united kingdom government

Journal of Petroleum TechnologyMay, 2023

2H Launches Second Phase of Measurement-Based Wellhead Fatigue JIP

Advanced systems engineering firm 2H has launched the second phase of its Measurement-Based Wellhead Fatigue joint industry project (JIP), which aims to improve riser, wellhead, and conductor fatigue estimates and make drilling operations more reliable and efficient. In Phase 1 of the project, 2H collaborated with nine major operators to gather and analyze field measurements from 10 drilling campaigns in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. The data covered a range of environments, water depths, soil characteristics, riser and wellhead configurations, and vessel types. Findings from the analysis verified that industry assumptions for wave and vortex-induced vibration (VIV) fatigue assessments are conservative and remaining fatigue life tends to be higher than that determined by typical design methods. A more accurate prediction of remaining fatigue life can eliminate the need for costly mitigation methods or unnecessary upgrades and downtime during severe events.

Journal of Petroleum Technology

accuracy, Completion Installation and Operations, denmark government, drilling operation management, europe government, measurement-based wellhead fatigue jip, mexico government, netherlands government, norway government, operator, phase 1, riser, united kingdom government, united states government, Upstream Oil & Gas

Country:

North America > United States (0.27)
North America > Mexico (0.27)
Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.27)
(4 more...)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

Oilfield Places:

Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.89)
Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.89)
Europe > Netherlands > North Sea (0.89)
Europe > Denmark > North Sea (0.89)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Completion > Completion Installation and Operations (1.00)
Well Drilling > Drilling Operations > Drilling operation management (0.39)

Managing High Bottom-Hole Temperature Challenges in Ultra-Slim Long Horizontal Wells

Ovwigho, Efe Mulumba (SLB)

Abstract The deep carbonate reservoir formation on this field has proven to be an extreme High-temperature (HT) environment for downhole equipment. While drilling the 5000 - 6500 ft 5-7/8" slim long laterals across this formation, very high bottom-hole circulating temperatures is encountered (310-340 degF) which exceeds the operating limitation for the downhole drilling/formation evaluation tools. This resulted in multiple temperature-related failures, unplanned trips and long non-productive-time. It became necessary to provide solution to reduce the BHCT-related failures. Performed offset-wells-analysis to identify the BHT regime across the entire-field, create a heat-map and correlate/compare actual formation-temperatures with the formation-temperature-gradient provided by the operator (1.4-1.8 degF/100-ft). Drilling reports and MWD/LWD/wireline logs were reviewed/analyzed. Reviewed tools-spec-sheets, discovered most of the tools had a maximum-temperature-rating of 300-302 degF and were run outside-technical-limits. Observed temperature-related-failures were predominant in very long slim-laterals, which indicated that some of the heat was generated by high flow rate/RPM and solids in the system. Tried drilling with low-RPM/FR, did not achieve meaningful-temperature-reduction. After detailed risk-assessment and analysis on other contributing factors in the drilling process, opted to incorporate mud-chiller into the surface circulating-system to cool-down the mud going into the well. Upon implementation of the mud chiller system, observed up to 40 degF reduction in surface temperature (i.e. temperature-difference between the mud entering/leaving mud chiller). This was achieved because the unit was set-up to process at least twice the rate that was pumped downhole. Also observed reduction in the bottom-hole circulating temperature to below 300 degF, thus ensuring the drilling environment met the tool specifications. The temperature-related tools failure got eliminated. On some of the previous wells, wireline logging tools have been damaged due to high encountered downhole temperature as circulation was not possible prior-to or during logging operation. The implementation of the mud-chiller system has made it possible for innovative logging thru-bit logging application to be implemented. This allows circulation of cool mud across the entire open hole prior to deployment of tools to perform logging operation. This has made it possible for same logging tool to be used for multiple jobs without fear of tool electronic-components failure die to exposure to extreme temperatures. The long non-productive time due to temperature-related tool failures got eliminated. The numerous stuck pipes events due to hole deterioration resulting from multiple round trips also got eliminated. Overall drilling operations became more efficient. The paper will describe the drilling challenges, the systematic approach implemented to arrive at optimized solution. It will show how good understanding of drilling challenges and tailored-solutions delivers great gains. The authors will show how this system was used to provide a true step-change in performance in this challenging environment.

doi: 10.2118/214623-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214623-MS

Country:

