Layer | Fill | Outline |
---|
Map layers
Theme | Visible | Selectable | Appearance | Zoom Range (now: 0) |
---|
Fill | Stroke |
---|---|
Collaborating Authors
Abstract Maintaining well integrity is one of the critical factors in the oil and gas industry. It requires close monitoring during the life cycle of the well, especially in offshore fields, to maximize the well life cycle and avoid catastrophic failure. Casing and bonded cement are major components of well completion that secure oil and gas production paths from different overburden formations. However, casing leaks are a common issue that might lead to serious losses in oil and gas production, locked reserves due to formation damage, personnel injuries, and severe environmental impact. Thus, it is important to detect casing leaks in the early stages to prevent such losses, which might induce a high cost of workover operations and well suspension or abandonment. Casing leaks occur due to corrosive fluids in the formations and long-term exposure to corrosive gases. During drilling, cement is set between the casing and the different formations or between the two casings for isolation and well protection. A bad cementing job leads to the failure of well barriers, cracks, and microchannels that allow corrosive fluids to migrate, which slowly corrodes casing and tubing over time. The flow direction determines the type of casing leak, either dumping (downward) or taking (upward). However, both types have a dangerous effect depending on leak severity. The identification of casing leaks, their severity, depth, and flow direction are a crucial task. Well diagnostic using the latest advanced leak detection tools is important in deciding the most appropriate remedial actions. This paper discusses a case study in a well of the Al-Khafji offshore field, where different methodologies were utilized to identify casing leaks. It involves the use of pressure/temperature profiles through downhole memory gauges, annuli pressure surveys, well-testing operations, geochemical analysis, and conventional production logs. The approach used succeeded in identifying casing leaks, flow direction, and the accurate determination of the leak location/depth.
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Saudi Arabia - Kuwait Neutral Zone ("Partitioned Zone") > Arabian Gulf > Arabian Basin > Arabian Gulf Basin > Khafji Field (0.99)
- Asia > Middle East > Kuwait > Saudi Arabia - Kuwait Neutral Zone ("Partitioned Zone") > Arabian Gulf > Arabian Basin > Arabian Gulf Basin > Khafji Field (0.99)
Abstract Offshore field started on operation to produce crude oil with 27 API° as sweet crude and sour crude with 32 API° since 1960. Large number of wells in offshore field revealed undesirable phenomena related to well integrity issues as potentially sustained pressure on several casing strings. Well integrity management emphasis on preventing well problems related to well safety and integrity such as casing leak, Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP), downhole safety valve (DHSV) failures. The direct impact from integrity management added great value in terms of decreasing in operating down time, improvement in well control and safety aspects, and reducing unplanned repair intervention. In addition, the loss of well integrity can cause major accidents with a severe risk to the personnel, asset and environment. The paper aims to illustrate a methodology results on applying effective well integrity monitoring techniques. A focus was made to improve monitoring well integrity through reviewing wellhead surface parameters, annulus sections pressure and downhole condition. In addition, the subject wells should be kept under close monitoring at a safe operable with an integral condition. Non-integral wells are common in aged wells, which are becoming a challenging issue to restore its integrity and operability especially for such aged completion. As a part of well integrity review, the concerns had been identified, investigated, and subsequently mitigations actions are recommended to restore the well integrity. Currently, it is confirmed that 25 oil producers with casing leak problems, which resulted to be converted from conventional completion to a slim hole with limited future accessblity. Based on lab reusltes and logging interpretations, it is indicated that the root cause of casing leaks is due to corrosive water flow from shallow aquifer formation. Therefore, an immediate remedial action is required to improve well construction. A successful worked over well with integrity issue as a casing leak was repaired by cement squeeze into across the corroded casing interval, which enhanced well integrity and restore well productivity. The resulted showed that tubing leaks encountered with well integrity due to sustained casing pressure. Therefore, the pressure on production casing can cause severe failure with catastrophic damage. The results also illustrated that a water flow through poor cement is a major cause of sustained casing pressure in the outer casing strings. The cause of pressure on production casing is generally easier to diagnose than that pressure on one of the outer casing strings. Challenges, methodology, work schedule, risk assessment, lesson learned and findings are included in this paper. The effective well integrity management resulted on great deal of benefits, which are related to securing wells, well operability, cost saving, and sustained maximum production target.
