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Coiled Tubing: The Next Generation: Ali Chareuf Afghoul
Coiled Tubing: The Next Generation: Ali Chareuf Afghoul
38
Oileld Review
Well cleanouts
Fishing
Jetting fluids
Acidizing
Better injector heads
1,500-ft steel stock
Improved manufacturing
1 14-in. tube
HSLA steels
1 12-in. tube
1 34-in. tube
3,000-ft steel stock
Bias welding
2-in. tube
Logging and drilling
2 38-in. tube
2 58-in. tube
HPHT services
2 78-in. tube
3 12-in. tube
4 12-in. tube
Scale removal
Selective stimulation
Multilateral access
Advanced onshore units
HPHT inflatable packers
Wireless depth control
Advanced offshore units
Optimized cleanouts
1,200
1,000
Gooseneck
800
600
400
200
Injector head
0
1965 1972 1978 1987 1988 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Blowout
preventer
stack
Control
cabin
Tubing
reel
> Coiled tubing activity1965 to the present. Development of continuous tubulars began in World War II with project PLUTO (Pipe Lines Under The Ocean)
in 1944. In the 1960s, coiled tubing (CT) was used to wash out sand, retrieve subsurface safety valves and lift uids out of wells with nitrogen. Later, CT
applications expanded to include acid and fracturing treatments, tool conveyance, tubing replacement, drilling, articial lift and well completions. As a result,
the number of CT units operating worldwide increased from a few in 1965 to more than 1,000 in 2004.
Spring 2004
39
> A Valhall platform, North Sea Norwegian sector. The new CT SEAS unit
performs perforating and wellbore cleanout operations before and after
proppant fracturing treatments in the BP Valhall eld offshore Norway.
Wellsite Efciency
A feasibility study in 2001 and subsequent
engineering efforts resulted in a new offshore
CT unit, which was launched in 2003. The automated, modular CT SEAS Coiled Tubing Safer,
Efficient Automated Solutions system was first
installed on a BP Valhall field platform in the
North Sea Norwegian sector (above).3
A typical Valhall eld horizontal well requires
5 to 12 separate fracture stimulations. To save
time, BP performs drilling and completion
operations simultaneously on the platform. After
well-completion equipment is installed, the
drilling rig skids to the next wellhead slot. A
large CT unit and a stimulation vessel complete
the wells.
The rst CT run performs wellbore cleanout
and perforating. The stimulation vessel then
pumps a proppant fracturing treatment. The next
CT run cleans out excess proppant, but leaves a
sand plug to isolate the preceding fracture. The
next interval is perforated, and this cycle
continues until all zones are stimulated.
40
Oileld Review
BOP skid
> CT unit and system control. A cyber-based system in the CT SEAS cabin
operates the reel, injector head, well-control equipment, ow-control
chokes, mud shakers and pumps.
Spring 2004
41
42
Oileld Review
45
Total failures, %
40
35
1995
1996
1997
1998
30
1999
2000
2001
2002
25
20
15
10
5
0
Overloading
Mechanical
damage
Fatigue
Pitting
corrosion
General
corrosion
Manufacturing Unknown
and processing
Other
70
60
Total failures, %
50
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
40
30
20
10
0
Tensile load
Buckling
Rupture
Collapse
Fatigue
Material
loss
Distortion Mechanical
damage
Other
> Coiled tubing failure analysis. Schlumberger has tracked failure causes (top) and mechanisms
(bottom) for eight years. A cause refers to the initial condition that eventually leads to tube failure. A
mechanism is the event that ultimately triggers the failure. For example, the mechanism of fatigue can
result in a failure caused by a corrosion pit or a dent. These data resulted in a focused pipemanagement program and better quality control in the eld that improved coiled tubing utilization,
efciency and operating practices.
Spring 2004
43
Ultrasonic
probes
Elastomer
element
Drip pan
> Coiled tubing inspection. Improved pipe inspection helps reduce tube
failures and optimize pipe life. The CT InSpec wellsite system uses 12
ultrasonic probes, arranged radially, to monitor wall thickness and pipe ovality
over variable CT interval lengths (top). This new device measures tubing wall
thickness as coiled tubing comes off the reel (bottom).
44
being used at higher pressures, with the denition of high-pressure constantly increasing.
These increased demands require a better means
of monitoring CT integrity.
Several CT inspection systems have been
developed. The universal tubing integrity monitor (UTIM) measures tube diameter and ovality.
Other systems that detect cracks and pits, and
give an average wall thickness have niche applications, but none are completely satisfactory.
These limitations drive ongoing research and
development in CT inspection.
