Lost Circulation: A New Approach to An Old Challenge

Lost circulation has been a persistent and costly challenge in the oil and gas industry. However, recent advances in geomechanics, drilling techniques and fluids, cementing and lost circulation fluids, logging while drilling and data analytics, are now assisting the industry to resolve lost circulation issues more effectively. In the SPE PetroBrief, the authors discuss the present understanding of lost circulation and provide current examples of new techniques being applied to resolve these age-old challenges.