Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1
1.1WELLBORE STABILITY..1
1.2IMPORTANCE OF WELLBORE STABILITY ..............................................................
RESULTING OF HOLE INSTABILITY..........3 1.3
CHAPTER 2........................................................................................ 4
INTRODUCTION.5 2.1
SHALE INSTABILITY..6 2.2
SHALE PROPERTIES....7 2.3
MECHANICAL INSTABILITY8 2.4
CHEMICAL INSTABILITY...9 2.5
CAPILLARY PRESSURE....10
OSMOTIC PRESSURE11
PRESSURE DIFFUSION.12
BOREHOLE FLUID INVASION INTO SHALE..13
SHALE/FLUID INTERACTION MECANISMS..14 2.6
BOREHOLE INSTABILITY PREVENTION15 2.7
CHAPTER 3.16
 Chapter 1
1.1WELLBORE STABILITY
Wellbore stability is the prevention of brittle failure or plastic
deformation of the rock surrounding the wellbore due to mechanical
stress or chemical imbalances .Prior to drilling , the mechanical stresses
in the formation are less than the strength of the rock. The chemical
action is also balanced, or occurring at a rate relative to geologic time
(millions of years). Rocks under this balanced or near-balanced state are
.stable
After drilling, the rock surrounding the wellbore undergoes changes in
tension, compression, and shear loads as the rock forming the core of
the hole is removed. Chemical reactions also occur with exposure to the
.drilling fluid
Under these conditions, the rock surrounding the wellbore can become
unstable, begin to deform, fracture, and cave into the wellbore or
.dissolve into the drilling fluids
Excessive rock stress can collapse the hole resulting in stuck pipe. Hole
squeezing mobile formations produce tight hole problems and stuck
pipe. Cavings from failing formation makes hole cleaning more difficult
.and increases mud and cementing costs
Estimated cost to the drilling industry for hole stability problems range
.from 600 million to 1 billion dollars annually
 Figure (1.1) : Wellbore stability problems

1.2IMPARTANCE OF WELLBORE STABILITY

Well-bore stability analysis has been the subject of study and discussion
for a long time. The integrity of the well-bore plays an important role in
many well operations during drilling, completion, and production.
Problems involving well-bore stability occur principally through changes
in the original stress state due to removal of rock, interactions between
rock and drilling or completion fluids, temperature changes, or changes
.of differential pressures as draw down occurs
For the particular drilling case, support provided originally by the rock is
replaced by hydraulic drilling fluid pressure; this creates perturbation
and redistribution of stresses around the well-bore that can lead to
mechanical instabilities .These instabilities can cause lost circulation or
hole closure in the case of tensile or compressive failure respectively. In
severe situations ,hole closure can cause stuck pipe and loss of the well-
.bore .These events lead to an increase of drilling costs
The causes of instability have been classified into either mechanical or
chemical effects. A significant amount of research has been focused on
 these two aspects of instability; the last one mainly oriented to
.instability in shales

1.3Resulting of hole instability

Stuck pipe .1
Sidetrack .2
Logging and interpretation difficults .3
Difficulty running casing .4
Poor cementing jobs .5
Lost circulation .6

All contribute to increased costs, the possibility of losing part of the hole
.or the entire well, or reduced production
Numerous factors cause the well-bore to become unstable after the
:borehole is drilled, such as

In-situ stress state conditions .1

(Well types (vertical or directional .2

(Well trajectories (inclination and azimuth .3

Rock properties (strength, Poisson ratio, modulus of elasticity, .4
(permeability
Shale/fluid interactions .5

