SPE/IADC 148341

Control of Severe Loss and Kick Situations - A Case History of West Kuwait
Wells DF-15 and MN-159
A. M. Al-Saleh, SPE, M. D. Al-Khaldy, SPE, and A. A. J. Shehab, Kuwait Oil Company; P. K. Altekar, SPE, and D.
A. H. Al Mulla, National Petroleum Services Co.; D. C. McKinnell, SPE, Total Kuwait

Copyright 2011, SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition held in Muscat, Oman, 24–26 October 2011.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE/IADC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not
been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this
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abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE/IADC copyright.

Abstract

Kuwait has been drilling and producing from the deep, sour Jurassic reservoirs in the West Kuwait area during the past 25
years. The wells, which are mainly vertical, penetrate heavily fractured, highly pressured reservoirs and produce high quality
light oil. New wells are planned to be added with more complex deviated and horizontal well profiles, in an attempt to
intersect multiple fractures and fracture swarms.

Selective production has contributed to the depletion of certain reservoir intervals, which in addition to the pressure reversals
in the lower reservoirs and their fractured nature presents increased complications and challenges to the drilling of these wells.
The difficulty of drilling such depleted / fractured formations has presented the operator with new and complex challenges,
especially in deviated and horizontal wellbores. These include partial / total losses, gas kicks, and mechanical / differential
sticking, resulting in some instances in having to sidetrack the wellbore.

A case history of two recent West Kuwait directional wells, DF-15 and MN-159, is presented to explain the nature of the
problems that have been encountered and the solutions that were successfully developed to handle them. The challenges of
drilling in these environments were analyzed, with practices and materials being developed and adapted to enable drilling to
continue through these troublesome zones. The new solutions and methodologies provide a basis for future optimization in
subsequent wells.

Introduction

Kuwait has developed the deep, sour Jurassic reservoirs in the West Kuwait area fields over the past 25 years. The wells
penetrate heavily fractured, highly pressured reservoirs at depths of 11,000 to 15,000 ft. and produce high quality light oil.
Selective production has contributed to the depletion of certain reservoir intervals, with an increasing number of new wells
being drilled in which low reservoir pressures exist along with original high pressured formations. The difficulty of drilling in
this fractured / depleted environment has presented the operator with new and complex challenges, especially in deviated and
horizontal wellbores. These include partial / total losses, gas kicks, and mechanical / differential sticking, which can
sometimes result in sidetracking operations.

This paper presents a case history of two recent West Kuwait directional wells, DF-15 and MN-159, in which severe
complications were encountered in the final reservoir sections due to fractured / depleted pressure zones resulting in
substantial mud losses, subsequent well kicks and stuck pipe.

MN-159 was the first horizontal well drilled in the Minagish Field, West Kuwait. The Surface and Intermediate phases were
drilled without any issues, but severe problems were faced on entering the first of the Jurassic reservoir zones, at the Fourth
Anhydrite / Najmah interface. Complicated stuck pipe, severe loss and well control events were encountered with the rig
having to move off location while plans were considered and materials provisioned for a continuation of the well to final TD.
2 SPE/IADC 148341

Well DF-15 located in the Dharif field, also in the West Kuwait operational area was a deviated well with a maximum hole
angle of 40 degrees. Major stuck pipe problems were encountered principally due to depleted zones in the second major
reservoir section, the Middle Marrat formation.

The challenges of drilling in these environments will be discussed along with the key factors considered in the development of
the practices and materials used to seal off the loss zones and to work through the depleted intervals. Details are included on
materials, program development, and implementation along with conclusions and lessons learned for application to similar
future wells.

Geology

As noted in the Introduction the deep wells in the West Kuwait area fields target a series of highly pressured formations in the
Jurassic age sequence. The main reservoir zones are those of the Najmah-Sargelu and Middle Marrat.

The HP/HT sequence of formations in the Jurassic commences with the Hith anhydrite which is followed by the Gotnia
formation, a massive salt/anhydrite sequence 500 to 1,500 ft. thick, which has pore pressures approaching the overburden
gradient. To drill this formation requires very high mud weights from 19 to over 20 ppg. A narrow window exists between
pore pressure and fracture pressure. If losses occur they are usually total and can result in well control situations with saltwater
influxes containing H2S.

