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MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING

Managed pressure drilling whats in a name?

Definition is secondary to Figure 1: Equivalent mud weight graph
technologys applications
Philip Frink, Blade Energy Partners
EXPERTS IN THE drilling industry are
abuzz right now arguing over the defini-
tion of managed pressure drilling
(MPD). As usual when a group of
experts meet, significant time is con-
sumed quarrelling about trivial nuances
of language, not the substance or conse-
quences of application.

For technical people, the definition of

MPD recently adopted by the IADC
Underbalanced Operations and Managed
Pressure Committee will hopefully make
sense:

Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is an

adaptive drilling process used to precise-
ly control the annular pressure profile
throughout the wellbore. The objectives
are to ascertain the downhole pressure Figure 2: Pore Pressure vs Fracture Pressure Graph.
environment limits and to manage the
annular hydraulic pressure profile
accordingly.

In non-technical terms, the simplest yet

most compelling definition of managed
pressure drilling is cheating Mother
Nature. As most drillers learn on the
first day of their careers, bottomhole
pressure is normally maintained above
pore pressure by simply controlling the
density of the drilling fluid. When density
gets too high, the formation begins to
drink fluid and its time to stop. Casing
must be run to isolate the open hole
before drilling can continue. This rela-
tionship is shown graphically in Figure 1.

The common objective of all currently

known managed pressure drilling tech-
niques is to stretch or eliminate casing
points to allow drilling beyond conven-
tional limits of depth or pressure varia-
tion. Mother Nature is thus cheated out Mud is circulated using energy sup- Figure 3 shows the effect of violating the
of her desire of preventing wells from plied by drillpipe injection. first assumption by increasing surface
reaching their ultimate objective depth. pressure and reducing mud density. By
To understand the implication of violat- applying this form of managed pressure,
MPD EXAMPLES ing these assumptions, it is useful to the slope of the fluid density pressure
redraw the equivalent mud weight graph profile becomes more vertical. Because
Managed pressure drilling techniques shown in Figure 1 on an absolute pres-
cheat because they violate one of the fol- this line is more parallel with pore pres-
sure scale as shown in Figure 2. The key sure and fracture pressure limits,
lowing two assumptions used in conven- challenge in the well illustrated by the
tional drilling: drilling can proceed across the depleted
figure is a pressure-depleted zone at zone at a lower pressure than a well
Mud returns to surface at atmospheric 13,100 ft with associated lost circulation drilled with a higher mud weight and no
conditions (zero back pressure); problems. surface back pressure. In this case, MPD

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MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING

reduces the chance of losing returns and Figure 3: Open Hole Pressure Profile MPD versus Conventional MW.
increases the chance of reaching TD.

Figure 4 shows the effect of using annu-

lar injection of fluid to reduce the effec-
tive density of the return mud column in
a deepwater application. This can be
accomplished either using downhole
pumps to directly reduce pressures or
annular injection of a lighter fluid or gas
to reduce the density of the return mix-
ture. In this variation of managed pres-
sure drilling, a fluid density greater than
static fracture pressure can be used to
drill a longer interval as long as the fluid
column does not fully extend to surface.

METHOD COMPLICATIONS
In addition to violating the circulation
assumptions just described, MPD also
violates the kiss principal normally
applied to drilling operations. Proper
design and contingency planning are
needed to address the following potential Figure 4: Effect of annular injection and heavier mud weights.
MPD complications:

Well Control

Because MPD allows drilling between nar-

row pore and fracture pressure limits,
there is little margin for error when walk-
ing the line. If bottomhole pressure falls

below the pore pressure of a permeable files within close tolerances. For fluid
zone, a kick will occur. If the kick contains induced transients created when making
a significant amount of gas, surface pres- DP connections, use of a continuous cir-
sures while circulating the kick out may culating device or temporarily increasing
exceed the pressure rating of surface MPD surface annular pressure can eliminate
equipment or subsurface openhole frac- this pressure transient. When tripping
ture limits, resulting in an underground pipe without circulation, density of the
blowout. Sensitive kick detection methods, mud left in the well may need to be
comprehensive well control procedures adjusted to statically overbalance the
and adequate kick processing equipment well without loosing returns.
(separators, flare booms, etc), are critical
elements of prudent MPD well design. Equipment reliability

