Session 20. Oral Presentation for: Mitigating the mud-loss challenge when drilling in a depleted field – a case study from New Zealand

Presented on 20 May 2026: Session 20 Unlike previous wells where losses were minimal, significant mud losses occurred unexpectedly while drilling a recent horizontal well in the Pohokura Field. To identify the root cause and develop preventive strategies in future wells, a geomechanical study was conducted. Analysis of conventional mechanisms, such as equivalent circulating density exceeding the fracture propagation gradient, did not account for the observed mud losses. The investigation then fo