what to between the hole size and bottom hole assembly size. The
do next A recommendation was made to change to oil calculations showed a 1.2 ppg hydrostatic pressure loss due
to these tight clearances. Regardless of how slowly the drill
base mud in order to help the hole problems and the
string was pulled out of the hole, the hole would not fill up
swab and surge problems. The capillary pressures in with the correct amount of fluid. To overcome this problem
this tight annulus (4-3/8" x 3-1/2") were so restrictive the RBOP was used as a stripping device. The annulus was
that it was almost impossible to preclude swab and pressured up to 100 psi. The drill pipe was stripped through
surge pressures that would constantly be a problem. the RBOP's kelly packer until the pressure was reduced to
A cement plug was set above the fish and dressed off- O psi. In effect, the fluids were being forced past the
A mud motor was used to sidetrack off the plug. The bottom hole assemblies by the additional pressure that
was applied at the surface.
water based mud was displaced by oil based mud at
the window in the 5-1/2" casing. Problems with The mudweight reduction was critical in this wellbore.
displacement resulted in a kick. After circulating the Many of the wells in this area experience pressured shale
kick, a drill string failure occurred which resulted in or tight gas sand stringers. When these zones had been
another fishing job. This fishing job was also penetrated, they gave signs at the surface that the
unsuccessful, partially due to problems with the mudweight requirements might not be adequate. Typically,
this is seen in gas wt mud that comes up and stays in the
window in the 5-1/2" casing.
system for several hours. The nonal reaction is to raise the
mudweight. However, in this area, if you raise the
Another meeting was called to address problems and
mudweight you create a ballooning effect that starts a
determine probability of success. Several problems were
chain of mudweight increases. This was evident when the
addressed. First, problems with the window emphasized
first replacement well was drilled. To address this problem,
the importance of setting another whipstock and achieving
the mudweight to start the final sidetrack was reduced to
a clean window cut. The decision was made to set a
16.5 ppg equivalent. The wellsite supervisor was strongly
whipstock at 14,500 feet. Another problem was the influx
SPE 37679 NEW APPLICATIONS FOR UNDERBALANCED DRILLING EQUIPMENT 3

of gas into the wellbore during trips due to swabbing by the cautioned not to raise the mudweight without circulating
BHA. A pore pressure study confirmed that the mudweight "bottoms up" several
requirements for this area should not exceed 16.0 ppg and
bottom hole pressures in the offset wells confined this times. The mud weight was allowed to drift back even
mudweight requirement. Slim hole drilling challenged the further to a 16.2 ppg. The mechanical sticking problem
drilling team to maintain strict specifications on the mud at the top of the sand was not experienced in the
system to minimize swabbing.
redrilled wellbore. The well was successfully drilled
The final two problems to solve were differential and completed with significant savings in the final
sticking and mechanical hole stability problems. It was sidetrack versus the first three sidetracks.
perceived by the group that these hole problems were

