SPE 89370 Successful Cementing in Medium Radius Sidetrack Wells; Niger Delta Experience

Peckins Osaze Osazuwa /BJ Services Company Nigeria Limited

Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2004 SPE/DOE Fourteenth Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A., 1721 April 2004. This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in a proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to a proposal of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The proposal must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

design issues, peculiar operational challenges and a review of the milestones achieved so far in the project.

Abstract With the plan to achieve an operator aspiration of 1.76 MMBOPD by year 2004, a medium radius horizontal sidetrack campaign project was initiated by Operator to provide 33 MBOPD. The project was planned to construct eighteen (18) wells of about 2000 bopd at an average cost of $1.5 million per well, thereby achieving lower Unit Technical Cost (UTC) of $3.2/barrel as well as maximise asset utilization of several brown fields in a particular land area. The total capital deployed by Operator was considerably lower ( 1/3 of current sidetrack well cost) than for similar sidetrack well activities within Niger Delta. The major objective was to reduce well cost by utilizing optimized medium radius technology in the construction phase of the well. This optimized technology which includes successful cement placement without remedial activities, would reduce cost elements like total well footage and equipment installation cost per well. The wells were horizontal with 12-45 deg/100ft dogleg severity. The cement job evaluation reports showed excellent cement sheath placement around the liner strings and there were no remedial squeeze jobs. A total of five wells have been drilled with good results which have had a high impact on well delivery and project execution philosophy for this Operator This paper will focus on the five case histories, enumerating the challenges involved in the planning and execution of the medium radius well cementation with emphasis on the slurry

Introduction The operator has an aspiration to deliver 350Mbopd from its land asset by end of year 2004. This is based on the countrys vision of producing 3.1million barrels of oil per day by the year 2004. However, the current oil generation activities on ground based on the recent development plan would not achieve the production target set by the country. This gave rise to the idea of exploring the existing close in wells for reserves. The horizontal sidetracks from existing wells, was conceived as an opportunity to develop reserves to meet the companies target. After a screening of the possible candidates for this campaign, most wells had 60% of their drainage points closed in for technical reasons. This translated into about 1.4MMMstb unaccessed reserves behind pipe. The challenge of unlocking these potentials behind the pipe is the ability of the brown fields to achieve production capacity that will spring the Operator to achieving its aspiration. Well Design Approach With the objective to reduce the Total and Unit Technical Cost of this project, several critical cost constituting areas were identified and steps to reduce their cost was also proposed. Well Equipment and Accessories; Use of old reusable equipment where possible, example is wellhead, tubing, existing locations and materials from excess stock items. Footage; Deploy efficient medium radius technology to reduce cost per foot. Repair works Get it right the first time cement jobs. Repair cement job will jeopardise the objective of the project. There were several hypothetical approaches to the well planning and design of the selected horizontal wells.

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Finally it was decided to employ four basic approaches, namely; The Standard Approach, The External Casing Packer approach, Opposing Lateral (Level 5) OLML and All-in-One (AIO) approach. On the five wells described in this paper, the Standard approach and the External Casing Packer approach were used. Standard Approach: In this scenario, a 7 hole is drilled out of an existing 9 5/8 casing to a defined landing depth. 5 liner is run to bottom and cemented in place. A 5 horizontal drain section is then drilled using a 4 X 5 bi-centered bit. The well is then completed using a completion tubing and 3 slotted liner run in a single trip run. External Casing Packer (ECP) Approach: A 6 1/8 hole is drilled to landing and then the horizontal drain section drilled to TD. Slotted liner or ESS, ECP and blank liners are then run on drill pipe to TD. The ESS is expanded if run in the hole, the blank liners are cemented, the drill pipes are laid down and then the well completed. The combination of ECP and ESS is anticipated to increase production by approximately 40% and reduce well cost by 30%. Opposing Lateral (OLM) Approach: This is a level 4 to 5 multilateral which would have opposing laterals drilled into the same sand horizon. The sand face completion would be ESS if technically feasible or applicable. This approach is expected to double the production. ALL-in-One Approach: A 6 1/8 hole is drilled to landing and then the horizontal drain section drilled to TD; slotted liners, ECP and blank liners are run with completion tubing and accessories to TD in one trip; the blank liners are then cemented in place. This provided huge benefits in term of cost reduction but was considered too risky operationally. After various well design challenge sessions, it was decided to go with the standard approach for the project. The completion approach was to run 3 slotted liners with an opportunity of running an ESS as a trial in one of the wells. Ten wells have been successfully cemented on this project. The wells were drilled and cemented in ascending order of complexity and with opportunities for building learnings into subsequent well cementing job planning and designs. For the purpose of this paper five wells will be reviewed. Namely well 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Wells 1 & 2 were constructed with the Standard Approach while wells 3,4 &5 were constructed using the ECP Approach.

