Research and application of deepwater wellbore stabilization in Baiyun Depression

Baiyun Depression is an important growth point of reserve in Pearl River Mouth Basin. However, due to the narrow fluid density vessel for safe deepwater drilling and high drilling risk, to accurately assess the regularity and characteristics of deepwater wellbore stabilization in Baiyun Depression is essential the further development of Baiyun Depression. Considering the drilling condition and geological characteristics of the deepwater drilling in Baiyun Depression, the paper studies the formation pressure system features and concludes that the power law model and the Eaton model can provide formation density and pore pressure with higher precision and further reveal how the formation pressure system varies with the water depth, in which the crustal pressure and the bursting pressure are significantly affected by water depth. The calculated formation pressure can be used to assess the fluid density vessel for safe deepwater drilling in Baiyun Depression and the results show that there is low risk of hole collapse but high risk of losses, especially sandstone permeability loss. The research results provide an important basis for the design of deepwater drilling fluid in Baiyun Depression.