Technology is currently being developed to
address aw identication and description, the
effects of flaws on coiled tubing life, and
assessment of related risks. The new ultrasonic
CT InSpec real-time device, for example, monitors both ovality and wall thickness (above).6
Wall thickness is directly related to tubular
burst strength, remaining string life, string
abrasion and erosion effects and critical
load-conveyance effects.
Oileld Review
Friction pressure
in coiled tubing
Particle transport
Spring 2004
Additional constraints ensure safe, problemfree cleanouts. The solids bed is not allowed to
exceed a specied height that avoids drag on the
coiled tubing, higher friction pressures and stuck
pipe. In addition, the volume of solids that can
be lifted above the nozzle is limited. This helps
ensure that the coiled tubing can be pulled out
45
Scale
Tubing wall
0.75 mm
Sand particles
Limestone particles
Glass beads
46
Drift ring
Tubing wall
Jet nozzle
Rotating head
Scale
> Mechanical scale-removal. The Jet Blaster tool consists of a rotating head
with opposing tangentially offset nozzles and a drift ring. The jet nozzles
remove scale from tubular walls while the drift ring allows the tool to advance
only after the internal tubular diameter is clean. Blaster services include three
mechanical scale-removal techniques: the Jet Blaster method uses
nonabrasive uids for removal of soft scales; the Scale Blaster method adds
the abrasive Sterling Beads system to remove hard scales; and the Bridge
Blaster method uses abrasive jetting and a powered milling head when
tubulars are completely plugged.
to the bottom of wells and blocked the perforations, requiring additional cleanout operations.
Schlumberger Blaster services use high-pressure jetting technology to remove downhole
deposits (above). This specialized system uses
solvents or special abrasive material to remove
scale without damaging tubulars or completion equipment, such as profile nipples,
subsurface safety valves or sliding sleeves. This
technology comprises three techniquesJet
Blaster, Scale Blaster and Bridge Blaster scaleremoval services.
Jet Blaster techniques use conventional
fluids or scale-dissolving solvents with a radial
jetting tool. The Scale Blaster approach uses the
Sterling Beads safe hard scale-removal system
developed at Schlumberger Cambridge Research
in England to remove hard, inert scales (left).
By properly selecting particle hardness, shape,
size, density and fracture toughness, researchers
achieved unique properties that remove scale
without damaging steel surfaces.
The Bridge Blaster technique combines a
positive displacement motor (PDM) and a 158-in.
tapered mill with the radial jetting tool and the
Sterling Beads system modied to prevent PDM
clogging. This system drills scale deposits or
cement plugs through tubing without damaging
wellbore equipment. The small tapered mill
partially removes the scale deposit while jetting
removes the rest. Removal rates are higher than
with conventional milling.
Oileld Review
Spring 2004
Packer
Pay zone 1
Fracture
Sand plug 2
Pay zone 2
Sand plug 1
Pay zone 3
Straddle-isolation tool
Pay zone 1
Fracture
Pay zone 2
Pay zone 3
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Pressure-balance section
Equalizing port
J-type latch
Drag blocks
Equalizing port
High-pressure elastomer
element and anti-extrusion
device
Adjustable shear-release
system
48
Oileld Review
Straddle
bypass
Top pressure
element
Treatment
sub
Bottom
pressure
element
Flowbackcontrol
element
Straddle
bypass
Multicycle
dump
valve
Straddle
sections
Dump port
> Selective stimulation with dual-seal straddle isolation tools. The OptiSTIM ST
straddle packer for coiled tubing or jointed pipe comprises a straddle bypass,
a straddle extension assembly with ported treatment sub and a multicycle
dump valve. This conguration facilitates effective sequential placement of
chemical, acid or proppant fracture treatments.
Spring 2004
49
50
Signaler
Processor
Signal booster
Casing collar
locator (CCL)
> Depth control. The wireless DepthLOG CT tool uses a traditional casing
collar locator (CCL) to detect magnetic variations at jointed casing collars
(left). Hydraulic pressure-pulse telemetry transmits data to the surface,
eliminating the need for coiled tubing with an electric line installed. Flowthrough capability provides an unobstructed coiled tubing string. A signal
booster can be added for depth correlation inside casing sizes larger than
7 in. (right).
Oileld Review
6
1
7
5
> Coiled tubing drilling on the Alaskan North Slope. A typical CT drilling
reentry at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, USA, consists of running an expandable
whipstock through existing 412-in. tubing and setting it at the kickoff depth in
7-in. casing (1), squeezing existing perforations by running CT to the top of the
whipstock and pumping cement (2), milling out prole nipples at the end of the
tubing and cutting a 3.8-in. casing-exit window (3), drilling a 334-in. sidetrack
hole (4), deploying a 238-in. liner on CT without a hanger in the lower tailpipe
(5), cementing the liner to 200 ft [60 m] above the casing-exit window (6), and
perforating the liner using hydraulically activated guns run on CT (7).
