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IPA09-E-057

PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION

Thirty-Third Annual Convention & Exhibition, May 2009

BENEFITS OF HT-HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS ON WELLBORE STABILITY: A CASE STUDY

FROM GEOTHERMAL FIELDS IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

Fermín FERNÁNDEZ-IBÁÑEZ*
David CASTILLO*
Doone WYBORN**
Dean HINDLE**

ABSTRACT high ∆T and a short well exposure time are

In high temperature (HT) environments additional
stresses are supplied to the rock at the borehole wall
due to the differences in temperature between the
drilling fluids and the rock (∆T). Cooling of the
hole (the usual case) increases the tensile stresses
(and decreases the compressive stresses) at the
wellbore wall. As the hole warms up, compressive
stresses will be increased and breakouts will grow
in severity. However, drilling in HT-environments
may benefit wellbore stability if properly planned.
The Cooper-Eromanga basin is characterized by
high heat flow that has been related to the presence
of high radiogenic heat producing granites. Several
wells have been drilled in the area to exploit the
heat from the fractured granitic rocks of the
basement. Drilling through the hot formations in the
Cooper basin (max. temperature ca. 250 °C) with
relatively cool drilling fluids induces an almost
instantaneous cooling of the wellbore wallrock.
LWD temperature data from these wells suggests a
maximum temperature contrast between the mud
and the basement of 100 °C. This temperature
contrast is enough to initiate drilling induced tensile
fractures, as it is seen in acoustic image data.
Modeling of the in situ stress tensor and mechanical
properties of the wellbore rocks have revealed the
time-dependent effect that the borehole collapse
pressure has on the stability of the wells. Narrow
breakouts form at the time of drilling. Afterwards,
the temperature difference (∆T) decays with time,
and as the hole warms up compressive stresses
increase and breakouts become enhanced. This
analysis suggests that the first 10 days seem to be
critical for breakout development. Therefore, if a
* GeoMechanics International
** Geodynamics Ltd
achieved, it would be possible to inhibit breakout
development, drill with a lower mud weight, and
thus, minimize the risk of formation damage.
INTRODUCTION
Central Australia is characterized by a large
temperature anomaly that has been related to the
presence of high radiogenic heat producing granites
(e.g., Neumann et al., 2000; Holdgate and Chopra,
2004). This high heat flow province coincides with
granitic basements covered by the insulating
sediments of several basins, including the Cooper
and Eromanga basins. These granites can
potentially provide large amounts of renewable
energy.
Geodynamics Limited is currently undertaking a
leading project to develop the Hot Dry Rock
geothermal resources in the Geothermal Exploration
License 98 (GEL-98) in the Cooper Basin. The
program involves drilling wells into the high heat
producing fractured granitic basement that is
located about 3,500m below the surface. Several
wells (Habanero-1, Habanero-2, Habanero-3 and
Jolokia-1) have been drilled so far in the GEL-98 to
depths close to 5,000m with bottom hole
temperatures over 240 °C (Wyborn et al., 2004).
These wells also revealed overpressures in the
granite, which significantly increased the likelihood
of these hot fracture rock resource being successful.
A good knowledge of in situ stress state of the crust
is crucial to help predict rock fracturing paths and
water flow; but also it is very important to manage
wellbore stability in this hostile environment.
Drilling through the hot rocks of GEL-98 led to
some major wellbore stability-related drilling
problems, probably related to excessive breakout
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development, which resulted in stuck bottom-hole
assembly and malfunction of some logging tools.
The aim of this paper is to constrain the in situ
stress tensor in the GEL-98 based on wellbore
failure observations and provide some insights on
how to optimize drilling in high-temperature (HT)
environments. Borehole breakout can be used to
predict the direction and magnitude of the
maximum horizontal stress (SHmax). Therefore, the
image data collected in these wells represents a
unique source of information to characterize stress
magnitudes and orientations. The Habanero wells
are a natural laboratory to better understand the
mechanisms of rock failure under extreme
conditions.
We have intended to use this information to model
the time-dependent effects of temperature on
wellbore stability. Results suggest that drilling in
HT-environments may benefit wellbore stability,
and eventually reservoir productivity, if operations
are strategically planned. The knowledge acquired
during drilling in geothermal fields can potentially
be transferred to the oil and gas industry to help
optimize drilling, design completions, and
eventually minimize formation damage in clastic
reservoirs.
MODELING WELLBORE FAILURE IN HT
ENVIRONMENTS
When a hole is drilled into a homogeneous,
isotropic, elastic material the stresses around the
wellbore are reorganized so that there is a greater
stress concentration in the orientation of the
minimum applied stress and a lesser stress
concentration in the orientation of the maximum
applied stress as described by the Kirsch equations
(Kirsch, 1898). Stress trajectories around the
borehole tend to bend in such a way as to be parallel
and perpendicular to the wellbore wall because it is
