ALMAAQAL UNVERSITY

COLLAGE OF ENGINEERING
PETROLUME DEPARTMENT

Drilling Eng.II
Lec.8 Hole Problems (Pipe Sticking)

By: Abbas Hameed

By: Abbas Hameed
20232023
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

Hole problems
An event which causes the drilling operation to stop is described as Non-
Productive Time (NPT) event. Pipe sticking and lost circulation are the two main
events which cause NPT in the drilling industry. Well kicks, of course, require
operations to stop and when they occur can result in a large NPT. The average
NPT in the industry is 20%.
There are many events which cause NPT in the drilling industry: Hence rather than
detail every minor hole problem that has ever been recorded in the drilling
industry, this chapter will deal with the main problems normally encountered while
drilling. These problems are: differential sticking, mechanical sticking and lost
circulation. There will also be a mention of other miscellaneous problems.
Some of the most common problems associated with rotary drilling operations are
as follows:

1. Lost Circulation

2. Differential Pressure Sticking

3. Key Seating
4. Boulders

5. Salt

6. Hole Instability

7. Deviation
8. Pressure Control

9. Hole Cleaning
During the earliest stages of trying to free the pipe, the Drilling Supervisor should
collate all the relevant information and determine what caused the pipe to stick.
This may well be obvious from the well conditions that existed before the pipe
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

became stuck. However, determination of the cause should not be taken lightly, as
incorrect assessment of the problem reduces the chance of freeing the pipe.
There are basically two mechanisms for pipe sticking:
1. Differential Sticking
2. Mechanical Sticking
Mechanical sticking can be caused by:
• Hole pack off or bridging, or
• Wellbore geometry
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

1. Differential Sticking

1.1 Causes Of Differential Sticking

During all drilling operations the drilling fluid hydrostatic pressure is designed and
maintained to be at a level which exceeds the formation pore pressure. In a
permeable formation, this pressure differential (overbalance) results in a flow of
drilling fluid filtrates from the well to the formation. As a filtrate enters the
formation the solids are screened out and a filter cake is developed. There will
therefore exist across the filter cake a pressure differential which is equal to the
overbalance.

The pipe will become stuck if the overbalance and therefore the side loading of the
pipe is high enough and acts over a large area of the drillpipe. This is
diagrammatically shown in Figure 14.1.
Factors casuing the differential sticking:
1. Permeable formation.
2. Non pipe movement.
3. Thick well cake.
4. Over balance.
5. String in contant.
The signs of differential sticking are the clearest in the field. A pipe is
differentially stuck if:
1. High over balance.( Depleted formation).
2. drillstring cannot be moved at all, i.e. up or down or rotated ( Torque, pick up
weight and slack weight increase.
3. circulation is unaffected
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

Mathematically, the differential sticking force depends on the magnitude of the

overbalance and the area of contact between the drillpipe and the porous zone.
Hence
Differential force = (mud hydrostatic – formation pressure) x area of contact
Hence for the data shown in Figure 14.2, and assuming the formation contacts only
4” of thedrillpipe perimeter, then the differential force is given by:

Differential Force = (5000-4000) psi x 4 x 00 = 1,200,000 lb

The force required to free a differentially stuck pipe depends upon several factors,
namely:
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

1. The magnitude of the overbalance. This adds to any side forces which already
exist
due to hole deviation etc.
2. The coefficient of friction between the pipe and the filter cake. The coefficient
of friction increases with time, resulting in increasing forces being required to free
the pipe. Hence, when differentially stuck, procedures to free the pipe must be
adopted immediately. Figure 14.3 shows the coefficient of friction for a bentonite
filter cake which shows a 10 fold increase in under 3 hours.
The surface area of the pipe embedded in the filter cake is another significant
factor. The greater the surface area, the greater the force required to free the pipe.
Thickness of filter cake and pipe diameter will obviously have a great effect on the
surface area. It is for reasons of reducing available surface area that spiral drill
collars are often specified when drilling sections which exhibit the potential for
differential sticking problems.
1.2 Differential Sticking Prevention / Reduction
The following are a series of guidelines for the prevention of differentially stuck
pipe which
should be considered during the planning and drilling phases of a well.
A. Well Planning Phase
1. The drilling programmer should highlight any permeable formations where
differential sticking is a possibility.
2. The drilling programmer should state the estimate of pore pressure in the
problem formations and include the maximum overbalance acting on the
formations during drilling of the hole section. This is particularly relevant to thick
gas reservoir sequences where overbalance will increase dramatically as the gas
column is drilled.
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

