blackrain old chap, if you have something overpressured down there trying to come up at you then you weight up the mud to hold it down. this is normally done simply by adding more barytes to existing mud and thereby increasing its density and bottom hole pressure exerted. there is normally enough barytes on hand to do this without "ordering in heavier mud". however if you encounter overpressure in a fractured reservoir, and it is highly likely that MK is fractured given the nature of the structure, then if you go just slightly overbalance then the mud can displace the formation fluids and disappear down the fractures. this can be very scary indeed because the mud loss can be very rapid, and if you do not have enough to keep the supply up, then pretty soon there is not enough left to maintain the pressure and the downhole formation fluids can head northwards at a great rate given that it will be flowing from the fractures. at this stage you shut in the well or have a blowout. very tricky, and also is a risk factor in drilling carbonate reefs. but my question is why you ask the question? because if they are actually ordering extra barytes it suggests quite considerable mud loss to the formation.
trust this helpful.
CTP Price at posting:
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