Europe > United Kingdom (0.46)
North America > United States > Texas (0.28)
Asia > Middle East > UAE > Abu Dhabi > Abu Dhabi (0.15)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Drilling Operations > Directional drilling (1.00)
Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management > Open hole/cased hole log analysis (1.00)

Technology: Information Technology (0.68)

Abstract Well simulator technologies have become an ever more important part of Well Construction design and Drilling Operations follow-up worldwide. Adopted initially by Company to support personnel training through virtual environment applications, they were then used for planning, real time support and post job analysis for drilling operations, being integrated in all engineering processes. This paper presents an overview of its current use and procedures, highlights current and potential benefits and suggestions for future developments. Selected wells are configured inside the well simulator which is then latched to mud log data streams. Dynamic models calibration is performed by adjusting dedicated coefficients to reach an overlap between simulated and measured drilling parameters. The degree of drift between curves allows to identify well operations-related issues. Outputs are mostly time-based, in mud log and driller-cabin-like layouts fashion. Depth-based plots, such as roadmaps for axial and torsional friction factors are also available and can be used as input for advanced analyses for both planning and post job phases. Systematic application of the well simulator was started early 2021 with real time monitoring for North Sea and Africa offshore/subsea operations. Deployment along 2022 spread out across several other business units in various operated countries, for onshore, offshore and subsea drilling operations. Experience gained in a number of relevant case histories, dedicated to both real time support and what-if post-analyses, allowed to provide earlier feedbacks on drilling operations good practice but also to predict, avoid and mitigate consequences of wellbore problems and equipment malfunctions, boosting interest for further developments. Nowadays, well simulator technologies constitute a fundamental step towards drilling automation, since their dynamic modelling approach allows the definition of drilling parameter envelopes inside which robotic tools can operate and generate alerts if envelopes are overridden. Anomalous behavior of the drilling parameters can be recognized and governed. Automatic configuration and calibration of real time driven models are key enablers of real time optimization of operational drilling parameters and contactless operations, reducing back-office support to minimum. Well simulator solutions that have been tested and deployed in our operations allow adaptability to a variety of existing platforms from both the operators and service companies side. The new upgrades, for data input and results visualization, are prone for user-friendly application, reducing the amount of training required for operative personnel to familiarize themselves with the tool and apply it during drilling operations.

doi: 10.2118/214624-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214624-MS

Country:

North America > United States > Texas (0.29)
Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.25)
Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.25)
(2 more...)

Genre: Overview (0.84)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Pressure Management > Well control (1.00)
Well Drilling > Drilling Operations (1.00)
Management > Professionalism, Training, and Education > Communities of practice (0.87)
(2 more...)

Technology: Information Technology > Architecture > Real Time Systems (1.00)

Best Approach From Drilling Perspective Through Concept Select to Pre-FEED for Long Term Development of Offshore Brown Oil Field in Middle East Area

Fujinaga, Ryota (ADNOC Offshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE) | Toki, Takahiro (ADNOC Offshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE) | Toma, Motohiro (ADNOC Offshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE) | Andrews, Kerron Kerman (ADNOC Offshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE) | Alloghani, Khalid Hussain (ADNOC Offshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE)

Abstract Concept Select and Preliminary Front End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) were carried out on a long-term development plan (LTDP) for a brown oil field with nearly 200 existing Wellhead Towers (WHTs) and four existing artificial islands in the middle east area. The development objective is ramping up the production to certain rate and sustain it as long as economically feasible. This paper will describe: Critical stuff that needs to be performed or taken into account from drilling perspective during Concept Select/Design and Pre-FEED How the drilling discipline should be proactively engaged through Concept Select and Pre-FEED for development project of offshore brown oil field During the Concept Select, necessary data related to drilling was firstly collected such as well target locations, available slots on existing WHTs etc. In addition to that, several assumptions were set, associated with drilling rig specifications, constraints on drilling feasibility and number of well slots on new WHT. Based on the data and assumptions, multiple concepts were developed with respect to different drill centers including new WHTs, new artificial islands and existing WHTs/islands in coordination with other disciplines. Techno-economical evaluation was conducted on each concept. Subsequently, Pre-FEED was conducted based on the selected concept. During the Pre-FEED, more detailed study on WHT locations, WHT orientations, WHT design, island location, island design, HSE assessment etc. was conducted by Pre-FEED contractor, incorporating basis and requirements from all the concerned disciplines. Through the Concept Select and Pre-FEED for Long Term Development Plan (LTDP), following things were found important: Generic drilling limits like maximum horizontal departure to targets should be defined clearly at early timing of Concept Select for optimization of well allocation to drill centers Rig specifications and its limits like air gap, skidding envelope and allowable drilling load should be identified at early stage for optimization of WHT design/locations and island design Slot-to-slot distance and row-to-row distance are quite important especially for island in terms of rig operability on island and anti-collision between wells Requirements for area and its arrangement on island should be well defined item-by-item to avoid shortage in the area dedicated for drilling during subsequent stage of project Anything that needs to be studied or considered by Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) contractor should be captured in FEED Scope of Work (SoW) with detailed requirements, which will be utilized for tender process. Anything that is not captured in the FEED SoW could result in variation order or be difficult to be added to the scope after contract award. This paper will present not only the experience in this specific project but also a fundamental approach that will be applicable in any other offshore brown oil fields worldwide.

