Publications

Drilling Mud has a vital role in all onshore or offshore oil and gas drilling operations with its primary function working as the hydrostatic pressure to balance and then hold the formation pressure to go up onto the surface. There are some formations in Indonesia where the drilling hazards are extensive, but the problem that most likely to face is the shale/clay swelling problem. Today there is a water based mud system called Polyamine Mud, a Polyamine based mud system that has advantages over conventional systems and also has some functions that are as good as the OBM. Some companies are still trying to adopt this technology into their drilling projects with various aspects to be considered and are wondering whether it will help them to drill a formation with shale/clay problem characteristics. A field location on the island of Sulawesi has drilled a few wells and drilled the Kintom formation using the Polyamine Mud for a total depth of about 7,000 ft – 9,000 ft. The hole problem was not only the shale/clay swelling, but was also followed by some problems such as differential sticking and partial to total losses. The wells have now been drilled successfully and the gas production was above expectations. This paper will discuss a comparison of the Polyamine Mud Polyamine based mud system with the conventional mud system such as KCL-Polymer by doing some unconventional tests in the lab, including inhibition test, dispersion test, accression test and bulk hardness test. After testing in the lab, the Polyamine 3% mud system was used in the field and has drilled a few wells and achieved succesful results in drilling operations.