.Thermal effects .6

These factors can be classified as mechanical,chemical, and physical

.effects
 CHAPTER 2

2.1INTRODUCTION
Shales make up over 75% of the drilled formations, and over70% of the
borehole problems are related to shale instability .The oil and gas
industry still continues to fight borehole problems. The problems include
hole collapse, tight hole , stuck pipe, poor hole cleaning, hole
enlargement, plastic flow ,fracturing, lost circulation, well control. Most
of the drilling problems that drive up the drilling costs are related to
wellbore stability. These problems are mainly caused by the imbalance
created between the rock stress and strength when a hole is drilled.The
stress-strength imbalance comes about as rock is removed from the
hole, replaced with drilling fluid, and the drilled formations are exposed
to drilling fluids .While drilling, shale becomes unstable when the
effective state of the stress near the drilled hole exceeds the strength of
the hole. A complicating factor that distinguishes shale from other rocks
is its sensitivity to certain drilling constituents , particularly water. Shale
stability is affected by properties of both shale (e.g. mineralogy, porosity)
and of the drilling fluid contacting it (e.g. wettability, density, salinity and
,ionic concentration).The existence and creation of fissures
fractures and weak bedding planes can also destabilize shale as drilling
fluid penetrates them. Drilling fluids can cause shale instability by
altering pore pressure or effective stress-state and the shale strength
through shale/fluid interaction. Shale stability is also a time-dependent
problem in that changes in the stress-state and strength usually take
.place over a period of time

2.2Shale instability
The oil and gas industry sustains financial losses due to well-bore failure
of over one billion dollars each year. Well-bore instability is a complex
problem that includes rock mechanics, stress analysis, in-situ stress
calculations, pore pressure prediction, and shale/fluid chemical
 reactions. Borehole stability problem occurs when the rock stress
exceeds rock strength. To prevent the problem, balance between the
stress and strength must be restored and maintained during drilling
through control over drilling fluid composition, mud weight, well
.trajectory and many other factors
Well-bore instability is caused by a radical change in both the mechanical
stress and the chemical and physical environments when a hole is
drilled, exposing the formation to drilling mud. Hole instability is seen
.most often as sloughing and caving shale
The mechanisms of well-bore instability in shales can be grouped into
:(three categories, (Bradley et al
Fractures caused by tensile failure due to excessive well-bore (1
pressure. This causes lost circulation and often results in well control
(problems experienced as a kick or an underground blowout .Figure(2.1
Hole size reductions due to swelling of shales , which results in repeat (2
(reaming, or in extreme conditions, stuck drill pipe .Figure(2.2
Hole enlargements resulting from compressive failure due to (3
excessively low well-bore pressure, which causes fill on trips, poor
(directional control, and poor cementing .Figure(2.2

Figure (2.1): Mechanical wellbore instability

 Figure (2.2): Mechanical wellbore instability

2.3shale properties
Shales make up the majority of drilled formations, and cause most
wellbore-instability problems, ranging from washout to complete
collapse of the hole. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks
composed of clay, silt, and, in some cases, fine sand. Shale types range
from clay-rich gumbo (relatively weak) to shaly siltstone (highly
cemented), and have in common the characteristics of extremely low
permeability and a high proportion of clay minerals. The drilling cost
attributed to shale-instability problems is reported to be in excess of
one-half billion U.S dollars per year. The cause of shale instability is two-
fold: mechanical (stress change vs. shale strength environment) and
chemical (shale/fluid interactioncapillary pressure, osmotic pressure,
.(pressure diffusion, borehole-fluid invasion into shale

2.4Mechanical instability
Mechanical rock instability can occur because the in-situ stress state of
equilibrium has been disturbed after drilling. The mud in use with a
 certain density may not bring the altered stresses to the original state,
.therefore, shale may become mechanically unstable

2.5Chemical instability
Chemical-induced shale instability is caused by the drilling-fluid/shale
interaction, which alters shale mechanical strength as well as the shale
pore pressure in the vicinity of the borehole walls. The mechanisms that
:contribute to this problem include

Capillary pressure

Osmotic pressure

Pressure diffusion in the vicinity of the borehole walls

Borehole-fluid invasion into the shale when drilling overbalanced

Capillary pressure
During drilling, the mud in the borehole contacts the native pore fluid in
the shale through the pore-throat interface. This results in the
development of capillary pressure, pcap , which is expressed as

(pcap =2....................(1

where is the interfacial tension, is the contact angle between the

two fluids, and r is the pore-throat radius. To prevent borehole fluids
from entering the shale and stabilizing it, an increase in capillary
pressure is required, which can be achieved with oil-based or other
.organic low-polar mud systems

