"Breaking Down Conventional Barriers with Managed Pressure Drilling" by Distinguished Lecturer Patrick Brand.
Abstract
Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) was introduced in 2000 as an adative drilling technology for pricely controlling the pressure profile in the wellbore. Utilizing applied surface pressure, MPD provides an addition degree of freedom in the design and drilling of wells. MPD has been utilized successfully in drilling projects to mitigate or eliminate problems associated with conventional drilling operations. MPD has been used for early kick detection, driling through narrow pore pressure/fracture pressure windows, reduction of the probability of lost returns, identifying and eliminating issues of wellbore breathing (ballooning), and pore pressure/fracture gradient mapping. An area that has great potential, but has gainned little attention, is the ability to utilize MPD for dynamic influx control. MPD changes the primary barrier envelope to well control, allowing small influxes to be managed through the MPD system. This lecture describes the current state of dynamic influx control and its limitations. It shows how conventional well control practices actually increase the probability of secondary well control problems, and thus risk. The basis for and practical applications of dynamic influx control are presented. Conditions under which dynamic influx control is practicable, and when conventional well control should be invoked, are discussed. Adoption of Dynamic Influx Control eliminates many problems associated with the current conventional methods of well control, allowing the control of the well to be regained safer, quicker and with less risk of secondary problems, including underground blowouts, stuck pipe, lost returns and secondary kicks.
Biography
Patrick Brand is a founding partner of Blade Energy Partners and former Drilling Technology Advisor for Mobil. In his 36 years in upstream oil and gas, Patrick has made numerous innovative and fundamental contributions to MPD, including the development of Dynamic influx control, dynamic pore pressure and fracture pressure determination. Patrick is a former Chairman of the IADC UBO and MPD Committee and the SPE Re-Write committee for UBD. Patrick has over 20 archival publications on various technical subjects. Patrick is a registered professional engineer for the State of Texas. Education credits include a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.
