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Over the last decade or so, unconventional shale resources have been playing an increasingly important role in hydrocarbon production due to advanced drilling, fracturing and completion technologies enabling the recovery of previously uneconomic reserves, and multi-stage fracturing technology has been widely used to exploit them in the North American oil & gas industry. During that time the completion process has been evolving, starting with the Plug and Perf method and then with multiple ball seat size actuated sliding sleeves gaining attention. However both methods have their drawbacks, the former requiring multiple re-entries and mill out operations, the latter having a limited number of fracturing stages due to the graduated seat sizes needed and the probability of the need for milling out the seats upon completion to remove flow restrictions (Wozniak 2010). As a result of these drawbacks, the industry has been driven to the development of some high-performance multi-stage fracturing completion systems which are emerging in the marketplace as alternatives to both plug and perf and traditional ball-activated frac sleeves. Three such unlimited multi-stage fracturing systems, which have been developed in recent years, can be cemented in place if desired and have a full-bore internal diameter (ID) or as close as possible to the host tubular string after fracturing and do not need milling-out operations, reducing overall completion time and improving fracturing and production efficiency. These include: 1)Coiled Tubing (CT)-Operated sleeve – this incorporates a Bottom-Hole Assembly (BHA) which is used to isolate the target zone and shift the sleeve open with fracturing being performed down the CT/Casing annulus on an nearly unlimited number of sleeves.2)An evolutionary ball-activated frac system – this uses a single size ball and ball seat for each zone, which allows an essentially unlimited number of frac stages.3)Radio-Frequency-Identification (RFID) frac sleeves – by simply dropping RFID tags in the completion string, the RFID frac sleeve system can be run with an unlimited number of frac stages. This paper will review developments in multi-stage fracturing completions, describe in detail their unique features and capabilities which are not available in earlier systems and present simulations of frac efficiency with quantitative comparisons. The analysis will indicate that these three new frac sleeves technologies can be used to optimize hydraulic fracturing operations in both horsepower and stimulated reservoir volume while dramatically reducing overall completion costs.
Over the last decade or so, unconventional shale resources have been playing an increasingly important role in hydrocarbon production due to advanced drilling, fracturing and completion technologies enabling the recovery of previously uneconomic reserves, and multi-stage fracturing technology has been widely used to exploit them in the North American oil & gas industry. During that time the completion process has been evolving, starting with the Plug and Perf method and then with multiple ball seat size actuated sliding sleeves gaining attention. However both methods have their drawbacks, the former requiring multiple re-entries and mill out operations, the latter having a limited number of fracturing stages due to the graduated seat sizes needed and the probability of the need for milling out the seats upon completion to remove flow restrictions (Wozniak 2010). As a result of these drawbacks, the industry has been driven to the development of some high-performance multi-stage fracturing completion systems which are emerging in the marketplace as alternatives to both plug and perf and traditional ball-activated frac sleeves. Three such unlimited multi-stage fracturing systems, which have been developed in recent years, can be cemented in place if desired and have a full-bore internal diameter (ID) or as close as possible to the host tubular string after fracturing and do not need milling-out operations, reducing overall completion time and improving fracturing and production efficiency. These include: 1)Coiled Tubing (CT)-Operated sleeve – this incorporates a Bottom-Hole Assembly (BHA) which is used to isolate the target zone and shift the sleeve open with fracturing being performed down the CT/Casing annulus on an nearly unlimited number of sleeves.2)An evolutionary ball-activated frac system – this uses a single size ball and ball seat for each zone, which allows an essentially unlimited number of frac stages.3)Radio-Frequency-Identification (RFID) frac sleeves – by simply dropping RFID tags in the completion string, the RFID frac sleeve system can be run with an unlimited number of frac stages. This paper will review developments in multi-stage fracturing completions, describe in detail their unique features and capabilities which are not available in earlier systems and present simulations of frac efficiency with quantitative comparisons. The analysis will indicate that these three new frac sleeves technologies can be used to optimize hydraulic fracturing operations in both horsepower and stimulated reservoir volume while dramatically reducing overall completion costs.
