Solid Expandable Tubulars Deliver on Promise and Potential

Abstract

With over 750 installations worldwide, solid expandable tubular systems have gone from an evolutionary idea to a technology that delivers on its promise. Long touted as a technology that can help operators mitigate downhole challenges, expandable tubulars are now being applied as enabling systems in wellbore construction, in field development, for casing repair and remediation and for field-wide revitalization. The installation records for these systems are as wide as the application realm and exemplify the adaptable nature of the technology. This adaptability has led to the technology evolving from being used strictly as a drilling-problem solution to an integral wellbore component. Solid expandable systems have been used in a variety of environments, such as HTHP and ultra-deepwater projects, and for a myriad of conditions such as control of lost circulation zones, casing shoe extensions and isolation of unstable formations. In cased-hole situations, these systems have been used to isolate old perforated intervals or protect weak casing, replacing less reliable conventional squeeze cementing techniques. Solid expandable systems have helped operators reach and produce reserves that previously were unattainable due to drilling conditions and economic constraints, have provided flexibility for exploration-well uncertainties, and have reduced well costs with a slimmer well design. Case histories will demonstrate how solid expandable tubulars have delivered on the promise and potential as an enabling technology. Case histories to be included will describe how solid expandable systems have been successfully incorporated in a field-development project in Malaysia, a casing-repair project in China and as a vital component in a total drilling-management project in the Arabian Sea. This paper will also validate the economic viability of these systems as a contributive and reliable technology. Wellbore construction technologies developed to make an impact in the energy sector must be applicable in severe and extreme environments as drilling and workover operations continue to reach further and deeper. Some of the most advanced technologies considered new and enabling include advanced seismic imaging, managed pressure drilling, real-time operations centers, dual-gradient mud systems and expandable casing technology. Solid expandable systems used as a well-construction technology have enabled operators to confront and alleviate drilling problems associated with some of the most unpredictable frontiers and inhospitable areas of the petroleum development business. The successful application of solid expandable systems in difficult and challenging areas have given well designers, geologists and production engineers viable options that can generate significant value during the entire life cycle in the planning, drilling and production phase of their asset. To reach productive intervals with adequate hole size in drilling scenarios, operators have used these systems proactively by incorporating them into the initial wellbore design, as well as in reactive situations to save casing points when unexpected troublesome formations are encountered. As planned-in casing strings, solid expandable tubulars have enabled operators to slim well profiles and still maximize hole size at TD. This proactive approach has proven to garner significant savings by reducing overall drilling costs 15 to 20% using slimmed wellbores vs. big-bore programs and to reap compelling process advantages, such as attaining a higher rate-of-penetration (ROP) in long intermediate casing sections (36% enhancement) and improving drilling performance and lowering equivalent circulation densities (ECDs) below the expandable system.1 Documented successes and benefits gleaned from the use of solid expandable technology have led well planners and asset teams to look for ways to apply and enlarge the application realm for these enabling systems. In theory, the systems can be any length and to any depth. To date, installations have encompassed the following:Shortest - 21 ft.Longest - 6,867 ft.Shallowest - Surface casing to top of wellheadDeepest - 28,750 ft. The effectiveness of the systems is the adaptability of the components for a myriad of conditions and environments as illustrated with the latest, empirical dataset from a broad application spectrum in the Asia-Pacific area.

Expandable Tubulars Facilitate Improved Well Stimulation and Well Production

“…(Holland 2007) Figure 13 -Solid expandable systems ensure optimum hole size in sidetrack applications.…”

Optimizing Gas Recovery With Solid Expandable Technology

“…This approach has not happened overnight, but is the result of continued application in extremely hostile environments and in some of the most varied oil and gas optimization projects being put into practice. 7 To ascertain the value of any project requires assessment of known factors and the reasonable projection of plausible variables. This approach enables operators to effectively capitalize on both established and burgeoning technologies to reach and successfully produce the desired zone.…”