+ MODEL

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect
Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7
www.elsevier.com/locate/ngib

Research Article

Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater

drilling
Jin Yequan, Li Cheng*, Wu Qian
College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong 266580, China
Received 11 May 2016; accepted 1 September 2016

Abstract

Kick tolerance is a key parameter to indicate whether shut-in operation can be carried out safely and a proper well killing method should be
chosen in well drilling. At present, however, the calculation of kick tolerance in deepwater drilling is not efficient enough. In this paper, a
calculation method for volume kick tolerance of deepwater drilling was developed by means of theoretical derivation and example verification.
Based on deepwater borehole temperature profile, choke manifold and annulus circulating pressure loss, the calculation model of volume kick
tolerance was established under the constraint of the pressure-bearing capacity of the formation at the casing shoe, resistance to internal pressure
of casing, blowout preventer (BOP) and choke control. Then, its reliability was verified by using the calculation results of a deepwater well in the
South China Sea. It is indicated that the well can be shut in safely and the well killing will be safer if the Engineer's Method is used. The result is
in agreement with the measures that were adopted on site. Finally, the newly developed calculation model was compared with those which don't
take temperature and pressure loss into account, and the effect of choke manifold, annulus pressure loss and temperature inside wellbore on kick
tolerance was analyzed. It is shown that the volume kick tolerance will get smaller if the effect of pressure loss and temperature is not taken into
account, and the well killing conditions will be more rigorous. In addition, the technical measures to increase kick tolerance were proposed after
the influential laws of pit gain and overflow depth on kick tolerance were analyzed.
2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Deepwater drilling; Volume kick tolerance; Maximum shut-in casing pressure; Pressure loss; Well control; Overflow

Kick tolerance is a key parameter to indicate whether shut-
in operation can be carried out and a proper well killing
method should be chosen in case of overflow. Since 1970s,
Chinese and foreign scholars [1e9] have made a great deal of
researches on the kick tolerance in onshore drilling. Hao
Xining [10] investigated and the enterprise standard of China
National Offshore Oil Corporation [11] regulated the volume
kick tolerance of deepwater drilling. However, they didn't take
into account the effect of pressure loss and special deepwater
drilling borehole temperature profile. The constraint condi-
tions of maximum shut-in casing pressure were single and it
was not proper that the bottom hole pressure in the state of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lijiawei6709@163.com (Li C.).
Peer review under responsibility of Sichuan Petroleum Administration.
shut-in and well killing both equaled the formation pore
pressure. Thus the volume kick tolerance of deepwater drilling
was discussed in this paper to solve the deficiencies above.
1. Basic theory
Volume kick tolerance is the difference between the
maximum allowable overflow influx volume and pit gain to
guarantee safe shut-in and well killing. If the volume kick
tolerance is more than zero, the shut-in or well killing oper-
ation can be carried out, and the bigger the value is, the safer
the well shut-in and the well killing are. If the volume kick
tolerance is less than zero, special methods are required for
shut-in or e well killing.
In this study, the bottom hole pressure equals the formation
pore pressure [10,11] in the calculation of the maximum

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
2352-8540/ 2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
 + MODEL

2 Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7

allowable overflow influx volume in the shut-in operation. If

the bottom hole pressure is equal to the fluid column pressure
of the killing fluid, the kick tolerance in the shut-in operation
will get smaller, so the well which should have been shut in
will not be shut in in time and the later stage well killing
operation will be affected. However, in the well killing oper-
ation, the bottom hole pressure should equal the hydrostatic
fluid column pressure of the kick fluid due to the existence of
the pressure loss.

2. Basic hypothesis

1) Overflow fluid is homogeneous and continuous gas

column and the invasive fluid has just entered the bottom
of the wellbore when the overflow is discovered.
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram showing the ambient temperature distribution of the
2) The vertical well is taken as the research object, borehole in deepwater drilling.
neglecting the variation in inner and outer diameters of
the drill string and inner diameter of the wellbore. The
well control system structure is shown in Fig. 1. to internal pressure of casing, wellhead blowout preventer
3) If the gas solubility and gas pressure are neglected and the (BOP) and choke valve [12], the maximum shut-in casing
effect of the temperature on the gas volume variation is pressure pa max is calculated by Equation (1):


considered, the ambient temperature distribution of the pa max min pcv ; pBOP Gm hc ; pfshoe Gm hshoe ; 0:8pi Gm hshoe g
borehole in deepwater drilling is shown in Fig. 2. The gas
1
volume variation satisfies the gas state equation [2].

