Buenos Aires, 7 al 10 de agosto de 2012 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Buenos Aires, 7 al 10 de agosto de 2012

Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluids for Unconventional Shale

James Friedheim

Quan Guo

M-I SWACOSlide2

Shale Gas in Argentina

“Argentina is the country with the third highest geological potential for these types of hydrocarbons (shale gas), after China and the United States”

Overview of Argentina Shale Gas Fields –

(from Investment U article

The Next Big Shale Gas Boom

by

Justin Dove

,

Investment U

Research; Friday, October 7, 2011)

The study assessed the viability of 48 shale gas basins in 32 countries and estimated Argentina’s shale gas reserves at 774 trillion cubic feet (TCF), 60 times greater than the country’s current conventional reserves. Furthermore, Argentina possesses almost 12% of the global shale gas resources, with the

Neuquen Basis showing greatest potential.

- Annual Energy Outlook 2011Slide3

All Shale Not the Same!

Unconventional resource requires unconventional thinkingSlide4

Traditional Fluids Selection Techniques May Not Apply…..

Effective and useful shale-fluids interaction tests – Shale Hydration Test, Dispersion Test, Slake Durability Test, …

These traditional shale-fluids interaction and fluids selection tests are not effective for gas shaleSlide5

Shale Play – Fluid Design

Each shale play is different and fluids should be tailored for each formation

Shale plays are usually less reactive (swelling), but are micro-fractured and can be very easily destabilized by fluid or filtrate

The overburden is different

Some High-Temperature shale

plays (

such as Haynesville) demand temperature stability, good

rheology

and densities up to > 19

ppg

Marcellus Shale Core

6711.05 –

6711.6

ft

Smectite

4%

Illite

25%

Quartz

47%

Feldspar

10%

Pyrite

5%

Chlorite

6%

Ankerite

3%

CEC, (

meq

/100gr)

3

Permeability (

nd)19 @ 3000 psiPermeability (nd)6 @ 6000 psiPorosity10%Total organic content9%

Oil/Gas Shales Tend to be Hard and Organically Rich

Old Shales Still Can Be Unstable in Freshwater

Fracture Tendency Allows Water AccessSlide6

OBM/SBM Still Drilling Fluid Predominately Used

Advantages

Cost*

Readily available*

Good temperature stability

Provides good hole stability & shale stability

Tolerates contaminants well

Low torque & drag while drilling & running casing

Concerns

Cost**

Availability**

Downhole losses

Concerns

Environmental Acceptability

Toxic Compounds*

Slow degradation Rates*

Cuttings Disposal (except PARALAND)

Human Exposure Factors

High vapor emissions

Aromatic & Cyclic hydrocarbons in the vapor, and consider carcinogenic*

*) diesel **)syntheticsSlide7

Shale Gas Water-based Mud

Design

Develop a low cost, environmentally friendly WBM drilling fluid (fresh water) for the shale plays

Straight-forward, simple, cost-conscious design.

Environmentally friendly – precludes the use of chloride-containing materials.

Provide shale stability to low-reactivity, fissile shale

Physical Plugging

Blocks entry of fluid into the formation

No decrease in stability

Inert chemistry

Water invasion into the shale formations weakens the wellbore

– not so much a chemical process!

Normal fluid loss additives are not able to form a filter cake and therefore cannot stop the invasion of fluids, especially water.

Focus more on wellbore stability than shale inhibition for long open hole section using WBM

Address issue of lubricity for both drilling and running casing

Goal

Concept

high permeability

thick filter cake

low permeability

virtually no filter cake Slide8

SMT (

Shale Membrane Test

)

Paper # • Paper Title • Presenter Name

Fluid at fixed flow rate and pressure

Pressurized with brine that matches the water activity of the shale

Pressure differences ∆P(t) at top and bottom are used to calculate permeability properties

300 psi

Epoxy

50 psi

Top Cap

Base

Typical Test Regime

Brine matches water activity of the shale

Brine/Drilling fluid

Nanomaterial and drilling fluid

Can be repeated several times

P1

P2Slide9

SMT Result

s

†

Atoka Shale

† )

Sensoy

, T, Chenevert, M. E. and Sharma, M. “Minimizing Water Invasion in

Shales

Using

Nanoparticles.” paper SPE 124429 presented at the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 4-7 October 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana. P1

P2Slide10

What do we mean by

Nano

Particles?Slide11

WARP 1.5

μ

m

Virus 150 nm

Barite – 15,000 nm

Barite – 15,000 nm

WARP – 1,500 nm

Barite – 15,000 nm

WARP – 1,500 nm

Flu virus – 150 nm

Barite – 15,000 nm

WARP – 1,500 nm

Flu virus – 150 nm

Nanoparticles – 15 nmSlide12

Silica

Nanoparticle

Screening

Design Considerations

Cost

Various coatings/treatments

&

Number of treatments

Reactive groups

Temperature stability

Rheology effects

Sizes 5-100 nm

Compatibility with ions in a range of concentrations

Faster tests and better availability than shale samples

5 nm

10-30 nm

40-50 nm

70-100 nmSlide13

Nanoparticle

Characterization

Cryo

-Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) performed at Rice University

Right image is the best performing sample

The images will be used to better understand their filtration behavior

40000x magnification, scale bar 50 nm

40000x magnification, scale bar 50 nmSlide14

Optimizing

Nanoparticle

Loading

Full mud formulation designed for maximum efficiency

Loading reduced from 29% to 3% (10 ppb,

Nanoparticle

slurry)

Permeability reduction is permanent

Strong stabilization of shale by blocking fluid access

Step

Test Fluid

Permeability, nD

Permeability Reduction, %

1

4%

NaCl

Brine

0.153

-

2

WBM with 3% w/v of

nanosilica

0.0042

97.2%

3

4%

NaCl

Brine

0.0035

97.6%Slide15

General Fluid Formulation

Duovis

:

xanthan

based rheology modifier which gives us suspension properties

EMI-690

sufonated

styrene-butadiene copolymer with optimized fluid loss performance

Resinex:

Phenol formaldehyde resin used for additional filtration controlGlydril GP 100:blend of glycols used for shale inhibition, fluid loss and baseline friction coefficient reduction

Lubricant:General purpose Lubricant for WBM, usually vegetable oil derivativeEMI-2545:Nanosilica solution for physical shale pluggingPropertyValue

Period Aged

16

Temperature

150

Fann

35 viscometer data

600 rpm

120

300 rpm

46

200 rpm

36

100 rpm

24

6 rpm

8

3 rpm

6

10 s

6

10 min

8

PV

28YP 18EMS 2520Slide16

Fracture Shale

Consideration

Formulated drilling fluid with 10ppb

nanoparticles

(10% EMI-2545)

99% reduction in shale permeability

Permeability reduction held after flushing with brine (88% after 6 hours)

FractureSlide17

Additional Data on EMS 2520

Effect of lubricant package

seen at higher loadings

Mysid

Shrimp testing both

additive (

nanosilica

) and Shale

Gas Drilling Fluid easily pass

LC50 protocol

Environmental TestingSlide18

Summary

Novel approach to shale stabilization specifically focused on Unconventional Shale Plays source Rock by physical plugging of Shale Pores utilizing

Nanoparticles

:

Provides high stability

Especially coupled with designed fluid formulation (EMS-2520) even for fractured shale

Environmentally designed (freshwater (without chlorides))

Applicable for HT fluids

Applicability to other type of shale

Couple with chemical inhibition

Robust testing protocol Performance additives for enhanced lubricitySlide19

Thank

You

We would like to thank Dr Ji Lou for his support and help on the SMT equipment and work.

Questions?