3. On wells where differential pressures are known to be high, careful

consideration of the logging programmer is necessary. Minimize the use of pad
type logging tools which are considerably more susceptible to differential sticking.
4. Where differential sticking is considered a possibility, the use of spiral drill
collars and HWDP should be specified in the drilling programmer. The use of
spiral collars and HWDP minimizes the contact area with the borehole wall and
hence reduce the possibility and severity of differential sticking.
5. The mud programmer for the well must contain the maximum permitted values
of HTHP fluid loss for the troublesome sections. Careful maintenance of a low
fluid loss (e.g. 2 cc) is essential to avoid differential sticking.
6. When drilling wells with a high risk of differential sticking, the well plan should
consider the type of pipe free agent to be used along with any spacer requirements.
The formulation of the pill should be checked to ensure it is capable of carrying
barytes where required. The drilling programmer should state the pipe free agents
to be used, quantity to be held at the rig site, pill formation and spacer
requirements.
7. Consideration should be given to using bridging material in the drilling of
sections containing high porosity and permeability. Addition of the bridging
material to the drilling fluid helps reduce filter cake thickness and hence reduce the
risk of differential sticking. When using bridging material, shaker screen selection
should be considered in detail as screens selected to reduce drilled solids build-up
will also remove the bridging material.

B. Drilling Phase - Wellsite Precautions

1. Pore pressure should be closely monitored throughout the drilling phase of the
well. The degree of overbalance should be continuously tracked across permeable
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

formations. The detection of pore pressure decreases is of equal importance as pore

pressure increases.
2. The static overbalance should be maintained as low as possible. It is usual
to maintain a 200-psi static overbalance. However careful consideration may give
to reducing the value in areas of know differential sticking problems such as thick
gas reservoirs. The drilling programmer should highlight any instances where
overbalance will be maintained below the 200-psi policy and give adequate reason
for this variation from company policy.
3. Keep the drillstring moving at all times. In areas of high-risk consideration
should be given to replacing single shot surveys with an MWD tool in the
drillstring to reduce the instance of static pipe.
1.3 Freeing Differentially Stuck Pipe
1. Reducing Hydrostatic Pressure.
2. Circulation & Reducing Mud Weight.
3. Displacing the Choke.
4. The ‘U’ Tube Method.
5. Spotting Pipe Release Agents.
The severity of differentially stuck pipe can be reduced by the spotting of pipe
release agents. Pipe release agents are basically a blend of surfactants and
emulsifiers mixed with base oil or diesel oil and water to form a stable emulsion.
They function by penetrating the filter cake, therefore making it easier to remove
and at the same time reduce the surface tension between the pipe and the filter
cake.
Due to the time dependency of the severity of sticking, the pipe release agent
should be spotted as soon as possible after differential sticking is diagnosed.
Typically the pill will be prepared whilst initially attempting to mechanically free
the pipe; ie by pulling and rotating.
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

1.4 Field Guidelines

The general guidelines for the effective use of pipe release agents follow;
1. Pill Volume
2. Spacer Requirements.
3. Displacement Considerations.
4. Working the Pipe.

2. Mechanical Sticking

2.1 Causes Of Mechanical Sticking

In mechanical sticking the pipe is usually completely stuck with little or no
circulation. In differential sticking, the pipe is completely stuck but there is full
circulation. Mechanical sticking can occur as result of the hole packing off (or
bridging) or due to wellbore geometry.
2.1.1 Hole Pack off (bridging) can be caused by any one or a combination of
the following processes:
1. Settled cuttings due to inadequate hole cleaning.
2. Formation instability.
3. Shale instability.
4. Unconsolidated formation.
5. Fractured and faulted formation.
6. Cement blocks0
7. Junk falling in the well.
8. Collapsed Casing.
9. Borehole Orientation and Inclination.
10. Borehole Stress Relief.
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

2.1.2 Well geometry.

The wellbore geometry can also cause mechanical sticking if any one or a
combination of
the following processes occur:
1. Key seating
2. Undergauge hole
3. Stiff BHA
4. Mobile formations
5. Ledges and micro doglegs
Understanding the cause of the mechanical sticking problem is key to solving the
problem. This is because the cause determines the action required to free the pipe.
For example, if the pipe becomes stuck while running in an open hole, it is likely
that the BHA has hit a ledge or gone into an undergauge hole. In other words, the
sticking problem is due to the geometry of the wellbore. As will be seen later, the
freeing action depends largely on identifying and
curing the problem that caused mechanical sticking.

