Every field development requirement is to keep the capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX) within reasonable limits, at the same time exploring matured or new technology that can achieve cost limit objectives. With the uncertainties, cyclic nature and instability in the oil and gas global investment and the fluctuation in crude oil pricing, operators of the exploration and production (E&P) energy industries and service providers are constantly looking for better and more efficient cost saving products and services. The challenge of maximizing hydrocarbon recovery in deep water completion with minimum investment, while maintaining the highest level of Health Safety and Environment (HSE) and service delivery always leads to new products and service delivery techniques. In the operator's Bonga subsea field, the conventional completions technique for all open hole Standalone Screen (SAS) completion installations are performed in multiple trips. The first trip involved running a gravel pack packer with screen assembly which allows a gravel pack packer service tool and an internal string with a pump thru wash-down capability enable ease of deployment, toe-heel circulation, packer setting and testing. The internal string which comprises of the packer setting tool, internal wash pipe and accessories is recovered after completion of the first trip into the open hole formation section. The second trip involved running the production tubing, production packer, downhole gauge mandrel, safety valve and other completions accessories and landing the production string on the tubing hanger. The major objectives and drivers of the open hole Single Trip Stand-Alone Screen completion (STC-SAS) in deep offshore environment is basically to save rig costs, use proven and emerging technologies, employ completions best practices, reduce exposure of personnel to safety hazards and of course reduce Non-Productive Times (NPT). New completions technique with different services and product providers could pose a challenge in terms of vendor interface management, equipment compatibility and procedural integration of multiple downhole equipment with different operating boundaries and limits. The single trip stand-alone screen completions concept in deep water was generated by the operator's Wells Front End Completion and Well Intervention team in December 2015. This was driven by an opportunity to further reduce well delivery rig time which is a premium in deep water subsea completions. The average completions time in the field stood at 10 days per 10,000ft well. The group was challenged to further improve the well delivery time. However, there was no bench mark as the industry data showed that a single trip open hole stand-alone screen completion had not been installed globally in deep water subsea environment. This paper presents the evolution of the completions design, the critical challenges in the contractor management, downhole equipment interfaces, operational steps, risks and the lessons learned during the job execution that led to the successful installation of the first single trip open hole sandface STC SAS in deep water environment.
Every field development faces the challenge of keeping capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX) within reasonable limits, while at the same time exploring matured or new technology that can achieve cost limit objectives. With the uncertainties, cyclic nature, instability in the oil and gas global investment markets, and the fluctuation in crude oil pricing, operators in energy exploration and production (E&P) industries as well as service providers are constantly looking for better and more efficient cost-saving products and services. The challenge of maximizing hydrocarbon recovery in deepwater completions with minimum investment, while maintaining the highest level of health, safety, and environment (HSE) and service quality is a continual catalyst for new products and service delivery techniques. In the operator’s Bonga subsea field, the conventional completions techniques for all open hole standalone screen (SAS) completion installations are performed in multiple trips. The first trip involves running the lower completion including a gravel pack packer with screen assembly which allows a gravel pack packer service tool and an internal string with a pump-thru wash-down capability to enable toe-heel circulation, packer setting, and testing. The internal string, which is comprised of the packer setting tool, internal wash pipe, and accessories, is recovered after completion of the first trip into the open hole reservoir section. The second trip involves running the production tubing, production packer, downhole gauge mandrel, safety valve, and other completions accessories and landing the production string into the lower completion and on the tubing hanger. The major objectives and drivers for the innovative open hole single trip stand-alone screen completion (STC-SAS) in a deep offshore environment is basically to save rig costs, use proven and emerging technologies, employ completions best practices, reduce exposure of personnel to safety hazards, and reduce non-productive times (NPT). New completions techniques with different services and product providers could pose a challenge in terms of vendor interface management, equipment compatibility, and procedural integration of multiple downhole tools with different operating boundaries and limits. The STC-SAS completions concept in deep water was generated with the operator’s Wells Front End Completion and Well Intervention team in December 2015. This was driven by an opportunity to further reduce well delivery rig time which is at a premium in deepwater subsea completions. The average completions time in the field stood at 10 days per 10,000 ft well. The group was challenged to further improve the well delivery time. However, there was no benchmark as the industry data showed that a single trip open hole stand-alone screen completion had not been installed globally in a deep water subsea environment. This paper presents the evolution of the completions design, the critical challenges in the service companies management, downhole equipment interfaces, operational steps, risks, and the lessons learned during the job execution that led to the successful installation of the industry’s first single trip open hole sandface STC-SAS in a deep water environment.
It is often stated that necessity is the mother of invention. Never is this proverb more relevant than in the offshore oil and gas environment we currently operate in where real step changes leading to reduced capital and operational expenditure opportunities are sought and embraced by field operators. This paper discusses the pre-job planning, field execution and lessons learned from one such technology that challenged conventional thinking of sand faced completion, casedhole completion and well integrity to successfully deliver a single-trip, interventionless, sand control completion in deepwater Bonga Field, located on the continental slope of the Niger Delta. Convention dictates that the vast majority of offshore completions be run in two and sometimes three trips which routinely takes in excess of eight to ten days to deploy. Given the day rate of high specification rigs capable of drilling in deep water environments, the ability to reduce this time was deemed paramount to the economics of the project. Utilizing a collaborative approach to initial concept design, risk assessment, extensive testing and contingency planning at component and system level, a single-trip, interventionless, sand control completion system was designed and successfully installed. This paper describes the completion architecture, operational sequence and challenges leading to the installation of an interventionless completion. A clearly defined set of deliverables and design principles were drawn up to guide the direction of the project including: successfully deploying the upper and lower completion in one trip, and testing all barriers. Adopting a simple, low risk and high reward design, meeting clients well barrier requirements and utilizing proven cost-effective technology are examples of design principles used. The system was tested and evolved through a number of iterations in an onshore trial well environment on a number of occasions leading to the first successful deployment completed in the second half of 2018, resulting in an average completion installation time of 5 days, versus the average 10 days for deploying multi-trip completions. Details of the successful installations, lessons learned, along with planned future activity are outlined within the body of this paper. While several of the components incorporated in the single-trip system had been run previously in isolation, this paper also discusses the steps taken to facilitate the first full-system approach to the application of radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled tools in the first single-trip, interventionless sand control completion system. Several components within the completion have been equipped with this technology including a multi-cycle ball valve, wire wrapped screens fitted with inflow control device (ICD), remote operated sliding sleeve for annular fluid displacement.
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