Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A cultural shift is taking place in coiled tubing operations. No longer do CT crews rely
solely on surface measurements to infer downhole conditions. Using fiber optics and
downhole sensors, operators can monitor critical processes, fine-tune job parameters
and adapt to changing conditions as the job progresses.
Ibrahim H. Al-Arnaout Any maintenance or remedial workover is a Coiled tubing operations, however, are not
Saudi Aramco major event in the life of a well. In many cases, a without their problems. Since the technology’s
Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia workover requires the removal and replacement inception, CT crews have had to infer from
of the production tubing string after a workover surface measurements what was happening
George Brown rig has been placed on location and the well has downhole. Well service operations, by their very
Southampton, England
been killed. To preclude the production problems nature, unsettle the downhole environment of
and expense associated with these activities, any well. Mechanical events, chemical processes
Rex Burgos
Jon Christian many operators turn to coiled tubing (CT) and the movements of fluids inevitably cause
Doug Pipchuk technology to permit remedial work on live wells. downhole perturbations that result in pressure or
Hubertus Thomeer This technology permits tools and materials to be temperature changes. Except in rare instances
Sugar Land, Texas, USA deployed through existing production tubing or where costly permanent completions have been
casing while the well continues to produce. installed, the only options for monitoring
Juanih Ghani Coiled tubing fulfills three key needs that are downhole disturbances have been through
Muzily Musa vital for performing remedial work on live wells. surface pressure and rate measurements.
Khor Siak Foo First, any such operation requires a means of These measurements may be severely
Talisman Malaysia Ltd. providing a dynamic seal between the formation hampered or attenuated by interference that
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
pressure and the surface. Next, a continuous occurs between the initial disturbance event and
conduit that can be run into a well to allow fluid subsequent events. The biggest limitation,
Abul (Jamal) Jamaluddin
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia conveyance is needed. And finally, there must be however, is that surface measurements do not
a way to both run this conduit into the well and reflect any correlation between the disturbance
Jock Munro retrieve it under pressure. and the depth at which it occurred. With no
Aberdeen, Scotland Benefits of the CT approach include rapid direct measure of bottomhole parameters, the
mobilization and rig-up, fewer personnel, small operator could only deduce answers to serious
Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4. environmental footprint and reductions in time concerns pertaining to the fluid level in a well, or
Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger. associated with pipe handling while tripping in the depth of a packer when it inflated or wellbore
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Matt Garber
and John Lovell, Rosharon, Texas. and out of the hole. More importantly, the capa- pressures prior to perforating.
ACTive, Blaster, Decipher, Discovery MLT, eFire-CT, FMI, bility for continuous circulation allows an These issues are being addressed through the
iCenter and iCoil are marks of Schlumberger. operator to avoid the risk of formation damage use of optical fibers. In one application, a new
INCONEL is a mark of Special Metals Corporation.
inherent in killing a well. These advantages yield downhole monitoring system uses fiber-optic
significant cost savings for CT methods when strands inside a CT string to measure tempera-
compared with conventional workover operations. ture along the length of the wellbore while
providing telemetry between the surface and
24 Oilfield Review
Winter 2008/2009 25
downhole tools and sensors. Real-time pressure
Guide arch and temperature data, along with depth
(gooseneck)
correlations provided by the ACTive in-well live
performance system, enable CT crews and
CT string operators to measure downhole conditions and
Reel
Injector Power pack monitor events as they unfold.
Control cabin
head The downhole data provide quantitative
Stripper feedback on a well’s response to ongoing
BOP treatments. And because these downhole
measurements can be tied to depth, it is possible
to correlate them to existing petrophysical
measurements. The CT data can be further
> Coiled tubing unit. The most distinctive feature of the CTU is its reel, correlated to surface indicators and data from
which is manipulated by the CT crew from the control cabin. Some reels offset wells to verify treatment performance.
can carry more than 20,000 ft [6,100 m] of coiled tubing. Onsite interpretation software helps operators
evaluate subtle indicators that may alert them to
deviations from the job design. They can then
respond immediately to changing downhole
conditions by adjusting parameters to optimize
treatment while the CT string is still in the
wellbore and the treatment is underway.
This article briefly reviews CT systems and
describes general applications of this technology.
Case studies from Malaysia, Canada and Saudi
Arabia show how advances in CT measurements
and telemetry are helping operators to better
implement their downhole treatment programs.
Typical CT Applications
At the center of any CT surface operation is a
coiled tubing unit (CTU) from which a
continuous length of flexible steel pipe is
spooled. This pipe is kept on a large storage reel
during transport to the wellsite. As it is spooled
off the storage reel, it passes through a
gooseneck and is straightened just before it
enters the borehole. At the end of the operation,
the flexible pipe is pulled out of the well and
spooled back onto the reel (above left).
On the hub of the storage reel, a high-
pressure swivel joint enables pumping of
treatment fluids through the tubing, even while
the reel is rotating. An injector head pulls the
CT string off the spool and runs it into the
wellbore. From the CTU cabin, the CT operator
controls the hydraulically driven injector head
to regulate the movement and depth of the CT
string. A stripper assembly beneath the injector
head provides a dynamic seal around the tubing
string, which is key for running the CT string in
and out of live wells. A blowout preventer
(BOP) assembly between the stripper and
wellhead supplies secondary and contingency
> Inside the CTU control cabin. The cabin, located behind the reel, provides a commanding view of the pressure-control functions. The operation is
entire operation. From this vantage point, the CT operator controls all aspects of the coiled tubing monitored and coordinated from the CTU control
operation, including injector rate, pump pressure and downhole tool activation. Satellite communications cabin (left).
provide a real-time link to locations around the world.
26 Oilfield Review
Coiled tubing commonly has a diameter of
1 to 2 in. and may range in length from 2,000 to
more than 20,000 ft [610 to 6,100 m], depending
on spool size. Continuous lengths of tubing
obviate connecting one joint of pipe to the next
while tripping into the well. With no need to
make or break connections between joints, CT
Coiled tubing
permits continuous circulation while running in
or out of the hole. Continuously circulating Jetting nozzle Fill
during well treatment enhances flow control, and
this capability is a primary reason for using CT in
live-well interventions.
Completion or remedial operations increas-
ingly employ CT to improve well performance > Sand removal. Pressure from a surface pump forces fluid through a specially
through perforating, stimulation treatments or designed jetting nozzle to blast away sand, scale or other fill material.
removal of pipe scale and debris. The CT string
sometimes serves as a production string in
shallow gas wells and has even been utilized in
certain drilling and cementing operations. Its fluids to remove scale or clean downhole screens production by lowering hydrostatic pressure
strength and rigidity, combined with the and perforations. within the wellbore (below).
capability to circulate treatment fluids, offer Coiled tubing technology also extends to well After the CT string is run to depth, nitrogen
distinct advantages over wireline tools during perforating operations. Shooting holes through gas is pumped through the string and into the
workover operations.1 tubing and casing to produce a well is generally fluid column in the well. Nitrogen reduces the
Coiled tubing jobs can be grouped into three achieved by downhole explosives deployed in density of the hydrostatic column. Once the
broad categories: conveyance or placement of special perforation guns. In many cases, hydrostatic pressure of the fluid column drops
tools, conveyance or placement of fluids, and perforating guns are run into a well on wireline. below reservoir pressure, the well can begin to
completion operations. However, because wireline tools are dependent flow. In some cases, the same effect can be
Tool conveyance—Its strength and rigidity on gravity to reach the target zone, this approach gained by circulating a light liquid, such as
enable CT to push or pull equipment and tools may not be possible in horizontal or highly diesel, instead of nitrogen gas.
through highly deviated or horizontal wellbores deviated wells. And formation pressure can work
and restrictions, or even push obstructions against wireline tools in underbalanced wells,
beyond the zone of interest. Coiled tubing has pushing the guns uphole and kinking the cable or
proved capable of conveying tools downhole in a even sticking the guns.
wide range of assignments. For these wells, the guns can be conveyed
In zonal isolation applications, the operator downhole at the end of conventional jointed Nitrogen
must set plugs or packers to mechanically isolate tubing or coiled tubing. Either of these is stronger gas
a particular interval within a wellbore. Operators and more rigid than wireline, providing greater
frequently employ coiled tubing to convey and load capacity for the tubing, which translates into
place bridge plugs and mechanical, hydraulic or substantially longer gun strings and higher-angle
inflatable packers. deployments. Compared with jointed tubing, the
Cleanout operations require a means of CT option may offer advantages in speed when it
removing scale buildup or fill material that can comes to tripping in and out of the hole.
