Wellbore Instability in Oil Well Drilling

Abstract

Since early 1980s, the oil and gas industry has committed a huge amount of resources towards solving
the problem of wellbore instability. Investments in wellbore stability studies are justified by the
reduction in drilling and field development costs associated with a stable wellbore. A lot of progress
has been made so far. However, wellbore instability continues to present a considerable challenge
during well construction operations. The causes of instability and the mechanism of instability
especially in shale formations have been studied over the years by several researchers. The results of
their experimental and field experiences lead to varying conclusions and differing opinions. This
work reviews existing technologies and practices within the industry directed towards understanding
the causes of, predicting, preventing, and controlling wellbore instability; highlighting in the process,
their limitations and making relevant suggestions. Field examples also provided to buttress some
points.

Wellbore instability is one of the key problems that engineers encounter during drilling. Often, field
instances of instability are a result of a combination of both chemical and mechanical factors, the
former resulting from the failure of the rock around the hole due to high stresses, low rock strength,
or inappropriate drilling practice and the latter arising from damaging interactions between the rock,
generally shale, and the drilling fluid. The increasing demand for wellbore stability analyses during
the planning stage of a field arise from economic considerations and the increasing use of deviated,
extended reach and horizontal wells, all of which are highly susceptible to the problem. This paper
presents a review of the causes, symptoms, prevention, associated consequences, types and
respective problems and the principle behind the problem of wellbore instability in oil well drilling.
 I - INTRODUCTION

Drilling operation in the oil and gas industry is a challenging task. The drilling stem and the drill
bit must be tough enough to bore holes into different layers of strata in the formation and withstand
high temperature, pressure, shock and abrasion from the formation. The drilling mud must meet all
the criteria necessary for the drilling operation to be successful. Some layers in the formation like
shale, fractured and abnormally high pressured formations are problematic and require a great deal
of technicality.

Wellbore instability is a natural function of the unequal mechanical stress and physio-chemical
interactions, and pressures created when support in material and surfaces are exposed in the
drilling process of the well. Wellbore instability (WI) is recognised when the hole diameter is
markedly different from the bit size and the hole does not maintain its structural integrity.
Succinctly put, an over guage or under gauge hole implies wellbore instability. For oil and gas
wells to be successfully completed, it is imperative to formulate mud of an adequate mud weight
to maintain hole stability, avoid formation fluid influx into the wellbore and minimize mud loss
to the formation.

Unexpected or unknown behaviour of rock is often the cause of drilling problems, resulting in an
expensive loss of time, sometimes in a loss of part or all of the borehole. Borehole stability is a
continuing problem which results in substantial yearly expenditures by the petroleum industry.
As a result, a major concern of the drilling engineers is keeping the borehole wall from caving
in. Detailed attention is paid to drilling fluid programs, casing programs, and operating
procedures in drilling a well to minimize these costly problems Wellbore instability has
become an increasing concern for horizontal and extended reach wells, especially with the move
towards completely open hole lateral section, and in some cases, open hole build-up section
through shale cap rocks. More recent drilling innovations such as underbalanced drilling
techniques ,high pressure jet drilling, re-entry horizontal wells and multiple laterals from a single
vertical or horizontal well often give rise to challenging wellbore stability question.
In many cases, the selection of an optimal strategy to prevent or mitigate the risk of wellbore
collapse might compromise one or more of the other elements in the overall well design, e.g.,
drilling rate of penetration, the risk of differential sticking, hole cleaning ability, or formation
damage. For drilling situations, it is therefore desirable to apply integrated predictive methods that
can, for instance, help to optimize the mud density, chemistry, rheology, the selection of filter cake
building additives, and possibly temperature. Sensitivity studies can also help assess if there is any
additional risk due to the selected well trajectory and inclination. Wellbore stability predictive
models may also be used to design appropriate completions for inflow problems where hole
collapse and associated sand production are concerned. For example, in highly permeable and
weakly cemented sandstones, such predictive tools can be used to decide whether a slotted or
perforated liner completion would be preferred over leaving a horizontal well completely open
hole.

