Laboratory evaluation on water-based drilling fluid suitable for deepwater oil field in West Africa

Via the analysis on technical difficulties of drilling fluid for deepwater oil field in the West Africa, in the light of the low-temperature rheological property regulation of drilling fluid, borehole cleaning, gas hydrate generation and control, and borehole instability of active mud shale, corresponding technical countermeasures have been raised, and a new deepwater high-performance water-based drilling fluid system has been established. According to the experimental evaluation, the drilling fluid has relatively low viscosity and relatively high dynamic shear force, and φ6 reading is maintained at 7 to 10, which is beneficial for the borehole cleaning; the rheological property of drilling fluid is slightly affected by low temperature; the apparent viscosity ratio at 2 ℃ and the dynamic shear force ratio at 25 ℃ are respectively 1.28 and 1.10. The drilling fluid recovery rate of mud-shale rock sample at different positions is more than 90%. The inhibition of drilling fluid is obviously superior to that of previously-used KCl-PHPA drilling fluid system, and has excellent hydrate inhibition effects under dynamic or static conditions. It still has strong anti-pollution capacity, and basically meets the technical requirements of drilling fluid for deepwater oil field in the West Africa.