Use of Potassium/Lime Drilling-Fluid System in Navarin Basin Drilling

14755

Summary
This paper presents a case history of Amoco Production Co.'s use of potassium-lime mud (KLM) for drilling a series of wells in the Navarin basin. The remote location, logistical concerns, environmental regulations, and the high cost of the operation mandated that the project be carefully planned. Planning, however, was hampered because the nearest offset to any of the wells was more than 100 miles [160 km] away. This paper describes the planning, implementation, and results of the mud system paper describes the planning, implementation, and results of the mud system used to drill the wells. It includes a matrix of tests used to define further the nature of KLM, presents the methods used to run the system while the wells were drilled, and describes the results of using the mud in the basin. Navarin basin experience suggested that KLM should be considered when clay inhibition is needed and moderate bottomhole temperatures (BHT's) are expected.