In general, wellbore instability is caused by a combination of different reasons or presence of

more than one mechanism. Wells drilled in complex geological areas encounter many layers of
rock having different properties. Some layers could be weak, while others brittle, fractured,
chemically reactive or rubble. There is no simple solution for wellbore instability in such cases. A
collapsing weak layer needs high mud weight for stability, but increasing the mud weight could
excite instability in fractured layers by mud invasion. Therefore, such cases require careful rock
characterization and mud weight optimization. In the past, fields were developed using vertical
wells which did not exhibit any drilling trouble. The trend nowadays is to drill horizontal wells to
enhance productivity. The experience of drilling vertical wells is carried forward without
appropriate modifications to drill the horizontal wells resulting in wellbore instabilities.
 I . CAUSES OF WELLBORE INSTABILITY

Wellbore instability manifests itself in different ways like hole pack off, excessive reaming,
overpull, torque and drag, sometimes leading to stuck pipe that may require plugging and side
tracking. This requires additional time to drill a hole, driving up the cost of reservoir development
significantly. In case of offshore fields, loss of hole is more critical due to a limited number of
holes that can be drilled from a platform. Wellbore instability is usually caused by a combination of
factors which may be broadly classified as being either controllable or uncontrollable (natural) in
origin. These factors are shown in table

Table I: Causes of Wellbore Instability

Uncontrollable (Natural) Factors Controllable Factors

Naturally Fractured or Faulted Formations Bottom Hole Pressure (Mud
Density)
Tectonically Stressed Formations Well Inclination and Azimuth
High In-situ Stresses Transient Pore Pressures
Mobile Formations Physical/chemical Rock-Fluid
Interaction
Unconsolidated Formations Drill String Vibrations
Naturally Over-Pressured Shale Collapse Erosion
Induced Over-Pressured Shale Collapse Temperature

A. Uncontrollable factors :

1. Naturally fractured or faulted formations: A natural fracture system in the rock can often
be found near faults. Rock near faults can be broken into large or small pieces. If they are loose,
they can fall into the wellbore and jam the string in the hole . Even if the pieces are bonded
together, impacts from the BHA due to drill string vibrations can cause the formation to fall into
the wellbore. This type of sticking is particularly unusual in that stuck pipe can occur while
drilling. Fig. 1 shows possible problems that result drilling a naturally fractured or faulted
system. This mechanism can occur in tectonically active zones, in prognosed fractured limestone,
and as the formation is drilled. Drill string vibrations have to be minimized to help stabilize these
formations. Hole collapse problems may become quite severe if weak bedding planes intersect a
wellbore at unfavourable angles. Such fractures in shales may provide a pathway for mud or fluid
invasion that can lead to time-depended strength degradation, softening and ultimately to hole
collapse. The relationship between hole size and the fracture spacing will be important in such
formations.

Fig. 1: Drilling through naturally fractured or faulted formations

2. Tectonically Stressed Formations: Wellbore instability is caused when highly stressed

formations are drilled and if exists a significant difference between the near wellbore stress and the
restraining pressure provided by the drilling fluid density. Tectonic stresses build up in areas where
rock is being compressed or stretched due movement of the earth´s crust. The rock in these areas is
being buckled by the pressure of the moving tectonic plates. When a hole is drilled in an area of high
tectonic stresses the rock around the wellbore will collapse into the wellbore and produce splintery
carvings similar to those produced by over-pressured shale (Fig. 2). In the tectonic stress case the
hydrostatic pressure required to stabilize the wellbore may be much higher than the fracture pressure
of the other exposed formations. This mechanism usually occurs in or near mountainous regions.
Planning to case off these formations as quickly as possible and maintaining adequate drilling fluid
weight can help to stabilize these formations
 Fig. 2: Drilling through tectonically stressed formations

3. High in-situ stresses: Anomalously height in-situ stresses, such as may be found in the vicinity of
salt domes, near faults, or in the inner limbs of a folds may give rise to wellbore instability. Stress
concentrations may also occur in particularly stiff rocks such as quartzose sandstones or
conglomerates. Only a few case histories have been described in the literature for drilling problems
caused by local stress concentrations, mainly because of the difficulty in measuring or estimating
such in situ stresses.