Cementing Strategy Planning: The main demand on the cementing service contractor for this project was to provide a cost-effective system/package that will help the team achieve the set goal of a reduced Unit Technical Cost. To achieve this task, the cementing contractor must plan to provide a complete and permanent cement isolation that is void of remedial job(s). Mud removal process was critically considered in the planning and design phase of the cement jobs. There was a MATRIX set up that allowed a continuous back and forth flows of information between the mud engineer and the Cementing engineer. The drilling mud and the preflush system were fully reviewed with a view to achieving the desired parameters to enhance cement mechanical properties for good hydraulic seal throughout the life of the well. The cement slurry flushes were designed to be compatible and stable with the planned mud properties at surface and at BHCT. Slurry design was also very critical in the planning phase. To achieve the set parameters for the well cementation, conventional design would have required arrays of cementing chemicals to achieve the desired cement slurry parameters. However for this project, very few cost effective MULTIPURPOSE additives were used in designing the cement slurries and they exceeded the expectation of the team. Slurry stability and fluid loss control were paramount. In horizontal well cementation, slurry stability is very critical. The major indicators of slurry stability were properly engineered withing the API acceptable specification. Free water was zero for all slurries and the Sedimentation test (BP test) were carried out on each slurry. Cement placement technique was a big issue. There was need for a paradigm shift in order to achieve the goal of a cheaper system. In place of deploying expensive kick off tools to sidetrack the wells, properly designed cement plugs were used to initiate sidetrack on all the wells drilled so far. These sidetrack activities were successful and saved the team a lot of cost. The absence of a caliper log in the drilling phase was an issue with the ECP Approach, as the ESS section across the drain hole was exposed to cementing fluid dropping into the formation. The cement job was batch mixed in order to have a good control of the slurry volume and also to avoid cement fluid dropping into the drain hole section, as this will impair the formation and subsequently the production of the reserve.

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For the wells with the Standard Approach, centralization was an issue. In slim hole scenarios as found in this project, there was the school of thought that the liner string will not get to bottom with the proposed number of centralizer to achieve the minimum 67% stand off. Cementing engineering was focused on achieving local stand off across the identified zone, where zonal isolation was critical. Displacement rate/regime was also a critical issue in the cementing job planning. The limitation associated with the small HMCV cementing ports at the ECP provided a challenge in engineering a good displacement rate/regime for the cementing fluid system. However, all the cement jobs were planned with the preflushes at turbulent flow regime and the cement slurry at upper lamina flow. To ensure equipment failure occurrence was low during the project, contractors QA/QC procedures were followed and the cementing units and accessories routinely checked for completeness and fitness for each job.

section, on the other hand, the contractor must not pump reduced volume in order not to expose the water sand zone above. To tackle this challenge, prior to cement job, cement contractor pumped a self-degrading gel system that does not impair the formation. This gel system served as a secondary barrier for the ECP and also prevented excess cement from entering the pay zone during cementation. Based on the predicted well activity time breakdown, the gel system was designed to self degrade prior to the well completions phase. This way, rig NPT was avoided. Cementing the Depleted Zone: Two of the five wells in this paper had severe depletion problem as indicated in the formation pressure prognosis. One of the two wells had depleted sand zone of 0.39psi/ft above the zone of interest while the second well had depleted sand zone of 0.398 psi/ft above the target oil zone Although from experience the use of LCM has been a practical way of reducing the permeability of depleted sands. There were no mud losses during drilling as a result of the drilling mud weight. However, from the software job simulation, it showed that the depleted zones will not be able to withstand the dynamic hydrostatics of the cement fluid column during cementation. For some technical reasons, operator would not accept a proposed reduction in cement slurry weight. We had to find a way of reducing the permeability of the depleted zone prior to placement of cement slurry in the annulus. There was also the additional risk of plugging off the cement port of the ECP if LCM is used in the cementing fluid. These challenges were overcomed by the inclusion of medium size LCM material in the scavenger slurry ahead of the actual 7 liner cement slurry. This way, the preflush fluid ahead helped to improve the strength of the depleted zone prior to encountering the heavy weight cement slurry. The slurries were successfully pumped without plugging the cementing port throat. Activity Management: As a result of the very low budget that was allocated per well for this project, alot of demand was placed on contractors job quality implementatation strategy. Especially the ability of the various contractors to manage their activities. Payment of equipment rentals and standby rates would not be entertained by operator. There was a great need to mitigate the risk / consequences associated with bad management of activities. To tackle this challenge, contractor dedicated an engineer at operators outfit, for the project. The engineers responsibility was to get involved in all the planning and decision making

CEMENTING CHALLENGES Cementing the ECP wells: The ECP were run in tandem to the slotted liner or the ESS string as the case may be. The ECP were located just above the zone of interest with the upper blank liner straddling across the water bearing sand above. A good zonal isolation becomes very critical, as bad cement job will result in early water production that will jeopardise the production and ultimately the goal of the project. Though the ECP provides zonal isolation, the effectiveness of ECP depends on the competence of the set zone and this cannot be guaranteed. Secondly the effectiveness of the ECP elements over a long period of time was not certain. From companies statistical record, ECP cementation has not been very successful in the past. Therefore the need for contractor to successfully isolate the water bearing sand above the ECP was the focus of the project team. In facing this challenge, good and effective horizontal well cementing practices were employed. All issues ranging from slurry design and testing, hole cleaning, mud conditioning, centralization program to cementation were critically reviewed and the best oil field practices were adhered to. Another challenge that was associated with the ECP cementation was the possibility of having cement in the drain section during cementation. The configuration of the ECP was such that excess cement could actually fall through into the drain section. In the absence of a caliper log during the drilling phase of the hole section, this was a major challenge. The cement contractor must not pump too much slurry in order not to have excess cement falling through into the drain

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SPE 89370

steps for all the well construction activities. That way contractor was able to achieve a good level of control over the activity schedules and time plots for its equipment available for the cement jobs.

Execution and Result Well 1 Well 1 was originally completed in 1980 as a TSD completion on the D2.0 and D5.0 reservoir with IGPs. The D5.0 reservoir quit production in 1982 while the D2.0 quit in 1983.With no further scope for development, the well was identified as a candidate for the campaign and was subsequently entered on the 1st of May 2002. The horizontal sidetrack was targeted at developing 2.5MMstb of oil on D7.0 at an initial offtake potential of 3,500 bopd. The existing completions tubing were retrieved and an 8.5 locomatic mill was run in hole to mill 96ft section of the Existing 9 5/8 casing. A 3 tubing stinger was ran in hole to successfully set 392ft of 16.0ppg cement plug from top of A-5 packer. A dedicated trip was then made to dress hard cement with 8 slick assembly from top of cement to window exit. Drilled and sidetracked well successfully from 9 5/8 casing. Drilled 7 hole dropping the angle from 22o/100ft to 16o/100ft and turning the Azimuth from 311 degs to 234 degs, Drilled to a horizontal landing point, where the 5 liner was set for cementation. Ran 2100ft of 5 K55 14ppf liner to setting depth with liner hung off in the 9 5/8 casing. 50bbls of a turbulent spacer was pumped using cement unit, dropped plug and pumped..bbls of cement slurry. Dropped bottom plug and displaced cement at 5bpm to achieve turbulence flow regime with spacer in the casing /hole annulus. The cement operation went smoothly and there was no NPT associated with the cementing operation. The final cement evaluation log (VDL/CBL) showed a very good result. (5 to 8 miliVolt) and there was no need for squeeze cement job. Well 2 Well 2 is a sidetrack from another well which was initially completed as TSM on the U1.0, D6.0 and D3.0 sands in 1976 without a gaslift on both strings. The U1.0 interval came on stream immediately with an initial net oil of 323 BOPD, water set in 1977 on choke 16/64 at gross rate of 437 BOPD and 4% BSW. In 1995, the water cut increased to about 65% on choke 28/64 with a corresponding decline in oil gross rate to 115BOPD. As a result of this, a zone change was effected in July 1995 to the D6.0W reservoir, but this has failed to produce. The D3.0 interval was beaned down progressively to reduce the water cut and it produced at gross rate of 274BOPD at 51% BSW before plugs were installed in the LS nas SS in rigless job in April 2002. In May 2003, a horizontal sidetrack operation was carried out on the well, and was completed as an SS oil producer on the D1.0W reservoir.

