Underbalanced Systems

UBS
Less pressure. More flow.
 Less Pressure. More Flow. Recovering the maximum oil
and gas from your reservoir (and ultimately increasing the value
of your asset) requires achieving these two conditions. But
recovering available reserves often can be difficult, since
you either are drilling in a hostile environment or struggling
to remove oil and gas from a depleted pressure zone.

That’s where underbalanced (UB) technology makes the differ-

ence. Eliminating common drilling problems is a main reason
the industry is turning to the UB technique, which provides
significant operating advantages and economic benefits.

Underbalanced
UB is becoming the new standard. Its many benefits include adding value to your well by increasing
production rates, reducing long-term costs and providing numerous environmental benefits.

The use of UB technology is rapidly expanding.

■ UB activity is expected to more than double in the
next three to five years.
■ The Chinese government has called UB the number
one technology to lead them forward.
■ Several major oil companies have UB in their top five
technologies.
 Underbalanced: The Benefits
Increased productivity: Field-proven UB technology helps you maximize your recovery
of oil and gas by reducing/eliminating formation damage. Without formation damage, oil
and gas can freely flow from the reservoir, reducing or eliminating expensive stimulation
costs. UB also improves the efficiency of drilling operations by increasing the rate of
penetration by 100-500%, decreasing fluid loss and greatly reducing differential sticking.

Enhanced safety: Underbalanced operations have a 24-30% better safety record than
conventional overbalanced operations (in terms of well control incidents). This is due to
highly sophisticated well control equipment such as the rotating controlhead and flow
control separation equipment. Another factor is preparation – all our UB operations are
subject to intensive preplanning, training and experienced onsite supervision.

A smaller environmental footprint: UB techniques allow you to drill wells without

damaging the natural resource. Our UB equipment is smaller so that it is better suited to
hostile environments such as offshore, and innovations such as our closed loop recovery
recompression system eliminate the need for flaring.

Costs & Revenue Cost to Drill: UB = $14 million OB = $11 million

$ 25,000,000

$ 20,000,000
UBD Revenue
$ 15,000,000
UBD Cost
$ 10,000,000
Baseline Revenue
$ 5,000,000

0 Baseline Cost
.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 1.0

UB saves time. An operator in Venezuela estimated drilling time for a conventionally

drilled well at 43 days. Weatherford drilled the well underbalanced in 17 days.
 Underbalanced is a planned condition where the bottom hole
pressure exerted by the hydrostatic head of the wellbore fluid
column is less than the pressure of the formation being drilled.

Pressure
In UB, the lower pressure in the wellbore encourages oil/gas flow from
the formation and virtually eliminates the flow of drilling fluids into the formation.

■ Less pressure in the wellbore increases the rate of

penetration, prolongs bit life and increases flow.
■ Less pressure also means less fluid loss when
drilling. This translates into reduced fluid mainte-
nance costs, a decrease in lost circulation material
and less non-productive time.
UB techniques have been successful in Canada, the U.S.,
the North Sea, Russia, China, Indonesia and Latin America.
Offshore Brazil, UB technology has been used to counter
the effects of hydrostatic pressure.
Underbalanced Applications
Increased awareness of formation damage caused by conventional, overbalanced
techniques has been one of the most significant outcomes increasing UB understanding
and usage.

In conventional (overbalanced) drilling, the pressure differential is in favor of the wellbore.

This prevents oil and gas from flowing into the wellbore while drilling, causing drilling
fluid to penetrate the formation, creating filter cake. The cake obstructs the flow of oil and
gas into the annulus, causing the fines and drilled solids to damage the formation,
subsequently decreasing productivity.

With UB technology, the pressure differential is in favor of the formation, which inhibits the
flow of the cuttings into the pores and prevents the build up of a filter cake. As a result,
nothing blocks the flow of oil and gas into the wellbore.

Naturally, UB technology isn't right for every reservoir, but it is making a difference in the
following applications:

■ Reservoirs with depleted pressure zones: As oil and gas is produced,

reservoir pressure declines, making it more difficult to remove the remaining
reserves. UB techniques have been used successfully on these types of reservoirs
in Canada, the U.S. and many basins around the world.

■ Highly permeable reservoirs: These are ideal for the UB technique because the
oil and gas are already able to easily pass through the connecting passages in
the porous formation. UB encourages the continued flow of oil and gas into
the wellbore.

■ Fractured reservoirs/high fluid loss: Fractured and depleted reservoirs often

suffer from lost circulation. Drilling fluids enter the fractures and create a barrier that
restricts the oil and gas from flowing out of the formation. The UB technique works
well in fractured reservoirs because the pressure differential in favor of the formation
discourages the drilling fluid from entering fractures and pore space in the reservoir.

■ Hard rock formations: Hard rock formations generally make for slow drilling.
Slow drilling generally makes for high drilling costs. UB, especially air drilling,
increases the rate of penetration and cuts drilling time and cost.

■ Coal bed methane (CBM): Low bottom hole pressures and the high probability
of lost circulation into the fractured coal beds makes the tools and techniques of
UB very beneficial to recovery of CBM.

■ Geothermal drilling: Lost circulation is a problem common to the geothermal

drilling industry. Conventional mud drilling has been proven to cause severe
formation damage and greatly limit the well’s steam producing capability.
Underbalanced drilling provides the ability to maintain circulation and superior cut-
tings transport. Many geothermal wells are of larger diameter wellbores, and UB is
a very cost effective, damage limiting approach in large diameter wellbore drilling.
 Underbalanced drilling brings life to old fields.
■ Three wells in the U.S.: Deep depleted sandstone reser-
voir drilled vertically using UBD increased average well
productivity from 5 million standard cubic feet per day
(mmscfd) gas and 400 barrels per day (bpd) to 25-30
mmscfd gas and 1400 bpd condensate.
■ Three wells in Europe: Tight sandstone reservoir drilled
using horizontal UBD techniques increased oil produc-
tion from 140 bpd to greater than 3000 bpd.

UB reduces costs. A conventionally drilled reservoir in Wyoming suffered fluid losses of 40,000
barrels, in addition to differential sticking (the well was sidetracked three times). The budget over-
run was $6 million. Weatherford drilled an underbalanced well in the pay section, experiencing total
fluid losses of only 200 barrels and no differential sticking. The well was drilled under budget.
 Weatherford has formed the industry's largest and most
comprehensive UBS product and service company. We
also offer more than 40 years of global experience in all
facets of UB technology, worldwide locations and the
largest inventory of UBS equipment.

Formation
Formation damage can severely reduce productivity rates for a well, which leads to lost
revenues. Weatherford’s UBS products and services add value to the reservoir by
minimizing/preventing formation damage and increasing well productivity.

Weatherford's completely integrated UB offering includes:

■ UB project management and site supervision
■ UB downhole engineering
■ Compressed air and gas equipment
■ Compressible drilling fluids
■ Rotating control heads and BOPs
■ Flow control separation equipment
■ Data acquisition
■ Downhole drilling tools
 Weatherford’s Windows Underbalanced Analysis
(WUBA™) software provides a quantitative method
of analyzing the economics of UB technology.
What Sets Weatherford Apart
Experience: Using UB techniques requires specialized equipment and support from expe-
rienced people. Weatherford offers both. We have trained UB experts in every drilling region
of the world. Our UB technology has been used successfully both onshore and offshore, in
conjunction with conventional drilling rigs, service rigs and coiled tubing units, and includes:

■ Complete well control equipment, including the world's largest inventory of BOPs,
rotating pressure control heads, choke manifolds and flow control separators.

■ A broad range of fluids systems, including air, nitrogen, natural gas, mist, aerated
fluids, foam and the patented Trans-Foam™ recyclable drilling fluid. Our experience
in drilling fluid chemistry allows us to choose the best fluid for the project.

■ Expertise with flow control separation systems, especially in the critical control and
separation of solids, liquids and gasses.

■ Specially designed, fuel-efficient gas supply packages with small envirnmental

footprints. These self-contained, skid-mounted four-stage compressor/booster
packages are suitable for any sensitive environment.

Engineering/R&D support: We provide complete engineering support, from pre-project

drilling assessments to the detailed well program. Our Advanced Technology Center
continually develops and improves equipment critical for successful UB projects.
Specifically, we provide:

■ Software that evaluates UB economics. Windows Underbalanced Analysis

(WUBA) innovative software program quantitatively compares the costs,
production rates and revenue projections between underbalanced and conventional
overbalanced techniques.

■ Comprehensive engineering and project management for all phases of a well's

operation. This includes assessing the UB viability for your project, feasibility studies,
UB planning and on-site engineering expertise using sophisticated simulation
modeling software.

■ Sophisticated data acquisition systems for real-time information on injection flow

and production rates, pressures and temperatures.

Infrastructure: Relying on Weatherford's worldwide locations and other areas of expertise,

we can mobilize UB equipment and skilled personnel quickly and economically. We also
have the advantage of Weatherford's other areas of expertise, including, but not limited to:

■ Vast experience in casing exit systems and high performance positive

displacement motors for horizontal, multilateral and horizontal multilateral
well applications.

■ A full complement of completion systems, including flow control, production

packers, sand control equipment and intelligent completion systems.

■ Thru-tubing and multilateral technologies.

 Drilling & Intervention
Services
Weatherford International, Inc.
515 Post Oak Boulevard Phone: 713/693-4000 email: info@weatherford.com
Houston, Texas 77027 Fax: 713/621-0994 www.weatherford.com

This material is supplied solely for informational purposes and Weatherford International Inc. makes no guarantees or warranties, either expressed or
implied, with respect to the accuracy and use of this data. All product warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the Standard Terms of Sale.
© 2001. Weatherford. All rights reserved. 12/00 Brochure # 290.00