Scale Milling and Nipple Profile Recovery with Electrical Wireline—Case Histories from Successful Operations in the North Sea

Intervention with scale milling on subsea wells have traditionally been performed with semi submersible rigs and heavy intervention equipment as coiled tubing. Riserless Light Well Intervention (RLWI) with wireline has so far been a practical and cost efficient alternative in the subsea intervention marked. The on-going development of wireline tractor technology including milling bits has increased the scope of work for RLWI to include mechanical scale removal. This paper describes a case history of first time use of wireline tractor scale milling technology in a well on the high temperature Åsgard field deployed from a RLWI vessel. The well had a history of calcium carbonate scale build in the production liner first seen in 2003. The well had been intervened using coiled tubing in 2003 without being able to remove all the scale bridges completely. The objective of the intervention was to remove a 23 m calcium carbonate scale bridge to provide access for installation of a high pressure high temperature (HPHT) bridge plug and permit subsequent additional perforation work. An electric wireline conveyed tractor with a rotational assembly was chosen to perform the job. A qualification test programme was performed to confirm that the selected wireline tractor and milling assembly could operate reliably in an environment up to 166 °C for extended periods without tool failures. The maximum well temperature was 152 °C. Following successful trials in the test facility the equipment was mobilized to the RLWI vessel. The scale bridge of 23 m was milled in 3 runs with a 5.72" custom designed milling bit. Subsequent operations were successful with installation of a HPHT bridge plug and completion of four additional perforation runs. The production results after the intervention was an oil increase from 468 Sm3/d to 1204 Sm3/d. The Gas Oil Ratio was decreased from 3500 Sm3/Sm3 to 2750 Sm3/Sm3. The successful operation by scale milling on the Smørbukk field has demonstrated that wireline tractor scale milling technology can be used on high temperature wells using the RLWI concept. Introduction The Åsgard development, located in the Haltenbanken area off Mid-Norway, consists of three independent discoveries (Smørbukk, Smørbukk Sør and Midgard) connected to two floating production installations and a condensate storage vessel (Figure 1). Åsgard is developed with subsea wells only, and started production in 1999 [1]. The operation described in this paper was performed at Smørbukk, a high temperature gas condensate field, producing from five independent reservoir layers. The wells are completed with 7" production tubing and 7" cemented and perforated liner. Most of the wells produce commingled from the different reservoir zones. The field is produced mainly by depletion with some pressure support from gas injection.

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Wireline Tractor Milling Operations From a Riserless Light-Well Intervention Vessel at the High-Temperature Åsgard Field

Henning

Ranum

Mjaaland

et al. 2009

All Days

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Enhancement of PLT Tool Reach in Horizontal Wells Using Advanced Wireline Tractor

et al. 2010

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The horizontal wells drilled during the last few years are coming to a mature state in different fields and locations. Even the existing vertical wells are being converted to horizontal for better oil sweep and productivity. This has created the requirement to evaluate the production performance of horizontal wells to determine water source for proper monitoring and/or a remedial action.The conventional conveyance methods for the horizontal production logging tool (PLT) are either coiled tubing (CT) or E-line using a tractor. These methods satisfactorily perform in conventional horizontal wells, however, operational limitations and challenges could be encountered when the horizontal section is more complicated due to extended reach, big and inconsistent washouts and high dogleg severity. These types of challenges can prevent the passage of the logging tools to the desired depth. This has an adverse effect on both data quality and accessibility to the well's total depth (TD). Accordingly, a lot of effort is being exerted by oil companies, service providers and vendors to improve the conveying performance of logging tools using wireline tractors.An electro-hydraulic tractor with wheels was introduced and deployed for the first time in the world using mono-cable logging tractor technology into several horizontal open hole wells in a Saudi Arabian field. The wells were drilled in a carbonate formation with long horizontal sections and were producing at high rates. This tool was run as an integral part with the logging tool to help cover the entire horizontal section and reach TD while logging.The logging jobs using this new technique were completed safely and successfully at flowing and shut-in conditions. At flowing condition, the logging tool was successfully conveyed to TD and measurements were made over the entire horizontal section with the help of the tractor. The well was logged at different choke settings while measurements were taken at down passes (while tractoring) and up passes. The tractor was running at a constant speed and was able to pass a long washout of around 9" in diameter. The data analysis showed very acceptable measurements. This paper will describe the case histories, challenges, planning, deployment and advantages/disadvantages of this type of tractor.

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A Comparison of Instrumented and Surface-Controllable Rotary Honing and Brushing for Well Intervention

Dresel

Schulz

Mennem

2018

Day 1 Tue, March 27, 2018

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Instrumentation and surface control improve the success rates and efficiency of wireline rotary brushing and honing. Data based operational planning and real-time data feedback allow for efficient operations with measurable outcomes. This paper compares two types of instrumented, wireline-powered rotary cleaning assemblies by assessing their performance, cleaning efficiency, operational factors, and real-time logging outputs. Basic rotary brushing physics along with characterization curves of the systems explain the relationship between operational factors including rotational speed, torque, and downhole power requirements. Models of the operational factors were created so that preoperational planning and real-time data interpretation can be used to verify intervention objectives.

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Scale Milling and Nipple Profile Recovery with Electrical Wireline—Case Histories from Successful Operations in the North Sea

Cited by 4 publications

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Wireline Tractor Milling Operations From a Riserless Light-Well Intervention Vessel at the High-Temperature Åsgard Field

Wireline Tractor Milling Operations From a Riserless Light-Well Intervention Vessel at the High-Temperature Åsgard Field

Enhancement of PLT Tool Reach in Horizontal Wells Using Advanced Wireline Tractor

A Comparison of Instrumented and Surface-Controllable Rotary Honing and Brushing for Well Intervention

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