The horizontal sidetrack was targeted at developing 5.0MMstb of oil on D1.0/D1.3W at an initial offtake potential of 3,000 bopd. The old completion strings were retrieved and section milled 40ft of the 7 casing with an 8 locomatic mill tool. A 2 3/8 cement stinger assembly was made up and ran in hole to successfully set 322ft of 16.2ppg cement plug. Ran a 6 1/8 bit and accessories to top of hard cement plug, sidetracked well and drilled 6 1/8 hole to landing point. Made up 4 ESS, 4 Blank iner, ECP and hanger assembly and ran in hole to section TD. The expansion mandrel with a pre-installed 4.625 expansion cone was used to expand the ESS and spot the Clean plug gel Pulled out of hole to HMCV depth, circulated bottoms up to ensure no gel at the cement port. Then laid down expansion tool. Ran in hole with selective inflation cup tool on 3 HWDPs and DPs to TOL, circulated bottoms up. Tested cup tool to 2,500psi and ran in hole to locate ECP indicator sub with 10K overpull and straddled inflation cups across ECD. Inflated ECP to open ECO valve. Located the HMCV indicator, straddled cup across it, pressured up to rupture disc and established circulation. Mixed and pumped 30bbls of turbulent spacer and 17.bbls of 15.8ppg cement slurry and displaced at 5bpm. Last 1.5bbls was pumped at 2bpm. Picked up, shifted HMCV sleeve close and snapped out of the HMCV.No back flow. Opened dump valve and reverse out twice string content. Had 0.5bbls of cement returns on surface. Well 3 Well 3 was first completed in August 1970 as a TSD on D5.2 and D7.0 reservoirs. The D5.2 was produced to capacity before 1983, when the productivity became low and the well was shut in. Effort to flow the well by stimulating through tubing failed. The D7.0 interval produced satisfactorily till 1972 when it was sanded up. The D7.0 sand was later worked over and an IGP installed in 1974. Its production was erratic between 394 and 1200 bopd until it was shut in for a suspected communication between the D5.2 and the D7.0 in 1983. The well was shut in up till 20th April 2002 when a rig less perforation abandonment was carried out. The sidetracking of this well was planned at developing 2.0 MMstb on D6.0 at an initial offtake potential of 2,500 bopd. The old completion tubings were first retrieved. A locomatic milling assembly was run in hole to mill 40ft of the 7 casing string. Ran in hole with stinger and set cement plug to 10ft above the window. Sidetrack was initiated and a 6 1/8 bit was used to drill the well at a build rate of 13 O/100ft to horizontal landing point and finally to well TD. A wiper trip run to carried out to evaluate hole condition. High viscous gel (BJs Clean plug system) was spotted in the drain hole to the top of the Expandable top connector to provide a back up base for the cement in case there is a by pass around the ECP elastomers and some cement dropping through the top during cementation.

