Jakarta06-OT-02

PROCEEDINGS, JAKARTA2006 INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCES

CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Jakarta, August 14 – 16, 2006

HIGH-STRENGTH, LIGHTWEIGHT CEMENT FOR LOST CIRCULATION ZONES:

TWO CASE HISTORIES, BATURAJA FORMATION, SOUTH SUMATRA

Anton Supriyono*
Intan Bayu Gayashanti**
Muhammad Abdunnasir Hoviari*
Nurhendra Setya Atmaja**

SUMMARY bbl/hr. Around 1,000 bbl of lost-circulation material

Many wells with lost-circulation problems require a
reduction of circulation pressure to allow proper
placement of cement to provide efficient annular
coverage. To help minimize circulation pressures, a
high-strength, lightweight cement (HSLC) was
applied. This HSLC system was able to prevent lost
circulation during the primary cementing operation
in a field that had experienced loss problems during
drilling.
HSLC is a lightweight cement blend principally
composed of Indonesia-manufactured Class G
oilfield cement and lightweight additives. Hollow
microspheres that have large particle size are the
primary additive component. The slurry properties
are best suited to lightweight applications, either
primary or remedial cementing for wells with a high
potential of lost circulation or fallback. The density
itself can be “tuned” from 6.5-lb/gal slurry weight
to 14 lb/gal.
In Well S1, Soka field of South Sumatra, Indonesia,
overcoming lost-circulation problems during
penetration of the Miocene Baturaja formation took
approximately 10 days. The problem was
eliminated after several treatments that included the
use of cement plugs and a gunk squeeze. The next
challenge was raised when cementing 5 1/2-in.
casing production: how to achieve good isolation
through the loss zone. HSLC with 11.5-lb/gal slurry
density was introduced in this well with great
success.
(LCM) was pumped until the loss was secured in
static condition after 5 days of treatment. Zonal
isolation was performed, and water-cut at the start
of production was just 0.5%.
INTRODUCTION
Lost circulation is the most common problem
during drilling limestone formations because of low
fracture gradients, natural fractures, and possibly
depleted formations. This problem can result in
additional rig costs and unproductive rig time, and
also can create poor cement bond logs (poor zonal
isolation) sometimes resulting in unexpected water
production.
In the Baturaja formation, is the primary oil-
producing zone in these case histories and
lithologically is comprised of limestone. As oil has
been drawn down over an extended period,
formation pressure has decreased significantly and
has subsequently become the major problem during
drilling operations.
In Soka and Kaji fields of south Sumatra, most
drilling operations have experienced lost returns
while penetrating Baturaja. Various types of LCM,
soft/hard plugging methods, and gunk squeeze were
applied to overcome the problem. Although lost
circulation during drilling had been significantly
alleviated, another major challenge remained:
cementing the production string to successfully
reach total depth (TD).