a free surface which cannot sustain shear traction.
In addition, as the material removed is no longer
available to support far field stresses, there is a
stress concentration around the well that results in a
strongly amplified compressive stress at the azimuth
of Shmin and decrease in compressive stress at the
azimuth of SHmax.
Mathematically, the effective stresses around a
vertical wellbore are described in terms of a
cylindrical coordinate system. Therefore, when the
circumferential, or hoop, stress exceeds the
compressive strength of the rock, breakouts form
90° apart from the azimuth of SHmax. If the hoop
stress becomes tensile and exceeds the tensile
strength of the rock, tensile fractures will form
parallel to SHmax.
Many different failure criteria have been proposed
to describe rock failure under different stress
conditions based on different types of laboratory
measurements. However, in high temperature
environments the Mohr-Coulomb criterion (Jaeger
and Cook, 1979) seems to be the most appropriate
way to model wellbore stability, even when it
ignores the influence of the intermediate principal
stress, since it accounts for plastic behavior and
somehow considers what happens after failure. The
Mohr-Coulomb criterion is given by,
σ1 = q σ3 + C0
q = [(µ 2+1)1/2 + µ]2
where the yield envelope is fully defined by the
coefficient of internal friction, µ, and the uniaxial
rock strength, C0.
Other criteria as modified Lade, that is potentially
more descriptive of rock failure when considering
wellbore stability in normal conditions, turns not to
be appropriate to describe rock behavior in high
temperature conditions where it is expected an
important component of plastic deformation due to
temperature effects.
Additional stresses are applied to the rock at the
borehole wall if the wellbore fluid is at significantly
different temperature than the rock. These stresses
can be compressive or tensile depending on whether
the temperature of the fluid is higher or lower,
respectively, than the ambient in situ temperature.
When the mud is cooler than the formation (the
usual case at the bit), thermal stresses make the
stress concentration around a well more tensile at all
azimuths in the same manner as increasing mud
pressure (Zoback, 2007).
The effect of temperature is time-dependent, in the
sense that the longer the rock is in contact with the
wellbore fluid the further away from the hole
temperature perturbation will propagate (e.g.,
Stephens and Voight, 1982). Once steady state has
been reached, the change in the hoop stress is given
by,
σθθ∆T = αt Ε ∆T/1-ν
where αt is the linear coefficient of thermal
expansion and E is the static Young’s modulus. αt is
a strong function of the silica content because the
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coefficient of thermal expansion of the quartz is an
order of magnitude higher than other common rock
forming mineral.
Moderate cooling makes slightly easier for drilling
induced tensile fractures to develop. That is, for a
given value of Shmin, tensile fractures can occur at
slightly lower value of SHmax. In the case of
geothermal wells, where very significant cooling
occurs, this effect can be much greater. So much
that enlargements due to pervasive tensile failure
have sometimes been mistaken for breakouts in
geothermal wells. On the other hand, in deep-water
Gulf of Mexico wells, cooling seems to have
decreased the fracture gradient making the
formation more vulnerable and leading to lost
circulation (Pepin et al., 2004).
Drilling through the hot formations of the GEL-98
(~250 °C in the basement) implies that an almost
instantaneous cooling of the wellbore wallrock will
take place due to the drilling fluid. This temperature
difference (∆T) is expected to modify the stress
distribution around the wellbore. Cooling of the
rock increases the tensile stress and decreases the
compressive stress at the wellbore wall. ∆T will
decay with time and as the hole warms up
compressive stresses will be increased and the
breakouts will become enhanced.
Image data collected in some of these wells shows
evidence of cooling effects in the wellbore walls.
Drilling induced tensile fractures develop in wall
rock, in cases coexisting with borehole breakouts,
witness borehole cooling due to mud. Drilling
induced fractures extensively develop in high
strength rock, where breakouts do not occur,
probably related to high silica content that make the
rock stronger and more prone to develop drilling
induced fractures.
THE IN SITU STRESS TENSOR
A robust geomechanical model is essential to
maximize wellbore stability and understand the
mechanics of failure under HT conditions. A good
knowledge of pore pressure, effective rock strength,
and in situ magnitudes and orientations of the three
principal stresses (the vertical stress, Sv; the
maximum horizontal stress, SHmax; and the
minimum horizontal stress, Shmin) constitutes the
core of any geomechanical model. The basic
workflow followed to reconstruct the in situ stress
field from offset data in the studied area is
succinctly described below. Figure 1 summarized
the estimated stress field.
The overburden, Sv, was estimated by integrating
density distribution with depth. The available sonic
data was used to calculate a pseudo-density profile
based on the empirical relationship proposed by
Gardner et al. (1974). It is a common feature in the
ancient terrains of the central Australia the presence
of highly lithified rocks that results in a relatively
high overburden gradient in the shallow crust
(Figure 1).
The mud weights used in the wells drilled in the
