Novel Spherical Polymer Sealing Agent for Oil-Based Drilling Fluids to Overcome Borehole Instability Problem in Low Permeability Reservoirs

Abstract

Due to borehole instability problem in low permeability formations, a new type of spherical polymer sealing agent (OLBS) for oil-based drilling fluids was prepared via suspension polymerization, and the sealing effect of polymer sealing agent on low permeability cores was evaluated. The results indicated that OLBS had no influence on the rheological properties of oil-based drilling fluids. The core displacement experiments indicated that OLBS could reduce the core permeability by a significant amount, and thus stop fluid invasion into the formations, so OLBS could provide an excellent sealing effect and improve wellbore strength. Using this polymer sealing agent to plug the low permeability formations is a very powerful approach to address borehole instability problem in troublesome low permeability formations. This sealing agent is suitable for the drilling of long sections of horizontal laterals. In the future, the oil-based drilling fluids containing OLBS might hold great promise to resolve borehole instability problem in low permeability formations.