910
Did the use of the RBOP save the operator money? Every upon noticing the hole was not taking the right amount of
decision must be justified economically. Operational fluid during a trip. He would then circulate bottoms up to
decisions with the RBOP in use allowed the drilling team to remove any gas in the wellbore and condition the mud for
take time saving risks that helped lower operator expenses. his next attempt to trip out of the hole. Typically a small
The savings of weighting up the mud system from 16.2 to amount of gas would arrive at the surface and "blow" for
17.5 ppg was calculated to be $42,000. The maintenance of two minutes, and then the mud would be clear of gas. This
this additional mud weight was estimated to cost $1 problem could cost as much as 12 hours in lost time per trip
,800/day. However, the most visible effect was in the and was often dealt with by leaving a heavy mud pill at the
decreased trip time and problems associated with trip gas. bottom of the hole to further suppress the influx of gas
The trip time savings usually resulted in at least four hours during a trip.
of rig time savings, which is approximately $3,000. This
savings alone justified the cost of the RBOP. Additional Ignoring the industry accepted practice of discontinuing a
savings would have occurred if a kick had been trip and going back to bottom when the hole is not
encountered. Utilization of the RBOP allows the drill string accepting the proper amount of mud is like ignoring a train
to be rotated and reciprocated while circulating during a that is approaching a road crossing. When should the driller
kick. The RBOP should help alleviate differential sticking follow accepted procedures, and when should he ignore
problems that can result in a stuck drill string when the the signals of a kick? Prudently, we can never ignore the
wellbore is shut in. The mudweight requirements were warning signals associated with well control. We can,
acoarately predicted, and a UBD application of the RBOP however, employ the proper equipment to handle the
was not tested in this wellbore. Was the RBOP needed? consequences of a calculated risk. In this case, the RBOP
Yes, the drilling team had a number of uncertainties that was installed on the top of the BOP stack with a pressurized
would have produced conservative and costly decision flowiine and HCR valve. The goal was to provide protection
making. A driller or drilling engineer must assume the worst against swabbing gas into the wellbore and kicks that might
case and conduct daily operations accordingly. The use of OCCUr while tripping out of the hole.
the RBOP allowed the drill crew to safely take risks in its
daily operation that positively impacted drilling costs. When preparing to trip out of the hole, the RBOP's
activating pressure was placed in U automaticn mode so that
the RBOP sealing rubber would automatically exert 300 psi
closing force greater than the annular pressure. The driller
Case Study #2 would close the flowline and the choke valve so that the
The project in East Texas was designed to vertically explore annulus was isolated. As the driller would begin to pull the
the Pinnacle Reef structures of the Cotton Valley Lime at bit off bottom, the annular pressure was monitored to
depths up to 16,000 feet. Operators would typically drill to detemine the magnitude of the swab pressure at the
a depth of 9,500 feet and set 95/8" casing. An 8-3/4" hole bottom hole assembly and the most efficient speed at
would be drilled through the which the assembly could be pulled without overcoming
Cotton Valley Sand and into the top of the Cotton Valley the "trip margin" at the bit. This valuable infomation was
Lime for a 7" drilling liner seat. The target was penetrated then used to open the RBOP and trip out at a known trip
with a 6-3/4" bit using a tapered drilling string (4-1/2" x 3- speed. It should be noted that swab pressure around the
1/2"). Typical offset mudweights at 10,000 feet were 15.0
4 RICK STONE, LARRY CRESS SPE 37679

ppg increasing to 17.5 ppg at the top of the Cotton Valley BHA decreased considerably after the first three stands
reef. The target itself was often drilled with mudweights as were pulled due to "breaking" of the mud gel properties.
high as 18.5 ppg. During our analysis of drilling problems Please see
associated with this project, we surmised that typical
mudweights must be considerably overbalanced versus attached Case Study #2 "Swab Pressure" Drawing. The
pore pressure to create the problems being experienced. magnitude of this decrease in swab pressure will vary
with mud type and hole properties, but can easily be
A pore pressure study was conducted using log data measured using the URBOP Swab Pressure
from adjacent wells, and it was affirmed that the maximum Technique." This technique should be used with
pore pressure above the reef structure near total depth
was 13.0 ppg. Most problems at the Cotton Valley Sand at caution if there are weak under-pressured formations
approximately 12,500 feet were related to gas seepage open to the wellbore above the bottom hole assembly
with C02 and stuck pipe. Difficulty in, breaking cinjlation (BHA). All sections of the open hole above the BHA
also indicated mud theology problems and an excessive would be subjected to the inverse of swab pressure
wall cake buildup across "tight" sands in the hole. This which is surge pressure. Surge pressure can cause well
speculation was affined by difficulties in pulling stabilizers control problems by breaking down a weak
out of the hole across the sands and by the sticking of
fon•nation and possibly initiating loss of circulation.
logging tools. Although the Cotton Valley Sands have never
precipitated a blowout in this area, swabbing high pressure The well was successfully drilled with minimal lost time due
gas into the wellbore on bit trips caused many hours of lost to contaminated mud and swabbing on trips.
time. The driller many times would trip back to bottom