doi: 10.2118/214610-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214610-MS

Country:

North America > United States > Texas > Terry County (1.00)
North America > United States > Texas > Gaines County (1.00)
Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Southern North Sea (1.00)
Asia > Middle East > UAE > Abu Dhabi > Abu Dhabi (0.16)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Drilling Operations > Drilling operation management (0.48)
Management > Strategic Planning and Management > Project management (0.47)

Ioan, T. (D&I, SLB, AL Khobar, Saudi Arabia) | Bull, R. L. (D&I, SLB, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

A Holistic Approach to Consider for Slot Recovery Based on a Failure Incident in North Sea Operations

Abstract An oilfield service company was awarded the scope by an operator in the North Sea to recover three slots from an existing offshore platform and redrill the HPHT wells to tap into unreached reservoir resources on a gas field. This paper covers the holistic approach of analysing the slot recovery operations strategy, plug and abandon the original wellbore, and how to avoid tunnel vision in the decision-making process to achieve the goals. Cut and pull operations have one of the highest financial impacts on slot recovery and can lead to loss of the well in unfortunate circumstances. After slot recovery operations, including the cutting and milling of the 10-3/4″ × 10″ casing, the 13-3/8″ casing failed the pressure test. The incident triggered a Cause Analysis Tree Diagram of the well conditions that led to the discovery of a hole in the 13-3/8″ casing. The investigation highlighted the tunnel vision of the decision-making process where ‘stop points’ were bypassed or not efficiently identified, contributing to operational delays and potential loss of the wellbore. The investigation concluded that insufficient information on the well was obtained during the planning phase and the financial decision tree analysis was incorrectly defined to proceed with the preparation of the contingency plans. In this process, all existing logs were re-evaluated to identify the solids behind casing, ovality, centralization, and casing-on-casing contact points. The original plan was to cut and pull the casing and then mill ~374ft of casing, with a shallow sidetrack option as contingency. However, during the execution, due to height of the top of solids encountered behind the casing, it was required to start milling from a shallower depth, with a total of ~ 1,500 ft of casing to be milled. At this stage in the operations, a fishbone diagram should have been created to perform a detailed analysis of the technical risks and cost impacts and to decide whether to continue milling or to proceed with the contingency option to sidetrack from a shallower depth. However due to peer pressure, tunnel vision goal seeking (Gasaway, n.d.), and phycological safety the multi-factor decision ‘stop points’ were not considered leading to an expensive, lengthy, and unsuccessful operations. This paper summarizes the decisions and ‘stop points’ in the process of slot recovery operations and highlights the potential outcomes of incorrect technical risks and cost analysis. Further reviewing the utilization of the engineering analysis, and economical aspects through preparation of a fishbone diagram to manage stakeholders’ expectation on upfront commitment to continue with challenging slot recovery operations on a major decision-making point. The example and process provided in this paper will benefit the industry by helping to recognize a ‘stop points’ in the operations, highlighting the risks of having catastrophic event.

doi: 10.2118/214595-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214595-MS

Country:

Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.61)
Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.61)
Europe > North Sea (0.61)
(3 more...)

