ÇAĞRILI KONUŞMALAR / KEYNOTES Invited Speeches ... - TPJD

Drilling Operations of Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC) in
Murzuq Basin, Libya and The Drilling Problems and Solutions in Loose Desert
Sand
Ercan Hayır, Özgür Kaya
Turkish Petroleum Corporation , Drilling Department, Ankara
Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC), a wholly-owned subsidary of Turkiye Petrolleri
Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO) is the 100 % holder and operator in the Area 147/3-4, Murzuq basin,
Libya. TPOC was awarded the concession in the EPSA IV Bid Round II in 2005. The exploration
campaign in 147 3/&4 Concession in Murzuq Basin, Libya, commenced in 2009 with the drilling
of A1-147/3 well and resulted with a discovery, thus the drilling campaign intensified in 2010.
Out of 11 exploration wells drilled in the concession, 7 wells (A1-, B1-, C1-, D1-, E1-,F1-, I1-
147/3) resulted as oil discoveries. The most serious difficulty which was encountered during
drilling operations in Murzuq basin, is the serious threats of the loose and active desert sand
on the surface (0-500 ft). During the drilling of this section, some problems such as; total mud
losses, wellbore instabilities and also some cavities and collapses in the wells were encountered
by companies. Previously, some companies experienced location collapses and big cavities
under the rig floor that caused to fall over of the rigs. In this section, TPOC use some regional
lost circulation materials and methods and drill this section with maximum one cement plug
operation and save money and time. In this study, drilling operations of Turkish Petroleum
Overseas Company (TPOC) in Murzuq basin, Libya and the drilling problems and solutions in
loose desert sand will be discussed.
Keywords: TPAO, TPOC, Libya, Murzuq, Drilling operations in loose and active desert sand, mud
loss, wellbore stability, Lost Circulation Materials
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