Application of an indigenous eco-friendly raw material as fluid loss additive

• Date seed powder is used as a fluid loss additive in drilling fluids.
• DSP works well in clay-free systems formulated using fresh water and seawater.
• DSP performs better than conventionally used fluid loss additive starch.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spends millions of dollars/year in importing various fluid additives from overseas countries to meet the demand of the oil and gas sector. Analyses of the drilling fluid additive import cost of 2012 indicate that more than 50 million dollars were spent in importing fluid loss control additives only. It is a very common mud additive and is frequently needed for both water and oil-based mud formulations to fulfill certain functional task while drilling or making a connection or a trip. Hence, its total or partial replacement will save millions of dollars/year. Even the replacement of 10% of the imported fluid loss additive will save more than 5 million dollars/year. This justifies the development of fluid loss additives in kingdom using locally available natural, industrial and/or agricultural raw materials. Localization of the product development would be highly beneficial to the Kingdom in terms of industrial growth, technology ownership and creation of new job opportunities for the local public and savings of millions of dollars/year associated with mud additives procurement. It will also make a major contribution in the national economy by a significant reduction in mud additives import budget. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest producers of Dates. This paper describes the preliminary test results of a locally developed date seed powder (DSP) as fluid loss additive, which is an agricultural waste product. Experimental results indicate that the fluid loss additive is equally applicable for fresh and salt water-based drilling muds and thus demonstrate its suitability for current and future exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources.