Solid Expandable Liner Research Articles

Solid-Expandable Liner System With Custom Composite Frac Plugs Enables Recovery of Lost Reserves in the Piceance Basin

Summary Casing-integrity failure, whether through parted casing, leaky collars, or some other issue, may result in less-effective stimulation work caused by abandonment of the plug-and-perforate method and/or completing through a frac liner. In more-extreme cases, it could result in lost reserves below the casing-failure point. Modern technology has provided a cost-effective solution to this problem. In this case, the operator confirmed parted 4 1/2-in. production casing at 9,761 ft (Fig. 1) in their northern Piceance basin acreage. The operator would have to repair the parted casing to fracture the lower six zones of the well. The plug-and-perforate method for zonal isolation was required to effectively complete the 2,825-ft vertical pay interval. To complete the stimulation program, the goals were to repair the short section of damaged casing and restore pressure integrity to the well while maintaining a sufficient inner diameter (ID) to allow composite frac plugs to pass through the repair and set in the base casing's larger ID below the split. After a corrugated patch failed to provide casing integrity, the solution was a 3 1/2-in. single-joint solid-expandable system that was expanded downhole to cover and seal the parted 4 1/2-in. casing in conjunction with the use of custom-made composite frac plugs. The 30-ft, 3 1/2-in. solid-expandable high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) liner system was deployed and expanded in a single trip. This system provided the required pressure integrity to withstand the fracturing pressures needed in this area. The 3.261-in. drift ID of the expanded-solid liner allowed the operator to run custom 3.06-in.-outer-diameter (OD) composite frac plugs below the repaired section and successfully complete the well. This installation was a success because the operator had essentially written off 63% of the well's reserves caused by the casing part occurring above a majority of the pay interval. The operator is now realizing full production from the entire well. Moreover, this single-joint solid-expandable liner technology coupled with the special drillable composite frac plugs can be used in any HP/HT formation to repair the common issue of damaged casing to allow plug-and-perforage completions to continue.

Technology Focus: Well Integrity (January 2013)

Technology Focus I am honored to be the first JPT Editorial Committee member to write the introduction of January’s Technology Focus section under a new title: Well Integrity. With this alteration, this section broadens its scope, not only focusing on topics related to well control but also now covering all safety aspects concerning the construction, maintenance, and abandonment of wells. The importance of well integrity has been recognized by the oil industry for a long time, and great effort has been made to improve the design and operational procedures during the well design and construction processes and throughout the entire well life cycle. Despite these efforts, many well integrity related problems still occur. This indicates that investing in well integrity is a strategic approach to minimize design and operational risks that may jeopardize personnel safety, the environment, and the operator’s image, reputation, and assets. Last November, I had the opportunity to be the chairperson of an Applied Technology Workshop (ATW) in Salvador, Brazil. This ATW was the third of the Global Integrated Workshop Series on Well Integrity and focused on deepwater issues. The quality and appropriateness of the presentations were remarkable, as were the discussions following the presentations. In the area of well construction, the challenges of drilling in near-salt rubble zones were presented in relation to well integrity (lost circulation and wellbore instability) and the use of high-performance water-based drilling fluids as an alternative to synthetic oil-based fluids considering the borehole instability. It is important to note that borehole instability issues are also considered part of the well integrity domain. Concerning producing wells, the most important aspects discussed were the importance of managing annulus pressure during production, the use of solid expandable liners in recompletions in mature fields, and solutions for casing leaks. The importance of safety barrier assurance was stressed. Zonal isolation by cementing was an important point when considering the integrity of the well during and after its abandonment. Revisions or elaborations of new standards were presented with emphasis on American Petroleum Institute RP 96, NORSOK D-010, and a new International Organization for Standardization standard on well integrity production operations. The most important aspects regarding deepwater well integrity were reliability of subsea blowout preventers, evaluation of the probability of uncontrolled leakage in subsea producing wells, a nonintrusive device for monitoring B-annulus pressure in subsea wells, and cementing of shallow hazard zones. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE/IADC 151381 Dynamic Modeling of Gas Distribution in the Wellbore During Kick Situations by H.F. Spoerker, OMV Exploration/Production, et al. SPE 146231 Casing- and Screen-Failure Analysis in Highly Compacting Sandstone Fields by Kenji Furui, ConocoPhillips, et al. SPE/IADC 151181 Use of Liner Drilling Technology as a Mitigation to Loss Intervals and Hole Instability: A Case Study in Mississippi Canyon by Steven M. Rosenberg, Weatherford, et al.

High-Collapse, Cost-Effective Solid-Expandable-Monobore Systems Mitigate Subsalt Rubble Zones

This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper OTC 19008, "Mitigating Subsalt Rubble Zones Using High-Collapse, Cost-Effective Solid Expandable Monobore Systems," by Edwin J. Cruz and Robert V. Baker, SPE, BP plc, and Pat York, SPE, and Lev Ring, SPE, Weatherford, prepared for the 2007 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 30 April-3 May. The reduction of wellbore diameter during well construction has been addressed partially through use of conventional solid-expandable open-hole liners. However, these systems still reduce pass-through diameters and in most cases necessitate significant deviation from the well's basis of design (BOD). For years, end users of solid-expandable liners have needed a simple, cost-effective means of extending casing shoes while maintaining the same wellbore pass-through diameter. The full-length paper describes the application of well-construction techniques using a set of high-collapse, cost-effective monobore systems. Introduction Formations entrapped by salt deposits have been the source of significant hydrocarbons, with salt deposits commonly recognized in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), offshore West Africa, the Middle East, and the North Sea. Hydrocarbons located adjacent to the salt in the GOM have been the growing focus of deepwater exploration over the past decade. Some of these salt deposits are quite thick, with wells being drilled through and around these beds to more than 30,000 ft true vertical depth (TVD). The first drilling challenge of hydrocarbon objectives extending deeper has been just to reach the targets. The second challenge is to complete these wells with sufficient hole size to make these developments economically successful. To address the challenge of penetrating these salt formations, operators have found that solid-expandable liners have contributed greatly to successful drilling operations. Even with years of successful installations, the low collapse of these thinner-wall expandable liners has caused significant concern. While the use of expandable liners slows the premature slimming of wellbores when contingency liners are necessary, end users have required a liner that afforded zero hole loss after installation of an expandable liner. A solid-expandable liner that has more than twice the collapse of conventional expandable liners plus zero hole loss post-expansion can facilitate successful and cost-effective drilling into, through, and beneath salt formations. Drilling Challenges The majority of nonproductive time associated with drilling for hydrocarbon deposits associated with salt formations is actually drilling the sediments into and out of the salt diapir. Examples of these hazardous drilling environments include the following.Shale sheaths.Suprasalt "carapace."Subsalt "gumbo."Subsalt or extrasalt "rubble" or breccia-like zones.Active or relict translation surfaces along the salt face.True caprock.In addition to these formation challenges, higher pore pressures and anomalous rock fabric can be present in the sediments surrounding the salt.