The first of the main HP/HT reservoirs is the Najmah-Sargelu. The oil accumulations in the Najmah-Sargelu reservoirs are
formed by an organic rich mature source rock interlayered with tight fractured carbonate rocks. These deep, over pressured
reservoirs are sealed at the top by the Gotnia. The productivity of this low matrix porosity reservoir (<5%) is enhanced by the
occurrence of natural fractures. During drilling, sudden massive losses may occur if open fractures are encountered followed
by influx of sour reservoir fluids due to the narrow pore/frac window. Below the Sargelu is a barrier shale zone, the Dharuma.

The Middle Marrat reservoirs are formed in a 500 ft. thick sequence comprising of fractured limestone, shale and anhydrite
where oil has accumulated on structural highs in low to moderate porosity (5 to 20%) carbonate layers interspersed with tight
carbonate and shale barriers. The reservoir is bounded by the tight argillaceous limestone and shale layers of the Upper Marrat
and Lower Marrat formations.

The overall Stratigraphic sequence is illustrated on Fig. 1.

Key Challenges

Well Design / Zonal Isolation

West Kuwait deep well casing designs are based on the “Big Hole” design presently used by KOC for most Jurassic wells
(Fig. 2). This well construction employs seven casing strings, including additional casing strings used below the Gotnia salt
due to pressure reversals. After the Gotnia interval, pore pressures regress through the subsequent formations with mud
weights of 16-18 ppg for the Najmah-Sargelu and 14-16 ppg for the Middle Marrat, in un-depleted areas of the fields (Fig. 3).

Detailing the casings used over the Jurassic interval; a 10 3/4" heavy wall liner and tie-back is run to isolate the over-pressured
Hith/Gotnia. This is set at the top of the Najmah reservoir, with the picking of the casing point being extremely critical due to
the possibility of losing circulation if entering too far into the Najmah with the heavy mud needed to drill the Gotnia. A 7 3/4"
liner is run to isolate the Najmah-Sargelu source rock from the lower pressured Marrat below and a 5 1/2" production liner set
across the Marrat formations. The 7 3/4" liner is then tied-back to surface. In selected high angle or horizontal wells the final
section is left in 6 1/2" open hole.

Fractured Formations / Depleted Reservoirs

In most earlier wells where Najmah-Sargelu pressures were close to original pressures, the reservoir fracture pressure window
was very narrow (~450 psi or 0.6 ppge) and it was crucial to maintain bottom hole mud weights within this range to avoid
gains or losses. Over time, due to prolonged production, both Najmah-Sargelu and Middle Marrat reservoirs are being depleted
and the pressure has reached as low as 11 – 12 ppge in certain field areas. Drilling through these widely varying and
challenging pressure regimes poses further drilling complications increasing the risk of failure. Therefore practices and
materials have had to be developed and trialed to seal off the loss zones to ensure continuation of drilling along with
neighboring higher pressured intervals.
SPE/IADC 148341 3

Well Control
The drilling of the Gotnia and Najmah-Sargelu formations can result in extremely difficult well control situations. Experience
in drilling these wells has led to the development of particular methods for well kill operations.

To drill the Gotnia particularly high mud weights are required (19 to 20+ ppg) with a very narrow window existing between
formation pore and fracture pressures. In some wells this window is only 300 – 600 psi, and the formations are easily broken
down resulting in losses. Once losses occur, they are usually total and can result in conditions with salt-water influxes
containing H2S. Once fractured, regaining a stable hydraulic balance in the Gotnia becomes exceptionally difficult. The salt
may also act plastically, allowing the hole to take fluid and balloon back into the well, giving the appearance of flow. Careful
review of offset wells is required to select the best mud weights to drill the section. The challenge is to drill through the narrow
pore/frac window with required mud weights and low ECD without inducing losses/gains. Any well control problem can
quickly escalate to significant lost time, as Gotnia can either kick or go on losses. Therefore it is critical to prevent the start of
this loss/gain cycle, with the use of procedures such as:

o Circulate bottoms up on each change of sequence (salt/anhydrite).

o Detect influxes early to minimize kick volumes and pressures.
o Monitor closely for swab and surge.
o Use mud-loggers to assist trip monitoring (surge/swab, trip speeds, gain/loss, gas cuts).