4. Mobile formations: The mobile formation squeezes into the wellbore because it is being
compressed by the overburden forces. Mobile formations behave in a plastic manner, deforming
under pressure. The deformation results in a decrease in the wellbore size, causing problems of
running BHA´s, logging tools and casing (Fig. 3). A deformation occurs because the mud weight is
not sufficient to prevent the formation squeezing into the wellbore [16]. This mechanism normally
occurs while drilling salt. An appropriate drilling fluid and maintaining sufficient drilling fluid
weight are required to help stabilize these formations.

Fig. 3: Drilling through mobile formations

5. Unconsolidated formations: An unconsolidated formation falls into the wellbore because it is
loosely packed with little or no bonding between particles, pebbles or boulders. The collapse of
formations is caused by removing the supporting rock as the well is drilled (Fig. 4). It happens
in a wellbore when little or no filter cake is present. The un-bonded formation (sand, gravel, etc.)
cannot be supported by hydrostatic overbalance as the fluid simply flows into the formations. Sand
or gravel then falls into the hole and packs off the drill string. The effect can be a gradual increase
in drag over a number of meters, or can be sudden . This mechanism is normally associated with
shallow formation. An adequate filter cake is required to help stabilize these formation

Fig. 4: Drilling through unconsolidated formations

6. Naturally Over-Pressured Shale Collapse: Naturally over-pressured shale is the one with a
natural pore pressure greater than the normal hydrostatic pressure gradient. Naturally over-
pressured shales are most commonly caused by geological phenomena such as under-compaction,
naturally removed overburden and uplift (Fig. 5). Using insufficient mud weight in these
formations will cause the hole to become unstable and collapse This mechanism normally occurs in
prognosed rapid depositional shale sequences. The short time hole exposure and an adequate
drilling fluid weight can help to stabilize these formations.

Fig. 5: Drilling through a naturally over-pressured shale

7. Induced Over-Pressured Shale Collapse: Induced over-pressured shale collapse occurs when
the shale assumes the hydrostatic pressure of the wellbore fluids after a number of days’ exposures
to that pressure. When this is followed by no increase or a reduction in hydrostatic pressure in the
wellbore, the shale, which now has a higher internal pressure than the wellbore, collapse in a
similar manner to naturally over-pressured shale (Fig. 6). This mechanism normally occurs in water
based drilling fluids, after a reduction in drilling fluid weight or after a long exposure time during
which the drilling fluid was unchanged.

Fig. 6: Drilling through induced over-pressured shale

Controllable factors

1.Bottom hole pressure (mud density): Depending upon the application, either the bottom hole
pressure, the mud density or the equivalent circulating density (ECD), is usually the most important
determinant of whether an open wellbore is stable (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8). The supporting pressure
offered by the static or dynamic fluid pressure during either drilling, stimulating,working over or
producing of a well, will determine the stress concentration present in the near wellbore
vicinity.Because rock failure is dependent on the effective stress the consequence for stability is
highly dependent on whether and how rapidly fluid pressure penetrate the wellbore wall.

That is not to say however, that high mud densities or bottom hole pressures are always optimal for
avoiding instability in a given well. In the absence of an efficient filter cake, such as in fractured
formations, a rise in a bottom hole pressure may be detrimental to stability and can compromise
other criteria, e.g., formation damage, differential sticking risk, mud properties, or hydraulics.
 Fig. 7: Effect of mud weight on the stress in wellbore
wall

2. Well Inclination and Azimuth: Inclination and azimuthal orientation of a well with respect
to the principal in-situ stresses can be an important factor affecting the risk of collapse and/or
fracture breakdown occurring (Fig.8). This is particularly true for estimating the fracture
breakdown pressure in tectonically stressed regions where there is strong stress anisotropy.

