**7. Conclusion**

Shortcomings of traditional drilling fluid additives can be overcome with nanoparticle additives. At deeper drilling depths with physical, chemical and thermal challenges, micro and micro sized additives might not be effective, leading to performance problems. Nanoparticles of which polymeric nanoparticles are the organic types have the potential to influence all the components in the circulating system where the drilling fluid is the main consideration. From the metals, the drilling fluid and its compositions and the surrounding wellbore, the impact of nanoparticles cannot be over emphasized. Conditions such as the pH of medium, nanoparticle concentration, particle size and shape are factors that determine performance of nanoparticles in nanofluids. Modification of rheological properties, reduction of fluid loss, deposition of thin and effective filter cake, thermal stability, friction reduction due to formation of polymeric film, improvement of wellbore stability, and hydrate inhibition are areas of application. However, addition of nanoparticles might have insignificant effect on mud weight. Due to their effectiveness and cost efficiency, more areas of influence and application will continue to emerge so long as drilling in harsh and remote environments in the frontier basins remain the option for increased production output in a world in need of petroleum and natural gas. Potential problem might be the issue of recovery of the materials and their influences on the fluid properties. Dispersion of different shapes and structures of polymeric nanoparticles might be considered to enhance their influences on fluid formulations.

*Polymeric Nanoparticles in Drilling Fluid Technology DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106452*