threaten production by restricting flow through Fluid conveyance—The capacity for
Hydrostatic pressure
tubing or casing.2 One approach is to run CT into circulating or injecting fluids makes CT especially
the well with a removal tool to wash away the suited for production kickoff, cleanout, cement-
material (above right). One example, the Blaster ing and stimulation applications. Reservoir
tool, is a rotating high-pressure jetting assembly Coiled tubing can play an important role in pressure
that forcefully sprays solvents, acids or abrasive initiating production in a well. When drilling or
workover fluids exert hydrostatic pressures that
1. For more on CT applications: Boumali A, Brady ME,
exceed formation pressure, reservoir fluids are
Ferdiansyah E, Kumar S, van Gisbergen S, Kavanagh T, > Nitrogen kickoff. Some wells need help to get
Ortiz AZ, Ortiz RA, Pandey A, Pipchuk D and Wilson S: prevented from entering the wellbore. Pumping started. Injecting nitrogen into the well reduces
“Coiled Tubing: Innovative Rigless Interventions,”
Oilfield Review 17, no. 4 (Winter 2005/2006): 29–41.
nitrogen through the CT string and into the fluid pressure imposed by completion or kill fluids, thus
2. Ali A, Blount CG, Hill S, Pokhriyal J, Weng X, Loveland MJ, column is a common method for kicking off permitting reservoir fluids to flow into the wellbore.
Mokhtar S, Pedota J, Rødsjø M, Rolovic R and Zhou W:
“Integrated Wellbore Cleanout Systems: Improving
Efficiency and Reducing Risk,” Oilfield Review 17, no. 2
(Summer 2005): 4–13.
Winter 2008/2009 27
water or diesel. The viscosity of gelled fluids fluid slippage causes the well to load up. The
Coiled tubing slows the fall of particles, making these fluids velocity string reduces the cross-sectional flow
highly effective in vertical and slightly deviated area of the tubular, thus yielding higher flow
wells. In some cases, adding nitrogen increases a velocity for a given production rate and allowing
fluid’s capacity to lift solids. fluids to be carried out of well.
Operators often select coiled tubing as a Coiled tubing may serve both as a conveyance
conduit for pumping cement downhole. It can be and a medium for patching production tubulars.
used in cement squeezes to seal perforations or A CT tubing patch can be positioned in a
casing leaks, for primary or secondary zonal completion to cover mechanical damage or
isolation and to set cement plugs for kickoff or erosion in tubing, to permanently shut off a
abandonment operations.3 The squeeze tech- sliding sleeve, or to isolate perforations. Packers
nique plugs casing leaks or existing perforations set at the top and bottom of the patch hold it in
by pumping specially designed cement slurry position and provide the seal between the
under pressure into these openings. A properly existing completion and CT string.
designed squeeze job causes the cement to fill the Coiled tubing is often used in completion
openings between the formation and the casing, programs to convey tools, fluids and materials.
forming a seal. Setting a cement plug involves Frequently, wells drilled in unconsolidated sands
Screen circulating the cement slurry into position using require the wire-mesh screen of a GP to prevent
CT and then withdrawing the CT string to a point sand production. Common GP installations
above the top of cement. A slight squeeze involve a washdown procedure.
pressure is applied if necessary, the cement is First, the CT string is run to the GP depth,
displaced by a tail slurry, and then the CT is then gravel is pumped through the coiled tubing.
Gravel pulled out of the hole. The CT string is then retrieved to surface and a
Compared to a standard workover rig, the GP screen assembly is attached (left). As the
CT approach to cementing offers a range cylindrical screen is run to the top of the gravel,
of advantages: fluid is pumped through the CT to agitate the
> Gravel-pack washdown. As the gravel-pack • There is no need to pull completion equipment. gravel and allow the screen to settle into place
screen is lowered toward the top of the gravel, • The operation can be conducted without kill- across from the perforations. The CT string is
surface pumps are activated. The pump rate is ing the well. then retrieved to surface. The GP keeps the sand
sufficient to fluidize the gravel without causing it
to circulate back into the tubing. While the • The cement can be placed accurately, thus in place while allowing formation fluids to flow.
pumps are active, the CT is slowly lowered into reducing contamination of the slurry. Should sanding begin later in the life of a non-GP
the gravel until the screen reaches its setting Treatment programs often use CT to convey well, coiled tubing offers a means of installing a
depth. A ball is pumped through the CT string to
stimulation fluids that boost production by through-tubing GP completion, in which GP
release the screen, and then the CT string is
pulled back to surface. restoring or improving the permeability of a screens are installed through the existing
reservoir. In a matrix treatment, fluids are production tubing to maintain the original
pumped into a reservoir at a pressure below the completion hardware.
