Fishing and Stuck Pipe Prevention

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 5
a. Aim 6
b. Objective 6
2. Planning 7
3. Stuck Pipe Diagnosis 9
4. Causes of Stuck Pipe 12
a. Sand Sticking 12
b. Mud Sticking 12
c. Mechanical Sticking 12
d. Key Seat Sticking 13
e. Sloughing Hole Sticking 13
f. Under-Gauge Hole Sticking 13
g. Differential Pressure Sticking 14
h. Underground Blow out Sticking 14
i. Cement Sticking 14
5. Stuck Pipe Mechanisms 15
a. Differential Sticking 15
i. Stationary Pipe 18
ii. Filter Cake Erosion 19
b. Inadequate Hole Cleaning 19
c. Chemically Active Formations 20
d. Mechanical Stability 21
e. Over-pressured Formations 22
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f. High Dip Sloughing 23
g. Unconsolidated Formations 24
h. Mobile Formations 25
i. Under-gauge Hole 25
j. Key Seating 26
6. Prevention 27
a. Reaming and Back reaming 27
b. Tripping Deviated Hole 27
c. Connection Guidelines 28
d. Stuck Casing 28
e. Drill String Failures 28
i. BHA Connection Fatigue 29
ii. Drill Pipe Tube Fatigue 29
7. Freeing Stuck Pipe 30
a. Pipe Release Agents 30
b. Spotting a Pipe Release Pill 31
c. Acids 32
d. Fresh Water Pills 33
8. Standard Fishing Tools 35
9. Fishing Operations 38
10. Economics 39
11. References 41





4


Drilling wells for the procurement of natural resources such as oil and gas holds prime
importance in today`s world. The process involves lot of mechanics and high tech equipment
without which it is virtually impossible to dig out these natural resources. Often it happens
that during the course of operations, the equipment fails or does not operate effectively
resulting in heavy financial losses. This paper highlights this problem area and focuses on
such cases where the drilling pipe gets stuck during the operations. Moreover, fishing
technique is also discusses in detail and effort is made to identify preventive measures which
could lessen the affects of pipe failure during drilling process.
Drilling wells for the procurement of natural resources such as oil and gas holds prime
importance in today`s world. The process involves lot of mechanics and high tech equipment
without which it is virtually impossible to dig out these natural resources. Often it happens
that during the course of operations, the equipment fails or does not operate effectively
resulting in heavy financial losses. This paper highlights this problem area and focuses on
such cases where the drilling pipe gets stuck during the operations. Moreover, fishing
technique is also discusses in detail and effort is made to identify preventive measures which
could lessen the affects of pipe failure during drilling process. Drilling wells for the
procurement oI natural resources such as oil and gas holds prime importance in today`s
world. The process involves lot of mechanics and high tech equipment without which it is
virtually impossible to dig out these natural resources. Often it happens that during the course
of operations, the equipment fails or does not operate effectively resulting in heavy financial
losses. This paper highlights this problem area and focuses on such cases where the drilling
pipe gets stuck during the operations. Moreover, fishing technique is also discusses in detail
and effort is made to identify preventive measures which could lessen the affects of pipe
failure during drilling process. Drilling wells for the procurement of natural resources such as
oil and gas holds prime importance in today`s world. The process involves lot oI mechanics
and high tech equipment without which it is virtually impossible to dig out these natural
resources. Often it happens that during the course of operations, the equipment fails or does
not operate effectively resulting in heavy financial losses. This paper highlights this problem
area and focuses on such cases where the drilling pipe gets stuck during the operations.
Moreover, fishing technique is also discusses in detail and effort is made to identify
preventive measures which could lessen the affects of pipe failure during drilling process.
Drilling wells for the procurement of natural resources such as oil and gas holds prime
importance in today`s world. The process involves lot oI mechanics and high tech equipment
without which it is virtually impossible to dig out these natural resources. Often it happens
that during the course of operations, the equipment fails or does not operate effectively
resulting in heavy financial losses. This paper highlights this problem area and focuses on
such cases where the drilling pipe gets stuck during the operations. Moreover, fishing
technique is also discusses in detail and effort is made to identify preventive measures which
could lessen the affects of pipe failure during drilling process. Technique is also discusses in
detail and effort is made to identify preventive measures which could lessen the affects of
pipe failure during drilling process. Technique is also discusses in detail and effort is made to
identify preventive measures which could lessen the affects of pipe failure during drilling
5


