Holy rip, where did my drilling fluids go? “Holy rip” was a term my late father used, and it meant that something went terribly wrong. When a driller calls to get the fix for his lost circulation problem, it usually is in combination with other four letter words that do not include “holy.” Sometimes the driller wants a quick fix and a guarantee when we recommend a product. The only thing I can guarantee is that we know less about the borehole and formation than the driller does when he calls. So asking someone how to plug it is fine, but asking for a guarantee that it will work — well, you won’t get that.
You and I cannot be certain because the most valuable information we can have is how big the void or crevice is that the fluids are flushing through. This is an unknown 99.9 percent of the time. Short of getting a camera down-hole or knowledge from other boreholes in the area, there really is no way of knowing. I have heard many ways of stopping fluid loss — some legal and some questionable. Let’s look at one way to attack the problem, understanding that this is not the only way to fix it. Your conscience and your state laws should be your on-the-job guide. My co-worker, George Dugan, likes to say, “The faster you lose it — the harder it is to get back.”