Wellbore Strengthening in Shales With Nanoparticle-Based Drilling Fluids

摘要

Wellbore strengthening (WS) is the mechanism of increasing fracture pressure of rock at depth. WS in shale formations is controversial because of the poor understanding of the mechanism and limited field success. This paper presents experimental research in which a significant fracture-pressure increase was achieved in shale and the predominant WS mechanism was identified. The main implication of this work is that WS can occur in shale formations by use of oil-based mud (OBM) with the addition of nanoparticles (NPs) and graphite.