911
Case study pretreated with liquid H2S scavenger, and any detected
SOUr gas at the choke manifold was further treated via a
A field in the Southern Region of Mexico typified a difficult
liquid injection pump downstream of the choke manifold.
situation for the operator. A thick section (600 feet) of
highly fractured carbonate is the primary producer in the
field. The production is gas that contains up to 3% H2S and Flowdrilling of the depleted interval resulted in a
a small amount of C02. This section is located at maximum of 2,500 psi casing pressure at the surface.
approximately 8,000 feet true vertical depth and is The drilling team experienced minor seepage losses
depleted to a bottom hole pressure equivalent to 5.0 ppg while simultaneously drilling and flowing the well. At
equivalent mudweight. The thickness of the section with one point in the drilling of this section, the kelly packer
overlying pressured shales and nomally pressured needed to be changed during a connection. The well
permeable water sands below precluded the drilling of this
section with any other fornation exposed. The operator
was alive with about 1,800 psi on the annulus. The
was having many problems drilling and completing new annular preventer was closed, and the volume
development wells in the field. Typically, 9-5/8" casing was between the annular preventer and RBOP contained
set near the top of the target formation, and the carbonate trapped pressure. Assuming H2S laden gas, we bled
section was drilled with an invert emulsion oil mud. the pressure to the gas separators and purged the
Massive loss of circulation would occur within 100 feet stack section with N2 prior to opening the RBOP. The
below the casing seat. As the annular fluid column would RBOP kelly packer was quickly changed and drilling
fall below the equilibrium, a kick would lead to severe well
control problems and pressures up to 2,500 psi on the resumed. The entire section was drilled in two days.
surface annulus. When well control became severe enough Logging this section of the open hole was accomplished by
to discontinue drilling, the operator would suspend installing a wireline lubricator adaptor on top of the RBOP.
operations and attempt to complete the well with less than Logging the section occurred without incident with less
the optimum interval exposed. In some cases, the operator than 500 psi wellhead pressure. To prepare for the running
was unable to complete the interval, and the well was of the casing, the drilling team made a conditioning trip in
plugged and abandoned. the hole. Mud properties were monitored as the hole was
circulated and conditioned at total depth. Tripping out of
In addition to the development problems for the field, the hole was uneventful with only minor seepage losses in
seismic studies in the area had identified a deeper horizon the wellbore.
to be explored. The deeper target was located at
approximately 11,000 feet. The decision was made to set 9 The drilling team desired to minimize well control risk
5/8" intermediate casing above the depleted intenzal, then when the drill pipe was out of the hole or when running
drill and set a 7" drilling liner below the fractured casing. Full cirwlation of the drill fluid in the hole followed
carbonate. A 6 1/8" hole would then penetrate the deeper by a shutdown of the pumps to monitor fluid column
target. See attached "Case Study #3" Drawing. The surface stability preceded any attempt to trip out of the hole. The
equipment for underbalanced drilling would be rigged up well had an ability to bubble and come alive at any moment
and the sedion flowdrilled with 7.4 ppg invert emulsion oil with H2S gas at the surface with no conduit (drill pipe) in
mud. The surface equipment consisted of an RBOP on top the hole to circulate kill fluid. The running of 7" liner
of a three-ram stack and one annular preventer (see provided a serious challenge to the drilling team. The RBOP
attached "Typical 3 Ram Stack" Drawing) with twin gas was chosen as a vital tool to aid in lowering the risk of this
separators, vacuum degasser tanks and chemical injection operation.
pumps. The vertical gas separators were sized to process
40 mmcf/d each. Twin vacuum degassers would remove all The RBOP with the kelly packer removed has a 11" open
entrained gas from the drill fluid. The produced gas was bore with the inner packer relaxed. We anticipated the well
flared via a vertical flare boom with an automatic igniter. would be surged and would kick while running casing, so
H2S monitors were placed upstream of the gas separators we rigged up to strip the 7" liner into the wellbore if
and in the vacuum degasser tanks. The drill fluid was needed. For anticipated low surface pressure

