Computer-Aided Real-Time Kick Analysis and Control

Early detection of an influx (or ''kick'') from the formation being drilled is generally recognized as a key consideration for rig safety and has led to the development of reliable kick-detection methods. Following detection of the kick, however, the critical and potentially hazardous operation of circulating out the influx remains. After the well has been shut in, considerable information can be gleaned from analysis of surface pressure measurements by applying the appropriate processing techniques. This allows crucial parameters to be determined automatically, passed to the driller for verification, and used to generate a kill plan. In addition, information can be obtained that leads to an accurate estimate of annular pressure at the weakest point in the well. Numerical analysis techniques can be used to determine the shut-in parameters and, in particular, provide (1) accurate, automatic detection of stabilized shut-in pressures; (2) and improved method for computing influx density that is effective even for horizontal wells; and (3) shoe-pressure prediction by use of a kill model that is initialized by the shut-in measurements. After early kick detection, the most important activities during well-control operations are correct identification of shut-in pressures, preparation of the kill plan, and careful monitoring of the killmore » operation. This paper describes the development and application of techniques to analyzed and to extract the maximum amount of information from surface pressure measurements during shut-in.« less