SPE-182205-MS

Pilot Installation of a Deep Gas Lift System Conveyed with Coiled Tubing
Catenary Method Increases Production of an Idle Well in Brunei

H. Md Tahir, Brunei Shell Petroleum; A. Whittaker and N. Shanmugam, Weatherford; W. R. Tapia, Schlumberger
Brunei

Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition held in Perth, Australia, 25-27 October 2016.

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
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Abstract
An oil well located offshore Southeast Asia, was completed with a dual string and after 20 years of
production the drawdown decreased significantly even with gas lift mandrels located in the long string,
480m (1575ft.) above the lowest producing zone. A deep gas lift (DGL) system was installed based on field
data that indicated the production could be improved by increasing the drawdown to optimize the gas lift
performance.
One of the main limitations was the depth of the production packer for the gas injection production. The
deep gas lift system was selected as it enables the gas injection point to be moved deeper into the well, which
in turn results in the ability to create a greater drawdown. The lowermost gas lift mandrel was straddled with
two packers and a crossflow assembly that provided dual flow paths in a single system as well as suspending
350m (1148ft.) of 1.5in coiled tubing (CT) that acted as the injection string to a predetermined depth.
The operation was the first of its kind in which the DGL system was conveyed with a CT Catenary
system on board a dynamically positioned vessel (DP2); this enabled flexibility in deployment of the long
bottomhole assemblies in small offshore platforms without the presence of a crane. For this operation,
modifications were required in the original CT equipment to maintain well integrity, providing double
barriers at every step of the installation. The DGL system was successfully and safely installed in a live
well in 3 days. After its installation, the production rate increased tremendously.
Similar operations will benefit from understanding the rationale in the selection of the solution, the
details of the installation with the CT catenary system, the barrier systems put in place during the open-hole
installation, the depth correlation methods and the lessons learned.

Introduction
Well X was drilled and completed as a dual 3-1/2in. × 3-1/2in. oil producer. The well was equipped with
gas lift mandrels immediately above the upper dual packer some 480m (1575ft.) above the lower producing
zone.
After some 20 years of operation the producing rate of the lower zone had declined significantly and this
situation prompted the Operator to perform some testing on it to ascertain the possibilities of improving
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production. A gradient survey indicated that there was a very low drawdown and that the well had greater
production capability. Alternatives were considered such as a workover with a rig, but this was deemed to
be economically unjustifiable and a method of deepening the gas injection point was sought.
After a detailed review of applicable methods it was decided to extend the depth of the gas lift injection
point by installing a Widepak™ Deep Gas Lift (DGL) system using CT in order to increase the drawdown
and optimize the production that could be obtained.
The well was located on a small offshore platform with a limited crane lifting capacity (5MT) and small
deck space where conventional CT operations could not be performed, the catenary system provided an
effective and commercially acceptable alternative. In this case, the CT injector head, the power pack with a
control cabin were the only items located on the platform deck, the balance of required equipment including
the CT reel and pumping system were set on a dynamically controlled (DP2) vessel nearby. To accommodate
this approach a slack is always maintained in the CT between the platform and the vessel (Figure 1, Ref.1)
using a slack-disconnect assembly located on the CT reel.

Figure 1—Coiled Tubing Caternary SystemReference: SPE-141234-MS (Coiled tubing Operations from a Work Boat)

After a detailed evaluation the position of the vessel around the platform gave more flexibility to convey
the tools on to the platform taking into account the weather conditions and the wave movement. The well
was successfully recompleted in a little over 3 days using the following installation stages.

Installation of a Bottomhole Plug

In order to provide a mechanical barrier during deployment of the lower and upper DGL assemblies, due to
the limitation of the available height of lubricators and the length of the tool string planned, an ER packer
with a pump out plug pinned to 1918psi was set at a measured depth of 1130m (3705 ft.) This was at a point
5m (16.4ft.) above the 2-7/8in x 2-3/8in swedge using a non-explosive setting tool run on slickline. The
objective of installing this plug was to provide a barrier throughout the operation which could eventually
be removed by pressure from surface once it was completed (Figure 2). The program called for the bottom
of the injection tailpipe assembly to be at a measured depth of 1115.2m (3659ft.). Once the packer and
plug had been installed an inflow test of 1000kpa (145psi) was performed to confirm that the plug was
set properly and holding pressure. With the anticipated hydrostatic pressure at the plug setting depth being
1318psi and the bottomhole pressure expected to be 587psi it was calculated that, once the DGL had been
installed, the pump out plug would require a surface pressure of 1918 – 1318+587 = 1187psi to shear and
make way for production.
SPE-182205-MS 3

Figure 2—Barriers in Place

Deployment of the Lower DGL Assembly with Injection Tube

The next stage of the operation was to deploy 342m (1122ft.) of 1-1/2in. CT injection string together with the
lower packer of the DGL straddle assembly, to a depth of 1114m (3655ft.), a point some 15.2m (50ft.) above
the ER packer and plug. The CT fatigue life and corrosion rate across the length deployed was simulated
during the planning stages of the operation (Figure 4). This assembly is illustrated in Figure 3, the main
components being from the bottom up:

• A PM-1 gas lift mandrel complete with dual check valves positioned to hold pressure from below.

• A dual flapper check valve to allow the tailpipe to be deployed with barriers in place.

• 342m (1122ft.) of 1-1/2 in. CT.

• A slotted joint to provide access for production in the 3-1/2in. x 1-1/2in. annulus to cross flow to
the 3-1/2in. tubing above the straddle.
• A polished bore receptacle (PBR) for the gas injection tube through which the lift gas is injected
down to the CT injection string.
• The lower Widepak™ LE packer assembly with upper seal bore.