2.2 Prevention / Reduction Of Mechanical Sticking

A. Well Planning Phase
1.A thorough review of offset well data should be made to assess the potential for
stuck pipe problems on the proposed well. A section of the drilling programmer
should be dedicated to potential hazards, in which all potential problems relating to
stuck pipe are highlighted. The section should also include procedures to be
employed to prevent sticking of the pipe or may reference detailed procedures in
the drilling operations manual.
2.The design of BHA should be given careful consideration. The shortest string
suitable for the application should be selected. Many stuck pipe incidents are
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

exacerbated by needlessly long assemblies. The number of collars and large OD

elements should be justified. In addition care should be taken in specifying collars,
i.e. where differential sticking is a possibility, spiral drill collars (and spiral
HWDP) should be specified.
3.Particular consideration should be given to the amount of open hole times for
each section. Hole stability decreases with excessive time. Casing seat selection
should take into account this parameter for specific wells i.e. deviated wells.
Reducing open hole time lessens the risk of stuck pipe.
4.Selection of a suitable mud system is essential to ensure the hole is in optimum
condition. Detailed formation information should be provided to the mud company
prior to the submission of the proposal. The proposed mud system should be
checked for its inhibitive capacity and for its resistance to potential contaminants
from the formation.
5. The selection of drilling rig should take into account the potential for stuck pipe.
Top drives have been successful in limiting the incidence of stuck pipe due to the
ability to backream and pump out stands. However, the use of top drive rigs results
in a reduced frequency of wiping and circulation on connections. This should be
flagged in the drilling programmer and adequate procedures adopted when drilling
in soft, hydratable sediments.
6. During well planning, careful consideration should be given to the selection of
flowrate. The primary consideration of hydraulics planning is to ensure that the
hole is cleaned of cuttings. The drilling programmer should include the
recommended minimum flowrate for each hole section. The effects of the various
drilling variables on vertical and deviated well hole cleaning is included below. In
deviated wells, hole cleaning becomes crucial and as such careful consideration of
required flow rates needs to be undertaken. Mud rheology has little effect on the
transport efficiency of cuttings in wells deviated above 30 degrees. Flow rate is the
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

major factor determining hole cleaning in this type of well. As a general guideline,
wells deviated in the range of 30-50 degrees tend to require a 20% increase in
flowrate above that of a vertical well. Wells deviated 60 degrees and above
typically require twice the flowrate of a vertical well. As such careful selection of
nozzles, BHA length and drillpipe is often required to minimize system pressure
losses in order to achieve an adequate flowrate.
7. In highly deviated and horizontal wells, hole stability can be enhanced by
selection of the
proper mud weight. Borehole stability studies should be carried out to determine
the optimum mud weight in these circumstances.
B. Drilling Phase
1. A pre-spud meeting should be held at the shore base and at the rig-site to ensure
the contractor personnel are aware of the potential for stuck pipe and the
procedures to be employed when encountering tight hole. Good communication is
vital, this has to be stressed in the pre-spud meeting.
2. Keep the drillstring moving whenever at all times in open hole sections.
Minimise time spent with the drillstring stationary and circulation stopped. This
will help prevent incidence of differential sticking and packing off of the
drillstring.
3. When encountering tight hole, the fluid and the hole should be conditioned prior
to continued drilling. Time spent conditioning the mud and hole is not wasted time.
If tight hole is worsened on a trip, back reaming and circulation should be
established as soon as possible to limit its severity and avoid sticking.
4. Always exercise caution on tripping in the hole. The drillstring should never be
forced through a tight spot. This will help minimise the potential for sticking and
reduce premature damage to the new bit.
Hole problems- Pipe sticking

5. The bit should always be washed and reamed to bottom, this will enable any fill
to be cleared away from the BHA prior to commencing drilling thus reducing the
potential for annular overloading with cuttings in the area of the BHA.
6. Prior to commencing a trip, the hole should be circulated clean of cuttings. This
should be achieved with circulation and slow rotation. slow rotation is particularly
useful on deviated wells to assist disturbance of cuttings beds which may have
formed whilst drilling with a
motor assembly.
7. Magnitudes of torque and drag encountered on connections and trips should be
continually monitored and recorded to help assess the condition of the hole. Trends
in drag values will be useful for determining timing of remedial actions such as
wiper trips.
8. The shale shakers should be monitored regularly by the drilling supervisor,
solids control engineer (when onboard), mud engineer and mud logger. The size,
shape, quantity and character of cuttings will give a valuable indication of the
stability of the bore hole. All changes in cuttings characteristics should be reported
to the drilling supervisor.
9. The correct operating procedures for the drilling jars in use should be available
at the rig site. It is essential that the drilling supervisor, driller and contractor
toolpusher should be well versed in the operational procedures for the jars as
situations may arise that require that knowledge. A sound knowledge of the
operating procedures and parameters is essential in performing effective jarring
operations.