Case Study on Solutions of Stuck Pipe in HDD Project

Stuck pipes usually leads to low productivity, frequently occurs in horizontal direction drilling (HDD) projects crossing rivers especially in complexity geo-condition area due to the anisotropic distribution of horizontal geo-condition and misusage of drilling tools. The experience gained while drilling vertical and directional oil wells was used for estimation of stuck pipe with respect to the site condition in Lan-zheng-Yangzi river crossing project. Soil and rock mechanics take a critical role in order to analyze the deep reasons of stuck pipe, and then, solutions were suggested for this project. This paper will focus on the solution of stuck pipe combining wellbore washing with case and pulling method, which was proved feasible for stuck pipe in HDD project.