A comprehensive review of the research on water-based drilling fluid lubricants in recent years was carried out, and its types, evaluation methods, and action mechanisms are summarized in detail.

The wellbore instability caused by the penetration of drilling fluids into the formation is a vital problem in the drilling process. In this study, we synthesized a polymer/graphene oxide composite (PAAN-G) as a fluid loss additive in water-based drilling fluids. The three monomers (acrylamide (AM), 2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP)) and graphene oxide (GO) were copolymerized using aqueous free radical polymerization. The composition, micromorphology, and thermal stability properties of PAAN-G were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). According to the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards, the influence of PAAN-G on the rheological and filtration properties of bentonite-based mud was evaluated. Compared with PAAN, PAAN-0.2G has more stable rheological properties at high temperatures. The experimental results showed that even at a high temperature of 240 °C, PAAN-G can still maintain a stable fluid loss reduction ability. In addition, PAAN-G is also suitable for high-salt formations; it can still obtain satisfactory filtration volume when the concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl₂) reached 25 wt %. Besides, we discussed the fluid loss control mechanism of PAAN-G through particle size distribution and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).