If a kick is taken then the following procedures are employed for this zone:

o Shut the well in using the Hard Shut-in procedure

o For required kill mud weights of below 19.8 ppg use the Wait and Weight method
o For the following problem situations, resort to Bullhead Killing operations:
• In case kill mud weights required are above 19.8 ppg
• Large volume of influx
• High levels of H2S
• Casing pressure while shut-in is +/-1,000 psi or more
• During killing operations if casing pressure is approaching 3,000 psi

In the Najmah-Sargelu the presence of major fractures could cause sudden total mud losses followed by well influx. Again the
pore/frac pressure window is narrow and the formation fluids are sour with levels of H2S up to 20,000 ppm being recorded.
Similar procedures have been developed to minimize losses and well control problems, including:

o Remaining vigilant by expecting to have sudden gain or potential losses at any time
o Minimize surge and swab when tripping
o If a sudden gain is seen, shut the well in using Hard Shut-in procedure, and kill the well using Wait and Weight
method. Flow checks should be made after kill cycle to determine the final mud weight. From experience the initial
SIDPP indicates a higher mud weight than is finally needed to control the well without losses. Inducing losses will
begin a loss/gain cycle and lead to excessive mud loss and rig time.

For both Gotnia and Najmah-Sargelu losses, LCM pills are tried first to remedy the situation. If well bore has become unstable
with massive losses with or without some gains, then the method used is to try and heal the fractures by pumping cement
through a drillable cement retainer set inside the previous casing shoe. The severity of the losses may result in multiple jobs
through one or more retainers.

Case Histories

Case History 1 – Well MN-159 / Minagish Field

i) Initial Well Operations

MN-159 was the first horizontal well to be drilled in the West Kuwait Minagish Field. The Surface and Intermediate hole
sections were drilled and cased without any issues, and the 13 1/2" casing was set at the top of the Jurassic interval in the Hith
formation at 11,630 ft. (Fig. 4 gives details of the planned well trajectory). The drilling challenges started while drilling 12
1/4" hole through the high pressure Gotina salt/anhydrite zones with complicated stuck pipe, severe loss and well control
issues. The Gotnia in MN-159 consisted of four salt zones interspaced with four anhydrite/limestone intervals. In drilling
down to the fourth salt total/partial losses occurred in the first and second anhydrites requiring the use of three cement squeeze
4 SPE/IADC 148341

jobs, two of which were through cement retainers. Mud weights varied between 19.3 to 19.5 ppg down to the fourth salt.

As noted earlier, as per the casing design it is necessary to drill the complete Gotnia formation plus 1 to 5 feet into the top of
the Najmah in order to case off the higher pressured zones. Unfortunately after drilled only 3 ft. to a depth of 13,126 ft., at the
fourth anhydrite/Najmah interface, total losses occurred and the drill string became stuck. The string was backed off and BHA
recovered with overshot fishing assembly. Well kicks and flow during fishing had to be subdued by bullheading heavy mud. A
further seven cement squeeze jobs were performed to recover the loss but without success. Each time the cement was drilled
out alternate gains and losses occurred depending on the mud weight. In order to resolve this cyclic situation it was decided to
run the 10 3/4" liner to try to seal off the higher pressures from the losses. No fluid level was observed during the cementing
operations, however mud returns were regained after the setting of the liner top packer.

