A comprehensive, practical approach for wellbore instability management

In the northwest shelf, a region of growing importance for oil and gas production in Australia, drilling delays and well suspension before reaching targets have occurred frequently because of wellbore instability. As a result, the economic benefits from new drilling technologies are significantly reduced because of high additional drilling costs. To improve drilling efficiency and minimize drilling costs, it is crucial to develop and apply a practical approach for optimizing wellbore instability management. This paper initially presents guidelines, in the form of design charts, for efficient wellbore stability analysis and wellbore profile design. A comprehensive, practical approach that uses the design charts for wellbore profile design is described subsequently. The application of the design charts is demonstrated through field case studies for a range of in-situ stress regimes.