SPE 37679 NEW APPLICATIONS FOR UNDERBALANCED DRILLING EQUIPMENT 5

(g 2,500 psi), we would strip casing couplings between the

RBOP and the annular preventer. For anticipated high
surface pressure, (è 2,500 psi), we would strip casing
couplings between the upper pipe ram (7" rams installed)
and the RBOP- With surface preparations complete and the
well static, we proceeded to run 7" liner. The casing was run
slowly without incident; however, the operational
confidence of the drill crew was high. This same procedure
could have been accomplished with a pipe ram and annular
preventer, but the RBOP provided us the additional feature
of rotation. En a hole with unknown rugosity and a depleted
formation, reciprocation and rotation become very

912
important. In this case the operator could not risk casing
becoming stuck off bottom with the depleted zone
uncovered. The casing was safely tripped to bottom and
cementing of the section was accomplished with an N2
foam cement. The entire section was drilled and isolated in
six days. Historically, the operator had struggled with this
section for as much as 60 days using conventional well
control procedures.

Conclusions
The RBOP was conceived to provide a safe surface
environment for horizontal underbalanced drilling. The
application of this additional piece of well control
equipment has been expanded to address vertical drilling
applications. In the three cases presented in this study, we
conclude that;
1) the RBOP allows calculated risks in mudweight and
tripping practices;
2) the RBOP assists in quantifying downhole swab forces vs
trip speed when downhole mud properties are unknown;
3) the RBOP can safely contain annular surface
pressures while drilling, logging, stripping casing and
cementing operations are executed; and
4) the RBOP ensures the safety of the drill crew
exploring the limits of drilling operations.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the operators that
allowed us to publish the results of the three case
studies, as well as Jim Cunningham, Lorraine Cramer
and Bob Davis of Signa Engineering Corp. for review
comments and editing. A special thanks to RBOP Oil
Tools International, Inc. and InterTech Drilling
Solutions, Ltd.

913
 RBOP EQUIPMENT

HYDRAULIC
POWER UNIT

CUTAWAY OF RBOP
 '

m、
1

: 1
915
 卜1

CASE STUDY #1
UBD Tools & Techniques
Vertical Drilling
14,500

Whipstock #2
@ 14,500'
4-318" HOLE
OIL MUD e 16.2PPG
RBOP SUCESSFUL COMPLETION

15,000'

Water base mud

17.5 PPG
Conventional Drilling
Whipstock #1
@ 15,378'

15.500'

Collapsed
@ 15,450'

UNSTABLE
HOLE

16,000'
 GAS TARGET SAND
18,207'

5' 26.80# set @ 16,500'

16,500

CASE STUDY #2
Swab Pressurel
Trip Speed Determination

917
CASE STUDY #3
Depleted Fractured Zone
 Annular surface
pressures up to
2,500' psi

13-3/8"

7.4 PPG OILMUD (90/10)

N2 INJECTION AS NEEDED
H2S SCAVENGER IN MUD AND
INJECTED AT CHOKE MANIFOLD

N2 FOAM CEMENT 9-5/8"

@ 2,500M
.r-rs.r -rss '-r -
x.rar.r.r.r..r.r.r -rx-rx-r.r -r-r-r-rxx-rx-r-r-r-r-rx-r — .r-—-rx-zr

sar -x.r...r

.rxx
'.r.rx----.r..r-•-s -r

HIGHLY FRACTURED CARBONATE

7" Liner DEPLETED GAS ( 5PPG EMW )
@ 2,700M
SEVERE LOSS OF CIRCULATION
Has + C02

EXPLORATORY TARGET
(3,300 M)
918

919
Typical 3 Ram Stack
RBOP

Annular

Blind Rams

Pipe Rams

Pipe Rams