Following the running and cementing of the tie-back, the shoe was drilled out with a reduced mud weight of 18.0 ppg. The
cement in the shoe track was hard but returns were lost just after drilling the casing shoe. In addition to LCM pills four cement
squeeze jobs were carried out through cement retainers set at the 10 3/4" shoe level. The mud weight was reduced in stages to
13.8 ppg where the well flowed and had to be killed. The mud was conditioned to 14.2 ppg and an attempt was then made to
continue drilling using LCM pills to try and clear the loss zone. 9 1/4" hole was continued to 13,155 ft. were the well had to be
bullhead killed after becoming unbalanced. A further ten cement plugs/squeeze jobs were attempted at this depth, using several
different cementing contractors, but without success. At this point it was decided to temporarily suspend operations on the well
in order to review the situation and to re-stock on necessary equipment and materials. Up to this point in the operations
numerous plug recipes and techniques had been tried, including balanced plugs, neat cement, gel cement, cement plus LCM,
and thixotropic cements. The final cement squeeze, however, was carried out with a customized formulation including dual
cement weights, pre-flush activator and proprietary loss treatment solution. Details of this new formulation are given in the
following section. Up to this point 23,600 bbls of mud had been lost and 1,510 bbls of LCM plus 3,360 bbls of cement
pumped into this fracture zone interval.

ii) Development of Methodology

As detailed in previous section on Challenges, the method used to cure lost circulation in these highly fractured formations
was to pump cement across the entire open hole through a cement retainer. The slurries were traditionally displaced using the
same mud weight which would be required on drilling out the plug. This meant that all plugs tried before running the 10 3/4"
liner were displaced using 19.5 ppg mud with the result that the plugs were lost to the formation or did not hold after squeeze
operations. The initial plugs placed in the 9 1/4" hole were also displaced with over-balanced weight muds, with the same
results. Therefore it was decided to change the methodology and place the plug with an under-balanced mud in the drill string,
in order to try and avoid loss of the fluids to the formation and to retain the cement column prior to displacement into the
fractured interval.

The second development was the attempt to use a downhole-mixed loss treatment system to seal off the losses at the entry to
the fractured zone. Down hole-mixed systems consist of two or more fluids which, upon making contact with each other in the
wellbore or lost-circulation zone, form a viscous plug or a precipitate which seals the zone. Fluid mixing is normally delayed
until they are in front of the lost-circulation zone. This delay is achieved by pumping a spacer or by pumping one fluid down
the drill string while the other fluid is simultaneously pumped down the annulus. Most service companies have developed
these types of proprietary lost circulation solutions. The National cementing company which was providing services on the
MN-159 well took their proprietary system and engineered a customized formulation which included pre-flush and loss
treatment chemicals plus dual cement slurry weights. The application of the system is described below:

Down hole Mix System – Field Application

The proprietary lost circulation system trialed in well MN-159 was designed in an effort to control the severe loss condition in
the well bore, which had not been improved by numerous earlier plugs or bridging agents. The designed system consisted of
two fluids pumped ahead of cement slurry in order to achieve a barrier pad at the well bore entry, whose primarily purpose is
to restrict the flow of cement from entering deep inside the loss zone. The two solutions and the cement slurry are separated by
water spacers. The solutions are pumped ahead of the cement and form a semi-solid gel structure at the boundary of the loss
zone when they come in contact with each other. A bentonite based light weight cement slurry (12.5 ppg), with graded LCM,
is pumped immediately following the two solutions which ultimately meets the semi-solid barrier inside the loss zone. It is
designed such that the bentonite immediately swells out as soon as it comes in contact with the semi-solid pad and cures the
losses at the boundary. A normal (15.8 ppg or any heavier cement slurry as per particular well requirement) cement slurry is
pumped after bentonite cement slurry as a back-up cement plug.

Sequence of slurries pumped into the formation:

1. Pre-flush Activator
2. Proprietary Lost Circulation Agent
3. Cement Slurry with LCM (12.5ppg)
SPE/IADC 148341 5

4. Cement Slurry (15.8 ppg or Higher) (Back-up/Optional)

Proprietary System Components

o Pre flush Activator – Calcium Chloride brine that water wets the area of contact and accelerates the bentonite cement.
o Proprietary Lost Circulation Agent – is a water-based system designed to effectively reduce the loss of fluid to the
thief zones.
o Primary Cement Slurry – bentonite cement slurry with a proprietary blend of fibrous, granular and flake materials
designed specifically for massive losses situation.
o Secondary Cement Slurry – neat cement slurry (15.8 ppg or higher) to reinforce the plugging action.

iii) Well MN-159 Re-entry Operations

The well was re-entered and previous cement retainer and medium hard cement drilled out with 14.4 ppg OBM to 13,075 ft.
(50 ft. above casing shoe). At this point the well flowed and was eventually killed using 15.4 ppg mud. On trying to pull out of
the hole the well went on a loss/gain cycle and was kept on losses with a heavy mud cap. It was therefore decided to change
the method of placement and to use the proprietary lost circulation system proposed by our contractor, as previous cement plug
attempts had been unsuccessful.