The increase in pit level indicates that the gas overflows

3. Theoretical derivation of volume kick tolerance in from the bottom hole and at the moment, the gas at the bottom
deepwater drilling of the hole and the original drilling fluid coexist in the well.
The distribution of the fluid in the well and the invaded gas is
3.1. Determination of shut-in kick tolerance shown in Fig. 3, then the maximum allowable bottom hole
pressure in the shut-in operation equals the formation pore
In deepwater drilling, under the constraints of the pressure- pressure of the bottom hole.
bearing capacity of the formation at the casing shoe, resistance  
Vmax
Gm H  pa max pp 2
Aa
The maximum allowable influx amount is
 
pp  pa max
Vmax H  Aa 3
Gm
Then, the shut-in kick tolerance is
Ks Vmax  Vm 4

3.2. Determination of kick tolerance of well killing by

the Driller's Method

In the well kicking process, the bottom hole pressure should

be maintained equal to the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid
column when the wellbore is filled with the killing fluid
[13,14]. When the top of the gas column arrives at the casing
shoe, as shown in Fig. 4a, the pressure balance equation under
the constraint of the formation fracture pressure at the casing
shoe is
 
pp Vmax1 Tshoe
pfshoe Gm H  hshoe  Dp0a pk 5
pfshoe Aa Tp
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram showing the well control system structure.

Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
 + MODEL

Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7 3

 
pk  0:8pi  Dp0a 0:8pi Aa Tp
Vmax2 H  hshoe  7
Gm pp Tshoe
 
pk  pBOP  Dpa pBOP Aa Tp
Vmax3 H  hc  8
Gm pp TBOP
8
>
>
pcv hmax Ac Tp
hmax  hc
>
< pp Tcv
Vmax4 9
>
> pcv hc Ac hmax  hc Aa Tp
>
: hmax > hc
pp Tcv
According to the definition of volume kick tolerance, the
kick tolerance of well killing by the Driller's Method is
calculated by Equation (10).
Kd minfVmax1  Vm ; Vmax2  Vm ; Vmax3  Vm ; Vmax4  Vm g
10

3.3. Determination of kick tolerance of well killing by

the Engineer's Method
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram showing fluid distribution in annulus and choke
lines in overflow well shut-in.
In the calculation of kick tolerance, compared with the
Driller's Method, the Engineer's Method needs to consider
The maximum allowable influx volume under the downhole whether the killing fluid arrives at or passes through the bit
pressure condition is when the invaded gas reaches a certain position. If the killing
  fluid doesn't arrive at or pass through the bit, this process is
pk  pfshoe  Dp0a pfshoe Aa Tp
Vmax1 H  hshoe  6 equivalent to the well killing by the Driller's Method. If the
Gm pp Tshoe killing fluid arrives at or passes through the bit, when the top of
Similarly, we can get the pressure equations under the gas influx arrives at the casing shoe, as shown in Fig. 5a, under
constraints of 80% of internal pressure strength of casing the constraint of formation fracture pressure at the casing shoe,
(Fig. 4a), the blowout preventer working pressure when the top the pressure balance equation is established as follows.
of the gas column arrives at the wellhead (Fig. 4b), and the  
choke valve working pressure when the top of the gas column Vd pp Vmax1 Tshoe Vd
pfshoe Gm Gk H  hshoe   Dp0a pk
arrives at the choke valve (Fig. 4c), respectively. Then, the Aa pfshoe Aa Tp Aa
maximum allowable influx volume under the downhole pres- 11
sure condition can be obtained respectively.

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram showing fluid distribution in annulus and choke lines in well killing by the Driller's Method.

Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
 + MODEL

4 Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram showing fluid distribution in annulus and choke line when the killing fluid arrives or passes though the bit in well killing by the
Engineer's Method.