A new multistage fracturing technology based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was disclosed. It consists of disc spring energy storage system, electric control direction valve, multifunction sliding sleeve, microcomputer control system and battery group, distributed with magnetic field sensor, pressure sensor and RFID antenna. The fracturing process is cooperatively controlled by magnetic tags, RFID tags and pressure wave system. The RFID sliding sleeve system keeps a low-power mode in the ordinary time. In fracturing operations, the magnetic tags should be lowered into the well firstly to activate the electronic control system, and then RFID tags are launched to control the opening and closing of the sliding sleeve in any specific fractured interval. After fracturing, pressure wave is applied to open all the sliding sleeves and the production operation begins. The characteristics of controllable sliding sleeve are as follows: (1) the standby time of controllable sliding sleeve is more than six months. It can offer enough time for the fracturing preparation. (2) The drift diameter of controllable sliding sleeve is constant, as a result, fracturing interval number is not restricted. (3) It has a simple operation process, production operation can implemented directly after fracturing, without running and pulling other strings. Lab tests showed that, every module of controllable sliding sleeve run normally and it can meet the demand of field application.
Deepwater operators continually face technical and environmental challenges to drilling and completing wells safely and efficiently. To address both current and future challenges, the industry has leveraged radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to reduce risk, rig time, and nonproductive time (NPT) and to perform operations that traditional tools cannot perform. RFID technology has been integrated into drilling and completions tools to improve performance and reduce risk for offshore operations, such as drilling underreamed holes, spotting lost circulation materials, setting packers, opening stimulation sleeves, and performing subsurface reverse cementing. These tools use RFID tags released from the rig floor to enable downhole hydraulic power units (HPUs) to operate the tools. This paper describes criteria for selecting RFID-enabled tools rather than traditional tools, integration of RFID tools with operations, and value-added features enabled by RFID. Contingency, safety, and risk assessment factors are discussed, along with case studies validating performance and suitability of selected RFID tools. Three case studies describe how RFID solutions for drilling and completions were selected and applied in high-cost environments to address specific challenges and job objectives. Design and bench testing of RFID tools to enable future subsurface reverse cementing operations are also covered. The first case study describes an RFID lower-completion system that was successfully deployed into a southern North Sea extended-reach well. The system enabled remote control of flapper isolation valves and remote operation of stimulation sleeves to access the reservoir, which aimed to eliminate the need for intervention between treatments and ultimately improved fracture cycle time and reduced risk. In the Gulf of Mexico, an RFID drilling underreamer was used to set a liner shoe precisely at the casing point and eliminate a dedicated hole-opening run that would have been needed with traditional underreamers. The 8 1/2-in. hole section was drilled; but losses prevented the mechanical reamer from opening. Therefore, the 650-ft hole section was drilled to TD using the bit only. To eliminate multiple trips to take pressure samples and underream the hole section to 9-7/8 in., an RFID underreamer was placed below the measurement-while-drilling/logging-while-drilling (MWD/LWD) equipment. After pressure measurements were taken, the underreamer was actuated with RFID tags to enlarge the entire 650-ft openhole section with less than a 13-ft rathole. In the last case study, an RFID circulation sub was deployed above other bottomhole assembly (BHA) components, including an RFID underreamer and a conventional ball drop underreamer. This configuration enabled the operator to ream out the 22-in. cemented show track, underream the openhole section, and efficiently clean the wellbore at total depth. Because of BHA and standpipe pressure limitations, the RFID circulation sub was used in a split-flow application to bypass a percentage of the total flow to allow for a higher downhole flow rate. The sub helped to achieve high flow rates, high annular velocity, and turbulent flow, which contributed to better hole cleaning and improved wellbore integrity. Selecting the best tools and technology for specific applications results in streamlined applications and reduced operational risk. The methodology for selection, design, planning, and implementation of RFID drilling and completions tools identifies when RFID technology can be beneficial to deepwater operations.
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