region together with the drilling experiences
reported in those wells provide a valuable piece of
information that can be used to build a fairly
accurate pore pressure profile. Pore pressure has
been estimated assuming that the well was mainly
drilled overbalanced (∆P~1ppg). This pressure
difference has been modified following the reported
drilling experiences, kicks and gas readings while
drilling. For instance, where a gas peak occurred the
amount of overbalance is proportionally reduced to
the gas concentration. Unfortunately the absence of
direct pore pressure measurements made difficult to
construct a more accurate pore pressure profile. The
inferred pore pressure profile suggests a regional
overpressured zone occurs below ~2,600m. The
presence of coal seams in the stratigraphic sequence
seems to be an additional source of local
overpressures. High pore pressures occurring in the
granitic basement might be related to the occurrence
of natural fractures.
The magnitude of the least principal stress (S3) is
commonly estimated using hydraulic fracturing
techniques (e.g. leak-off tests) whereby the leak-off
pressure is equated to the minimum principal stress.
All tests performed in this field were stopped prior
to any leak-off which effectively only tested the
integrity of the casing shoe. These Formation
Integrity Tests (FITs) are not reliable indicators of
the least principal stress since the actual principal
stress could be lower or greater depending on
tensile strength. The test limit values were
extremely high, being close or even exceeding the
overburden suggesting that Sv was likely to be the
least principal stress. If we assume that these FITs
reflect a lower bound it would be important to seek
independent observations to help constrain feasible
lower limits of S3. There are geological and
geophysical observations that suggests thrust
faulting is active in the Cooper-Eromanga region
implying that perhaps S3 ~ Sv. It is very difficult to
physically measure Shmin from a vertical well
using hydraulic fracturing techniques if Shmin > Sv.
In a thrust faulting regime, Shmin magnitude must
be estimated by other methods such as observations
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of wellbore failure in a deviated well. In this case, it
was not unreasonable to assume that Shmin ≥ Sv.
SHmax magnitude and orientation is typically
modeled using instances of wellbore failure and
mechanical rock properties (Moos and Zoback,
1990). Image data collected in wells across the field
showed clear examples of wellbore breakouts and
drilling induced tensile fractures (DITF) (Figure 2).
Breakouts and drilling induced tensile fractures
position around the wellbore suggested a roughly E-
W orientation of SHmax.
Modeling results revealed high differential stress
acting in the field, where SHmax is likely to be up
to 150 MPa and Shmin magnitude is close to the
overburden (100 MPa at the depth of the peak
SHmax). A number of locations worldwide,
including the KTB drill site (Brudy et al., 1997),
show evidence of large differential stresses in the
upper crust in areas where there is a substantial
surface heat flow. Some studies carried out in
different oil wells across the Cooper-Eromanga
Basins also observed high differential stresses
acting in the shallow crust of Central Australia (e.g.,
Reynolds et al., 2006; Nelson et al., 2007).
The available data suggests that the GEL-98 is
associated with a stress regime that is transitional
between strike-slip and thrust faulting (Sv ≈ Shmin <
SHmax). The inferred absolute stress magnitudes and
log-derived rock properties were used to investigate
the effects of a high temperature environment in
wellbore stability.
WELLBORE STABILITY IN HT
ENVIRONMENTS
An unstable well is one in which excess of breakout
formation produces so much failed material from
around the wellbore that the total volume of cuttings
and failed material in the hole cannot be circulated
out of the hole by mud circulation. The mud weight
needed to stabilize the wellbore wall and prevent
this from occurring is what we will refer as collapse
pressure. A stable hole does not need to be a well
where no failure occurs, but a hole where breakout
width is limited to an acceptable amount so that no
significant wellbore stability problems occur.
Empirically, many cases studies have shown that
designing a well for maximum breakout widths of
90° in a vertical hole is are reasonable, and
sometimes conservative, criterion for mud weight
prediction (Zoback, 2007). Hereafter collapse
pressure will refer to the required bottom hole
pressure to limit the width of wellbore breakout to
90°.
The geomechanical model built for the GEL-98 has
been used to approach time-dependent wellbore
failure in the context of the effects of well thermal
re-equilibration on breakout development.
Temperature data collected at different stages
during drilling would be essential to calibrate the
sort of approach presented in this study.
Temperature data
When a hole is drilled in a high temperature
environment a perturbation of the thermal field
occurs. A thermal gradient is established between
the formation and the wellbore, being higher
towards the bottom of the hole. That means that the
anomaly recovers more rapidly in the section of the
well that has been recently drilled. Running logging
tools in the deepest sections of some of these wells
became a serious issue due to the high bottom hole
temperatures that in cases exceeded the tool
temperature tolerance and resulted in a poor quality
of the acquired data and an eventual tool failure.
Logging While Drilling (LWD) temperature data