Figure 3—Lower DGL Assembly

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Figure 4—CT Fatigue Life and Corrosion Rate

This assembly was made up to the hydraulic setting assembly (Figure 5) whose main components, reading
from bottom up were:

• The Widepak™ hydraulic setting tool assembly, which allows testing to be conducted against the
packer before releasing from it.
• A mechanical tubing nipple locator.

• A ball lock circulating sub.

• A swivel joint.

• A quick connect sub.

• A motor head assembly.

• An external CT connector made up to a 1-1/2in. CT spool to surface.

Figure 5—Toolstring to Deploy Lower DGL Assembly

The total length of this assembly was 355.63m (1166.81ft.) and it was to be run on 1-1/2" CT, but prior
to running it the long string was filled with brine. The positioning of this assembly was critical and so the
SPE-182205-MS 5

assembly was equipped with a mechanical nipple locator dressed with dogs to locate the sliding sleeve
positioned at 765m (2510ft.) which was used to correlate the position of the assembly. The assembly was
run to a depth of 1106m (3629ft.), some 15.2m (50ft.) above the ER plug setting depth and the long string
was circulated to brine. The assembly was then pulled to 1106m (3629ft.) and an inflow test was performed
to ensure that there were no leaks through the CT injection string or against the BOP at surface. The CT was
then cut, the CT connector made up, pull and pressure tested and the CT reel was swapped to the standard
string to deploy the lower DGL assembly. Once the sliding sleeve depth was confirmed, the assembly was
picked up to place the middle of the packer element at 769.9m. (2525.5ft.). The CT was pressured to 1000psi
initially to set the packer slips and setting was confirmed by slacking off 2000lbs below the running in hole
weight. The string was then picked up to 2000lbs overpull to compensate for the weight of the injection
string below and the pressure increased to 3400psi to set the packer element which was then tested to 400psi
before increasing the pressure to 4300psi to release the running tool from the lower packer assembly.

Verification of the Positioning of the Lower DGL and Target Depth for the
Upper DGL
Two runs were made with slick line first to run a 2.735 in. drift and then a gas lift mandrel kickover tool
with the objective of confirming that the lower Widepak™ LE packer was set below the gas lift mandrel as
required. Another purpose for running these tools was to ensure that the spacing of the upper Widepak™
LE packer would result in a total assembly that would straddle the gas lift mandrel. It was noted that there
was an offset of 2m (6.56ft.) with the slickline depth and taking this into account and correlating it with the
tubing nipple locator, it was concluded that the top of the packer was at 768.5m (2521.4ft.) and the middle
of the element was at 769.73m (2525.5ft.) as planned. It was decided to use two 2-3/8in. × 2.37m (9ft.) long
spacer pipes to place the upper packer at 761.8m (2499.6ft.).

Installation of the Upper DGL Assembly

With all the depths having been verified all that remained was to run the upper Widepak™ LE packer
assembly. This assembly contained the following components (Figure 6) from bottom up:

• A gas injection tube with a lower 1.5in. bonded seal assembly to seal into the top of the lower
injection CT
• A Widepak™ seal assembly to sting into and seal in the lower DGL seal bore.

• A crossflow diverter sub to direct flow from the well via the 3-1/2in x 1-1/2in. annulus to the
3-1/2in. tubing above the Widepak™ LE assembly and to direct lift gas from the A-Annulus to
1-1/2in CT injection string
• Two spacer tubes.

• The upper Widepak™ LE packer.

Figure 6—Upper DGL Assembly

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This was made up to the same hydraulic setting tool assembly used to run the lower Widepak™ LE
packer assembly, run into the 3-1/2in. tubing string and set with the middle of the packing element located
at 761.86m (2499.66 ft.). The seal assembly tagged the lower packer at 769.1m (2523.6ft.) and was stung
into the packer seal bore with 4000lbs of set down weight and an overpull of 3000lbs confirmed that it was
latched in place. The weight was then slacked off to 4000lbs below the running in weight to ensure full
engagement of the seal assembly.
The CT was first pressured up to 1000psi to set the packer slips and then picked up to its' hanging weight
to verify the setting and to assist in lifting the CT weight above the setting tool while it was stroking up. The
applied pressure was raised to 3400psi to fully set the packing element and tested down the CT x 3-1/2in.
long string annulus to 400psi to verify setting. The CT pressure was then raised to 4600psi to release the
setting tool and the CT running string was pulled out of the hole, leaving the full DGL sytem in the well.
Finally pressure was applied to the tubing to expel the pump out plug at 1260psi and open the well for
production.

Conclusion
In total the operation was executed as proposed and proved to be an effective and commercially acceptable
way of moving the point of gas injection further downhole from the lowermost gas lift mandrel and will
provide a good basis for any such problems in the future. The well was producing approximately 56bopd for
over a year prior to the installation. Once the installation was completed, gas lift was restarted at 6000kpa
(870psi) and drawdown was doubled so that within 6 hours oil and water were observed at surface and
once the resulting production had stabilized the oil production had increased to 289bopd, an increase of
over 500%. By the installation being performed using CT instead of a workover rig the Operator saved
approximately $5million and established a go-to method for future operations. In addition it was not
necessary to shut in any adjacent wells during the operation, an added advantage of the system, making the
installation possible with no effect on the field production.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their appreciation to Brunei Shell, Weatherford and Schlumberger for their
permission to publish this paper and their encouragement to do so.

Reference
1. "Coiled Tubing Operations from a Work Boat" by Long Nick (Brunei Shell Petroleum), Retna
Raj (Dowell Schlumberger Eastern Inc), Surasak Srisa-ard (Dowell Schlumberger Eastern Inc),
Son Hoang Nguyen (Dowell Schlumberger Eastern Inc) - SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well
Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA 5-6 April, 2011