The job was planned with cement retainer set at 13,075 ft. (50 feet above lost zone). The contractor pumped 10 bbls of Diesel
ahead as spacer followed by 30 bbls of Pre-flush Activator (9.4 ppg) then by 3 bbls of water in-between the two solutions in
order to avoid contact of fluids in the pipe during pumping. 30 bbls of Proprietary Lost Circulation Agent was pumped
followed by 3 bbls of water. Then 50 bbls of 12.5 ppg batch mixed cement slurry was pumped at 5 BPM followed by 50 bbls
of batch mixed 16.5 ppg cement slurry at 5 BPM. This was followed by 25 bbls of 13.5 ppg oil based spacer to avoid the
contamination between the cement and the OBM. Displacement was carried out with an under-balanced fluid in the drill pipe
of 66 bbls of 13.5 OBM and 178 bbls of 15.1 ppg OBM at 4 BPM.

After waiting on cement, the injectivity was tested below the retainer and found that fluid injection could be realized at 2 BPM
and 500 psi. It was therefore decided to carry out a second job with increased product quantities. The same fluid pumping
sequence was used with quantities increased to; 40 bbls of Pre-flush Activator / 40 bbls of Proprietary Lost Circulation Agent /
80 bbls of 12.5 ppg cement slurry / 91 bbls of 16.5 ppg cement slurry. This was displaced with 25 bbls of 16 ppg oil based
spacer and an under-balanced fluid column of 245 bbls of 15.1 ppg OBM. Following 24 hours waiting on cement, an
injectivity test was carried out below the retainer with 15.5 ppg mud and the pressure held at 1000 psi (17.0 MWE).

On drilling out the cement retainer full returns were observed while drilling down to the previous TD of 13,155 ft. Drilling was
then continued to the casing point in the top of the Upper Marrat. LCM in the form of CaCO3 was systematically added to the
mud system to help prevent losses; however there was a minor reduction in returns with some dynamic losses close to section
TD. The 7 3/4" liner was cemented with partial losses, and the final 6 1/2" horizontal drain drilled without incident (Fig. 5).

Case History 2 – Well DF-15 / Dharif Field

i) Initial Well Operations

DF-15 was the first directional well to be drilled in the West Kuwait Dharif Field. The design of deviated wells to Jurassic
targets in Kuwait fields follow a ‘J-shape’ plan which employs a deep kick-off in the Ratawi Limestone formation with the end
of the build section occurring in the Makhul. The tangent section is then continued down to the reservoir target. Well DF-15
was planned to have maximum tangent inclination of ~35 degree down to final depth (Fig. 6). There were no significant
problems while drilling the surface and intermediate phases with a hole angle of 40 degrees being achieved at the end of the
build section. Some issues occurred while drilling 12 1/4" hole through the high pressure Gotina with severe losses, well
control and stuck pipe problems, but these were successfully recovered with cement squeeze and cased with 10 3/4" liner.

No difficulties were encountered while drilling the Najmah-Sargelu reservoirs, with the final mud weight at the casing point of
13,473 ft. being 16.9 ppg. While running the 7 3/4" liner, however, the string became stuck with the liner shoe at 13,373 ft.
and during the cement job there were no good indications of the plug bumping. As noted earlier, in addition to a pressure
reversal there are depleted zones in the Middle Marrat reservoir and as per the casing design it was essential to case off the
higher pressured zones of the Najmah-Sargelu. After reducing the mud weight to 16.0 ppg the shoe was cleaned out and well
flow occurred. It was killed with 17.2 ppg mud following which an attempt to strengthen the shoe was made but no cement
could be squeezed. A test packer was then run and positive and negative pressure tests carried out on the shoe area. The
calculated pore pressure from the negative test was 16.9 ppge, and the shoe held 2000 psi when tested with 17.5 ppg mud. It
was this open area below the shoe and the initial need of a higher mud weight that was to be the first cause of problems as
drilling continued.
The next phase of the well, through the Marrat reservoirs, was very challenging with several instances of stuck pipe,
subsequent fishing and side-track operations. A 6 1/2" x 7 1/2" bi-center hole was drilled into the Middle Marrat with mud
6 SPE/IADC 148341

