IMPORTANT ASPECTS THAT ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION OF AN OIL OR GAS WELL

The following is a summary of the most important technical aspects that are taken into account in the planning stage of a project for the construction of an oil or gas well:

1. Choice of the appropriate drilling equipment in terms of power (HP), as well as the set of control preventers (BOP’s), according to the characteristics of the well to be drilled.
2. Mud pumps that allow to have the necessary power for the design of the drilling hydraulics.
3. Diameter and metal composition of the drill string.
4. Tools for bottom hole assembly (BHA) according to the trajectory designed to achieve the objectives of the well..
5. Types of bit for each section of the well.
6. Casing pipes according to the needs of the drilling project.
7. Tools for electrical logs designed for each section of the well.
8. Cementing programs to isolate the annular space between the Casing and the open hole wall for the different sections of the well.
9. Pipe string for well completion operations.
10. DRILLING FLUIDS, COMPLETION FLUID, PACKER FLUID.

Todos los aspectos del diseño del proyecto de perforación hasta el punto 9 obedecen prácticamente a estándares pre establecidos en la industria petrolera.
El punto 10 es el mas critico para el diseño de la perforación exitosa de un pozo petrolífero o gasífero:

a) DRILLING FLUID.
For the design of the drilling fluid, the scenario is quite complex, because the following aspects play a very important role:

• Pore pressure of the geological formations to be crossed.
• Temperature of the different sections of the well.
• Chemical and mineralogical composition of the geological formations with which the drilling fluid will interact.
• Petrophysical characteristics of the rocks to be drilled.
• Disturbance of the rock strata by effects of the tectonic stresses to which the geological formations were subjected throughout their history, causing structural changes and trapped stresses that are manifested at the moment that the bit crosses each section of the well causing caving and stuck pipe and eventually loss of the hole.

b) COMPLETION FLUID..
The design of the completion fluid obeys the characteristics of the reservoir found:

• Fluid weight (density) to ensure well safety during completion and evaluation operations, preventing uncontrolled flow of reservoir fluids.
• Compatibility with reservoir fluids to avoid damage to well productivity.

c) PACKER FLUID.
The packer fluid must meet certain conditions such as:

• Weight (density) according to the characteristics of the packer and the production string, taking into account the pressures that may eventually interact during the production start-up operations of the well.
• Clean, filtered, corrosion inhibitory and alkaline fluid. Because it will remain for long periods of time in the annular space between the casing and the production string.

Considering all the aspects mentioned above, it is concluded that it is mandatory to design the fluids as a Taylor Suit for each case of an oil or gas well construction project.