The maximum allowable influx volume under the downhole According to the definition of volume kick tolerance, the
pressure condition is kick tolerance of well killing by the Engineer's Method is
! calculated by Equation (16):
Vd pk  pfshoe  Gm Ada  Dp0a pfshoe Aa Tp
V
Vmax1 H  hshoe   Ke minfVmax1  Vm ; Vmax2  Vm ; Vmax3  Vm ; Vmax4  Vm g
Aa Gk pp Tshoe
16
12
The kick tolerance of well killing by the Driller's Method
Similarly, we can get the pressure equations under the Kd was compared with that by the Engineer's Method Ke. If
constraints of 80% of internal pressure strength of casing both Kd and Ke are more than zero, the influx volume at the
(Fig. 5a), the blowout preventer working pressure when the top moment hasn't reached the maximum allowable influx volume
of the gas column arrives at the wellhead (Fig. 5b), and the yet and there is still some space to allow the well killing
choke valve working pressure when the top of the gas column operation by using these methods. Therefore, the selection of
arrives at the choke valve (Fig. 5c), respectively. Then, the the method with great kick tolerance for well killing can
maximum allowable influx volume under the downhole pres- guarantee enough safe space and operation time. If both Kd
sure condition can be obtained respectively. and Ke are less than zero, neither the Driller's Method nor the
! Engineer's Method can be applied; instead, only special well
Vd pk  0:8pi  Gm Ada  Dp0a 0:8pi Aa Tp
V
Vmax2 H  hshoe   killing methods are acceptable. The specific well killing
Aa Gk pp Tshoe method on site should be selected depending on the actual
13 conditions.
!
Vd pk  pBOP  Gm Ada  Dpa
V
pBOP Aa Tp 4. Case study
Vmax3 H  hc  
Aa Gk pp TBOP
Drilling of a well in the South China Sea was started on
14 February 25, 2012, with its water depth of 1700 m and
designed well depth of 5300 m. Overflow occurred when the
8 
> HGk Aa pcv pk Dpa Dpc Aa well was drilled to 3250 m. The upper casing (508 mm
>
> Z
>
> Gk Aa Gm Gk Aa Ac surface casing) was run down to the depth of 2600 m and the
>
> applied drilling fluid density before the overflow was 1.14 g/
>
< 
cm3 with the viscosity of 0.031 Pa$s and dynamic shear force
Gm Gk Vd hc Gm Gk Aa Ac
Vmax4 hmax hc of 10.4 Pa. The drilling fluid gain was 0.32 m3 (2 bbls) and
Gk Aa Gm Gk Aa Ac
>
>
>
>
other specific parameters are shown in Table 1.
>
> pk pcv Gm
Vd
Dpa Dpc ! It is shown in the above table that the overflow was
>
> Vd
:Z H 
Aa
hmax >hc discovered in time and its total amount was small. As calcu-
Aa Gk lated with the data in Table 1 and the calculation methods
15 above, Ks 36.64 m3, Kd 3.77 m3, and Ke 11.03 m3,
which indicate that, at this time, the well can be shut in for
pcv Tp Ac
where Z pp Tcv
well killing by the Driller's Method or the Engineer's Method.

Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
 + MODEL

Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7 5

Table 1
Well control parameters of a deepwater well in the South China Sea.
Parameter Value

Wellhead temperature of the mudlines/ C 4.5
Inner diameter of the drill string/mm 108.6
Outer diameter of the drill string/mm 127
Inner diameter of the choke manifold/mm 102
Fracture pressure equivalent mud density at casing shoe/(g$cm3) 1.31
Formation pressure equivalent mud density/(g$cm3) 1.2
Drilling platform temperature on the sea surface/ C 25
Geothermal gradient below the mudline/[( C$(100 m)1] 3
Blowout preventer working pressure/kPa 70000
Internal pressure strength of casing/kPa 55000
Choke valve working pressure/kPa 35000
Kill rate/(L$s1) 20

Kd is less than Ke, so the well killing will be safer if the En- Fig. 6. Effect of pit gain on kick tolerance.
gineer's Method is used. The actual record data on site shows
that the Engineer's Method was finally selected as the well
killing method for this well.

5. Influential factors of volume kick tolerance for

deepwater drilling

The data in Section 4 was also used for the analysis and
calculation of influential factors.

