Study of Prevention and Mitigation of Stuck Pipe in Geothermal Drilling

Abstract

Stuck pipe of geothermal well drilling occurs when the pipe, for the likes of drill string and casing in the wellbore cannot be pulled out without exceeding its designed working load. This incident will result non-productive time and unnecessary additional cost. Historically, one out of three wells drilled in geothermal area in Indonesia experienced stuck pipe problems. Most cases of stuck pipe of geothermal well drilling in Indonesia can be avoided with good drilling design and operation. This paper shows the stuck pipe incidents from a plenty of geothermal wells throughout the Indonesian geothermal fields. The data of design and the execution of wellbore where the stuck pipe incidents have occur will be presented and explained. The analysis and evaluation based on the wellbore data will be carried out. The method of stuck pipe causes, prevention and mitigation will be build.