Pressure Detection
Dickey
INTRODUCTION
Normal reservoir pressure is the pressure in the reservoir
fluids necessary to sustain a column of water to the surface
(Fertl, 1976). Normal pressures range between 0.43 and 0.50
psi/ft. Normal drilling muds weigh about 9 ppg (pounds per
gallon) and exert a bottom hole pressure of approximately
0.47 psi/ft of depth.
By convention in the petroleum industry, overpressure
refers to pressures higher than normal that require heavy
drilling mud to keep formation fluids from entering the
borehole. Pressures lower than normal are called subnormal.
OVERPRESSURED RESERVOIRS
Drilling Problems with Overpressured Reservoirs
Notable effects of overpressured reservoirs that are costly
include the following:
• Blowouts—uncontrolled production of formation fluids
• Caving—high pore pressure in low permeability rocks
causes them to stress relieve or "cave" into the
borehole
• Stuck pipe—the drill pipe adheres to the side of the
borehole due to the swelling (stress relief) of the
borehole walls behind the bit
• Lost circulation—by raising the mud weight to control
the formation pressure at the bit, the formation may
rupture. The mud will then run out into a cavity of its
own making.
When drilling in areas where overpressured zones are
known to occur, it is necessary to be aware of both the
pressure of the fluids in the pores and the pressure at which
the formations will fracture. It is not enough simply to drill
with heavier mud to prevent blowouts. If the mud is too
heavy, the formation will rupture and lost circulation will
result. It is usually impossible to determine these critical
pressures in a new area in advance of drilling.
Geological Cause of Overpressured Reservoirs
There is considerable debate and literature on the causes
of overpressure. This section outlines some common
explanations.
Arrested Compaction of Shale
The most commonly accepted cause of overpressure is
arrested compaction of shale. Compaction requires the
expulsion of pore water. When clays first start to compact,
they are quite permeable and most of the water moves
upward. As compaction continues, however, the clay flakes
become parallel, reducing vertical permeability. Sands and
Parke A.
Consultant
Oivasso, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
silts compact less than clays and shales and can maintain
permeability to greater depths.
As long as there is a silty or sandy bed within a few feet of
the shales, the shales continue on a normal compaction trend.
However, if no sandy beds are present, the water remains in
the shale pores. As additional overburden is deposited, the
shale then has to sustain all or part of the additional weight.
This results in high pressure in the shale pore water. If there
is a small, isolated sand body enclosed by the shale, whatever
fluid it contains (water, oil, or gas), will share the same
pressure. The fact that overpressures have been maintained
for hundreds of millions of years over small vertical intervals
indicates that the permeability of the enclosing shales can be
virtually zero.
The distribution of reservoirs and overpressuring is
strongly controlled by the depositional environment (Figure
1). Overpressured reservoirs are commonly found where
there are thick deposits of shaly sediments.
Aquathermal Effects
Aquathermal effects also cause overpressure. The
temperature increases as sediment is buried, causing an
increase in the volume of water. This in turn results in an
increase in pressure if the sediment is sealed by an
impermeable layer (Barker, 1972). For example, if a shale is
totally sealed and there is no dilation to increase the pore
volume, and if the geothermal gradient is 25 °C per 1000 m,
then the pressure increase is about 1.8 psi per ft. This is more
than the increase in weight of the overburden. Consequently,
this aquathermal pressuring will cause an increase of
pressure up to the pressure at which the rocks fracture
(Figure 2).
Pressure data from some U.S. Gulf coast wells suggest that
the aquathermal effect is important.
Tectonic Phenomena
Tectonic phenomena also produce overpressures. In the
Gulf of Alaska, fluid pore pressures up to 0.85 psi per ft were
found due to horizontal compressive stress in the rocks. In
Western Alberta, large thicknesses of Paleozoic carbonates
have been thrust over soft Cretaceous shales, resulting in
overpressuring of the lenticular oil-bearing sandstones that
extend under the overthrust (such as Leafland and Pembina).
Thermal Cracking of Organic matter
The thermal cracking of organic matter may cause an
increase in the volume of fluids, which would in turn cause
an increase in pressure.
Other Causes
Other suggested causes of overpressuring include the loss
of water in smectite clay as it changes to illite, osmotic
pressures due to salinity variations in the water, and effects of
cementation.
80 PART 3—WELLSITE METHODS

Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the location ol abnormal

pressures in southern Louisiana. The continental and deltaic
facies contains sandy beds. The nerltic (nearshore) fades
contains a few silty and sandy beds that connect laterally to the
deltaic facies. The outer shelf facies contains almost no sandy
beds, and the pore fluids cannot escape. The growth faults are
seals that stop the lateral flow of pore water toward the neritic
facies. (From Dickey et al., 1968.)

Prediction of Overpressure Before Drilling:

Seismic Detection
As shales compact, the velocity of seismic waves increases
so that seismic wave velocity normally increases with depth.
If the shales have not been able to compact, the seismic
velocity will be less.
Interval velocity can be determined from the surface by the
common depth point method of seismic acquisition. If
interval velocity increases normally with depth and then
decreases, it is possible that a zone of overpressure exists.
This method of predicting the depth to an overpressured zone
has been widely used, especially in the offshore Gulf coast of
the United States.

Figure 2. Common patterns of increasing pressure with depth.

Detection of Overpressure While Drilling
Drilling Rate
When drilling shales, the drilling rate normally decreases
with depth as the shales become more compact. If the drilling
rate increases, it can be inferred that an overpressured zone is
being encountered. The rate increases because bottom hole
conditions change from overbalanced to underbalanced.
Because lithology, rotary speed, and weight on the bit also
affect drilling rate, a corrected drilling rate called "d
exponent" should be used (Equation 1). This method can be
one of the most reliable indicators that the drill is penetrating
a zone of abnormally high pressure.
log
d exponent • 60^
(1)
log WW
where
R = rate of penetration in feet per hour,
N = rotary speed in revolutions per minute,
W= weight on bit in pounds, and
D = hole diameter in inches (Jorden and Shirley, 1966).
In the case illustrated by line A, the pressure increases normally
to a certain depth, then increases abruptly to almost the weight
of the overburden, which it then parallels. In the case of line B,
the increase of pressure above normal follows the aquathermal
gradient (constant water density) and then follows the fracture
gradient. (After Barker and Horsfeld, 1982.)
Mud Tank Level
A rising level of mud in the tanks indicates that more mud
is coming out of the hole than is going in. This is called a
"kick." This happens because formation fluids are entering
the hole and the well is threatening to blow out. The situation
is extremely serious, and proper steps must be taken to get the
gas, oil, or water out of the hole. The most common method
is to close the blowout preventers and stop the pumps. After
a few minutes, the pressure at the top of the drill pipe will
equal the pressure in the formation minus the weight of the
column of mud. This is the excess pressure that must be
balanced by increasing the mud weight. The pumps are then
started to circulate the extraneous fluid out of the hole. The
drill pipe pressure is carefully controlled with the choke. If
the equilibrium drill pipe pressure is exceeded, the well may
lose circulation, and if it is too low, the well will blow out.
 Pressure Detection 81

RESERVOIR EQUIVALENT
'PG. MUD WEIGHT
BS./I> lb/<- Gl

—T
D< • - ' '" " -

Well A Well B ~ \ —

35
\x • -T- ' "Ii .
-1- -
"
36

\ 5
i
~
»^ i
-
37 "- » "
•• ! "
OS
• ^S-« -
1
**>».
! • •
\ •
09
"

50 10
12.5* NORMAL PRESSURED R,,-) / OBSERVED R,.
.GAS CUT WITH
12 Off M U D
-15.5#
KICKED 13. S #
MUD
Figure 4. Shale resistivity parameter, resistivity of normally
.17.7* pressured shale divided by observed resistivity of abnormally
WELL STARTED pressured shale, plotted against formation pressure gradient
FLOWING.KILLED
WELL w / 1 7 . 7 # (FPG) and equivalent mud weight. (From Hottman and Johnson,
MUD
-18.0#
1965; by permission of SPE.)