The second HSLC case history was the K1 well,
Kaji field of South Sumatra, Indonesia. The lost
circulation began at 8 ft above the top of Baturaja
formation with the loss rate ranging from 6–108
* Halliburton
** P.T. Medco E&P Indonesia
Lost Circulation
Lost circulation caused by fracturing is initiated
when hoop or tangential stress at the wellbore
becomes tensile and exceeds the rock’s tensile
strength (σT). Consider the case of a wellbore
aligned with the maximum in-situ principal stress
perpendicular to the minimum in-situ principal
stress. The equation of fracture initiation pressure is
identified by two limited cases. In the first case (the
penetrating fluid case), fluid seeps into the
formation and the pore pressure in the immediate
vicinity of the wellbore becomes approximately
equal to the wellbore pressure.
This case provides the lower boundary for the
fracture initiation pressure. The breakdown pressure
for this case is given by Equation 1.
3σ − σ + σ + α (1− 2υ ) P p ……………..(1)
P =
3 1 T (1−υ )
bd 2(1−υ )
In the second case, either where a perfect filter cake
is in place on the wellbore wall or leakoff into the
formation is negligible. Under these conditions, the
upper limit for the fracture initiation pressure is
obtained by Equation 2.
Pbd = 3σ 3 − σ 1 + σ T + αPP ……………………(2)
From Equations 1 and 2, the relevant parameters
that control wellbore breakdown or fracture
initiation are:
• Fluid penetration into the rock in the near-
wellbore vicinity.
• The rock’s tensile strength.
• In-situ, far-field formation stresses.
• Far-field formation or pore pressure.
In the case of depleted zones, lost circulation can be
controlled by increasing the far-field formation or
pore pressure. This effect generally cannot be
achieved while a particular well is being drilled, but
rather requires a long-term reservoir pressure
maintenance program.1
METHODS
The pressure introduced in the formation during a
cementing operation can be controlled by reducing
the circulating pressure or the equivalent circulating
density (ECD), which is affected by hydrostatic
pressure and friction pressure. The ECD can be
formulated as:
(∆P)total = ∑ ∆Pi,H +∑ ∆Pi, f ………………...(3)
i i
The HSLC system is an excellent cementing system
for reducing the ECD. It is an alternative to foamed
cements because HSLC is able to produce an ultra-
low density slurry and low friction that provides
exceptional compressive strength.
HSLC Design
HSLC was developed to provide a cementing
system with low slurry density and high
compressive strength (Figure. 1). The weight of
HSLC ranges between 6.5 and 14 lb/gal, depending
on formation demands and cost considerations. The
components of HSLC are cement, microspheres,
and fines blended with special equipment using best
practices and a high level of quality control.2
Microspheres can crush as the pressure increases
during slurry placement. This can leave fewer
microspheres to effect the reduction in slurry
density. Standard practices were followed for both
blending and lab testing with a few slight alterations
to protect the fragile microspheres, and extreme
care was taken not to damage them.3
Lab testing was implemented as per API RP 10B
and API 10A standards, as well as Halliburton
Global Laboratories best practices for thickening
time, fluid loss, free water, rheology, PB settling,
and compressive strength tests.
A computer simulator was used to predict job
parameters such as pumping pressure profile, ECD,
eccentricity, and mud displacement efficiency.
Figure 2 shows an example of the computer
simulation outputs: ECD from the calculation vs.
fracture gradient from Well K1 data.
Case Histories
a. Well S1, Soka Field
Oil production was established as the primary
objective for this well drilled on January 5, 2005.
An 8 1/2-in. hole was drilled to 3,509 ft measured
depth (MD) with 10.2- to 10.3-lb/gal mud. At this
depth, the first losses were encountered, and 40–90
lb/bbl of LCM were spotted 10 times. This was
combined with plugging either acid soluble cement
(ASC) plug or bentonite diesel oil. Finally, the loss
was secured in a static condition with 9.4 bbl of
mud left in the hole. A 5 1/2-in. production casing
was run to the casing point. To achieve good
isolation, the minimum required cement height in
the annulus was approximately 500 ft above the top
of the Baturaja formation. The HSLC 11.5-lb/gal
system was designed with a slurry volume of 150
bbl based on a caliper log. The maximum rate was 3
bbl/min during all operations and included pumping
40 bbl of mud slug and 40 bbl of water before
cementing. Cement slurry was displaced with 82 bbl
of 9.3-lb/gal mud, until the slurry bumped the top
plug at 1,500 psi and held for 5 minutes. Good
circulation occurred during the entire cementing
operation.
b. Well K1, Kaji Field
This well was spudded-in on April 19, 2005; the
primary objective was oil production. Using 9.3-
lb/gal mud, an 8 ½-in. hole was drilled to 3,363 ft
MD, where lost circulation began. The loss rate
reached approximately 108 bbl/hr and there was no
return at 3,387 ft MD. About 1,000 bbl of LCM
were used to cure the loss with concentrations of
20–125 lb/bbl. After 5 days, the loss was secured in
a static condition with 8.7 lb/gal of mud left in the
hole.
A 7-in. production casing was run to the casing
point at 3,351 ft MD, and the top of the 11.5-lb/gal
HSLC system was designed to isolate the annulus
up to 600 ft above the top of the Baturaja formation.
About 45 bbl of HSLC were pumped and bumped
the top plug at 1,500 psi by 128 bbl of water
displacement; no lost circulation was indicated
during operations.
RESULT
One of the most important post-cementing
procedures is evaluating cement quality. Many tools
are available for evaluating the bond log. For Wells
S1 and K1, a cement bond-variable density log tool
was used to evaluate the cement quality. The results
from Well S1 may be seen in Figure 3. Although
the log is difficult to interpret because the cement
system uses hollow microspheres, it nevertheless
indicates that there is cement in the annulus across
Baturaja formation (top of Baturaja at 3,250 feet
MD). Most importantly, the log shows that the
cement was able to provide zonal isolation.
The hydrocarbon production also may be used to
measure whether zonal isolation is successful. Well
S1 has had no significant water production increase
over time. Oil production was greatly increased in
early April 2005. An increase of almost two times
that of the first production was realized. Well K1,
which started production in December 2005, had
0.5% water-cut and is currently producing with
3.5% water-cut.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are based on the results
of using the HSLC system across the loss zone.
• The HSLC system can be applied for casing
cementation in low fracture gradient, low-
pressure, or depleted zones, but lost circulation
should be cured before cementing.
• A cement bond-variable density log tool is not
recommended to identify the bonding of cement
with hollow microspheres in the system because
of interpretation difficulty. Pulse
echo/impedance is an option to consider.
• More studies of HSLC are needed, not just for
casing cementation purposes, but also for use as
possible plug cements for lost-circulation
treatments to reduce unproductive rig time and
rig costs.
• Quality control is important during the process
design, computer simulation, and cementing
operation and must be implemented.
NOMENCLATURE
σT = Rock’s tensile strength
σ1 = Maximum principal compressive stress
perpendicular to wellbore axis
σ1 = Minimum principal compressive stress
perpendicular to wellbore axis
ν = Poisson’s ratio
α = Biot’s coefficient
Pp = Pore pressure
PBD = Wellbore pressure required to initiate a
fracture
∑ ∆Pi ,H = Hydrostatic pressure
i
∑ ∆Pi
i, f = Friction pressure
i = Mud, spacer, or cement
REFERENCES
Deeg, W.F. and Wang, H., 2004, Changing
Borehole Geometry and Lost-Circulation Control:
North America Rock Mechanics Symposium
(NARMS): Rock Mechanics Across Borders and
Disciplines, Gulf Rocks, Houston, Texas, 5–9
June, p. 2.
Kulakofsky, D., New Technology Provides
Cementing Solutions in Problem Areas:
Halliburton, 10200 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, Texas
USA, p. 1-2.
Kulakofsky, D., Araujo, O., Self, F., Mora, A.,
Hendriks, P. and de Mestre, P., 2005, New Ultra-
Lightweight Cementing Technology Proven with
Case Studies, Combines Benefits of Current
Leading Methodologies, SPE Middle East Oil &
Gas Show and Conference, Bahrain, 12–15 March,
paper SPE 92970, p. 2.
Figure 1 - UCA chart result of HSLC 11.5 lb/gal.

Figure 2 - ECD vs. fracture gradient simulation.

Figure 3 - CBL results of Well S1.