weight being slowly reduced from 17.5 to 16.9 ppg. While reaming down at 14,220 ft., the string became stuck. Mud weight
was reduced to 16.4 ppg and 20 bbls of acid spotted around the BHA. With the string in compression the pipe became free and
drilling was continued to 14,315 ft. where the pipe again became stuck. Numerous attempts were made to free the string, but
finally the string was backed-off at the top of the drill collars and attempts made to fish the stuck BHA with screw-in sub and
fishing jars, while reducing the equivalent mud weight to 14.3 ppg, but without success.

The major challenges in the well now began with the attempts to place a competent side-track plug, in the oil based mud
environment, from which to kick-off the hole through this depleted reservoir section. The first two balanced cement plugs that
were placed both failed as the cement was too soft. The first plug was of 35 bbls – 16.5 ppg (estimated plug length ~640 ft.)
and the second of 40 bbls – 17.0 ppg, with different contractors being used. The third plug was 45 bbls of 17.0 ppg cement. It
was pumped by the National cementing contractor assigned to the rig who suggested the application of 800 psi pressure on the
plug to help avoid contamination and aid plug setting. With this plug, after drilling out soft to medium strength cement,
material with a sufficiently hard consistency to attempt the kick-off was located. Five attempts were made to side-track out of
the original wellbore, to the low side, using mud motor with bent housing, adjusting the motor bend from 1.5 – 1.83 – 2.12 –
2.38 and finally 3.0 degrees, but without success. Finally a pendulum BHA was tried but this also failed to exit from the
original hole.

A third contractor was mobilized and a special cement recipe with micro-ribbon was tried for the fourth plug (37 bbls – 18.0
ppg) but this also resulted in a soft cement unsuitable for kicking off.

ii) Change in Methodology for Successful Plug

Following the inability to effectively place a competent side-track plug it was decided to review the encouraging results
achieved with the third plug, and adopt a new methodology. It was observed that with this plug the first part of the plug
consisted of soft or medium hard cement, whereas the lower part gave a hard cement suitable for kicking off. It was decided to
change the recipe and placement method by increasing the plug length, to move the transition point up the hole, and to place
more pressure on the plug, in order to have competent cement opposite the sidetrack point. For this fifth plug therefore, it was
planned to extend the plug length to ~900 ft. and increase the pressure after placement to 1000 psi.

The mud weight was 15.3 ppg OBM, and the plug was programmed to be placed with a 2 3/8" drill pipe cement stinger run on
a 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" drill pipe combination string to 13,880 ft. The job was designed and executed with 40 bbls of 16.5 ppg
weighted spacer for oil base mud followed by 50 bbls of 18.0 ppg Premium Class G cement slurry with 9 bbls of 16.5 ppg
spacer pumped behind the cement. Displacement was carried out with 15.3 ppg OBM at 5 BPM. The stinger was pulled slowly
up to 11,500 ft. where the string was flushed with 10 bbls of mud and then pulled up to 10,500 ft. At this point, the cement
plug was kept under 1000 psi hydrostatic pressure for 13 hours in order to aid consistency and plug setting. Additives used in
the formulation were standard for a heavy kick-off plug such as this (Hematite, etc.).

After waiting on cement, for a total of 32 hours, the cement plug was tagged +/- 1180 ft. above the depth of placement.
Initially soft to medium hard cement was drilled for +/- 670 ft which was followed by hard cement from which side track
operations were carried out. The wellbore was eventually sidetracked using a downhole motor with 3.0 degree bent housing,
time-drilling over an interval of 27 ft. to attain a value of 100% formation. The bent housing was adjusted to 1.5 degree and
drilling of the side-tracked hole continued while reducing the mud weight to 15.1 ppg. At 14,304 ft., after taking a survey, the
string again became differentially stuck. Mud weight was reduced to 14.9 ppg and two acid pills were pumped, but without
success. The string was backed-off at 13,920 ft. but the fish could not be recovered, even after numerous attempts, and it was
decided to carry out a second side-track.