The most common application for CT is the formation fracture threshold (see “Options for
cleanout and removal of sand or debris that fills High-Temperature Well Stimulation,” page 52). ACTive Sensors and Telemetry
a wellbore. Fill material can seriously impede This technique pushes the fluids through the The success of fill cleanouts, matrix stimulations,
production by reducing the flow of oil or gas. It open pore spaces without initiating a fracture. cementing jobs and other CT applications is
can also block the passage of slickline or wireline Completion operations—CT can facilitate closely linked with the ability to model and
tools during well operations or prevent downhole the installation of production tubing and evaluate the behavior of downhole parameters
sleeves and valves from opening or closing. associated completion equipment. In certain such as temperature and pressure. In other
Common sources of fill are sand or fine material wells, a string or section of CT remains in the applications such as perforating operations or
produced from the reservoir, proppant materials borehole as a permanent part of the completion. installation of packers, tubing patches or
used during hydraulic fracturing operations, CT completions can provide a low-cost approach whipstocks, the ability to accurately control
organic scale and debris from workovers. for prolonging the life of old wells. Typical depth is absolutely necessary. However, CT crews
Fill removal typically involves circulating a installations include velocity strings, tubing and operators often depend on indirect surface
cleanout fluid, such as water, brine or diesel, patches and through-tubing gravel packs (GPs). indicators to infer these critical parameters.
through a jet nozzle run on the end of the CT. As For example, in some wells operators choose For conventional CT jobs, downhole pressure
the fluids are circulated, they carry the debris to to permanently install CT as a velocity string is often estimated from surface readings of
surface through the annulus between the CT inside existing production tubing. This approach pressure at the pump or wellhead. However,
string and the completion tubing. Sometimes, an is used when a reduction in the gas-to-liquid subtle pressure changes can be attenuated
acid or solvent is pumped to chemically break ratio of produced fluids or a decrease in bottom- through thousands of feet of wellbore fluid before
down the fill before it is circulated out of the hole pressure causes a decline in production. A reaching surface. Thus, surface indicators may
wellbore. Gelled fluids may also be employed to decrease in fluid flow velocity results as gas sometimes be misleading.
provide greater solids-carrying capacity than content declines, and the ensuing increase in
28 Oilfield Review
Tool depth is another critical parameter that ACTive monitoring system incorporates sensors
may be subject to error or misinterpretation. For inside the BHA to measure temperature, annulus Coiled
tubing (CT)
instance, accurate placement of gun strings is pressure and CT pressure (right). Depth control
essential to the success of any perforating job. is handled by a fully configurable casing collar CT connector
Poor depth control could mean a missed target or locator, also carried in the BHA. The CCL is
poor contact with the hydrocarbon interval or— sensitive enough to detect collars at any logging CT head
even worse—perforating into a water zone. speed and is capable of detecting flush-joint
In the past, a dedicated tie-in run was connections at logging speeds of 15 ft/min
required for depth control. The CT was run in the [4.6 m/min]. This sensitivity has also helped
hole with a memory gamma ray and casing collar operators find other anomalies, such as
locator (GR-CCL) tool to identify a known perforations and casing defects.
reference point in the well. Typical reference Designated as the PTC (pressure,
Electronics
points included the bottom of the well, a known temperature, CCL), this BHA and associated
and sensors
restriction, a distinctive piece of completion telemetry system give operators access to
equipment or a short length of pipe called a pup fundamental information that might only be seen
joint. Reference points such as TD or a known in surface measurements many seconds later—
restriction were found by tagging, or gingerly or not at all. Measurements made downhole, at
setting down on them. Others, such as pup joints the point of application, help CT crews more
or completion intervals, were located by the accurately control depth and respond to
GR-CCL tool. Upon reaching the reference point, parameters as they change during the course of a
a mark was placed on the coiled tubing at surface treatment. The PTC assembly is made up
to flag the amount of tubing that had been beneath the CT head at the terminus of the CT Casing
spooled off the reel. The CT GR-CCL was then string. It can be run with other CT tools such as collar locator
pulled out of the hole, and perforating guns a perforating gun, multilateral locator tool,
were installed. inflatable packer and jetting tool, and it is
However, other factors enter into the depth- designed to withstand high tensile loads, torque
tie-in process: The length of the interval from the and pressure.
downhole correlation point to the pay zone must This tool has two distinct sections: the CT Crossover sub
be considered, along with a host of new details. head, which provides a CT connector while
Between the memory run and the perforating housing the termination for the optical fiber, and
run, a change in tools will be accompanied by a a power supply for electronic components.