Pressure Transients Because MPD relies on specialized equip-

ment to maintain precise pressure con-
In addition to mud density, secondary trol, the reliability of this equipment is
pressures caused by fluid friction and extremely important. A Failure Modes &
pipe movement must also be considered Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
when managing annular pressure pro- analysis should be conducted for special-

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MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING

sensitivities and consequences of varying Continuous Circulation System,
surface pressures and flow rates should Gorgio Girola, Rod Vogel, Hugh Elkins,
At the end of the day, be included in pre-well design activities. 2005 SPE Advanced Technology Work-
the argument over the shop on Managed Pressure Drilling,
definition of MPD is CONCLUSION Bergen Norway

secondary to what this MPD is more complex than conventional Reliability of Systems, Equipment
drilling but should be considered as an and Components Part 5. Guide to Fail-
technology can option when it is impractical to drill ure Modes, Effects and Criticality
achieve if properly using conventional means. MPD is an Analysis (FMEA And FMEDCA)
emerging technology that will likely BS5760-5, British Standard, 1991.
applied. It is a power- improve in capability over time due to
ful weapon in the innovation and experience. Analysis techniques for sytem relia-
bility procedure for failure mode and
drillers arsenal to At the end of the day, the argument over effects analysis (FMEA), IEC 60812,
cheat Mother Nature. the definition of MPD is secondary to 1985. I
what this technology can achieve if prop-
Philip Frink, president of erly applied. It is a powerful weapon in
Blade Energy Partners the drillers arsenal to cheat Mother
Nature. If youre going to cheat however, SPE/IADC Managed
dont underestimate the complexity of Pressure Drilling &
ized MPD equipment and processes. The the task or the consequences of poor
approach to an FMECA is a well-estab-
Underbalanced
planning if you get caught by her uncer-
lished methodology, utilized within major tain and vindictive nature. Operations Conference
hazard industries and is recognized by & Exhibition
regulatory authorities. References:
More than 2 dozen presentations on
The FMECA should be conducted in Two Methods for Achieving Dual Gra- MPD and UBO will be made over the
accordance with BS 5760-5: 1991 and IEC dient in Deep Water, Robert Her- 2-day event, to be held 28-29 March
60812 to identify the various failure rmann and John Shaughnessy, SPE at Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston.
modes, to identify the causes of each fail- paper 67745, 2001 SPE Drilling Confer- Conference sessions will explore
ure, to identify the effect of the failure on ence in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. topics such as the philosophy of MPD
the overall performance of the MPD sys- and UBO, case studies, designing
Technical Feasibility and Applicabil- MP/UB operations, equipment and
tem, identify the symptoms of the failure,
calculate the criticality of the failure and ity of a Concentric Jet Pump in Under- tools, risk assessment, HSE,
finally to determine what mitigation is balanced Drilling SPE paper 91595, deepwater applications, perspectives
available (or mitigation action is 2004 IADC/SPE Underbalanced on MPD/UBO and more.
required) to prevent the failure. Drilling Conference in Houston, Tx.
To register for the conference, go
Rig BOPs are typically adequate for sec- Full Scale Automated Choke Manifold online to IADCs Conference web
ondary surface pressure control. Auxil- (Dyanamic Annular Pressure Control), page at http://www.iadc.org
iary pumps can be used to compensate for Don Reitsma and John McCaskill, 2005 /conferences.htm.
loss of primary injection capability. The IADC/SPE Managed Pressure Drilling
Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

March/April 2006 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R 39