Optimization of mud cleanup for openhole horizontal wells
Successful completion of openhole horizontal wells requires removal of potential impairment from the near wellbore and formation face. Impairment can reduce well productivity and lead to failure of sand control screens due to plugging and erosion. Shell has adopted the practice in the Gulf of Mexico of employing drill-in fluids with acid-soluble bridging and weighting agents for all openhole drilling and extensive displacement and acid cleanup procedures during horizontal well completions. Drill-in fluid and filtercakes are removed with specially formulated sweeps and by attainment of sufficient velocity to achieve effective displacement. Filtercakes are removed with specially formulated washes applied using washcups or coil tubing to ensure that the cleanup formulations contact the filtercake materials. Drill-in fluids and cleanup systems must be specially formulated and evaluated for specific applications. The authors have adopted a suite of laboratory screening tests to evaluate formation damage and removal chemistries to ensure that each well is effectively cleaned. These tests can also be used to evaluate new fluid systems before taking them to the field. Their approach in this instance is to compare data from new fluids to results obtained with fluids with which the authors have a successful field track record. In this article they review these procedures and the results with a variety of fluid systems.
- Research Organization:
- Shell E and P Technology Co. (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20019053
- Journal Information:
- SPE Drilling and Completion (Society of Petroleum Engineers), Vol. 15, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Mar 2000; ISSN 1064-6671
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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