Fig. 8: Effect of the well depth (a) and the hole inclination (b) on wellbore stability

3. Transient wellbore pressures: Transient wellbore pressures, such as swab and surge effects
during drilling, may cause wellbore enlargement. Tensile spalling can occur when the wellbore
pressure across an interval is rapidly reduced by the swabbing action of the drill string for instance.
If the formation has a sufficiently low tensile strength or is pre-fractured, the imbalance between
the pore pressures in the rock and the wellbore can literally pull loose rock off the wall. Surge
pressures can also cause rapid pore pressures increases in the near- wellbore area sometimes
causing an immediate loss in rock strength which may ultimately lead to collapse. Other pore
pressure penetration-related phenomena may help to initially stabilize wellbores, e.g. filter cake
efficiency in permeable formations, capillary threshold pressures for oil-based muds and transient
pore pressure penetration effects.

4. Physical/chemical fluid-rock interaction: There are many physical/chemical fluid-rock

interaction phenomena which modify the near-wellbore rock strength or stress. These include
hydration, osmotic pressures, swelling, rock softening and strength changes, and dispersion. The
significance of these effects depend on a complex interaction of many factors including the nature
of the formation (mineralogy, stiffness, strength, pore water composition, stress history,
temperature), the presence of a filter cake or permeability barrier is present, the properties and
chemical composition of the wellbore fluid, and the extent of any damage near the wellbore.

5. Drill string vibrations (during drilling): Drill string vibrations can enlarge holes in some
circumstances. Optimal bottom hole assembly (BHA) design with respect to the hole geometry,
inclination, and formations to be drilled can sometimes eliminate this potential contribution to
wellbore collapse. Some authors claim that hole erosion may be caused due to a too high annular
circulating velocity. This may be most significant in a yielded formation, a naturally fractured
formation, or an unconsolidated or soft, dispersive sediment. The problem may be difficult to
diagnose and fix in an inclined or horizontal well where high circulating rates are often desirable to
ensure adequate hole cleaning.

6. Drilling fluid temperature: Drilling fluid temperatures, and to some extent, bottomhole
producing temperatures can give rise to thermal concentration or expansion stresses which may be
detrimental to wellbore stability. The reduced mud temperature causes a reduction in the near-
wellbore stress concentration, thus preventing the stresses in the rock from reaching their
strength .
 II. TYPES AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

There are four different types of borehole instabilities :

 Hole closure or narrowing

 Hole enlargement or washouts
 Fracturing
 Collapse

A. Hole closure
Hole closure is a narrowing time-dependent process of borehole instability. It sometimes is
referred to as creep under the overburden pressure, and it generally occurs in plastic-flowing shale
and salt sections. Problems associated with hole closure are:
 Increase in torque and drag
 Increase in potential pipe sticking
 Increase in the difficulty of casings landing
B. Hole enlargement
Hole enlargements are commonly called washouts because the hole becomes undesirably larger than
intended. Hole enlargements are generally caused by:

 Hydraulic erosion
 Mechanical abrasion caused by drill string
 Inherently sloughing shale

The problems associated with hole enlargement are:

 Increase in cementing difficulty

 Increase in potential hole deviation
 Increase in hydraulic requirements for effective hole cleaning
 Increase in potential problems during logging operations

C. Fracturing
Fracturing occurs when the wellbore drilling-fluid pressure exceeds the formation-fracture
pressure. The associated problems are lost circulation and possible kick occurrence.

D. Collapse
 Borehole collapse occurs when the drilling-fluid pressure is too low to maintain the
structural integrity of the drilled hole. The associated problems are pipe sticking and possible
loss of well.

III. PRINCIPLES OF BOREHOLE INSTABILITY

Before drilling, the rock strength at some depth is in equilibrium with the in-situ rock stresses
(effective overburden stress, effective horizontal confining stresses). While a hole is being drilled,
however, the balance between the rock strength and the in-situ stresses is disturbed. In addition,
foreign fluids are introduced, and an interaction process begins between the formation and borehole
fluids. The result is a potential hole-instability problem. Although a vast amount of research has
resulted in many borehole-stability simulation models, all share the same shortcoming of
uncertainty in the input data needed to run the analysis. Such data include :

 In-situ stresses
 Pore pressure
 Rock mechanical properties
 Formation and drilling-fluids chemistry

A. Mechanical rock-failure mechanisms

Mechanical borehole failure occurs when the stresses acting on the rock exceed the compressive or
the tensile strength of the rock. Compressive failure is caused by shear stresses as a result of low
mud weight, while tensile failure is caused by normal stresses as a result of excessive mud weight .

