7/27/2019 Alternative Inhibiting Salt in WBM Helps Raise Environmental Acceptability in Rain Forest Locations

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N-FLOW Breaker Systems

Alternative inhibiting salt in WBM

helps raise environmentalacceptability in rain forest

locations

OPERATORS CHALLENGE Halliburton Baroid has

been providing drilling fluids for Oil Search Ltd (OSL) in the

Rain Forest region of the Southern Highlands of Papua New

Guinea (PNG) since 2004. PERFORMADRIL high

performance water-based drilling fluid has been used on the

more challenging wells in the area, which contains KCl as the

inhibiting salt. This chloride ion can be recognized as a

contaminant in some land operations. Periodically, concerns

from local landowners regarding the impact of the drilling

operations were causing disruption and downtime, becoming

cos tly for the operator. OSL was seeking to mitigate

environmental concerns and improve their reputation as

environmentally friendly in the region.

HALLIBURTONS SOLUTION Drawing from

experience in other geographical areas Baroid engineers

determined that Potassium Acetate (KAc) could be used

instead of KCl in the drilling fluid s ys tem as a more

environmentally acceptable inhibiting salt alternative. The

acetate ion bio-degrades to carbon dioxide and water when

discharged to the environment. Laboratory tes ting confirmed

that properties of the PERFORMADRIL system were not

diminished by the use of KAc in place of KCl.

A cos t evaluat ion of the change to KAc from KCl determined

that the KAc PERFORMADRIL sys tem would be

approximately 10 - 20% more expensive than the exist ing

KCl PERFORMADRIL sys tem, but this

Additional outlay was determined by OSL to be an acceptable

investment considering the environmental benefits of the

system.

A trial us ing the KAc PerformaDril system was planned and

executed on the Moran 15 well.

ECONOMIC VALUE CREATED The Moran 15 well

was recognized both as a technical and an environmental

success.

Subsequent wells, Mananda 5 and UDT 13 confirmed the

appropriate application of the system to the technical

challenges encountered in the Southern Highlands of Papua

New Guinea. Potass ium Acetate has now been accepted as the

inhibiting salt of choice for Oil Search Limited including the

more challenging intervals as well as in the less demanding

sections.

This system allowed many of the longer step-out, directional,

rock tectonic and wellbore stability issues to be reduced in the

drilling of these increasingly more difficult wells. It was

concluded that the technical objectives of the well would not

have been achieved without the use of the PERFORMADRIL

system.

High Performance Water-Based Fluid

A typical ri g-si te, hi gh in the Rai n Forests of the Southern

Hi ghl ands, Papua New Gui nea

H09600 08/12

Location: Papua New Guinea