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Formation damage control of saline-lacustrine fractured tight oil reservoir during well drilling

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Abstract

Formation damage is commonly known as a great cause for the production decline, owing to the unclear formation damage mechanisms under the reservoir geological and engineering conditions. This paper aims to develop a formation damage control technology during drilling for the protection of the natural productivity of saline-lacustrine reservoir. Reservoir geological characterization is first presented, including formation mineralogy, petrophysical properties, and fracture developing features. Fluid and stress sensitivity and in situ drilling fluid damage are experimentally evaluated under the simulated reservoir conditions. Successively, formation damage mechanisms during drilling are comprehensively summarized based on the evaluation results. It is believed that lost circulation is the main reason for formation damage, which further induce other damage. Given the formation damage mechanisms, principles of formation damage control technology for saline-lacustrine carbonate reservoir are explored, and in situ drilling fluids are optimized. The optimized drilling fluids are validated by lab experiments and field trials in Qaidam Basin. Field trials indicate that daily decline rate of productivity is decreased and per-well daily yield is increased by 7.7% year-on-year by using the optimized drilling fluids. This work could provide an effective guideline of formation damage control for saline-lacustrine reservoirs.

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Funding

This study is financially supported by the Sichuan Province Youth Science and Technology Innovation Team Project (Grant No. 2016TD0016), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51674209).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of CNPC Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xiwen Zhang & Guohui Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, Sichuan Province, China

    Lijun You, Yili Kang & Qigui Tan

  3. PetroChina Qinghai Oilfield Company, Dunhuang, 736202, Gansu Province, China

    Chuang Zhang

Authors
  1. Xiwen Zhang
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  2. Lijun You
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  3. Yili Kang
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  4. Chuang Zhang
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  5. Guohui Zhang
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  6. Qigui Tan
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Correspondence to Lijun You or Qigui Tan.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible Editor: Santanu Banerjee

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Zhang, X., You, L., Kang, Y. et al. Formation damage control of saline-lacustrine fractured tight oil reservoir during well drilling. Arab J Geosci 13, 1087 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06099-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06099-8

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