recorded through the sediments and the upper part
of the basement in well Habanero-3 (~3,000m -
3,750m) was used in this study. A second
temperature log was run while collecting CBIL
image data (~2,240m - 4,035m). Direct temperature
measurements supported by thermal models of the
region suggest a fairly constant undisturbed
temperature gradient of ca. 60 °C km-1. These three
different temperature profiles provide a rough but
useful estimate of temperature evolution in the
borehole throughout time (Figure 3).
LWD temperature data suggests that the maximum
temperature contrast between the hole fluids and the
rock wall (∆T ~100 °C) was achieved while
drilling. That amount of cooling is thought to be
enough to develop the drilling induced tensile
fractures seen in image data (cf. Figure 2). LWD
data also illustrates how the bottom hole
temperature tends to rapidly recover during trips
(Figure 3).
Temperature difference is expected to decay with
time, and as the hole warms up compressive stresses
will be increased, promoting wellbore compressive
failure (i.e., breakouts). The temperature contrast
responsible for the breakouts observed in images
would be the difference between the formation
temperature and the well temperature at the time of
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logging (∆T ~-60°C). Therefore, it is reasonable to
assume that breakouts were originally formed
narrower but they got wider with time as the well
tends to re-equilibrate with the regional heat flow.
Effects of temperature on collapse pressure
We have investigated how temperature contrasts
between well fluids and rock wall influence the
stability of these deep geothermal wells. Wellbore
failure has been modeled at different stages from
initial drilling of the well (assuming an
instantaneous cooling of the well at t=0) until the
wellbore is in thermal equilibrium with the
formation.
During the drilling of the Habanero-3 well, when
the initial temperature difference (∆T) was
approximately 100 °C, the borehole collapse
pressure (red line in Figure 4a) was generally lower
than the pore pressure (blue line in Figure 4a).
Therefore the wellbore stability was governed by
the pore pressure. Over time the hole falls into
thermal equilibrium with the formation temperature
(∆T~0 °C) and the collapse pressure increases
(black line in Figure 4a) meaning a higher mud
weight is required to control excessive breakout
development. The mud weight used during the
drilling of Habanero-3 was higher than the collapse
pressure so it was sufficient to control breakouts.
Drilling experiences additionally support this fact
since no major drilling problems (tight hole, stuck
pipe or excessive overpull) were reported. As the
hole warms up after drilling, the compressional
stresses increase and so does the collapse pressure.
As the downhole temperature equilibrates with the
surrounding formations the collapse pressure
becomes greater than the mud weight and therefore
the well becomes unstable.
An increase in the collapse pressure with time due
to the progressive reduction of the contrast between
the mud and formation temperature (∆T) will
directly impact on breakout width (Figure 4b). The
analysis of breakout development throughout time
in Habanero-3 reveals that breakouts form at the
time of drilling and get wider with time. For
instance, at 3150m depth breakout width will have
increased about 30° by the time that the well falls in
thermal equilibrium (cf. Figure 4b). Hence there is a
correspondence between temperature (hole warming
up) and collapse pressure, and subsequently,
between time and breakout width. While this
relation seems to be quite linear in the sections of
the well that has been exposed for a longer time,
there is a fast recover of temperature in the recently
drilled hole sections. Data collected in different
wells across the GEL-98 suggests that in the deepest
sections of the hole collapse pressure rapidly
increases during the first 10 days after drilling the
well.
As the hole warms up, breakouts get wider and
probably deeper. That is consistent with the hole
geometry as depicted by caliper data in the
Habanero wells that suggests an increase in the hole
diameter (i.e. breakout depth) with depth within the
same hole section. In general, breakouts within the
clastic sequence appear to be deeper as the wellbore
has been exposed for a longer period.
Enhancing wellbore stability
It has been modeled that breakout width changes
with time as the hole warms up after drilling.
Therefore, increasing the mud-to-formation
temperature contrast may help to enhance wellbore
stability. If a higher ∆T and less well exposure time
would have been achieved in the GEL 98, it would
have been possible to inhibit breakout development
or at least decelerate breakout growth. The
reduction in collapse pressure is more prominent in
shales than in sandstone or granitic basement as far
as the quartz content remains low in the shales. This
hypothesis has been tested in the sedimentary
sequence above the basement; however it is likely
not to be applicable to deepest sections of the well
since the temperature perturbation around the
wellbore recovers more rapidly.
Some possible options to reduce well exposure time
or increase ∆T are: (1) Modification of mud
chemistry to keep a cool mud for a longer period
(e.g., by increasing the specific heat capacity of the
mud or adding coolants); (2) application of drilling
technologies to cool mud downhole; (3) re-design
casing points.
To fully understand and maximize the benefits of
drilling through hot formations it would be essential
to collect some key data that will add value and
