The combination of liner drilling with a casing while drilling (CWD) bit to successfully drill and cement a 7-in. liner in place through a severe loss zone in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Texas, USA, will be presented in this paper. Previous attempts to drill this problem formation were unable to reach the objective depth because of lost-circulation and hole stability issues. This paper will present equipment selection, operation, and results of liner drilling that allowed this well to be successfully drilled and cased.

Keywords:
upstream oil & gas, hole instability, liner drilling, competent formation, liner, circulation, international association of drilling contractors, cement job, drilling, cwd bit
Subjects:
Drilling Operations, Running and setting casing
Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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