A Novel Tubing Movement Workflow Increases Efficiency and Planning for Deepwater Frac-Pack Operation

Abstract

The frac-pack completion has become one of the prominent completion types for deepwater formations throughout the world. The vast majority of frac-pack stimulation treatments are pumped through complex sand control tools in wells with large gravel pack assemblies. The forces created by these stimulation treatments have increased as treatment size, water depth, and total depth have increased offshore. To plan appropriately for these deepwater completions, engineers expend a significant amount of effort to ensure that the tools are robust enough to accommodate the treatment demands. This planning and simulation can be a very time consuming process; moreover, it may evaluate only a limited range of potential frac-pack scenarios. To reduce time and limit uncertainty, a novel tubing movement workflow has been developed. A commercially available workflow software suite was used to connect a commercially available fracture design component and a commercially available casing and tubing simulator. This workflow uses formation parameters and a wellbore input file to process hundreds or thousands of stimulation injection schedules to determine tubing movement, pipe forces, and weight transmitted downhole. The entire process is completed within a significantly shortened time span, depending on the computer speed and the number of iterations desired. The results of the workflow enable the determination of optimal workstring and service tool characteristics. A sample case study is included.