The failure criteria that are used to predict hole-instability problems are the maximum- normal-
stress criterion for tensile failure and the maximum strain energy of distortion criterion for
compressive failure. In the maximum-normal-stress criterion, failure is said to occur when, under
the action of combined stresses, one of the acting principal stresses reaches the failure value of the
rock tensile strength. In the maximum of energy of distortion criterion, failure is said to occur
when, under the action of combined stresses, the energy of distortion reaches the same energy of
failure of the rock under pure tension.
B. Shale instability

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. More than 75% of drilled
formations worldwide are shale formations. 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 interaction—capillary pressure, osmotic pressure, pressure diffusion, borehole-fluid
invasion into shale).

1. Mechanical-induced shale instability: As stated previously, 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. Chemical-induced shale 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

3. 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 cap . 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.
4. Osmotic pressure: When the energy level or activity in shale pore fluid, a s, 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, p os , or chemical potential, μc . 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 E m 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 occursover 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 microfractures.

Use of drilling fluid: Drilling overbalanced through a shale formation with a water-based fluid
(WBF) allows drilling-fluid pressure to penetrate the formation. Because of the saturation and low
permeability of the formation, the penetration of a small volume of mud filtrate into the formation
causes a considerable increase in pore-fluid pressure near the wellbore wall. The increase in pore-
fluid pressure reduces the effective mud support, which can cause instability. Several polymer WBF
systems have made shale-inhibition gains on oil-based fluids (OBFs) and synthetic-based fluids
(SBFs) through the use of powerful inhibitors and encapsulators that help prevent shale hydration
and dispersion.
 IV. SYMPTOMS OF WELLBORE INSTABILITY

A list of the symptoms of wellbore instability which are primarily caused by

wellbore collapse or convergence during the drilling, completion or production of a well is
shown in table 2. They are classified in two groups: direct and indirect causes. Direct
symptoms of instability include observations of overgauge or undergauge hole, as readily
observed from caliper logs. Caving from the wellbore wall, circulated to surface, and hole fill
after tripping confirm that spalling processes are occurring in the wellbore. Large volumes of
cuttings and or cavings, in excess of the volume of rock which would have been excavated in
a gauge hole, similarly attest to hole enlargement. Provided the fracture gradient was not
exceeded and vuggy or naturally fractured formations were not encountered, a requirement
for a cement volume in excess of the calculated drilled hole volume is also a direct indication
that enlargement has occurred .

Direct symptoms Indirect symptoms

Oversize hole High torque and drag (friction)
Undergauge hole Hanging up of drillstring , casing, or coiled
tubing
Excessive volume of cuttings Increased circulating pressures
Excessive volume of cavings Stuck pipe
Cavings at surface Excessive drillstring vibrations
Hole fill after tripping Drillstring failure
Excess cement volume Deviation control problems
required
Inability to run logs
Poor logging response
Annular gas leakage due to poor cement
job
Keyhole seating
Excessive doglegs

Table 2: Symptoms of Wellbore Stability

 V. BOREHOLE-INSTABILITY PREVENTION

Total prevention of borehole instability is unrealistic, mainly because the rock can never be
restored to its initial conditions . 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

 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

VI. CONCLUSION

Key parameters that influence wellbore instability discussed are rock properties, in-situ stresses, pore
pressure, wellbore trajectory, drilling fluid and drilling practices.

Wellbore instability problems still exist today due to unknowns (values of rock data) and differences
in formations drilled.total prevention of wellbore instability is unrealistic. Reason is that we caused it
and we cannot restore the in-situ rock conditions.Combined analysis (integrated approach) of
wellbore stresses, mud chemistry, and excellent drilling practices is the key to minimizing wellbore
instability.

Nonetheless, although we cannot control what the drillers do, we can influence them and gain
credibility with them by understanding their problems, speaking their language, and letting them
understand the consequences of their actions. With adequate planning and supervision the problems
can be minimized.

24
View publication stats