Operator drilled to 8980’, set 7 5/8" casing at 8738’, and left 242’ of 9 7/8" rat hole. Well was drilled to 10,676’, but could not circulate, after a bit trip the operator was forced to pull back up into the casing to break circulation. Attempted to run back to bottom, washed and reamed to 8984’ where hole packed off. Added 5# pbl of soltex and raised the funnel viscosity to 50 sec/qt.

       Washed and reamed repeatedly to work through a trouble section at 8950’, but the hole kept packing off. Changed stabilizers and ran in the hole to 8890’. Circulated out and began trying to drill back to T.D. drilled at 12 ft. per hour with 12,000 pounds on the bit.

       Thuslick™ was added at a concentration of 8 ppb.   Penetration rates went up to 35 feet per hour with 14 thousand pounds on the bit.  At 10889’ drag was pick up 5 thousand pounds, and slack off 4 thousand pounds. At 10889’ a survey showed 7.5 degrees and drilling progressed at 10 to 14 ft per hour with 8 thousand pounds on the bit. Torque was 180 to 200 amps through this time.

       Well was drilled to 13,400’ with no problems pulled out of hole and changed bits. Ran back to bottom with no problem, but well kicked, and raised mud weight to 16.5 PPG from 15.2 PPG. Torque went up to 300-3330 amps.  Added 25 ppb Thuslick™ to the mud and reduced the torque back to 180-200 amps. Well was logged. Logging took two days without problems.

The operator’s evaluation of Thuslick™’s performance was:

       A horizontal well was kicked off at 12,655 ft, and drilled to a depth of 17,670’. The well had two camel backs at about midway through the horizontal section. The operator was having great difficulty in sliding and very high torque when trying to rotate at 15,499’.


       The operator decided at this point to use Thuslick™. The initial treatment was 5 ppb.   This eliminated the torque problem. The operator then decided to use Thuslick™ in pill form for sliding. They were unable to slide at a rate greater than 1-ft. per hour. The use of pills composed of 70 bbls of 13.2 PPG drilling mud treated with 3 bbls of diesel oil and 15 sacks (825 pounds) of Thuslick™ increased their sliding rate to 8 to 10 feet per hour.

       Operator was drilling a horizontal well, and experiencing very high rotary torque, and having great difficulty sliding Thuslick™ was added to the water based mud system, and rotary torque decreased to acceptable levels. Sliding rates continued to be slow (about one foot per hour), so a 70 barrel pill was mixed using 11.7 pounds per barrel of Thuslick™and 3 barrel of diesel.

       Operator was drilling a directional well below 16,000’. The drilling rate was one foot per hour and the operator found steel in the cuttings indicating severe casing wear. Thuslick™ was added to the water based mud system with the following results; the casing wear was eliminated, and the drilling rate increased to 3 to 4 ft. per hour.

       Operator was drilling offshore Louisiana with shallow surface casing set. The well was deviated to 30 degrees when serious problems were encountered with torque, drag and shale sloughing. Penetration rates were 30 ft. per hour. The pipe was stuck, and a spotting fluid was used to free the pipe.

       After freeing the pipe 4 lbs. Per barrel of Thuslick™ was added to the water based mud. The problems with torque, drag, and shale stabilization were solved. The penetration rate increased to 100 ft. per hour, and the well was drilled to T.D. without further problems.

       Thuslick™ was mixed in 7 Hrs using 164 Sacks and before the mixing was finished, the numbers from the base reading started down.

       To date 3/17/98 the well is still being drilled with the same readings as when Thuslick™ was added to the mud.

       The well should take another 30 to 45 days to complete, at that time Thuslick™’s performance shall be reviewed again.