Osmotic pressure
When the energy level or activity in shale pore fluid, as, is different from
the activity in drilling mud, am , water movement can occur in either
direction across a semipermeable membrane as a result of the
development of osmotic pressure, pos , or chemical potential, c . To
prevent or reduce water movement across this semipermeable
membrane that has certain efficiency, Em, the activities need to be
equalized or, at least, their differentials minimized. If am is lower than as,
it is suggested to increase Em and vice versa. The mud activity can be
reduced by adding electrolytes that can be brought about through the
:use of mud systems such as
 seawater

Saturated-salt/polymer

KCl/NaCl/polymer

Lime/gypsum

Pressure diffusion
Pressure diffusion is a phenomenon of pressure change near the
borehole walls that occurs over time. This pressure change is caused by
the compression of the native pore fluid by the borehole-fluid
.pressure, pwfl, and the osmotic pressure, pos

Borehole fluid invasion into shale

In conventional drilling, a positive differential pressure (the difference
between the borehole-fluid pressure and the pore-fluid pressure) is
always maintained. As a result, borehole fluid is forced to flow into the
formation (fluid-loss phenomenon), which may cause chemical
interaction that can lead to shale instabilities. To mitigate this problem,
an increase of mud viscosity or, in extreme cases, gilsonite is used to seal
.off micro fractures

2.6Shale/Fluid interaction mechanisms

Analysis of the available experimental data (OBrien-GoinsSimpson
Associates and University of Texas, Austin, Shell and Amoco sponsored
Projects), clearly shows that the shale strength and the pore pressure
near the bore-hole are indeed affected by fluid/shale interaction. Basic
:results confirmed by this analysis can be summarized as follows
Activity imbalance causes fluid flow into/or out of shale
Different drilling fluids and additives affect the amount of fluid flow in
or out of shale
Differential pressure or overbalance causes fluid flow into shale
Fluid flow into shale results in swelling pressure
The moisture content affects shale strength. Moisture content relates
.to sonic velocity

The instability and shale/fluid interaction mechanisms, coming into play

as drilling fluid contacts the shale formation, can be summarized as
:follows
Mechanical stress changes as the drilling fluid of certain density .1
 replaces shale in the hole. Mechanical stability problem caused by
various factors is fairly well understood, and stability analysis tools are
.available
Fractured shale - Fluid penetration into fissures and fractures and .2
.weak bedding planes
Capillary pressure, Pc, as drilling fluid contacts native pore fluid at .3
.narrow pore throat interface
Osmosis(and ionic diffusion) occurring between drilling fluid and .4
shale native pore fluid (with different water activities/ ion
concentrations) across a semi-permeable membrane (with certain
membrane efficiency) due to osmotic pressure (or chemical potential),
.PM
Hydraulic (Advection), ph, causing fluid transport under net hydraulic .5
.pressure gradient because of the hydraulic gradient
Swelling/Hydration pressure, ps, caused by interaction of moisture .6
.with clay-size charged particles
Pressure diffusion and pressure changes near the wellbore(with time) .7
as drilling fluid compresses the pore fluid and diffuses a pressure front
.into the formation

Fluid penetration in fractured shale and weak bedding planes can play .8
a dominant role in shale instability, as large block of fractured shale fall
.into the hole

2.7Borehole-instability prevention
Total prevention of borehole instability is unrealistic, because restoring
the physical and chemical in-situ conditions of the rock is impossible.
However, the drilling engineer can mitigate the problems of borehole
:instabilities by adhering to good field practices. These practices include

Proper mud-weight selection and maintenance

Use of proper hydraulics to control the equivalent circulating

(density (ECD
Proper hole-trajectory selection

Use of borehole fluid compatible with the formation being drilled

:Additional field practices that should be followed are

Minimizing time spent in open hole

(Using offset-well data (use of the learning curve

Monitoring trend changes (torque, circulating pressure, drag, fill-in
(during tripping
Collaborating and sharing information

References
McLean, M.R. and Addis, M.A. 1990. Wellbore Stability Analysis: A Review of Current Methods -1
of Analysis and Their Field Application. Presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Houston,
.Texas, 27 February-2 March. SPE-19941-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/19941-MS

.AMOCO-Wellbore-Stability-2

.WELLBORE INSTABILITY:CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES -3

.Wellbore Stability in Shale -4