- North America > Canada (0.28)
- Asia > Middle East (0.28)
- Well Drilling > Wellbore Design > Wellbore integrity (1.00)
- Well Drilling > Casing and Cementing (1.00)
- Well Completion > Well Integrity (1.00)
Effectiveness Well Integrity Management for Casing Leak Detection Utilizing Temperature Profile in Offshore Oil Field
M. Al-Dhafeeri, Abdullah (Saudi Aramco) | Fouad Abo Zkery, Shebl (Khafji Joint Operations) | A. Al-Aklubi, Sultan (Khafji Joint Operations) | Ahmed Al Sdeiri, Saad (Khafji Joint Operations)
As part of well integrity and safety campaigns in offshore fields, downhole Temperature surveys were obtained as record of temperature values measured with respect to depth steps (logs) in a well. The downhole condition for each well is an essential factor to determine the well status and to prevent a serious reservoir damage if there is a cross flow phenomena. Therefore, temperatures measurement at varies depths were used to establish the temperature profile which is reflecting the downhole condition. Several oil wells are subject to be evaluated through the campaigns in terms of downhole integrity especially casing leaks problems. Due to long period of shutdown for the field, close monitoring surveys with more focus on the aged wells are required to avoid flow behind pipe and cross flow phenomena, which will lead to the formation damage and production losses. The applied approach which is related to Well Integrity Management (WIM) started by creating a baseline in terms of temperatures profile for each well at cost effective time-lapse. The reference is a geothermal gradient log recorded in shut-in condition. Slickline operations were performed to execute the bottomhole temperature surveys. The temperature profile interpretation added great value in terms of confirming the wellbore integrity and detecting anomalies such as a sustained casing pressure and casing leaks. Effectiveness Well Integrity Management (WIM) included the methodology of monitoring, detecting, and localizing leaks phenomena across shallow aquifers was used to extend the well operability life. The approach was implemented on several field cases in order to detect casing leaks in offshore oil wells. A capture of temperature anomalies were found with a clear deviation from the baseline gradient. Based on the evaluation results, many of anomalies were related to the entry of fluids into the borehole. However, there were some cases indicated that the fluid flow was upward. It is noted that the temperature was affected by the type of occupied fluid into the outside casing and by the type of movements. As a result, the temperature profile was sensitive to not only the borehole condition but also the formation type and the casing-formation annulus. The paper covered field wells completions evaluated and interpreted their temperature profiles to capture the temperatures anomalies leading to casing leak, flow behind pipe, and a cross flow phenomena. The approach applied further investigation by integrating technique with other integrity surveillance logs. In addition, the results from the workover operation with the remedial actions shared in order to validate the findings.
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (0.47)
- North America > United States > Texas > Dawson County (0.24)
Abstract Several aged oil wells in offshore oil field are drilled in a conventional method. These wells are subjected to Casing-Casing Annulus (CCA) problems that might appear during the production operation and/or the shutdown phases. A continuous monitoring is performed to avoid issues related to well integrity and safety. The expected source of Casing-Casing Annulus (CCA) problem is mainly due to poor primarily cementing placement into the outer-casing strings especially across shallow aquifers formations. Due to long shutdown period on subject wells, these wells are encountered with high rate of CCA phenomena among other wells. An immediate mitigation action is required to resolve the issues by applying rig workover operation which is considered highly cost approach with low success rate. The rig workover operation results might lead to suspension or abandonment of these wells. The impact will affect the production target and the oil recovery around the area. A new methodology approach was selected using chemical sealant recipes as a rigless operation to repair CCA problem with cost-effective and safe manner for first time in offshore filed. Based on the wellhead and annuli survey, the bleed down and build up tests were conducted and followed by close monitoring on suspected wells, which revealed sustained casing pressures and fluid return at the surface. Several fluid samples were collected and analyzed in the lab. Based on the findings, the procedures and the proper design were conducted to inject the chemical sealant into connected cement channels behind casing strings. Curing time and injection rate with required volumes of chemicals were considered based on the pressure responses and chemical performance. The results from the rigless operation job utilizing the new approach showed wide-ranging success rates based on well by well cases and conditions such as 1) Age of the well, 2) Sustained pressure observed at the surface, 3) Injectivity rates, 4) Chemical additives volume and 5) Downhole conditions (pressure / temperature). The new technique added a great value on restoring the well integrity and saving the rig operation cost. In addition, the approach contributed to achieve maximum sustainable production target through ensuring the well operability and reducing the production down time. Challenges, methodology, work schedule, risk assessment, lessons learned and findings have been covered in this paper.
- Well Drilling > Wellbore Design > Wellbore integrity (1.00)
- Well Drilling > Casing and Cementing > Casing design (1.00)
- Well Completion > Well Integrity (1.00)
- (5 more...)
Abstract Maximizing the productive life of wells and minimizing the risk of uncontrolled release of reservoir fluid over the entire life cycle of the wells are the major objectives of any E&P company. Therefore, managing well integrity has become as important as managing reservoirs without compromising the safety of personnel or the harmony of the environment, and at the same time protecting valuable assets for a prolonged life. One of the large mature onshore oil fields of Saudi Arabia is producing sour crude oil that multiplies the well integrity challenges. A stringent well integrity surveillance and maintenance program is followed for this field to ensure the integrity of every individual well. The program, essentially developed for Saudi Aramco onshore oil fields, is a proactive problem prevention-based approach. Under this program, any well integrity related problem can be predicted through a structured preventive diagnosis and maintenance schedule for both wellhead and downhole integrity to assure well integrity that verifies and confirms the status of wells with suspect integrity. The program is governed by the operating standards and guidelines for maintaining the well integrity parameters, ensuring safe well operations and securing uninterrupted well productivity and injectivity. The program also emphasizes the requirement of barriers during normal operations, unscheduled well interventions or when shut-in for safety and environment protection. This paper describes the process for efficiently managing well integrity throughout the development life cycle with a particular focus on production operations and the well maintenance phase. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the rationale for following this structured program and the realized benefits.
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (1.00)
- Asia > Middle East > UAE > Abu Dhabi Emirate > Abu Dhabi (0.15)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.57)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Disposal/Injection (0.46)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Lower Fadhili Formation (0.99)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Khuff D Formation (0.99)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Khuff C Formation (0.99)
- (5 more...)
- Well Drilling > Wellbore Design > Wellbore integrity (1.00)
- Well Completion > Well Integrity (1.00)
- Production and Well Operations (1.00)