Genre: Overview (0.48)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Casing and Cementing > Casing design (1.00)
Management > Risk Management and Decision-Making > Decision-making processes (1.00)

Technology: Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Representation & Reasoning (0.34)

Abstract During well construction, it is important to know when a bit is damaged to the point where it must be tripped out and replaced with a new bit. Continuing to drill with a damaged bit or pulling out a bit prematurely are both bad decisions leading to increased drilling costs. A bit pull advisory system was therefore developed and deployed in the field to help the rig crew make better informed bit pull decisions. A bit degradation metric was first developed to estimate the wear on the drill bit as it is drilling. This bit degradation metric utilized a physics-based model to be generalizable both for vertical as well as horizontal wells. Next this metric along with other trends in data were combined using a Bayesian network to arrive at a bit effectiveness belief. This was then further combined with calculations of the time to trip out a damaged bit and replace it with a new bit, to arrive at bit pull beliefs for various scenarios of expected future ROP and distance to total depth (TD). The bit degradation metric was first applied offline on 80 historical wells that consisted of wells drilled in Egypt, North Sea and the US land, and verified to a high degree of accuracy. It was then integrated into a drilling data aggregator and deployed in the field. The physics-based model utilized in the calculation of the bit degradation metric required contextual data, which was automatically routed to the data aggregator from various data sources. The bit pull beliefs for a range of expected ROPs and distance to TD were made available both as channels that can be visualized in vertical charts as well as a heat map. When a bit pull belief suggested a trip out, the driller was first asked to monitor for drilling dysfunctions such as stick slip, bit balling, whirl, etc., and attempt to correct it. Failing that, the bit was to be pulled out. This system is now operational on rigs in Egypt, North Sea and the US, and the response from the field personnel has been positive to date. This is the first drill bit damage tracking advisory that has been deployed on a rig site data aggregator. Using the bit degradation metric and the bit pull beliefs, the rig site team is always able to determine the extent of damage to the bit and whether the bit must be pulled out or not. The system thus helps in reducing ILT and NPT costs by reducing the time drilled with damaged bits and eliminating premature trips out.

doi: 10.2118/214608-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214608-MS

Country:

North America > United States > Texas (0.48)
Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.46)
Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.46)
(4 more...)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Drill Bits (1.00)
Well Drilling > Drillstring Design > Torque and drag analysis (0.67)
Well Drilling > Drilling Operations > Directional drilling (0.66)

Technology: Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Representation & Reasoning (0.75)

Harestad, K. (Perigon, Randaberg, Norway) | Karimfazli, I. (Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) | Ghazal, A. (Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) | Harestad, M. (Perigon, Randaberg, Norway) | Saasen, A. (University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway)

Curing Hydrodynamic Instability During Balanced Plug Cementing

Abstract It is shown how the flow from pumping cement through an open-ended pipe very quickly turns direction and the cement flows upwards. This rapid change in flow direction indicates that a diverter tool, which leads the cement slurry perpendicular out of a closed ended pipe does not have any function. The placement of a balanced plug is feasible. However, a high-density fluid above a lighter fluid is not stable. The phenomenon is known as Rayleigh-Taylor instability. In principle, to be reasonably stable, the interface must be horizontal. The longer the interface is, the more unstable is this case. Thus, it is difficult, or sometimes impossible, to create a stable situation in a deviated well section; especially if the well section diameter is large. Observations show that it is possible to modify density differences, thickening time and viscosity differences such that the success rate can be between 40 and 60%. Using a floatable cement foundation tool, this success rate will increase to more than 95% as shown by North Sea success values. The use of such a tool is described and its performance is justified by numerical analysis of cement flow.

doi: 10.2118/214577-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214577-MS

Country:

North America > Canada (0.47)
North America > United States > Texas (0.28)
Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.25)
(3 more...)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Casing and Cementing > Cement formulation (chemistry, properties) (1.00)
Well Completion > Well Integrity > Zonal isolation (0.72)
Well Completion > Completion Selection and Design > Completion equipment (0.72)
Well Drilling > Drilling Fluids and Materials > Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties) (0.69)

Technology: Information Technology > Mathematics of Computing (0.35)

Rising to the Challenge of Drilling Through Depleted Reservoirs

Pedersen, Roar (Archer) | Zapata Bermudez, Fernando (Archer)