accuracy to a transient wellbore stability model. The
main sensitivities of this model are related to the
thermal parameters of the formation rocks (i.e.
thermal expansion coefficient). The accuracy of the
model could eventually be improved if the physical
properties of the formation are measured from core
samples. It is also important to determine the
temperature gradient in the region and hole
temperature evolution with time, since it will
determine the feasible temporal window to
complete casing or completion operations.
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However, if a robust geomechanical model does
exist, a rough idea of the transient thermal state of
the area could be used to evaluate if drilling can
potentially benefit from a high temperature
environment.
As some other authors has previously pointed out
(Pepin et al., 2004) cooling of the hole may
eventually reduce the fracture gradient, and
therefore this is an additional issue that should be
considered. A suitable risk analysis should be
carried out in each particular case to estimate the
net benefits of enhanced wellbore cooling. In the
case of any Hot Dry Rock reservoirs reducing the
fracture gradient may represent an additional
benefit. Cooling of the hole will induce thermal
cracking of the rock and a transient deflection of the
fracture gradient that may eventually work as a pre-
stimulation test of the reservoir.
CONCLUSIONS
Drilling with cool mud through Hot Dry Rock
(HDR) reservoirs may directly enhance wellbore
stability and reservoir production. Increasing the
mud-to-formation temperature difference implies
that breakouts will form narrower, especially in
shales; although they will get wider as the hole
moves into thermal equilibrium. On the other hand,
cooling may eventually cause a transient deflection
of the fracture gradient that could work as a pre-
stimulation test in HDR reservoirs. An efficient
time management and a suitable drilling strategy,
together with the adequate technologies and
expertise, is required to benefit from these drilling
practices.
There is a direct application of this study to the oil
and gas industry. When wells are drilled in hostile
environments, increasing the temperature contrast
between drilling fluids and formation will
temporally reduced the collapse pressure in the
wellbore allowing the use of lower mud weights to
drill the well. This will be possible just within a
certain temporal window, but could reduced costs in
drilling fluids and reduce formation damage in
clastic reservoirs.
The preciseness of modeling the temperature effects
on wellbore stability largely depends on the thermal
properties of the formation rocks and the
availability of a robust geomechanical model. This
involves collection of wellbore acoustic images,
temperature data and cores to evaluate the thermal
and mechanical properties of the formation.
Different passes of image tools through a particular
depth interval will help to better constrain breakout
growth and temperature evolution in the domain of
time.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank
both Geodynamics Limited and GeoMechanics
International (GMI) for their permission to publish
this work.
REFERENCES
Brudy, M., Zoback, M. D., Fuchs, K., Rummel. F.,
and Baumgartner. J., 1997, Estimation of the
complete stress tensor to 8 km depth in the KTB
scientific drill holes: Implications for crustal
strength: Journal of Geophysical Research, 102,
18453-18475.
Holdgate, F., and Chopra, P., 2004, New
temperature maps of the Australian crust: Preview,
109, 24-25.
Jaeger, J. C. and Cook, N. G. W., 1979,
Fundamentals of Rock Mechanics, 2nd edition. New
York, Chapman and Hall.
Kirsch, G., 1898, Die Theorie der Elastizitat und die
Bedurfnisse der Festigkeitslehre, Zeitschrift des
Verlines Deutscher Ingenieure, 42, 707.
Moos, D., and Zoback, M. D., 1990, Utilization of
observations of well bore failure to constrain the
orientation and magnitude of crustal stresses:
Application to Continental Deep Sea Drilling
Project and Ocean Drilling Program boreholes:
Journal of Geophysical Research, 95, 9305-9325.
Nelson, E., Hillis, R., Sandiford, M., Reynolds, S.,
and Mildren, S., 2007, Present-day state-of-stress of
Southeast Australia: APPEA Journal, 283-305.
Neumann, N., Sandiford, M., and Foden, J., 2000,
Regional geochemistry and continental heat flow;
implications for the origin of the South Australian
heat flow anomaly: Earth and Planet. Sci. Lett., 183,
107-120.
Pepin, G., Gonzalez, M., Ben Bloys, J., Lofton, J.,
Schmidt, J., Naquin, C., and Ellis, S., 2004, Effect
of drilling fluid temperature on fracture gradient:
World Oil, October, 39-48.
Reynolds, S. D., Mildren, S. D., Hillis, R., and
Meyer, J. J., 2006, Constraining stress magnitudes
using petroleum exploration data in the Cooper-
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Eromanga Basins, Australia: Tectonophysics, 415,
123-140.
Stephens, G., and Voight, B., 1982, Hydraulic
fracturing theory for conditions of thermal stress:
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and
Mining Sciences, 19, 279-284.
Wyborn, D., De Graaf, L., Davidson, S., and Hann,
S., 2004, Development of Australia’s first hot
fractured rock (HFR) underground heat exchanger,
Cooper Basin, South Australia: in Boult, P. J.,
Johns, D. R., and Lang, S. C., eds., Eastern
Australasian Basins Symposium II: Petroleum
Exploration Society of Australia, Special
Publication, 423-430.
Zoback, M. D., 2007, Reservoir Geomechanics.
Cambridge University Press, 449 pp.
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Stress/Pressure (MPa)