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ESS / ECP assembly was ran on 3 Drill pipes to TD and hung off with SC-1R packer. The 4 ESS was then expanded to 5.97 using a 4.75 fixed cone. The selective inflation cup tool was then deployed on drill pipe to inflate the ECP with the drilling fluid. The water sand above was successfully cemented to provide zonal isolation. Cement job evaluation was excellent. The well was tested to 3,984bopd on bean 44/64 showing a 59% improvement over the prognosis of 2,500bopd. Well 4 In May 1973, well 4 was originally completed as a TSD oil producer on the D5.2 and D7.0 reservoirs. After the initial completions of the D5.2 interval, it produced till 1980 before it started producing sand. The interval was consolidated with sand in 1986 and it produced satisfactorily until 1992 when the BSW rose to 50%. Due to productivity rate as low as 70 bopd in 1997 and a cumulative oil production of 2.7 MMstb, the well was closed in. The D7.0 completion history shows that sand production has been a major issue. Through tubing remedial sand consolidation jobs on this interval has not been successful. In October 1994, the production finally quit due to excessive sand production and increased water cut which reduced the cumulative production to 6.8 MMstb. The horizontal sidetrack was targeted at developing 2.0MMstb on the D5.0 at an initial offtake potential of 2,500 bopd. The completions tubing were first retrieved, then a locomatic milling assembly was ran in hole to mill 60ft section of the 9 5/8 casing. A 16.2ppg cement plug was set successfully to 10ft above the window. Sidetrack was initiated with the cement using a 7 bit. Drilled ahead at a build rate of 15 O/ 100ft to horizontal landing point where 5 liner was set. The drain hole of was drilled with 4 X 5 bit to TD. Deployed ESS / ECP/4 Blank liners assembly on 3 Drill pipes to TD and hung off with SC-1R packer. The 4 ESS was then expanded to 5.97 using a 4.75 fixed cone. The ECP was inflated with the drilling fluid using the selective inflation cup tool. The ECP separated the water sand above. This water sand was then cemented to provide zonal isolation. Cement job evaluation was excellent. The well was tested to 4,000bopd on bean 44/64 showing a 60% improvement over the prognosis of 2,500bopd. Well 5 Well 5 is a sidetrack from another well, it was initially completed with IGP on the D3.1 and D1.3 sands in 1971. The D3.1 interval produced a peak rate of 1,566 bopd, but was subsequently beaned down for high sand production. The interval was re entered and consolidated in 1973. However, the problem persisted and a check showed tubing plugged with epikote. On re entering in 1975, milled casing gravel pack was installed and the interval came on stream at 200 bopd. Water

production then set in and gradually increased to 70%. The interval was closed in 1993 for high water cut. The D1.3 interval came on stream in 1971 and produced at 400 bopd with increasing sand cut until it was re entered in 1975 and gravel packed. In May 1996, the BSW rose to 80% but it is currently at 67%. The interval was closed in for high water cut, prior to the sidetrack operation. The horizontal sidetrack was targeted at developing 2.3 MMstb of incremental oil on the D1.3 reservoir at an initial offtake rate of 2,000 bopd. The old completion strings were retrieved then an abandonment plug was set across the D1.3 and D3.1 intervals. 40ft of the existing 7 casing was section milled. Ran in hole with stinger to set 16.2ppg sidetrack cement plug. Ran 6 1/8 to dress cement and initiated sidetrack. Drilled 6 1/8 hole section through drain section to final TD. Deployed 4 ESS + ECP + 4 blank liner setting depth. The 4 ESS was expanded to 5.93. and BJ clean plug gel was spotted in the drain section as a secondary barrier. The ECP was inflated and the 4 blank X 6 1/8 annulus was successfully cement in place.

Results Saved 40% of total budget for well cementation Zero NPT with cementing operations Good cement evaluation reports, No Squeeze jobs. Lessons learnt Use of cost effective multipurpose chemicals was critical to cement cost savings. Cementing engineering simulations for ECDs and pressures across depleted zones and the liner hanger was important in determining the proper fluid displacement technique to achieve a good cement job. By carrying out a consistent and continuos cement activity reviews, you pass on learning points and achieve an incremental trend of improvement in your cementing jobs on a particular project. Conclusions Considering the performance indices, the horizontal sidetrack campaign has been both a technical and business success. Overcoming the expected and feared challenges in cementing the various approaches to the medium sidetrack wells, has boost the confidence of the Operator to explore more sidetrack well delivery schemes in the future. The good cementing job evaluation recorded so far on this campaign has also changed the Operator philosophy on horizontal sidetrack well cementing operation.

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Acknowledgement I want to thank the management of BJ Services company Nigeria Limited for their permission to submit this paper. I want to thank Messr Edemilson Souza, Messr Chike Uchendu for their support and advice. Reference: Reducing Well Delivery UTC using ESS with Medium Radius Technology on Sidetrack Wells. A. O. Oluwatosin, A.M. Adegborioye, S.O. Anya.

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