5.1. Pressure loss and temperature

The biggest difference between the proposed model and the

one in Refs. [10,11] is whether the effect of choke manifold,
annulus circulating pressure loss [15e17] and the borehole
temperature variation is taken into account. Table 2 shows the
results without considering pressure loss and temperature
simultaneously and respectively.
Table 2 indicates that the variation of pressure loss and
borehole temperature does not influence Ks, and Kd/Ke
(without considering pressure loss and temperature
simultaneously) < Kd/Ke (without considering pressure loss)
<Kd/Ke (without considering temperature) < Kd/Ke (with
considering pressure loss and temperature simultaneously).
Thus, it is shown that the kick tolerance will get smaller if the
effect of pressure loss and temperature is not taken into ac-
count. Consequently, a special well killing method is applied
in the well which a common well killing method should have
been applied in and well control also becomes more
complicated.
Fig. 7. Effect of overflow depth on kick tolerance.
5.2. Other factors
5.2.1. Pit gain
As is shown in Fig. 6, with the increase of the influx gas,
the decrease of kick tolerance is approximately linear and
Ks > Ke > Kd. When the influx amount is 4.08 m3, the kick
tolerance of the Driller's Method is zero; thus, only Engineer's
Method can be used for well killing. It is shown that greater
shut-in and kick tolerance can be obtained due to a timely
discovery of the overflow, offering sufficient time for the
subsequent shut-in and well killing construction.

Table 2
Comparison between the proposed model in this paper and that in references.
Treatment method Kick tolerance in the Models in Refs. [10,11] Without considering the Without considering the
proposed model/m3 pressure loss temperature
Kick tolerance/m3 Errora Kick tolerance/m3 Error Kick tolerance/m3 Error
Shut-in 36.64 36.64 0 36.64 0 36.64 0
Driller's Method 3.77 2.23 40.85% 2.39 36.60% 3.51 6.90%
Engineer's Method 11.03 9.19 16.68% 9.8 11.15% 10.35 6.17%
a
Error (Result of the proposed model e Result of other situations)/Result of the proposed model  100%.

Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
 + MODEL
6 Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7
5.2.2. Overflow depth
As is shown in Fig. 7, the killing fluid doesn't reach the bit
before the depth of 2800 m, so Kd Ke. With the increase of
the overflow depth, the kick tolerance decreases gradually, the
shut-in and well killing operation become more difficult and
Kd decreases more rapidly. When the depth is 3484 m, Kd 0
and only Engineer's Method can be applied for well killing. As
for the gas overflow from deep formation, due to the gas
expansion in the rising process, the shut-in and kick tolerance
get smaller, thus, the overflow detection of deep formation,
response in time and countermeasures adoption should be
strengthened.
6. Conclusions
1) With consideration to deepwater borehole temperature
distribution, choke manifold and annulus circulating
pressure loss, the calculation model of volume kick
tolerance in deepwater drilling was established under the
constraint of the pressure-bearing capacity of choke
valve, blowout preventer, formation at the casing shoe
and resistance to the internal pressure of casing.
2) Correctness of the model was verified by using the
actual overflow data of a deepwater well in the South
China Sea.
3) By comparing the model proposed in this paper with the
one in references, it is indicated that if the effect of the
choke manifold and annulus circulating pressure loss is
not taken into account, the shut-in kick tolerance is not
influenced and the kick tolerance decreases. Conse-
quently, a special well killing method is applied in the
well which a common well killing method should have
been applied in and well control becomes more
complicated.
4) With the increase of the influx gas volume, the decline
of kick tolerance is approximately linear. As the over-
flow depth increases, the kick tolerance also shows a
downtrend. Therefore, a timely discovery of any over-
flow from the deep formation may provide sufficient
response time for a safe well control.
Nomenclature
pa max indicates the maximum shut-in casing pressure, kPa
pcv indicates the maximum working pressure of the
choke valve, kPa
pBOP indicates the maximum working pressure of the
blowout preventer, kPa
pfshoe indicates the formation fracture pressure at the casing
shoe, kPa
pi indicates the internal pressure strength of casing, kPa
Gm indicates the pressure gradient of the original mud, g/
cm3
Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003
hc indicates the height of the choke manifold, m
hshoe indicates the casing shoe height, m
H indicates the well depth, m
Vmax indicates the maximum allowable influx volume
under the downhole pressure condition, m3
Aa indicates the borehole annulus cross-section area, m2
pp indicates the formation pressure at the bottom hole,
kPa
Vm indicates the pit gain, m3
Tshoe indicates the thermodynamic temperature at the bot-
tom hole, K
Tp indicates the temperature at the casing shoe, K
Dp0a indicates the annulus pressure loss below the casing
shoe, kPa
pk indicates the hydrostatic fluid column pressure of the
kick fluid, kPa
Dpa indicates the annulus pressure loss in the casing, kPa
TBOP indicates the temperature of the wellhead blowout
preventer, K
Dpc indicates the pressure loss of the choke manifold, kPa
Tcv indicates the temperature at the choke valve, K
Ac indicates the cross-section area of the choke line, m2
Vd indicates the volume of the drill string from the
platform to the bottom hole, m3
Ks, Kd, Ke indicates the kick tolerance calculated respectively
by the shut-in method, Driller's Method and Engi-
neer's Method, m3
References
[1] Pilkington PE, Niehaus HA. Exploding myths about kick tolerance.
World Oil 1975;180(7):59e62.
[2] Hao Junfang. Balanced drilling and well control. Beijing: Petroleum
Industry Press; 1992. p. 111e5.
[3] Hao Junfang. How to calculate kick tolerance. J Southwest Petrol Inst
1983;5(3):45e50.
[4] Liu Kai. How to recognize and calculate kick tolerance. J Southwest
Petrol Inst 1990;12(1):37e45.
[5] Redmann JP. Understanding kick tolerance and its significance in drilling
planning and execution. SPE Drill Eng 1991;6(4):245e9.
[6] Santos O, Adasani I, Azar JJ, Escorihuela F. Determination of casing
setting depth using kick tolerance concept. In: Petroleum computer
conference, 11e14 June 1995, Houston, Texas, USA. http://dx.doi.org/
10.2118/30220-MS.
[7] Dedenuola AD, Iyamu IE, Adeleye OA. Stochastic approach to kick
tolerance determination in risk based designs. In: SPE annual technical
conference and exhibition, 5e8 October 2003, Denver, Colorado, USA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/84174-MS.
[8] Santos HM, Catak E. Kick tolerance misconceptions and consequences
to well design. In: SPE/IADC drilling conference and exhibition, 1e3
March 2011, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/
140113-MS.
[9] Sonnemann P, Santos HM. Transitional kick tolerance. In: SPE annual
technical conference and exhibition, 8e10 October 2012, San Antonio,
Texas, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/159175-MS.
[10] Hao Xining, Su Feng, Jiang Shiquan, Tian Zheng, Kou Beibei. Main
control factors of kick tolerance for deepwater drilling in South China
Sea. Oil Drill Prod Technol 2015;37(1):60e3.
 + MODEL

Jin YQ. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B xx (2017) 1e7 7

[11] China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Q/HS 14007-2011 Guideline
for drilling design of deepwater exploration wells. Beijing: Petroleum
Industry Press; 2012.
[12] Chen Tinggen, Guan Zhichuan. Theory and technology of drilling en-
gineering. Dongying: Petroleum University Press; 2000. p. 238.
[13] Chen Qijun. Calculation of annular ECD in deepwater drilling. Sci
Technol Inf 2009;29:458.
[14] Zhao Shengying, Yan Jienian, Li Huaike, Geng Jiaojiao, Wang Liguo,
Yang Hu. A prediction model for drilling fluid ECO in high temperature
deep wells. Drill Fluid & Complet Fluid 2009;26(2):30e4.
[15] Zhang Shuhui, Liu Ruiwen, Wang Jieyu, Yang Haiying. A method of
killing well and analysis on choke-line friction losses for deepwater-well
control. Pet Drill Tech 2006;34(5):28e9.
[16] Liu Ruiwen, Zhang Shuhui, Yu Tiejun. Killing simulation of Driller's
Method in deep water well control. Drill Prod Technol 2007;30(3):23e6.
[17] Wang Zhiyuan, Sun Baojiang. Calculation of safety pressure margins and
circulation rate of well killing by deep water Driller's Method. J China
Univ Petrol Ed Nat Sci 2008;32(3):71e4.

Please cite this article in press as: Jin YQ, et al., Methodology for kick tolerance calculation and well killing in deepwater drilling, Natural Gas Industry B
(2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ngib.2016.09.003