Abstract To overcome the challenges of drilling depleted reservoirs, a new technology was needed as part of a cost-effective solution. An innovation campaign was facilitated by a major oil company R&T (research and technology) department in the North Sea to identify concepts enabling high depletion in drilling through reservoirs. Several concepts were evaluated, and a packer in the drillstring was defined as a necessity by the major oil company. Drilling through depleted reservoirs has become more and more common in operations run by both oil operators and drilling companies, in fields that have matured. Drilling these wells introduces an increased risk for crossflow and losses and a series of mitigating actions have been put in place to obtain an acceptable risk level. This paper will focus on describing the steps taken to develop a packer that provides a seal between the drillpipe and the production casing, being part of the drilling BHA and spaced out to stay inside the casing. It's large bore through allows high flow rates and deployment of intervention tools through it. By setting the packer, it becomes a qualified V3-barrier, validated as per ISO14310 and/or API11D1, enabling the operator to cement and sidetrack efficiently, saving additional trips and rig time. This successful technology cooperation will help oil operators and drilling companies to expand its capabilities for drilling depleted and complex reservoirs and further increase the overall recovery factor for its mature fields. Rising to the challenge, means to improve the confidence in drilling with limited drilling window and avoid uncontrolled risks by using a Drillstring Annulus Sealing Packer that when set, provides a seal between the drillpipe and the casing, the packer activation is meant to be the last option in a series of mitigating measures as the wellbore will be abandoned if activated.

doi: 10.2118/214587-MS

SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition

SPE-214587-MS

Country:

Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.24)
Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.24)
Europe > Netherlands > North Sea (0.24)
Europe > Denmark > North Sea (0.24)

Industry: Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)

SPE Disciplines:

Well Drilling > Drilling Operations (1.00)
Reservoir Description and Dynamics (1.00)
Well Drilling > Drilling Fluids and Materials > Drilling fluid management & disposal (0.69)
(2 more...)

Khan, Muhammad Zafar (Wellbore Integrity Solutions, Houston, TX, USA) | Swadi, Shantanu (Wellbore Integrity Solutions, Houston, TX, USA) | Solorzano, Efrain (Wellbore Integrity Solutions, Houston, TX, USA)

Advance Milling and Cutting Structure Development and Implementation to Reduce Well Abandonment Cost for Major Operators

Abstract Decommissioning of end-of-life wells is an essential operation in the lifecycle of a well and requires thorough planning and execution. The plug and abandonment of the wells contribute over 45% of the overall decommission costs and hence there is a clear mandate from the operators and service companies to offer new technologies and solutions to reduce the overall decommissioning costs. The service company has been working with several operators to provide casing cutting and casing milling operations. The aim is to provide the most efficient and cost-effective method to perform the plug and abandon operations for a given well especially in the casing removal and recovery operations which in turn provides rig time savings. Some of the major operations are involved in section milling the casing, removal of large casing conductors or triple casing cuts by the pipe cutter, and subsea wellhead removals. The service company has designed an advanced cutting structure technology to facilitate the milling and casing cutting operations and provide a reliable, durable, and efficient milling solution for well abandonment. The new cutting structure provides reduced cut times and/or a longer useful cutting life to cut large dual casing conductors such as 20″x30″ or 22″x36″ during the conductor recovery phase or the wellhead recovery phase. Similarly, the advanced cutting structure is designed to efficiently mill extended casing sections, especially for high grade casings with higher ROP and lower downtime (rate of penetration) during the milling operation. The development efforts started with an evaluation of the current cutter designs and shortcomings. After an assessment of the field performance and dull characteristics, it was evident that high shock and vibration loading during the downhole operation results in excessive and premature impact damage leading to sub-optimal cutter geometry for cutting steel. Likewise, bird-nesting of swarf was also a common source of NPT due to the interruptions in operations for breaking up and clearing the swarf periodically, before milling commenced again. Several competing concepts for insert shapes were considered and analyzed. Improving the edge strength was considered as a key attribute. As well as the ability to break-up swarf into smaller segments for efficient transportation. Modelling and simulation, and physical testing helped narrow down to a few concepts for full scale lab tests, and eventually to select the most promising concept for field tests. The new advanced cutting structure has been 100% successful in multiple challenging applications of casing cutting and milling operations in the North Sea and is being implemented in Middle East and Asia. Improvements in the conductor cutting time has resulted in record recovery of the subsea well heads. Likewise, for section milling applications – record ROPs and longer intervals have been achieved for high grade casing such as P110. The technology demonstrates how the material behaves in downhole cutting operation and what further development can be made to further enhanced the efficiency, reduce rig time and wells decommissioning cost.

doi: 10.2118/214584-MS