Rigless Solutions to Well Intervention with Bismuth and Thermite

Abstract

Abstract Excessive water production from oil and gas wells has long been an expensive problem to operators. Effectively shutting off this unwanted water production has been costly and largely ineffective, until now. By using a bismuth-based alloy and a chemical reaction thermite heater, there is an effective, rigless approach to shutting off unwanted water production that is also cost effective. Previous methods for shutting off unwanted water zones typically involved setting multiple bridge plugs inside the completion. Although this baffled the flow of water, it did not stop it. The challenge was to isolate not only inside the completion, but in the annular space behind the completion to fully stop all water from the zone and do this all without the use of a rig. This has been achieved by melting a bismuth- based alloy with a thermite heater that is run on electric line.