significant change in bottomhole assembly The 21⁄8-in. [5.4-cm] OD BHA comes with a built-
(BHA) dimensions and weights, fluids, friction, in check valve. The minimum flow-through > ACTive BHA. Downhole temperature and
debris and coiled tubing deformation. Any one or restriction is 0.688 in. [1.7 cm], which allows pressure sensors, along with a casing collar
combination of factors could alter the placement ball-operated tools to be run below the fiber- locator, are key components of the ACTive BHA.
of the downhole measure point with regard to the optic sub. This assembly is only about 7 ft [2 m] long, and it is
made up between the CT head and the crossover
surface reference flag. Tubing-depth errors as A rugged high-bandwidth fiber-optic telemetry sub to provide measurements just above the
high as 0.3% were not uncommon.4 system is placed inside the CT string to convey downhole tools deployed by the CT string. Optical
The industry is quite aware of the potential PTC measurements to surface. Optical fiber fiber inside a protective metal carrier (inset )
for trouble caused by reliance on surface indica- offers a number of advantages over other hard- conveys data to the surface.
tors. The range of problems is wide and varied: wired transmission media. In contrast to electric
• packers and plugs that are set off depth as a wireline, glass fibers are used to carry signals in enclosed in a protective and flexible INCONEL
result of poor depth control the form of light pulses, resulting in faster steel carrier. The carrier and fibers are run
• perforating guns that are detonated off depth transmissions and immunity to electromagnetic through the CT reel to the head of the tool at the
because of poor depth control interference. Certain wavelengths of these light end of the CT string. The fiber-optic carrier, with
• guns that fail to fire owing to pressure discrep- pulses are sensitive to changes in temperature, an outer diameter of just 0.071 in. [1.8 mm], has
ancies—discovered only after coiled tubing and this characteristic is exploited to create an a negligible impact on the CT internal cross
has been retrieved to surface intrinsic sensor that measures temperatures section and so does not affect pumping rates. It
• wells that fail to perform as expected as a along the length of the fiber (see “Downhole is very lightweight, weighing nearly one-
result of insufficient underbalance prior Temperatures from Optical Fiber,” page 34). twentieth of an equivalent length of electric
to perforating. The ACTive configuration uses four optical
To address such issues, a special BHA was fibers: Two strands are dedicated to the PTC, one 3. Primary zonal isolation is typically established by an
inflatable packer, while secondary zonal isolation is
developed along with an advanced fiber-optic is used for measuring temperature, and one established subsequently, using cement.
telemetry system and a surface control system strand is set aside as a spare. These strands are 4. Rangel PD, Sorman I, Blount CG and Woods N: “Fiber-
Optic-Enabled Coiled-Tubing Operations on Alaska’s
for assessing downhole job performance. The North Slope,” paper SPE 106567, presented at the
SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention
Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA.
March 20–21, 2007.
Winter 2008/2009 29
4150
4162
4174
FROM SURFACE
Depth (m)
CCL CORRELATED
CT
HEAD
DEPTH
4186 CT HEAD
CT CORR DEPTH
CENTER
TOOL
END
4210 BLUE ITEMS REPRESENT DISTANCE
-100 -83 -67 -50 -33 -17 0 17 -33 50 67 83 100 BETWEEN TOOL LANDMARKS
CCL GRAY ITEMS ARE TOOL LANDMARKS
> CTU control cabin display. Computer monitors can pull up a variety of displays. Here, CCL data were used to create a depth-correlation plot. Raw CCL
data (red curve) are subsequently filtered (blue curve) to eliminate background noise. When filtered values exceed a specified threshold, they trigger a
response (green curve), which is used in correlation. In addition to plotting CCL data in real time, the user can enter casing collar depths from previous log
runs (blue dots), which serve as depth-correlation points.