The sixth KOP cement plug was planned and executed with same density cement slurry as that used in the previous successful
plug. This time the mud weight was dropped from 15.3 to 14.7 ppg. It helped in better placement of the cement slurry as well
as reducing the severity of plug contamination. Following circulation and mud conditioning, 40 bbls of 16.5 ppg spacer was
pumped followed by 50 bbls of 18.0 ppg Premium Class G cement slurry with a further 9 bbls of 16.5 ppg spacer pumped
behind. The system was displaced with 218 bbls of 14.7 ppg OBM. After pulling the string slowly well above theoretical top
cement and flushing the pipe, the cement plug was kept under 1000 psi hydrostatic pressure for 13 hours, as previously.
After waiting on cement, for a total of 32 hours, the cement plug was tagged and soft to medium hard cement was drilled for
+/- 730 ft. which was followed by hard cement suitable for side-track operations. The wellbore was sidetracked for a second
time using a downhole motor with 3.0 degree bent housing, time-drilling over an interval of 31ft. to attain a value of 100%
formation. This 6 1/2" side track hole was then drilled successfully to the desired TD while reducing the mud weight to a final
value of 13.6 ppg, to avoid further differential sticking, and ultimately the well was completed without any further operational
problems (Fig. 7).
Discussion of Case Histories and Improvements Realized
SPE/IADC 148341 7

There are several points to be kept in mind when reviewing the results of the two wells.
i) The drilling problems in West Kuwait wells were felt to be well known after a period of Jurassic drilling since the 1980’s
and a total of 56 wells being drilled up to 2006. Traditional methods used to solve these problems were however found lacking
and new methods had to be developed to resolve the difficulties.
ii) Oil has been produced from these West Kuwait fields for over 25 years which has led to depletion in the principle reservoirs
in certain parts of the fields. This produced a new downhole environment with different challenges.
iii) The Team responsible for the operations was a newly formed one, with new hires, working with a National cementing
contractor who had just been qualified to work on the KOC Deep Well Program. In these two wells our National contractor
gained considerable experience in situations where even International contractors were experiencing difficulties. Overall, the
team work between Operator and Service Company was a big factor in arriving at the final solutions.

Considering the MN-159 Case History; the problems of severe losses were well documented in Najmah-Sargelu formations
and it was considered that the solutions that had been applied in previous Minagish wells would form a sound basis to fix any
problems in this well. If fractures were intersected during drilling then sudden massive losses could occur, followed inevitably
by influxes. In this particular well however, the situation was much more severe and it was found that normal measures were
just not working. It was necessary therefore to revisit the problem and look for innovative methods if the situation was to be
resolved. A change in the methodology by placing the cement in place with an under-balanced mud plus the application of a
proprietary down-hole mix lost circulation treatment were the keys to enable drilling to continue. This methodology will be
retained as one of the solutions for future problems of fracture losses.

The second Case History for well DF-15 demonstrated that depleted zones within the Marrat reservoirs can give rise to new
problems when drilling infill wells in certain West Kuwait fields. This reduction in pore pressure was the basic cause of the
difficulties in this well which resulted in the need to side-track past a stuck fish. A recurring problem in our Jurassic wells has
been the ability to place, in an oil based mud environment, a competent cement plug of sufficient strength to effectuate the
kick-off. This has been resolved in this well, with the solution being arrived at as a result of study and modification of initial
plans. While the materials used in the cement plugs were standard, the first improvements were gained by increasing the
amount of cement used and consequently the plug lengths. Using this revised methodology the contaminated interface was
moved away from the planned side-track point thus giving increased confidence to encounter hard cement from which to
initiate the side-track. The second innovation was to keep the plug under a high pressure until set, in an attempt to improve the
consistency of the plug. Since its use on DF-15 this solution to place reliable side-track plugs has been successfully used in
other deep wells.