by several methods. Also, the shape of drill cuttings

Figure 3. Electric logs of two wells offshore Louisiana. Well A
had normal pressure. Well B, 2000 ft away and across a growth
fault, showed a sudden decrease in resistivity of shale (increase
in conductivity) at about 11,100 ft. Shortly thereafter, the well
showed indications of an impending blowout. (After Wallace,
1965.)
Delayed Indications
Several other indications of overpressure may occur after
the lag time necessary for the mud to return to the surface
from the bottom of the hole. They are much less reliable than
the drilling rate, but can be monitored by mudlogging
equipment. These indicators include the following:
• Drilling mud gas—Gas in the drilling mud often
increases because methane is dissolved in the pore
water of some overpressured shales. As the cuttings
and cavings come up the hole, the gas escapes and can
be detected in the mud. Gas in the mud is also caused
by oil- or gas-bearing formations and by organic-rich
shales.
• Shale density—Undercompacted shales, characteristic of
overpressured zones, have a lower density (because of
abnormally high porosity) than normal shales at a given
depth. The density of shale cuttings can be measured
from undercompacted shales may be different than
those from normally compacted shales.
• Temperature—There may be an increase in the
temperature of the mud returns. Although it has been
widely claimed that the geothermal gradient is higher
in overpressured shales because of their abnormally
high porosity and lower thermal conductivity, a
doubling of shale porosity from 10 to 20% should cause
a decrease in conductivity of only about 1% (with a
correspondingly small increase in geothermal gradient).
Thus, the increase in temperature is probably due to
faster drilling and increased cavings in
undercompacted shales.
Detection of Overpressure with Well Logs
Undercompacted shales associated with overpressured
zones have a much lower electrical resistivity than normally
compacted shales (Figure 3). According to the Archie
formula, doubling the porosity of a shale from 10 to 20%
should cause its resistivity to drop to one-fourth. As a result,
it is possible to determine accurately the degree of
undercompaction of a shale from its resistivity and to estimate
the pore pressure (Figure 4) (Hottman and Johnson,1965).
Because undercompacted shale has slow seismic velocity
and low density, a high pressure zone can also be identified
from sonic and density logs (Magara, 1978).
Note that as is always the case with well logs, there are
pitfalls in interpretation, and the local geology and hole
conditions must be taken into account.
82 PART 3—WELLSITE METHODS
SUBNORMALLY PRESSURED RESERVOIRS
Subnormal reservoir pressures, that is, pressures less than
0.43 psi per ft of depth, are very common (Dickey and Cox,
1977). The cause of abnormally low reservoir pressures is not
well understood. If a reservoir containing either gas or oil is
isolated and then subjected to uplift and erosion, the removal
of overburden causes an elastic rebound of the solids and an
increase in volume of the pores. The elastic dilation of
sandstones is about 7 x 10"6 volumes per psi. Water expands
only 3 x 10"6 volumes per psi, so that the pressure of the pore
water in the aquifer and the enclosing shales will drop,
possibly sucking some of the water out of the aquifer. Most
low pressure reservoirs are in areas where there has been
uplift and erosion since the sediments forming the reservoir
were deposited and lithified.
Drilling Problems with Subnormally Pressured
Reservoirs
Much less attention has been paid to subnormally
pressured reservoirs than to overpressured reservoirs. This is
probably because there are fewer spectacular drilling
problems associated with subnormal pressures and
underpressures. However, problems exist that can be serious.
If the reservoir pressure is much lower than the pressure in
the drilling fluid, severe formation damage can occur. The
drilling mud filtrate penetrates the reservoir, causing swelling
and migration of clays, which may plug the pore throats.
Even a little water in the hole can kill a low pressure
producing gas well. The water is drawn into the pores by
capillarity and ruins the relative permeability to gas. In the
case of low pressure gas sandstone reservoirs, it is desirable to
set casing at the top of the reservoir interval and drill with
gas, salt water, or oil-based mud to minimize formation
damage.
Also, if the gas reservoir has a low pressure, there may be
no indication of gas on the mudlog. The logs of many
abandoned dry holes should be reexamined to look for
bypassed gas zones.