Spring 2004
commercially viable:
new wells to about 3,000 ft [914 m]
safety-sensitive operations
through-tubing reentry
underbalanced drilling.
CT drilling is ideally suited for underbalanced
drilling. In depleted zones, drilling underbalanced minimizes formation damage and
differential BHA sticking.15
Schlumberger drills and completes more than
100 wells per year with coiled tubing. The majority
of vertical CT drilling activity occurs in Venezuela
where 30 to 60 surface-hole sections are drilled
and cased each year. A self-contained CT drilling
barge, designed specifically to minimize the
impact of encountering shallow gas zones in Lake
Maracaibo, was commissioned in 1995.
Typically, this barge drills a 1214-in. hole 1,000
to 1,800 ft [300 to 550 m] deep. Specialized
equipment runs 958-in. casing, executes cementing operations and conducts wireline logging.
Schlumberger has constructed more than
275 vertical wells in Lake Maracaibo, each
requiring an average of four days to complete.
Operations on the North Slope of Alaska,
including the Prudhoe Bay eld, represent one of
the most successful CT drilling applications of
the past decade, clearly demonstrating CT efficiencies and economics. Two fit-for-purpose
hybrid CT drilling units operate continuously on
the North Slope, each capable of drilling and
completing three wells per month. A typical
North Slope CT drilling well involves a directional through-tubing reentry to access bypassed
oil (left). To date, more than 400 North
Slope wells have been reentered using CT
drilling technology.16
14. Boumali A and Wilson S: Treating the Tough Ones,
Harts E&P 76, no. 12 (December 2003): 5759.
15. Ackers M, Doremus D and Newman K: An Early Look
at Coiled-Tubing Drilling, Oileld Review 4, no. 3
(July 1992): 4551.
Byrom TG: Coiled-Tubing Drilling in Perspective,
Journal of Petroleum Technology 51, no. 6 (June 1999):
5761.
16. Gantt LL, Oba EM, Leising L, Stagg T, Stanley M, Walker E
and Walker R: Coiled Tubing Drilling on the Alaskan
North Slope, Oileld Review 10, no. 2 (Summer 1998):
2035.
McCarty TM, Stanley MJ and Gantt LL: Coiled Tubing
Drilling: Continued Performance Improvement in Alaska,
paper SPE 67824, presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling
Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 27
March 1, 2001.
Luht R and Tinkham S: Selection Crucial to CT Drilling
Success, The American Oil & Gas Reporter 46, no. 3
(March 2003): 116123.
51
Lateral 2
5-in. tubing
Lekhwair
Lateral 3
> Coiled tubing drilling in the Middle East. BP-Sharjah initiated reentry CT drilling
operations from existing wells of the Sajaa gas eld in the United Arab Emirates
(left). The drilling conguration consisted of 238-in. coiled tubing and a 3-in. BHA with
a 4.1-in. bit. An inatable whipstock was set above the perforations to mill a window
in the 7-in. casing of the main wellbore. Plans called for at least three horizontal
sidetracks in each well (right).
52
Oileld Review
1.
2.
3.
4.
Spring 2004
> Multilateral well interventions. The corrosion-resistant Discovery MLT system includes
a controllable orienting device to rotate the tool and an adjustable bent sub. Wellbore
junctions are located by moving the tool, which is actuated by uid ow, up and down
across a target interval (1). When uid ow exceeds a threshold rate, the lower tool
section changes from straight to bent (2). Each actuation cycle rotates the tool 30,
producing a surface-displayed pressure prole that conrms lateral orientation (3). This
system allows coiled tubing to selectively access any type of lateral for well cleanouts,
logging, perforating, stimulation and cementing (4).
20. Wright HJ, Aristianto B, Gan RG, Jenie JR and Kyaw HA:
Coiled-Tubing Drilling Reentry: Case History from
East Kalimantan, paper SPE 89632, presented at the
SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and Exhibition,
Houston, Texas, USA, March 2324, 2004.
21. Multilateral wells are classied according to denitions
established during the Technical Advancement of
Multilaterals (TAML) Forum held in Aberdeen, Scotland,
July 26, 1999 and recently updated in a July 2002
proposal that was approved in 2003. These standards
characterize wellbore junctions as Level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6
based on degree of mechanical complexity, connectivity
and hydraulic isolation.