Improvements realized over the course of operations in these two wells can be listed as follows:

o Development of new procedures and methodologies

o Down-hole loss plug with revised placement method to resolve severe losses
o Design and deployment of cement plugs for reliable side-track initiation
o Resolution of challenges by the new ‘Operations Team’
o Encouragement of innovation and a creative approach to problems
o Development of National Contractors with exposure to difficult wells and development of initiatives

Conclusions

The two wells described in this paper have been difficult candidates to drill but have been successfully accomplished due to
the hard work and innovation of both operator and contractors. In completing these wells valuable experience has been gained
which can be applied to similar deep wells. Key conclusions and lessons learned include the following points:

In existing field areas drilling problems can significantly increase or become more severe as wells are produced and reservoir
pressures decline. The methods traditionally used after well control or stuck pipe situations had to be revisited and modified
for operations to continue.

The change in methodology in placing a lost circulation cement plug with an under-balanced fluid along with the use of a
Proprietary Down-hole Mix lost circulation treatment has given excellent results in sealing off a very severe fracture loss
situation.

There has been an ongoing problem of setting sufficiently hard cement plugs from which to effectuate side-track operations in
deep HP/HT wells using oil based mud as the drilling fluid. This difficulty was resolved by modifying existing design by
increasing plug length and applying pressure until cement is set.
This change in methodology for setting deep side-track plugs has subsequently been successfully employed in other Jurassic
deep wells with similar problems.
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A team relationship was formed with all contractors for an inclusive approach to problem solving. Not only major
International service companies but also National contractors can provide innovative solutions to complex problems.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their appreciation to Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for permission to publish this paper and would
also like to thank all who helped contribute to this paper.

Nomenclature

" – inch
bbls – Barrels
BHA – Bottom hole assembly
BPM – Barrels per minute
CACO3 – Calcium carbonate
ft. – Feet
LCM – Lost circulation material
MWE – Mud weight equivalent
OBM – Oil based mud
ppg – Pounds per gallon
ppge – Pounds per gallon equivalent
psi – Pounds per square inch
TD – Total Depth

References

Al-Saeedi, M., Munger, R., Tooms, P., Al-Mutairi, B., Al-Quraini, K., Decaire, J., Tuncer, T. 2001. First High Pressure, High Angle Well in
Kuwait – Case Study of WMN-2. Paper IADC/SPE 72299 presented at the IADC/SPE Middle East Drilling Technology, Bahrain, 22-
24 October.

Al-Saeedi, M., Al-Mutairi, B., Al-Khaldy, M., Sheeran, T. 2003. Fastest Deep Well in North Kuwait: Case History of Raudhatain 206. Paper
SPE/IADC 85287 presented at the SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 20-22
October.

Verma, N.K., Al-Medhadi, F., Al-Shamali, A., Natarajan, D., Matar, S., Reji, E.C. 2007. Complex and Unconventional Wells Addressing
Difficult Reservoir Development – A Case Study of West Kuwait Jurassic Reservoirs. Paper IPTC 11716 presented at the International
Petroleum Technology Conference, Dubai, UAE, 4-6 December.
SPE/IADC 148341 9

Figures

Fig. 1 – Stratigraphic Sequence (HPHT Zones)

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Fig. 2 – “Big Hole” Casing Program

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7,500
Depth vs MW ‐ Typical West Kuwait Well

18‐5/8"
Csg
8,500

MN‐159
9,500

10,500
TVD (ft)

11,500
13‐1/2"

12,500 Gotnia Salt/Anhydrite

10‐3/4"

13,500
7‐3/4"

5‐1/2"
14,500
8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 20.0 21.0 22.0
Mud weight (ppg)

Fig. 3 – Mud Weight vs. Depth for HPHT Zones

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Fig. 4 – Well Plan (Directional) for Well MN-159

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Fig. 5 – Final Well Schematic : MN-159 (Re-Entry)

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Fig. 6 – Well Plan (Directional) for Well DF-15

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Fig. 7 – Final Well Schematic : DF-15