D R I L L I N G

A N D

C O M P L E T I O N

F L U I D S

SHALE STABILITY: DRILLING-FLUID

INTERACTION AND SHALE STRENGTH
Shales make up more than 75% of
drilled formations, and more than 70%
of borehole problems are caused by
shale instability. Shale is destabilized
when drilling fluid penetrates existing
fissures, fractures, and weak bedding
planes. Drilling fluids cause shale
instability by altering pore pressure or
effective-stress state and strength
through shale/fluid interaction.
SUBSURFACE SHALE

The term shale is used for an entire class of

fine-grained sedimentary rocks that contain
substantial amounts of clay minerals. For
the oil industry, distinguishing shale features include clay content, low permeability
caused by poor pore connectivity through
narrow pore throats, and the large difference
in coefficient of thermal expansion between
water and shale-matrix constituents.
The amount and type of clay content
determine shale affinity for water. Shale
containing smectite has a greater affinity for
water than shale containing illite or kaolinite. Shale-formation properties that are
important for shale/fluid interaction and
shale stability are determined by past compaction history and current in-situ stresses
and temperature.
INTERACTION MECHANISMS

Analysis of available experimental data

clearly shows that shale strength and pore
pressure near the borehole are affected by
shale/fluid interaction. The shale-/fluidinteraction mechanisms causing shale
instability include the following.
Mechanical stress changes as drilling
fluid replaces shale in the hole.
Capillary pressure changes as drilling
fluid contacts native pore fluid at narrow
pore throats.
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
54356, Shale Stability: Drilling-Fluid
Interaction and Shale Strength, by
Manohar Lal, SPE, BP Amoco, originally presented at the 1999 SPE Latin
American and Caribbean Petroleum
Engineering Conference, Caracas,
2123 April.
30

Hydraulic-pressure differential causes

fluid transport.
Swelling pressure is caused by interaction of water with clay charged particles.
Pressure changes near the wellbore as
drilling fluid compresses pore fluid and diffuses a pressure front into the formation.
Shale-swelling pressure and behavior is
related directly to the type and amount of
clay in a given shale. Two types of swelling
observed in clays are intercrystalline and
osmotic swelling.
Pressure diffusion causes pressure
changes with time as the wellbore pressure
contacts and compresses pore fluid at the
wellbore wall. The pressure away from the
wall varies with time until a steady-state
pressure distribution between near and faraway pore pressure is established. If
drilling fluid cannot penetrate the shale,
the pore pressure near the wellbore wall is
the original pore pressure and remains the
same. However, if the mud interacts with
the shale, the drilling fluid at wellbore
pressure will diffuse through shale and
pore pressures near the wall will increase
with time.
IMPROVING SHALE STABILITY

Some general principles for improving

shale stability have been developed on
the basis of current understanding of
shale-/fluid-interaction mechanisms.
For shales with fractures, fissures, or
weak bedding planes, use of effective sealing agents, thixotropic drilling fluid, and
lower mud weights minimizes fluid penetration into fractures.
Increasing capillary pressure for waterwet shale has been used successfully to prevent drilling-fluid invasion into shale by
use of oil-based and synthetic-based mud
containing esters, polyalphaolefins, or
other organic low-polarity fluids. Increasing interfacial tension and contact angle
can increase capillary pressure for a given
shale-pore-throat radius.
Reduce the total pressure for shale/fluid
interaction. Net hydraulic pressure causes
changes in the near-wellbore pore pressure
through pressure diffusion or transmittal
and fluid transport into or out of the shale.

Drilling-fluid activity can be reduced

by use of seawater bentonite muds, saturated salt polymers, KCl or NaCl polymer, or
freshwater calcium-treated muds. A new
type of drilling fluid based on a substituted
sugar, methyl gluocide, is being examined
currently because of its ability to form lowactivity muds with high membrane efficiency. In oil-based muds (OBMs), the dispersed water phase usually is treated with
CaCl2 to reduce drilling-fluid activity.
Fluid-transport and pressure-diffusion
rates can be reduced by increasing fluid viscosity and reducing shale permeability. One
way to reduce permeability is to form a permeability barrier at the shale surface or within microfractures. In OBMs, water has to diffuse through a continuous oil phase to reach
the shale. Cationic polymers, which are
strongly adsorbing, also reduce permeability.
Work is underway currently to formulate
drilling fluids containing cesium for shale
stabilization. While this fluid would be very
expensive, increased stability and rate of
penetration could compensate for this cost.
Cuttings dispersion can be limited by
binding the clay particles together if shale
failure or erosion is initiated. Polymers with
short, flexible chains can limit shale-cuttings dispersion by adsorbing onto clay
platelet surfaces.
CONCLUSIONS

Continuous monitoring and control of

drilling-mud additives are critical for successful shale drilling. Because of shaleinstability costs, it is important to understand shale behavior and its interaction
with different fluids. Quantification of
fluid-invasion effects on effective stresses
and shale strength near the wellbore is critical for shale-stability-analysis models.
Simple and realistic shale-testing procedures are required to achieve practical
assessment of wellbore-stability risks.

Please read the full-length paper for

additional detail, illustrations, and references. The paper from which the
synopsis has been taken has not been
peer reviewed.
NOVEMBER 1999