monocable wireline. The nickel-chromium alloy and a router in the CTU control cabin. A ACTive Perforating in Malaysia
of the metal carrier has been tested extensively computer in the control cabin displays and Talisman Malaysia Ltd. (TML) operates more
and has withstood temperatures up to 300°F monitors downhole job parameters, and can than 130 wells in the South China Sea, where the
[149°C] and corrosive acid treatments or harsh transmit commands back to the communication company has gained extensive experience in
bottomhole conditions common to nitrogen module and then down to the tool (above and perforating using CT conveyance. To carry out a
kickoff or fill-cleanout jobs. This self-contained next page). Using the ACTive BHA, telemetry and CT perforation campaign, TML called for the
fiber-optic system imposes no additional control system, the operator can monitor annular ACTive system to ensure that perforations were
footprint on standard CT packages. pressure to confirm efficient cleanouts, measure shot on depth. TML set a maximum under-
A two-way communication module, mounted inflation- and differential-pressure across a balance that would not exceed a safe formation
behind a pressure bulkhead on the CT reel, packer, or confirm in real time that perforating drawdown to avoid the risk of collapsing the
receives data from the PTC sensors via the fiber- guns have detonated successfully. perforation tunnels.5 The company also
optic system. The communication module also These downhole measurement capabilities anticipated a savings in rig time achieved by
transmits commands downhole through the have been put to the test around the world, avoiding depth-tie-in runs.
tool’s fiber-optic bundle. At the surface, a com- across a wide range of applications.
5. Rae G, Yusof MB, Ghani J, Mokhtar S and Munro J:
munication bridge moves data securely and “Improved Method for Underbalanced Perforating
wirelessly between the communication module with Coiled Tubing in the South China Sea,” paper
SPE 113698, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing
and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition,
The Woodlands, Texas, April 1–2, 2008.
30 Oilfield Review
Decipher - [Bottom Hole Pressure Condition Indicators]
> Downhole pressure readings. This window is used to monitor downhole pressure conditions as they occur at different depths within a wellbore. ACTive
downhole pressure data can be combined with user input regarding fluid types to obtain feedback on downhole pressure conditions. Although this display
shows four zones, the operator can actually monitor up to six different depths at a time. The background of each dial changes color to represent real-time
pressure conditions seen at a particular zone. While the dial presents a snapshot in time, a bar graph below each dial displays pressure conditions during
the entire job. These readings can be easily referenced in real time during the job or can be saved for postjob analysis.
Talisman’s experience, along with perforating charges to bypass drilling damage and increase platforms was only about 16 metric tons and deck
records and production analysis, indicated that effective wellbore radius. space was limited.
the higher the underbalance, the more effective TML planned to perforate several intervals TML’s plan called for displacing wellbore fluid
the removal of perforation damage. However, in that were just 2 to 3 m [7 to 10 ft] in length. A with nitrogen to achieve the required under-
neighboring fields, guns had sanded in as a result high degree of depth accuracy and a means to balance of 1,000 psi in this 3,200-psi [22-MPa]
of excessive drawdown. After evaluating core and confirm gun detonation were therefore required. reservoir. As nitrogen pumping progressed,
log data, the TML reservoir group determined TML also wanted flexibility to use the CT for ACTive real-time bottomhole pressure measure-
that a 1,000-psi [6.9-MPa] initial underbalance other applications such as fill cleanout, if ments prompted the operator to displace an
would be sufficient to remove perforation necessary. Size and weight were also considera- additional 50 bbl [5.8 m3] of fluid from the well to
damage while avoiding failure of the perforation tions because the job was to be performed achieve the desired underbalance. Real-time
tunnels and fluid invasion beyond the new without a rig; crane capacity on most of the measurements following this additional displace-
perforations. The group chose deep-penetrating ment confirmed a bottomhole pressure of
Winter 2008/2009 31
3,900 310 downhole via the annulus to the eFire-CT
CT bottomhole Pressure pulse sequence
pressure Guns fired electronic firing head system. Upon receiving the
3,800 300
correct sequence of pulses, the eFire-CT system
3,700 290 detonated the guns. In the control cabin, the
operator saw positive confirmation that the guns
3,600 280
had fired as programmed: The ACTive sensor
Pressure, psi
32 Oilfield Review
in this openhole completion, and the packer
Bottomhole Temperature Annular Bottomhole Pressure
setting depth was correlated from this point. After
150 200 2,000 psi 5,000 the packer was placed at the oil/water interface, a
Total Pump Rate CT Bottomhole Pressure ball was dropped through the ACTive BHA to
0 bbl/min 1 2,000 psi 5,000
initiate setting and expansion of the packer.
Specially formulated cement slurry was pumped
on top of the packer during the third CT run (left).
To restart production, nitrogen pumped in the
hole displaced the kill fluids while CT crews moni-
tored downhole pressures in real time.
Using the ACTive isolation service, Saudi
Aramco was able to cut the operation time in
half. Water cut decreased from 3,000 bbl/d
[477 m3/d] to 1,500 bbl/d [239 m3/d], and oil
Time
Winter 2008/2009 33