Deep-water reservoirs have high formation pressure, and the fracture pressure is very close to formation pressure. During cementation, pressure has to be balanced within a small range. So, cementing a long section of casing becomes difficult. To increase economic benefit of the project, it is imperative that cementation is carried out in the least possible time, i.e. with least setting time and lower weight of cementation wherever applicable. Keeping these in mind, efforts were made to increase the mechanical properties of the cement by using nanocellulose. Experiments have shown that considerable improvement in cement properties was achieved. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.