53
7,688 ft MD
8,300 ft MD
H-IA
H-IA
H-IIA
H-IIB
H-IIB
10,152 ft MD
H-IIC
9,098 ft MD
H-IIC
9,255 ft MD
H-IID
H-IID
9,255 ft MD
H-IIE
H-IIE
H-IIF
9 58-in. casing at 7,870 ft MD
> Selective lateral access. In the UAE Upper Zakum eld, ZADCO needed to reenter two multilateral
wells. The rst well, drilled and completed with dual tubing, produced from four openhole laterals (left).
The short string produced from a lateral in Reservoir H-IA, and the long string produced separate
laterals in Reservoirs H-IIB, H-IIC and H-IID. ZADCO selectively acidized the H-IIC lateral using a
Discovery MLT tool. The second well also had dual tubing (right). The short string produced a horizontal
lateral in Reservoir H-IA. The long string produced from horizontal laterals in the H-IIC, H-IID, H-IIE and
H-IIF reservoirs. ZADCO selectively acidized the H-IID and H-IIE laterals with a Discovery MLT tool.
54
practice also created large voids that could collapse and prevent future access to the lateral or
restrict production. ZADCO successfully acidized
openhole laterals in two offshore wells using
Discovery MLT technology.
In the rst use of this tool, ZADCO performed
a selective treatment in one lateral of a well with
four branches. In a second well, two of the ve
laterals were treated individually. These jobs
took seven daysfour days of operations and
three days of mobilization, demobilization and
weather delaysand cost 65% less than using a
drilling rig. Production increased by 11% in the
rst well and 30% in the second well, which paid
back the investment in two days.
Oileld Review
Motors
Friction Deployed
power cable
9 58-in. casing
Special discharge head
Pump
Shrouded intake
Protector with UMB
5.5-in. x 15-ft shrouded tube
2 38-in. coiled tubing
Fluted centralizer
7-in. retrievable packer
> Articial-lift deployment. REDACoil CT-deployed electrical submersible pump (ESP) systems with
internal power cables reduce installation expenses and production downtime associated with remote
or high-cost wells and offshore platforms where space and rig availability are limited.
Spring 2004
55
> Aerial view of coiled tubing drilling and completion operations in the Sajaa gas eld of the United
Arab Emirates.
56
[540,000 m3] of oil from the rst well and 2 million bbl [318,000 m 3 ] from the second. The
REDACoil system in Magpie Well 14 continues to
operate after more than 412 years.
24. Penny RC, Patterson JC, Stamey RC and Dwiggins JL:
Coiled Tubing and ESP Technology Improve Field
Evaluation Cost, paper SPE 38332, presented at the
SPE Western Regional Meeting, Long Beach, California,
USA, June 2527, 1997.
Patterson JC, Pursell JC and McHugh MD: A Coiled
Tubing Deployed Electric Submersible Pumping System
Enhance Field Development Costs, presented at the SPE
ESP Workshop, Houston, Texas, USA, April 2628, 2000.
25. Pastor G, Knoppe R and Shepler R: South China Sea Gas
Lifted Oil Well Conversion Utilizing Coil Tubing Electric
Submersible Pumping Systems, presented at the SPE
ESP Workshop, Houston, Texas, USA, April 2830, 1999.
26. Lode JE, Mller RE, Nesvik KT, Buchanan A and
Myklebust J: Further Developments for Coiled Tubing
Floater Operations, paper SPE 89623, presented at the
SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and Exhibition,
Houston, Texas, USA, March 2324, 2004.
Leising LJ, Ali AM, Young JR and Arciniegas OE:
Re-Enterable Through-Tubing Gravel-Pack System,
paper SPE 89524, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled
Tubing Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, USA,
March 2324, 2004.
27. Barclay C, Pellenbarg J, Tettero F, Pfeiffer J, Slater H,
Staal T, Stiles D, Tilling G and Whitney C: The Beginning
of the End: A Review of Abandonment and Decommissioning Practices, Oileld Review 13, no. 4 (Winter
2001/2002): 2841.
28. Barclay IS, Johnson CR, Staal TW, Choudhary S and
Al-Hamandani A: Utilizing Innovative Flexible Sealant
Technology in Rigless Plug and Abandonment, paper
SPE 89622, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing
Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, USA,
March 2324, 2004.
29. Tettero F, Barclay I and Staal T: Optimizing Integrated
Rigless Plug and Abandonment A 60 Well Case Study,
paper SPE 89636, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled
Tubing Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, USA,
March 2324, 2004.
Oileld Review
Spring 2004
57