Good cement bond at the casing-cement and cement-formation interfaces is essential for effective zonal isolation. Poor bonding can lead to underground fluids and gases to enter the annulus and create sustained casing pressure (SCP), jeopardising the working envelope of the well and limiting its production. One of the causes of a poor cement-formation bonding is attributed to a cement shrinkage. Cement systems that expand after setting can help improve primary cementing job results by sealing microannulus. The enhanced bonding is the result of enhanced shear bond and adhesion of the cement against the pipe and formation. Cement expansion is achieved by addition of the expanding additives into cement system. The mechanism of expansion is based on set cement volume growth over initial volume post setting. This is driven either by gas bubbles created during chemical reaction or by crystal growth within set cement matrix. Careful optimization of the cement slurry designs with an addition of the expansion additives to conventional and complex blend systems allowed greatly improving the cement bond evaluation log results without compromising other mechanical properties of cement. This paper outlines the successful application of expanding cement to seal different sizes of wellbore; the study evaluates the effect of the expansion by comparing the cement evaluation log from numerous cementing jobs. Examples included in the comparison are cemented production strings (casings and liners) with different types of cement systems used across 9 5/8-in. production casings and 7-in. and 4 1/2-in. production liners.
The job objective in a UK North Sea field was to permanently abandon a well that had poor cement bonding behind the casing across the intended isolation intervals. The challenge was to provide lateral isolation across two separate intervals in the most efficient way possible. Two "perf-and-wash" operations were executed successfully during the well abandonment. The deeper barrier envelope was validated by tagging and pressure testing the plug. The shallower section had been logged prior to the operation and, on completion of the perf-and-wash job, the plug was drilled out to allow for relogging, which indicated more than 76% of the perforated interval had circumferential coverage. After the bond log results were confirmed, a further cement plug was set across the shallow interval by conventional methods and verified by tagging and pressure testing. This paper outlines the detailed design preparations and presents both case histories where these steps were implemented successfully.
A major operator on the Caspian Turkmen shelf has started to encounter sustained casing pressures (SCP) attributable to insufficient isolation across a hydrocarbon gas zone, due to downhole stresses and other contributing factors. Enhanced placement techniques of conventional cements failed to prevent SCP, confirming the requirement for an alternative cement system that can withstand anticipated stresses and resolve this challenge. An innovative and cost-effective solution was applied and successfully solved the SCP challenge due to its unique self-healing properties. If cracks or microannuli occur and hydrocarbons reach the cement, the system has the capability to repair itself, restoring integrity of the cement sheath without external intervention. The cement system is placed conventionally in the annulus across or above the hydrocarbon-bearing formation. It then acts as a pressure seal, expanding to accommodate downhole changes and healing if any hydrocarbon reaches it. This technology has been used in four wells in the field with excellent results. Two wells were used to demonstrate the capabilities of the self-healing cement as a lead cement slurry, which created a cap over the pay zones. The self-healing cement was designed with low Young's modulus for optimum flexibility. To minimize the risk of set cement integrity failure due to microannuli or microdebonding from chemical shrinkage after setting, linear expansion up to 1.2% was incorporated into the design. After cementing, the wells were intentionally exposed to a sequence of high-pressure tests, which induced annular pressures in the wells. However, because of the self-repair capability of this cement, isolation and integrity were effectively restored in the two wells within 1 to 2 weeks without external intervention. As a result, the self-healing cement technology has become the standard for the field for all future wells, and the operator plans to extend the self-healing cement technology to other fields with similar challenges. This paper clearly demonstrates successful casing pressure remediation without intervention by engineering a flexible, self-healing cement system. The design strategy, execution, evaluation, and results for two wells are discussed in detail and will help to guide future engineering and operations around the world.
Achieving zonal isolation for the lifetime of oil and gas wells is crucial for well integrity. Poor zonal isolation can detrimentally affect well economics and increase safety-related risks because of pressure buildup with unpredictable consequences. Additional local regulations prohibiting production of a well with positive pressure in the annulus made sustained casing pressure a major challenge for operators in the North Caspian Sea. An innovative cost-effective solution was required to resolve this challenge. Historical well analysis proved that previously applied cementing approaches were ineffective. Several modifications were required to define the effective solution. Implemented changes included revision of the casing setting depth, optimization of the drilling fluids and spacer formulations, and implementation of the self-healing expanding cement. Carefully engineered placement of the self-healing cement system was the key to success. If cracks or microannuli occur and hydrocarbons reach the cement and flow through the cracks, the system has the capability to repair itself, thus restoring integrity of the cement sheath without external intervention. This technology has been used in 11 extended reach wells in two fields with excellent results. The collaborative approach with drilling engineers eliminated the challenging sustained casing pressure issue in two major offshore fields in North Caspian Sea. In addition to the existing cementing best practices available in industry for mud removal efficiency enhancement and successful cement placement, the newly implemented methodology included potential requirements for well trajectory adjustments, implementation of the real-time control during cementing job execution, engineered placement and optimization of the self-healing expanding cement system formulation, and a specifically developed "initially required" bleedoff schedule that allows acceleration of the self-remediation cement capability. The self-healing cement was designed with low Young's modulus for maximum flexibility. Expanding additives were also incorporated into the design to minimize the risk of set cement integrity failure due to microdebonding from bulk shrinkage after setting. Adherence to the mutually developed flowchart for the drilling and cementing stages improved the zonal isolation of the critical hydrocarbon zones in the extended reach wells and increased the success ratio of the wells with no pressure buildup from 30% to almost 100% within the last 5 years. As a result, the self-healing cement technology and developed approach, which is discussed in this paper, have become the standard for both fields for all future wells. The complex engineering approach described in this paper expands the existing best practices in the industry for zonal isolation improvement of the extended reach wells and provides a new effective solution for eliminating sustained casing pressure problems. The design strategy, execution, evaluation, and results for two sample wells are discussed in detail to help to guide future engineering and operational activities around the world.
The collaborative approach used for cementing the production liner in an onshore development well in Russia is presented. The reservoir has a narrow window between pore and fracture pressures, which has previously caused formation instability and severe lost circulation issues during well construction, compromising zonal isolation objectives. Total loss of fluids experienced while cementing the 114.3 mm production liner in the first appraisal well in the field led to revising the cementing strategy. Collaboration among various parts of the drilling department and the opportunity to define a new approach resulted in a decision to introduce managed pressure drilling (MPD) to address the challenges associated with a narrow pressure window and uncertainty in pore pressure while drilling and cementing. This enabled implementing the optimal mud weight and adjusting equivalent circulating density (ECD) during cementing with minimum overbalance. Reducing the mud weight from 1.20 SG to 1.05 SG eliminated losses after running the liner and while cementing it. As a result, pre-job circulation rates and pumping rates during cementing could be increased, improving mud removal efficiency and achieving top of cement at the required depth. The constant-bottomhole-pressure mode of MPD was used to maintain the same ECD during displacement of the well to a lighter fluid and during cementing, avoiding well influx during pumpoff events by compensating for the annular friction pressure loss with surface backpressure. This first onshore managed pressure cementing operation executed within the same field in Russia (later named as field A) was completed flawlessly, with no safety or quality issues, zero nonproductive time, and achievement of the required zonal isolation across the challenging production section. The collaborative approach used was a novel strategy, with the mud weight program strategically adjusted before and during the cementing operation to achieve zonal isolation objectives.
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