PL ANNI NG

Planning the well is as important aspect before carrying out the drilling operation. It is
always advisable to get data from already dilled nearby wells if possible since that data can
really help in correlating information for the new well. In this regard, following bits of
information, if available from the existing drilled wells in the vicinity can play a major role in
planning the new well:
Samples of salt zones or other porous formations: Information pertaining to
mud properties along with thickness and depth of the formations should be
noted.
Rate of Penetration (ROP) or the Drilling rate pertaining to that particular
section should be recorded.
Record of dogleg severity and key seating.
Weight of the mud used should be noted.
Record of the formations that might have resulted in circulation problems.
Hole cleaning problems that had occurred during the course of operation, if
any, should also be recorded.
Other miscellaneous problems that occurred during the process.

Other factors associated with the planning phase are as under:
Formations that might prove troublesome during the course of operation
should be identified.
Possible sticking areas should be identified
For reducing tight holes problems, top drive technique should be applied.
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Designing of Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) should be carefully done keeping
in view the length of the BHA which should be short and Outside Diameter
(OD) of the collars of BHA which should be minimum.
Mud design and mud weight are essential in keeping the hole in perfect
condition.
For BHAs and hole sizes, a hydraulic program should be implemented.
Depth for setting casing should be selected properly keeping in view the
formations.

Planning phase would be incomplete without mentioning rig operating guidelines
which are as follows:
The drill string should be kept moving in the hole as much as possible.
The string might get stuck if it is forced through a spot which is virtually tight
for the string to pass.
The drill string should be inside the casing in case of any repair or
maintenance of the rig.
According to the condition of the hole, wiper trips should according be made
at regular intervals.
To prevent abrupt and unexpected movement of the drill string, maintenance
of motion compensator is a must specially in case of floating rigs.
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
diagnose differential and mechanical sticking with a view to determine possible remedies and
7


STUC K PI PE DI A GNOSIS
Successful drilling of oil and gas wells requires lot of mechanics and use of
technology. Drilling procedure involves the use of a drill string which comprises of pipes and
collars. The torque at the surface is provided by these pipes and collars which not only rotate
but also pass on the necessary weight which is required for drilling. The drill string is rotated
and pulled by the driller to maneuver the drilling in the well. Moreover, torque is also
adjusted by the directional driller for steering the well.

This is the normal operational procedure of carrying out drilling. However, the
problem arises when movement of drill string such as up and down and rotation is blocked or
gets failed. This situation is what we may call stuck pipe in drilling process. Sticking of the
pipe is not necessarily attributed to a specific operation but can happen in any operation such
as during making a connection, while drilling, testing or logging. The focal point is that
whenever the equipment required for drilling is left in the hole, sticking can occur
irrespective of the task or operation being under taken.

Drill string can be stuck due to several reasons. It may be due to the sticking of drill
pipe at the mud cake located on the wellbore walls. This happens due to the fact that either
the cuttings at the wellbore sets back due to lack of drill fluid circulation or because of the
loss of filtrate in the walls of the well.

According to Sugar Land Learning Centre (1999), another reason of stuck pipe can be
the position of hydrostatic head. If it is more lowered as compared to normal positioning,
then stuck pipe problem may arise.

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Following figure shows a pictorial view of a drill string which is stuck in the wellbore
along with the different forces acting upon it:

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of a stuck drill pipe
Source: (Paiaman & Al-Anazi, 2008)

In the above shown figure, tension forces which are acting on the pipe are shown with
T`, S` stands Ior the side Iorces whereas weight oI the equipment in the mud is labeled as
B`.

Fishing
The process of removing lost or stuck equipment out of the wellbore is known s
fishing (Moore, 1955). The object which is lost is known as fish. Classification of fish is
attributed to be either tubular; that is tubing, drill collars, drill pipe or casing) or to be
miscellaneous such as small tools, chain, bit cones, wire line, junk etc.