SHmax modeling
points

FITs

Figure 1 - Summary of the stress and pressure magnitudes in the Geothermal Exploration License (GEL)
98. Formation integrity tests (FIT) and Leak-off tests (LOT) conducted in the area, and SHmax
modeling points are plotted together with the stress profiles. SHmax azimuth is interpreted as
082° N ± 10° based on the analysis of wellbore failure. The relative stress magnitudes suggest a
stress regime that is transitional between strike-slip and thrust faulting.
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Figure 2 - Examples of wellbore failure in Habanero-3 well as seen in acoustic image data (CBIL,
Circunferencia Borehole Image Log). On the left, well developed and continuous ~60° wide
breakouts are seen to occur within the granitic basement. On the right, ~40° wide breakouts
develop together with drilling induced tensile fractures (DITFs) that eventually interfere with
gently dipping natural fractures.
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11/11/2007

17/11/2007

25/11/2007

Dr
illi
BO ng
trip
ti
m
e

18/12/2007

DITF
∆Tmin = -60
1/1/2008
∆Tmax = -100

Figure 3 - Hole temperature data from well Habanero-3. LWD and temperature data while logging were
collected through the base of the clastic sequence and the top of the basement. Heat flow data
indicates ~220 °C at the depth where drilling induced tensile fractures (DITFs) were identified
(3660m-3720m, highlighted in blue). A maximum temperature change of ~100 °C is estimated
for this hole interval and is thought to cause DITFs. Note how the bottom hole temperature
rapidly recovers during trips.
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(a) (b)

Breakout width
while drilling
Collapse pressure at
Breakout width at
thermal equilibrium
thermal equilibrium

Coal

Top granite Top granite

Collapse pressure
while drilling

Figure 4 - Effects of temperature changes in wellbore stability. (a) Collapse pressure while drilling
(∆T~100 °C) versus collapse pressure when the hole falls into thermal equilibrium with the
formation temperature (∆T~0 °C). Pore pressure, Shmin profile and mud weights used to drill
Habanero-3 are also included for reference. (b) Predicted breakout widths for different
temperature contrasts and the mud weights used to drill Habanero-3 well. Interbedded coal seams
result in extremely wide breakouts due to their low rock strength.