Resilient carbon-based materials as lost circulation materials and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10066143-B2
Application number	US-201415525941-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2014
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

Highly resilient carbon-based materials having a resiliency greater than about 120% at 10,000 psi may be useful as lost circulation materials (LCMs) for wellbore strengthening and lost circulation mitigation in downhole operations in subterranean formations with depleted zones. For example, a downhole method may include drilling at least a portion of a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with at least one depleted zone having a plurality of fractures extending from the wellbore into the at least one depleted zone; circulating a treatment fluid through the wellbore, the treatment fluid comprising a base fluid and a resilient carbon-based material having a resiliency greater than about 120% at 10,000 psi; contacting the at least one depleted zone with the resilient carbon-based material; and plugging at least some of the plurality of fractures in the at least one depleted zone with the resilient carbon-based material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
drilling at least a portion of a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with at least one depleted zone having a plurality of fractures extending from the wellbore into the at least one depleted zone;
circulating a treatment fluid through the wellbore, the treatment fluid comprising a base fluid and a resilient carbon-based material having a resiliency of about 120% to about 150% at 10,000 psi, wherein the resilient carbon-based material has a d 10 of about 500 μm to about 1500 μm and a d 50 of about 1000 μm to about 3000 μm;
contacting the at least one depleted zone with the resilient carbon-based material; and
plugging at least some of the plurality of fractures in the at least one depleted zone with the resilient carbon-based material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resilient carbon-based material has a d 90 of about 3000 μm to about 4000 μm.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resilient carbon-based material is at about 3 pounds per barrel to about 150 pounds per barrel of the treatment fluid.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treatment fluid further comprises a lost circulation material that is not the resilient carbon-based material.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the lost circulation material is at about 0.25 pounds per barrel to about 150 pounds per barrel of the treatment fluid.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein a total of the lost circulation material and the resilient carbon-based material includes the resilient carbon-based material at about 20% to about 99% by volume to the total.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the lost circulation material has a d 10 of about 1 micron to about 750 microns.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the lost circulation material has a d 50 of about 5 microns to about 3000 microns.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: subjecting the resilient carbon-based material plugging the at least some of the plurality of fractures in the at least one depleted zone to swab and surge pressure changes.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising: drilling an additional portion of the wellbore after plugging the at least some of the plurality of fractures in the at least one depleted zone with the resilient carbon-based material.

11. A method comprising:
providing a subterranean formation including a layered lithology of sand and shale, wherein the sand is hydrocarbon depleted;
drilling at least a portion of a wellbore into subterranean formation extending through the sand and shale;
circulating a treatment fluid through the wellbore, the treatment fluid comprising a base fluid and a resilient carbon-based material having a resiliency of about 120% to about 150% at 10,000 psi, a d 10 of about 500 microns to about 1500 microns, a d 50 of about 1000 microns to about 3000 microns, and a d 90 of about 3000 microns to about 4000 microns;
contacting the sand with the resilient carbon-based material; and
plugging at least one fracture extending from the wellbore into the sand with the resilient carbon-based material.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the resilient carbon-based material is at about 3 pounds per barrel to about 150 pounds per barrel of the treatment fluid.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the treatment fluid further comprises a lost circulation material that is not the resilient carbon-based material.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the lost circulation material is at about 0.25 pounds per barrel to about 150 pounds per barrel of the treatment fluid.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein a total of the lost circulation material and the resilient carbon-based material includes the resilient carbon-based material at about 20% to about 99% by volume to the total.

16. A system comprising:
a drilling assembly with a drill string extending therefrom and into a wellbore in a subterranean formation with at least one depleted zone having a plurality of fractures extending from the wellbore into the at least one depleted zone; and
a pump fluidly coupled to the drill string, the drill string containing a treatment fluid that comprises a base fluid and a resilient carbon-based material having a resiliency of about 120% to about 150% at 10,000 psi a d 10 of about 500 microns to about 1500 microns, a d 50 of about 1000 microns to about 3000 microns, and a d 90 of about 3000 microns to about 4000 microns.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Whitfill Donald L
• Walker Jonathan Paul
• Savari Sharath

Classifications

• C09K8/516

  characterised by their form or by the form of their components, e.g. encapsulated material · CPC title

• C09K8/032 Primary

  Inorganic additives · CPC title

• C09K8/03 Primary

  Specific additives for general use in well-drilling compositions · CPC title

• C09K8/426

  for plugging · CPC title

• E21B33/13

  Methods or devices for cementing, for plugging holes, crevices or the like · CPC title