Many fishing jobs result due to factors such as inadequate cleaning of holes,
equipment failure or error on part of the operator. Moreover, differential or wall sticking
results due to running excessive mud weight than required. Similarly, worn tool joints might
are used in case of tubular goods comprises of taper taps, over shots, mills, spears, die collars,
9


CAUSES OF STUC K PIPE
There are many causes of stuck pipe; however, the most common types or causes of
stuck pipe are iterated as under:

Sand Sticking
This type of sticking most commonly occurs with drill pipe, tubing or casing. When
sands leak into the well, it causes sand sticking. The chance for stuck pipe in this case
increases when: circulation of fluid is not proper, breakdown of wall cake and drilling
operation being carried out in worn-out sand zones. Determining free point and backing off is
the most common fishing method in sand sticking. Sand is circulated out and the hole is
washed out using wash pipe thus freeing the pipe.

Mud Sticking
Mud sticking again most commonly occurs with drill pipe, tubing and casing. When
well fluids settle out on the back side of the pipe string, mud stuck tubing occurs. This is due
to the fact that the settling of well fluids causes them to be heavy and thicker, thus restricting
the movement of the pipe. Suggested remedy to this problem is progressive back offs such
that the well fluid is circulated out of the hole.


10


STUC K PI PE ME CHANISMS
There are several stuck pipe mechanisms which we will be highlighting in the
following paragraphs.

Differential Sticking
There are many causes of pipe sticking; yet the most common amongst all of them is
differential sticking. It occurs when there is less pressure in the formation fluid and high
pressure in the mud. In other words, when the drill collar which is resting at the borehole wall
sinks into the mud cake, differential sticking happens. In this case, the portion of drill collar
which does not sink into the mud cake has different pressure as compared to the area which is
embedded into the mud cake. Following figure illustrates this point:


Figure 2: Differential Sticking
Source: Sugar land Self Learning Course, 1999.

As illustrated in the figure, pressure on the area which does not sink is equal to the
hydrostatic pressure in the mud; whereas pressure on the area which is embedded is equal to
the formation pressure. Now when P
h
> P
f
, the drill collar will be pushed towards the
borehole wall due to force acting on it.

P
h
= hydrostatic pressure
P
f
= formation pressure
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PRE VENTI ON
There are several prevention measures that can be taken to avoid stuck pipe problem.
We will be discussing each of them in the following paragraphs under their respective
headings.

Reaming and Back reaming
Large proportion of stuck pipe problems exists due to reaming operation. This is due
to the fact that if reaming operation is being carried out too fast, there would be all the
possibilities that solids at a faster rate will be introduced into the circulating system as
compared to the pace at which the hole is being cleaned thus resulting in a pack-off.
Operational guidelines in this case are as under:
The pumps should immediately be shut down if the hole packs-off and
pressure be lowered down slowly to less than 500 psi.
The hole, in problem formations, needs to be wiped out regularly during
reaming.
Soft Torque should not be used while reaming.
The cuttings need to be circulated above the BHA after drilling or reaming
operation.
Working the string past a tight spot should always be the first preference.
Moreover, overpull limits should also be kept in mind and maintained.
To avoid stuck pipe, reduce or maintain overpulls equal to half of the BHA
weight.


12


FRE EI NG STUC K PI PE
There are several ways and means by which a stuck pipe can be freed. Though efforts
should be made to prevent any such incident beforehand since procedures for freeing a stuck
pipe are quite costly and time consuming. Freeing mechanism for a stuck pipe has been
described in the following flow chart:

Figure 17: Freeing Flow chart
Source: Sugar land Self Learning Course, 1999
In the following paragraphs, we will be highlighting certain pipe release agents that
which help in freeing a stuck pipe. Details are iterated in the following paragraphs:

Pipe Release Agents
Pipe release agents are used to set free the stuck pipe. These agents are most
commonly fluids or acids which help release the pipe and involve unique procedures to

13


ST ANDARD FISHI NG T OOLS
Fishing tools needed for carrying out fishing operation ranges from a wide variety of
equipments and tools. Depending on their functionality and the requirement in hand, we can
classify them as following:
External Catch Fishing tools
Internal Catch Fishing tools
Junk Catch Fishing tools
Milling and Cutting tools

Each of the above stated set of tools has their own specifications and are very handy
in fishing operations. Brief details are as under:

External Catch Fishing tools: This set of tool comprises of equipments such as
releasing and circulating over shots and rotary die collars etc. Releasing and
circulating over shot is perhaps the most effective tool to pack off and pull a
fish externally. Following figure shows this tool in more detail:

Figure 18: Releasing and circulating over shot
Source: National Oilwell Fishing tools.