THE SPE IMAGE LIBRARY SPE 16208

Application of Primary Cementing Principles, Rocky Mountains

and Texas

16208

Smink, D.E.,
Consultant;
Kundert, D.P.,
Halliburton Services and
Vacca, H.L.,
Schlumberger Well Services

SPE Members

Copyright 1987, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Production Operations

Symposium held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, March 8-10, 1987.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee

following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by
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author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been
reviewed by
the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by
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ABSTRACT

A review of 23 primary cementing jobs performed over an

11-year period in four states has shown that success is
improved when attention is directed to low-cost means of improving
displacement of drilling muds by cement slurries. The most
important factors appear to be placement of centralizers and
scratchers, conditioning of the drilling mud, and pipe movement
(reciprocation) while conditioning mud and while placing
cement. Confidence gained in the use of these methods has
resulted in a job technique wherein the top cementing plug is
pumped down with 10% acetic acid or other desired perforating
 THE SPE IMAGE LIBRARY SPE 16208

fluid followed by 2% KCl water. This technique permits lower

cost completions.

The theory and application of cement bond logging are

reviewed. Five example CBL-VDL logs are presented and
discussed. Several examples are shown under applied surface
pressure conditions. An example of a CBL-VDL log of an
offset well where the principles of primary cementing were not
observed is shown for comparison.

INTRODUCTION

A review of some of the literature reveals that there are at

least 15 factors affecting the displacement of a drilling mud
from the annulus of a well by a cement slurry. The completion
engineer employed by an independent operator to case and
complete a well has little or no control over some factors, such as
hole gauge, mud system, and deviation. He inherits a well that
is at its casing point and has been drilled under a footage or
turnkey contract. His job is to run the casing or liner and
obtain the best possible cement job with a minimum expenditure
of funds. This task often is undertaken at remote locations and
under adverse conditions.

Collection of the data used in this paper began in 1975, when

a concentrated effort to obtain better primary cementing results
was initiated. A review of 23 primary cementing jobs conducted
in three Rocky Mountain states and Texas has shown results
improve when using this job technique. Fig. 1 shows the
location of those wells completed in January 1975 through May
1986. Table 1 briefly describes each cementing job in the
chronologic order in which it was conducted. The wells vary
in depth from 4220 ft (I 286 m) to 13,470 ft (4106 m). All mud
systems were water based and varied in weight from 8.9 lb/gal
(1066 kg/M3) to 16.8 lb/gal (2013 kg/M3).

All cementing jobs, with one exception, employed 4 1/2-in.

(114.3-mm) or 5 1/2-in. (I 39.7-mm) casing in a nominal 7
7/8-in. (200-mm) borehole. The one exception is Well 6 on
Table 1. This well, directionally drilled to a bottomhole
location beneath one of the runways at the Corpus Christi (Texas)
International Airport, utilized a 5 1/2-in. (1 39.7-mm) linear in
an 8 1/2-in. (216-mm) borehole. All jobs, with the exception
of Well 6, utilized economical, conventional cement slurries and
the standard jet mixer method of mixing cement. The cement
slurry for Well 6 was a low-fluid loss, densified cement slurry
batch-mixed prior to pumping in the well. Only one well listed
on Table 1 required remedial squeeze cementing. That well (Well
7) developed a channel or vertical fracture from acid
stimulation of the completion interval. Fourteen of the wells were
hydraulically fractured and two required acid stimulation. The
remaining seven wells required no stimulation to yield
commercial production of oil or gas.

Minor mechanical difficulties were experienced on only three

wells (Wells 10, 13, and 14) during cementing operations. These
 THE SPE IMAGE LIBRARY SPE 16208

difficulties, however, did not preclude satisfactory cement jobs.

These three wells were completed without remedial cementing
operations.

REASONS FOR A GOOD PRIMARY CEMENT JOB

The advantages of obtaining a good primary cement job are

generally well known, but they are repeated here for
completeness:

1. Exclusion of undesirable water or gas from the completion

interval.

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