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annulus-b
A Success Story of Detecting the Source of Gas Leak in Annulus-B Using Total Well Integrity Tools and the Remedial Action in an Oil Well of Kuwait Oil Company
Matar, Saad (Kuwait Oil Company) | Jalan, Shiv (Kuwait Oil Company) | Ali, Yousef (Kuwait Oil Company) | Alshammari, Ahmad (Kuwait Oil Company) | Al-Ajmi, Eiman (Kuwait Oil Company) | Aparicio, Ciro (BP - British Petroleum) | Gobran, Mahmoud (Senergy Oilfield Solutions) | Saleh, Arafat (Senergy Oilfield Solutions) | Prosvirkin, Sergey (TGT Diagnostics) | Vishnu, Raveen (TGT Diagnostics)
Abstract Objectives/Scope Well integrity monitoring is one of the critical processes in oil and gas wells to prevent unintended fluid movement or loss of containment to the environment. In this case study, there was continuous gas leakage to surface at high pressure through annulus "B" of an oil well in East Kuwait area. The detection and securing of the gas leak in this well was essential not only for securing the well and restoring production, but also for environmental considerations due to the sensitive geographical location. This paper presents an innovative logging combination for total well integrity assessment, including spectral noise, high-resolution temperature, multi-barrier corrosion evaluation, and fluid type identification for downhole gas leak detection. The paper also presents remedial actions taken to secure well integrity after assessing and evaluating diagnostic logs at each stage with a workover rig. Methods, Procedures, Process Innovative combination of different measurements for total well integrity assessment including spectral noise, high-resolution temperature, multi-barrier corrosion evaluation, and fluid type identification logs have been used to detect the downhole source(s) of this gas leak. Multiple cement squeezing across single and multiple casings were designed and performed based on the logging results to stop the leak and secure the well. After completing each cement squeezing job, surface pressure in annulus "B" was being monitored and downhole logging surveys were being performed to check if there was still downhole gas flow. Results, Observations, Conclusions The different logging results showed strong indications for multiple sources of this gas flow in annulus "B" across different formations around the well. The poor primary cementing job allowed formation fluids (e.g. gas, oil and water) to migrate to shallow reservoirs and surface. The remedial cement squeezing jobs have been successfully performed and achieved a solid hydraulic vertical barrier to stop the gas flow activity. The gas flow stopped, surface pressure in annulus "B" disappeared and restored production of 700 bopd from the well. It is a case story of a successful well integrity workover in a very challenging well that ended by fixing the gas leak, restoring the well production, protecting the surrounding wells and environment, and saving the cost of either sidetracking the well or P&A (plug and abandonment). Novel/Additive Information The innovative well integrity logs in combination with conventional cementing remedial jobs, allowed us to achieve complete well integrity. The use of advanced well integrity logs (e.g. spectral noise, high-resolution temperature, multi-barrier corrosion evaluation, and fluid type identification) were beneficial to determine the exact depths of the leak points and determine the exact location of the remedial jobs (e.g. remedial cement jobs) to stop the migration of gas from the formation to shallow reservoirs and surface.
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Kuwait Government (0.41)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers > Materials and corrosion (0.92)
- Production and Well Operations > Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring > Production logging (0.89)
- Well Completion > Well Integrity > Subsurface corrosion (tubing, casing, completion equipment, conductor) (0.78)
- Well Drilling > Wellbore Design > Wellbore integrity (0.69)
A Novel Strategy to Provide Extended Life for Offshore Wells by Restoring the Integrity of Surface Casing Using Innovative Planning and Remediation Techniques
Ansari, Arsalan (Zakum Development Company) | Ringrose, David (Zakum Development Company) | Libdi, Ziad (Zakum Development Company) | Moffatt, John (Zakum Development Company) | Mazrouei, Ahmed (Zakum Development Company) | Khan, Naeem (Zakum Development Company)
Abstract The petroleum industry has made significant investments and extensive research to rectify well integrity issues, one particular failure mode relates to the structural degradation of the surface and conductor casing strings by the effects of corrosion. Historically, and by convention, the inability to provide integral barriers in the 9⅝″ × 13⅜″ casing annulus is resulting in wells being abandoned. Section milling to restore annulus integrity and the use of external casing patches to replace failed casings are two of the innovative approaches that we utilized in offshore wells to recover annulus integrity and as such preventing reservoir fluid migration to surface. These approaches have proved successful as they provided real economic and environmental advantages. We have proven that wells can be put back on stream with greatly reduced CAPEX and OPEX exposure, negating the need to drill new replacement wells; we achieved tangible commercial benefits and at the same time reduce our environmental risk exposure. Our remediation engineering design focuses on the application of a novel strategy for an offshore well that had failed Annulus-B (9⅝″ × 13⅜″ casing annulus). The failure was detected during planned annulus monitoring. The annulus pressure test failed and testing fluid was observed exiting from the conductor. The remediation action involved section milling and the placement of cement to regain annulus integrity. The operation commenced with standard workover practices for the completion recovery, followed by the running of cement, noise, temperature and corrosion logs in an effort to evaluate the cement quality behind 9⅝″ casing above the reservoir and gain corrosion mapping of the 13⅜″ casing. The noise/temperature logs indicated a leak point at 4500 feet and the annulus space was hydro-tested which resulted in returns being observed at surface, confirming a direct leak path from the 9⅝″ × 13⅜″ casing annulus to the 13⅜″ × 30″ casing annulus. The cement bond logs indicated poor cement behind 9⅝″ casing above the reservoir. However, the results from metal thickness detection logs indicated insignificant corrosion (˜15%) for 13⅜″ casing, eliminating the need to recover and replace this casing string. The decision was taken to place two cement barriers behind the 9⅝″ casing, above and below leak point, and an additional barrier would be installed with the use of a 7″ tie-back casing string. The planned strategy was successfully implemented and the integrity of the producer well was restored with two competent 100’ cement barriers behind 9⅝″ casing, above and below the leak depth, and a 7″ tie-back casing string was also cemented all the way to surface. As a result of this remediation, the production rate for the well was restored and provided an additional 200 BOPD as compared to expected production rate. Adopting the above methodology resulted in approximately 50 days rig time giving significant cost savings and negated the requirement to permanently abandon this well and to drill a replacement well.
- Europe (0.95)
- North America > United States (0.47)
- Asia > Middle East (0.46)