Although it is common to think of health, safety, and environment (HSE) as one focus area, in many countries where internal political stability is of concern, this area also includes security (i.e. HSSE). It is also discernible in such places that a considerable portion of non-productive time (NPT) is associated with waiting for the delivery of explosives to perform routine operations, such as casing perforating or pipe severing, or even setting bridge plugs or packers. The occurrence of NPT can result from many factors, but it primarily arises from the sensitive issue of moving explosives and the security measures it demands. In some cases, this lost time is conservatively estimated to be more than $12 million annually for a land-based operation. It is easily plausible to incur triple these costs for offshore operations, noting that these cost estimates do not account for the revenue losses attributable to a delay in production of hydrocarbons. Considering the magnitude of the problem, a concerted effort was put forth to determine viable alternatives to the use of explosives. This paper presents a comprehensive range of non-explosive solutions, including field-proven technologies that address a majority of the operations encountered in the field. The solutions come in various forms, such as the use of slickline, electric line, or coiled tubing services with specialty tools, all depending on the well situation. These technologies provide results and performances comparable to explosive-based methods and, in some cases (such as perforating before a hydraulic fracturing treatment), outperform the traditional solutions. There are also instances, such as in a highly deviated or horizontal wellbore, damaged casing or tubing, or tight restrictions, in which shaped charges will not work effectively but, with the versatility of perforating with coiled tubing using high pressure pumping and abrasive material, can surgically place perforations or sever pipe, as needed, at the preferred location. The prospects of significantly reducing the NPT and improving performance are substantial. The case histories presented will validate the success of the technologies and their application in the industry. Introduction The processes of acquiring, moving, storing, and handling explosive-based equipment can be very difficult and time consuming. In many countries in which regional security is a concern, the movement of explosives is a controlled activity and the process can be long. Consequently, when an unplanned event occurs, such as stuck pipe, in which pipe severing with explosives is the solution, the drilling rig may wait for several days to perform this job. These types of occurrences are quite common, especially in highly active drilling areas (with a rig count of more than 95 active rigs), and the NPT costs easily exceed $12 million annually. Proven Technologies to Accomplish Tasks Normally Performed with Explosive Devices. Typical operations that require explosives include the following:Downhole pipe cutting for pipe recovery after an incident, such as stuck pipe or any other type of pipe removal operationTubing punching for fluid circulationPerforating casing for production injection or hydraulic fracturingSetting packers and bridge plugs Over the years, several alternative methods have been developed that often provide better performance and results than conventional explosive methods. Depending on the application, the deployment methods for these techniques can include coiled tubing, slickline, wireline, and jointed pipe.
This case history paper describes a technique that minimizes the creation of multiple fractures in deep coal seams during hydraulic fracturing operations. The technique enabled the operator and the service company to perform 24 nitrogen foam-fluid fracturing treatments in 33 days in the Upper Silesian basin (Poland). The creation of multiple fractures is a phenomenon often encountered during fracturing operations in coal seams and is the most probable cause of early screenouts. During this fracturing campaign, early screenouts were observed at sand concentrations less than 3 lb/gal. These screenouts were attributed to a lack of fracture width caused by the presence of multiple fractures, including possible horizontal fracture components or tortuosity. The operator and the service company developed a technique that involves pumping a small volume of highly viscous crosslinked gel before the main fracturing treatment. This technique prevented early screenouts and allowed the higher sand concentrations to be pumped. Introduction The operator won a concession to explore for coalbed methane in the Upper Silesian Basin of southern Poland in September 1993 (Figure 1). Following negotiation of various terms, the concession became effective in late August 1994 and drilling commenced in November 1994. The project targeted the coal-bearing strata of the Carboniferous era. Various seams of these strata have been actively mined for over one-hundred years in this area of Poland, with numerous shows of gas, fires and explosions. The concession consists of 487 km2 just south of the town of Katowice with active coal mines immediately to the east of the concession, and one active coal mine (Silesia Mine) surrounded by the concession area (Figure 2). The objective of this work was to sample the coalbed methane productivity of the concession in order to determine the economic potential for a development project that would consist of a couple hundred wells. The stratigraphy in the area consists of over 60 coal seams of 0.5-m or greater thickness over an approximately 1000-m interval. A statistical sampling was needed because of three reasons:–the mandate to evaluate the resource in a period of less than three years with a total of only 15 wellbores–the significant amount of coal–the anticipated variability of various coalbed methane parameters such as gas capacity, saturation, permeability, and production rate Based on the operator's experience in the San Juan and Warrior Basins, fracture stimulations were the preferred completion method for coalbed methane wells. Historically there had been very few fracture stimulations performed in Poland. and no fracturing equipment or experienced crews were available. With respect to perforating, there was no referencing of performance data to API standards. Thus the project needed to import these services with the associated high mobilization charges. Because of this high fixed-cost component, individual seam or zone completions were too costly and multiple-zone well completion campaigns were chosen. To reduce mobilization costs, a campaign approach for treating the selected intervals was chosen. This paper describes which problems were encountered during a campaign that involved treating 24 intervals in six of the eight test wells and how these problems were solved. The original plan for evaluation of the concession provided for seven coreholes to determine the basic gas capacity and isotherm information, and eight test wells for production testing. P. 161^
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1998 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, 27-30 September 1998.
This paper wassetid for presentafmn tyan SPE Rogram CoW= b!lowng r.vmw of mbrnmbon mntamed in an abstrad wk+tilbd bytlm atdhor(s) Contents oftfw paper, aspfasented, have cat ken rw.mwed bytfw Soaatyof Pe4mbumEn5neemamd arewtl~tocarrecb.m byt% stir(s). Tfw !@enal, aspfesatiad. does not necessarily mlledany po~on of tlw SocmtyofPetio bum Etwinears, ds .Mc.m, or !?m*rs Pa!-mrs presentad at SPE meetings are subj.cl to publication r.view by Editorial cm~sof the .Soaety of %trolwm Engineers Electro n,. repmducd.m, d!smbution. or storage of qnyw of mm paper brcommwma I purwsasvmhOut Ow vmu.m con=nnt of tie Soaety of Petrokum Ergine4mmwohltdad Pertrissbn to copy is mstncted to an abstrad of twt more than 300 words, Illuskatransnuy not h copmd The abstract shoub mntam consp!cwusackcm.iedgnwnt of vd?efe and by whom me papa IS presented Wte Librarian. WE P O &x 833836, Richardson, TX 75083.3836. U S A fax 01-972 -S524435 Abstract This case history paper describes a technique that minimizes the creation of multiple fractures in deep coal seams during hydraulic fracturing operations The technique enabled the operator and the service company to perform 24 nitrogen foam-fluid fracturing treatments in 33 days in the Upper Silesian basin (Poland)The creation of multiple fractures is a phenomenon often encountered during fracturing operations in coal seams and is the most probable cause of early screen outs. During this fracturing campaign. early screenouts were observed at sand concentrations less than 3 lb/gal These screenouts were attributed to a lack of fracture width caused by the presence of multiple fractures, including possible horizontal fracture components or tortuosity.The operator and the service company developed a technique that involves pumping a small volume of highly viscous crosslinked gel before the main fracturing treatment. This technique prevented early screenouts and allowed the higher sand concentrations to be pumped 2 KEVIN KILSTROM, KLAASVANGIJTENBEEK, RICHARD TJOONK, IAN PALMER SPE 39987 References 1 2 3 4 5 () 7 8 Palmer. I . e( a/. "Completions and Stimulations for Coalbed Methane Wells."' paper SPE 30012 presented at the International Meeting on Petroleum Engineering.
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