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Exploration Of Oil And Gas Resources Essay

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Introduction
With the continued depletion of conventional oil and gas resources, the oil industry is now more than ever faced with exploration of unconventional and challenging oil and gas reserves. Such reserves call for novel drilling techniques and also require drilling fluids that can fulfil such drilling requirements. In most cases it’s OBM that can provide hole stability and it is also the best choice for drilling highly sensitive wells. But as these OBMs are being used, operators must strike a balance between their desired high performance standards and environmental concerns of their regulators and local communities. These stringent environmental concerns have led to research and development of many water based drilling muds but these muds still don’t offer the desired drilling performances like OBMs. We shall now look at the advantages and disadvantages of both OBMs and WBMs
Advantages of WBM: WBMs pose a comparably minimal risk to the environment, there’s a lower logistical challenge as compared to OBMs in terms of transporting of the liquid phase, For WBMs disposal doesn’t require high transportation cost like OBMs especially for off shore operations that might require shipment to shore for treatment and disposal, Viscosity and Density are easily controlled, for low pressure formations, WBMs are a good choice, easier removal of drill cuttings at shakers and Less of a need for cuttings washing and drying.
Disadvantages of WBM: it is inferior in lubricating

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