Abstract
The development of solid expandable tubular (SET) technology and products (open hole liner, open hole clad, cased hole liner, liner hanger, internal casing patch, etc.) has enabled operators to plan well design in a new way and solve various problems that arise during drilling and exploitation on land and offshore. By including an expandable open hole liner, monobore open hole liner or monobore openhole clad in well design, it is possible to achieve a slim hole design and/or resolve unwanted situations that occur during the drilling of problem zones with minimal hole size reduction and reach hydrocarbon reserves which cannot be achieved economically by conventional technology. By installing an expandable cased hole liner or internal casing patch in production wells to cover the intervals of a corroded casing or to close old perforations, it is possible to extend the life cycle of a production well and increase the final hydrocarbon recovery and speed up the return on investment. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the relevant literature and give an overview of solid expandable tubular technology and its applications in the petroleum industry, as well as the cementing technology of open hole expandable liners. The available data for 21 case studies of SET application in onshore and offshore wells were analyzed in detail. Based on an extensive review of the literature and analyzed data, it can be concluded that SET technology is being successfully applied worldwide and that expandable liners with a diameter of 114.3 mm to 339.72 mm are being run in wells to ever greater depths (up to 5166 m) and in ever more extreme downhole conditions.
Highlights
During drilling, operators occasionally encounter unplanned situations that are usually resolved by running a standard casing, which in turn results in a reduction of the diameter (Gaurina-Međimurec, 2005; Simon et al, 2005; Gaurina-Međimurec et al, 2006, Pašić et al, 2007; Shiri and Shiri, 2021)
Expandable tubulars offer the potential for a “monoborehole” and drilling to depths no longer limited by the initial hole diameter (Benzie et al, 2000; Campo et al, 2003)
This paper provides an overview of solid expandable tubular technology and its applications in the field practice with an emphasis on cementing technology of open hole expandable liners
Summary
Operators occasionally encounter unplanned situations (lost circulation zones, sub-salt rubble zones, formation-related wellbore instability, high pressure zones, differential or mechanical pipe sticking, fractured reservoirs) that are usually resolved by running a standard casing, which in turn results in a reduction of the diameter (Gaurina-Međimurec, 2005; Simon et al, 2005; Gaurina-Međimurec et al, 2006, Pašić et al, 2007; Shiri and Shiri, 2021). By introducing expandable tubulars into drilling practice, existing wells could be completed by including an additional casing without increasing top-hole design or compromising on the planned completion size (Stewart et al, 1999; Stringer and Farley, 2013). The application of the solid expandable tubular (SET) technology in the subsurface environment has the potential of significantly reducing surface and subsurface costs and increasing the return on operating companies’ investments (Filippov et al, 1999; Owoeye et al, 2000; Dupal et al, 2000; Ruggier et al, 2001; Gusevik and Merritt, 2002; Demong et al, 2004; Ruan and Maurer, 2005; Morrison et al, 2005; Miessner et al, 2006; Schultz et al, 2008; Al-Abri and Pervez, 2013; McCormick et al, 2013: Kupresan, 2014). In which the drilling environment requires more casing points than there are casing sizes (e.g., ultra-deepwater wells), cannot be drilled to their objectives without solid expandable tubular technology (Dell et al, 2019)
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