Development of drilling fluid system and additives is facing new breakthroughs to adapt to requirements of deep well, ultra deep well and complex formation drilling and increasingly valued environmental requirements, as well as further reduce drilling cost. New treatment agents have to adapt to ultra deep well requirements with stable temperature resistant performance and environmentally friendly, preventing formation damage and later environmental problems.



New synthetic base drilling fluid will have further development. With deepening of environmental protection philosophy, environmentally friendly drilling fluid is leads the development trend. Low toxicity and non-toxic oil-based drilling fluid is given more attention. Due to rapid development of synthetic base drilling fluid, it has become main categories of worldwide drilling fluid system together with water-based and oil-based drilling fluids. Synthetic base drilling fluid can solve problems as environmental pollution, influencing logging and testing material interpretation. In Gulf of Mexico, most water-based drilling fluid is replaced by synthetic base drilling fluid, effectively improving drilling efficiency. It features with high drilling rate, few pigging times, and few accidents like pipe sticking. Therefore, synthetic base drilling fluid is the trend for future development in China.



Foreign countries have invested large numbers of manpower and material resources in waste mud discharge to meet eco-environment requirements. Some progress has been made in waste mud treatment technology, but problems as complex treatment process high cost still exist. It is expected to find simpler treatment methods with lower cost over the next few years. Besides, toxicity testing technology, non-toxic and low toxicity treatment agents development technology will also be further developed. Further study is required for recycling, harmless waste treatment technology, etc.