A great discussion point as the industry moves into a decommissioning mode in an environment of 40 dlrs/bbl oil.
Helix Energy Solutions and they got a real break by doing the abandonment on the Macondo well blowout. Is such a rigless system what is perceived in the discussion here.
Note that without having established the conditions of a well's integrity using cased hole logging techniques, it would be unlikely that any type of abandonment would be achieved with competence. At this time the industry seems to be more competent at avoiding the red tape of abandonment approvals then at really understanding the well condition at abandonment time.
Possibly we can include in this discussion what the process hazards are to manage all process risk with certainty on abandonment. Also, who is accountable with a field that is found to be leaking formation fluids years after abandonment, particularly offshore? Maybe there will be a demand for Rigless Well Completion of abandoned wells in the future?
Can I ask what is perceived as a "Rigless P&A" I'm familiar with Helix Energy Solutions
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Wayne Needoba
LIS Thailand Co. Ltd.
KarawaraWA
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OriginalMessage:
Sent: Jun 16,2015 08:48 AM
From: Terry Greaney
Subject: Rigless P&A
Lajpat,
Can you give a brief summary of pressure / rate / volume injection data after punching.
if injection pressure down the tubing is high then may be a punch issue as assumed by others.
are you able to measure annulus pressure? Is anything getting through?
if injection pressure down tubing is low then are you losing to your injection zone and not getting returns.
Have you tried pumping in reverse direction.
how close can you get to the end of tailpipe? If not far to go, slick line might be able to get through.
is there a packer? What depth(s). What depth to EOTubing? What depth the punches? If you can get below packer (with slick line reaming etc) you might be able to Perf or cut tailpipe and resume injection.
Chemical treatment is an option however if you can't circ or at least inject then not really an option.
Depending on on what you know about the well (eg cementing records, lithology,etc) and regulatory requirements you may be able to punch or Perf much shallower to P&A the well.
do you know what the packer fluid is?
Did they inject only down the tubing or annulus as well? What sort of fluid was injected? Light brine, heavy brine, cuttings?
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Terry Greaney
D & C Consultant
Brisbane
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OriginalMessage:
Sent: Jun 15,2015 06:26 PM
From: Dan Gibson
Subject: Rigless P&A
Lajpat,
What you describe as an abandonment is not ideal. Ideally you would squeeze the perforations to islolte the reservoir from the wellbore and then set a cement plug above the perfs, in well cemented casing. Isolating the pay above the packer means that you need to understand the well construction better and especially the cement tops in the production casing. It is not clear how you are going to cut and pull tubing, from what depth, and then remove the wellhead to restore the wellsite to it's original condition. This can't be easily done with wireline alone.
I have to assume you have regulatory approval to abandon the well above the reservoir intervals as you describe. I also have to assume that you have good annulus cement above the packer and can meet the regulations for a cement plug length across the well. Given those assumptions lets focus on the operation.
It is not clear to me if the reasons you are not getting circulation is due to a perforating/punch problem or due to some sort of fill / restriction in the annulus. Do you know why you are not getting circulation?
Assuming it is a problem with the tubing punch, you may want to try perforating the tubing, (instead of a punch) to get a deeper penetration and more confidence in getting a hole. But be careful as you may punch through both tubing and casing and create a potential leak path. Do not perforate the tubing where you do not have annulus cement in the casing. In the worst case, you may have to resort to a tubing cutter to make sure you sever the tubing. But I have damaged casing using both perforating and a cutter so suggest youa re prepared for that eventuality.
Assuming it is a problem with annulus fill then you will need to determine the top of fill using logs. Run a CBL/CET and look for tubing annulus full of solids instead of liquid. If the top of the annulus fill is above the TOC then you may have to resort to a rig work over and remove the tubing so you can clean out the fill and get down into the cemented annulus to get a good abandonment plug.
You have a challenging abandonment, Your goal should be to make every effort to make sure the reservoir section is permanently isolated with cement. Sometimes, that can't be done with just wireline and a cement unit.
Good luckin your efforts. Let me know if you have any questions,
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Dan Gibson
Completion / Well Integrity Advisor
Gibson Petroleum Consultants
FulshearTX
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Original Message:
Sent: Jun 14,2015 12:46 PM
From: Lajpat Rai
Subject: Rigless P&A
This message has been cross posted to the following Discussions: Completions and Well Integrity .
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We are currently facing issue during P&A of water disposal well. Well is completed with 4-1/2" tubing & 7" casing. Total depth is 1500' KB. Tail pipe has plugged off and our plan is to perforate tubing and establish circulation while taking returns from 4-1/2' x 7" annulus.
We had punctured tubing 4 times at different depths, some we don't see any positive response, while all shots were fired.
Circulation is not being establish due to restrictions in annulus. What should we do to P&A the well.
Location is remote, so we have wireline , sickline & cementing unit available at location. Coil tubing or Rig is not preferred.
What would be the possible way to establish communication between tubing & tubing/casing annulus to plug the well all the way from 1500' to surface.
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Lajpat Rai
Petroleum Engineer
United Energy Pakistan Ltd
Karachi City
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