SPE 163881

Hydrate Remediation during Well Testing Operations in the Deepwater

Campos Basin, Brazil
Joao Vitor de Assis, Raphael Mohallem, Sascha Trummer, SPE, and Ernesto Franco, SPE, Schlumberger

Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2627 March 2013.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
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Abstract
One of the most common challenges in deepwater environments is hydrate formation during drilling or well testing
operations. A hydrate is generated in the presence of a combination of the following four elements: water, natural gas, low
temperatures and elevated pressures. The hydrate has the appearance of ice structures and can form very quickly. Hydrates
are normally generated during operations such as startup, shutdown, blowdown, and bleeding.
In the deepwater oilfields of Brazil, operators have been faced several challenges during hydrate remediation interventions,
including:
Effectively removing the hydrate plug formed in the riser without damaging the tubing, downhole valves, and
subsea tools across the blowout preventer
Reducing risk of hydrate formation due to unpredictable behavior because the hydrates can be very hard and very
strong, holding high-differential pressures, potentially making a projectile of the formerly plugged object
Limiting pressure losses through the umbilical and maintaining injection rates of methanol and monoethylene
glycol (MEG)
Resuming well testing operations with the least amount of lost rig time.
From a drillship, we applied a combination of chemicals pumped through a high-pressure rotating nozzle deployed with
coiled tubing (CT). The hydrate plug was breached in less than 4 hr. This cleaning operation effectively removed the hydrate
plug and cleaned the tubing, enabling the Operator to resume pressure/volume/temperature testing operations of the
deepwater well.
Introduction
An operator drilled a new well in deepwater Campos Basin, 122-mi (195-km) offshore Rio de Janeiro in waters 9,190 ft
(2,788 m) deep. These new discoveries are located between two presalt accumulations comprising a large hydrocarbon
column. A flow test was performed in a partial section of the pay zone with very promising results. According to the
operator, these results were obtained during a choked drillstem test (DST) with very limited drawdown.
While performing the well test operation, flowing wellhead pressure and temperature as well as the flow rate decreased,
indicating a possible hydrate plug formation in the riser between the surface and the subsea wellhead. The well was then shut
down to allow for decision making before resuming well testing operations. After several attempts to reopen the well, it was
determined that the riser was plugged. The CT equipment onboard the rig was then used as a contingency resource; however,
neither downhole motors nor mills were readily available on site. In the past, these tools had been used as a remediation
technique to drill out the hydrate plug and allow flow assurance. Added to the lack of the tools on site, there was the
uncertaintity that if the hydrate plug was located on certain completions accessories, these could get damaged in their internal
profiles, such as the retainer valve, by using the downhole motor and mill.

SPE 163881

Job Proposal
Based on the challenges above presented, the CT Company proposed to the Operator the usage of a high-pressure rotating
nozzle (HPRN) deployed with CT combined with MEG/Base Oil mixture.

Fig. 1High-pressure rotating nozzle

This HPRN has several advantages in comparison to a conventional non roating nozzle, likewise:
Positive one-pass cleaning with 360 wellbore coverage
Nozzle head-controlled rotation for maximum jetting thrust
Engineered for harsh environments
Equipped with a drift ring that controls rate of penetration (ROP)
Nonmetal cutting or gridding action, resulting in no damage to completion installations.
To achieve an effective hydrates removal procedure, a jetting hydraulics modeling software package was run to optimize the
performance of the jetting head and nozzle selection as a function of wellbore conditions and surface pressure limitations.

Fig. 2Nozzle and CT pressure vs. radial nozzle diameters

Job Procedure
Prior to run in hole, DST and rig personnel performed preparation procedures to, once CT was downhole, rig could have recirculation of fluids continuously through well test choke, surge tank, cementing pump and coiled tubing to the well. For the
closed loop pumping, 3 bbls of MEG were pumped for each 10 bbls of base oil that meant 48 bbls added to the original 150
bbl of base oil system volume, for a final fluid system 25/75 MEG-Base Oil Mud (Final surge tank volume was about 60
bbls).
Run in hole to wash out hydrates was carried out to maximum depth of 13,451 ft (4,100 m), accordingly to operator
representative instructions to confirm that the DST completion was hydrate free before resuming the well test operations.
The pumping rate while running in the hole was held to 0.6 bbl/min until hydrates were identified at a depth of 5,626 ft
(1,715 m). A fluid change was carried out when the hydrates were located. MEG was also continuously pumped through the
umbilical to the SenTREE* subsea test tree while the CT in hole. To successfully remove the hydrate plugs, the pump rate
was increased to 0.8 to 0.9 bbl/min through the high-pressure rotating nozzle. A pressure spike of 2,500 psi (17.2 MPa) was
observed at the surface when the CT reached 5,899 ft (1,798 m), identifying communication with lower wellbore and
indicating that the hydrate plug had been effectively removed. The wellhead pressure was bled down to 200 psi (1.3 MPa)
before the operation continued.

SPE 163881

6000

7000

39000
Wellhead Pres

Hydrate plug successfully broken

6000

5900

5000

5850

4000

Circ Pres
CT Weight

5800
5750

P re s s u re - p s i

C o rr D e p th - ft

Corr Depth

29000

19000

3000

9000

2000

C T W e ig h t - lb f

5950

-1000
5700

1000

5650

5600

-1000

22:36:39

-11000

00:20:49

02:04:59

03:49:09

05:33:19

Time - hh:mm:ss

Fig. 3Real-time data acquisition plot of the job

The CT was then run to in hole to final depth of 13,451 ft (4,100 m) with pull tests every 656 ft (200 m) to drift the DST
completion; however, no other hydrate plugs were identified. CT was pull out of hole to resume with well test operations.
The IRDV intelligent remote valve remained closed throughout all CT operations. While jetting on hydrates, approximately
200-psi (1.3-MPa) back pressure was maintained with the surface choke to limit the amount of differential pressure across
the hydrate plug. This back pressure was to be reduced if no progress was seen during the cleaning procedure.
Conclusions
This CT intervention operation was successfully completed without any accidents, personnel injury, or damage to equipment
or the environment. The goal of this operation was to wash out the hydrate plug at its formation depth identified during the
well test, and allow for the well test to continue.
The average ROP of the operation was 68.5 ft/hr across the hydrate plugs between the depths of 5,626 ft (1,715 m) and 5,899
ft (1,798 m). The procedure took approximately 4 hr of jetting time without jeopardizing tubulars and the DST subsea valve
integrity with a closed-loop pumping rate of 25/75 MEG/base-oil mud at 0.8 to 0.9 bbl/min. Following the closed-loop
pumping operation, wellhead pressure suddenly reached 2,500 psi (17.2 MPa), indicating that the hydrates were removed and
the wellbore was once again communicating. Well remained closed downhole throughout all time CT was in hole. Total
intervention time was 86 hr, including rig up, operations, and rig down.
The use of a high-pressure rotating nozzle deployed with CT, combined with the MEG/Base-oil mixture was showed to be a
very effective technology and viable solution in hydrate plugs removal, adding value to the client and reinforcing that highpressure rotating nozzle jetting power is suitable for the scenario encountered and will be the default procedure future
interventions.
Acknoledgement
The authors would like to thank Schlumberger Coiled Tubing Operations Team in Macae and Offshore for making this
happen, especially Luciano Silva, GFS, Schlumberger.