Masters Theses

Abstract

“Drilling mud losses and problems associated with lost circulation while drilling account for a major expense in drilling oil and gas wells. By industry estimates, more than 2 billion USD is spent annually to combat and mitigate this problem (Ali et al., 2015).

The South Rumaila field in Iraq is one of the largest oilfields in the world. Wells drilled in this field are highly susceptible to lost circulation problems when drilling through the Dammam, Hartha and Shuaiba formations. Lost circulation events range from seepage losses to complete loss of the borehole and are a critical issue in field development.

This thesis describes a study of the lost circulation events in more 50 wells drilled in the Rumaila field. Lost circulation events were extracted from daily drilling reports. Key drilling parameters (e.g. RPM, RPM, bit type) and mud properties (e.g. density, yield point, gel strength) at the time of each event were recorded along with the lost circulation remedies attempted, and the outcome of those remedies. These data were analyzed to determine ranges for the key drilling parameters and mud properties that have the greatest chance of mitigating lost circulation in each of the three formations.

Practical field information from a range of sources were reviewed and summarized to develop an integrated methodology and flowchart for handling lost circulation events in the South Rumaila Field.

Best field procedures for avoiding or minimizing lost circulation events in the South Rumaila field were identified and were provided as tabled procedures, or as additional data in the appendices of this thesis.

This study provides a unique compilation of information regarding traditional approaches and the latest approaches of lost circulation control. The thesis attempts to provide useful guidelines or references for both situations”--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Dunn-Norman, Shari

Committee Member(s)

Nygaard, Runar
Hilgedick, Steven Austin

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Petroleum Engineering

Comments

The author would like to express appreciation to his country for grantingthe opportunity to be one of the scholarship recipients of the ExxonMobil Iraq Training, Technology & Scholars Program, and a fully funded scholarship program.

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2016

Pagination

xx, 164 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographic references (pages 160-164).

Geographic Coverage

Iraq

Rights

© 2016 Abo Taleb Tuama Al-Hameedi, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 11810

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