C E M E N T I N G T E C H N O L O G Y
A ONE-TRIP EXTERNAL-CASING-PACKER
CEMENT-INFLATION AND
STAGE-CEMENTING SYSTEM
A primary concern in horizontal drilling is
wellbore isolation to prevent unwanted liquid
or gas from choking off production from the
desired production interval. The two main
areas of the wellbore that require isolation are
the horizontal lateral and the build section. In
early horizontal wells, if the lateral section
required isolation, a standard cement job was
performed and the lateral perforated. If no iso-
lation was required, the lateral was completed
as an open hole or with continuous sections
of slotted pipe, preperforated pipe, or some
form of production screen. A standard cement
job in the lateral section provided limited iso-
lation because of difficulty in achieving ade-
quate mud displacement.
The full-length paper describes a new,
integrated system that allows the production
liner to be run into the wellbore and a liner-
top hanger system set, selective cement infla-
tion of multiple external casing packers
(ECPs) at target locations, and cementing of
the radial section of the production liner.
L ATERAL ISOL ATION
As fully cemented liners fell from favor, ECPs
gained acceptance as a means to isolate vari-
ous sections of the horizontal lateral. Sections
of slotted pipe, preperforated pipe, produc-
tion screens, or sliding sleeves were posi-
tioned between the ECPs. Fig. 1 shows a typ-
ical openhole completion with a slotted liner
or screen and ECPs positioned for zonal iso-
lation. Initially, ECPs were inflated with well-
bore fluid (mud or brine) because of low risk
and simplicity of installation. However, the
life expectancy of a fluid-inflated ECP is not
very well quantified and is subject to chang-
ing wellbore conditions. Many operators
came to rely on an ECP filled with a perma-
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
39345, Development of a One-Trip
ECP Cement-Inflation and Stage-
Cementing System for Openhole
Completions, by M.P. Coronado, SPE,
and M.J. Knebel, SPE, Baker Oil Tools,
originally presented at the 1998
IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Dallas,
36 March.
76
nent inflation fluid as a primary isolation
tool. Cement is the only inflation fluid that
can be classified as permanent. ECP-inflation
tools were developed to introduce cement
into the production liner safely. These tools
are run on an inner wash string inside the
production liner and enable positive location
of the ECP, enable isolation of the ECP-valve
system used to inject cement into the ECP,
and retain the inflation cement when moving
between ECPs.
In early openhole-completed wells, the
build section was isolated by placing an ECP
at the end of the build with a hydraulic stage-
cementing valve located above it. The ECP
isolated the openhole completion from the
build-section cement job. The ECP was inflat-
ed, then a cement job was performed through
the stage-cementing valve. This method
worked well until the use of cement-inflated
ECPs in the lateral became readily accepted.
Cement inflation in the lateral required
development of an inflation-tool system.
However, use of an inflation tool is incompati-
ble with standard stage-cementing equipment.
Because the stage-cementing tool and its plugs
must be drilled out before running the inflation
tool, debris can plug the inflation tool or the
liner. The sealing mechanism on some inflation
tools is opposed cups designed to seal on the
inside of the production liner. An improperly
drilled out stage-cementing valve can reduce
the inside diameter of the production liner and
95/8-in. CASING
41/2-in.x7-in. LINER HANGER
41/2-in. 11.6-LBM/FT LINER
7-in. CASING
41/2-in. ECP
81/2-in. OPEN HOLE
HPC INDICATING SUB
INDICATING SUB
Fig. 1Typical openhole completion with slotted liner or screen and ECPs positioned for
zonal isolation.
damage the sealing capability of the cups when
they are run through the cementing valve.
Inflation of an ECP can be hindered by the
presence of a sealed annulus above it. As the
ECP inflates, it displaces the annular fluid
behind it up the well. For complete inflation of
the ECP, all the annular fluid behind the ECP
must be displaced up the hole so, if the annu-
lus is sealed above the ECP, there is no place for
the fluid to go. To avoid these problems, the
build section of horizontal wells completed
with cement-inflated ECPs usually is isolated
with an ECP at the base of the build section
and a liner-top packer not with a cement job.
CEMENT-INFL ATION SYSTEM
An inflation tool conveyed on an inner
workstring inside the liner has been used
successfully since 1992 to inflate multiple
ECPs. The liner is conveyed on a drillpipe
workstring by use of a hydraulically released
liner-running tool with an inner washpipe
run inside the production liner. The inflation
tool is placed in the washpipe string and
positioned below the lowermost ECP when
run in the hole. A packoff system, such as a
slick stinger/packoff combination, is run
below the inflation tool to enable circulation
through the drillpipe to be displaced
through the bottom of the liner.
Once the liner is run to total depth, the hole
is conditioned as needed before the liner hang-
er is set. A plug or ball is circulated to a seat
41/2-in. ECP
41/2-in. ECP
41/2-in. SLOTTED
LINER OR SCREEN
INDICATING SUB
SLOTTED LINER OR
SOLID LINER
SCREEN INDICATING SUB
AUGUST 1998
 C E M E N T I N G
below the inflation tool to provide a temporary
plug in the workstring to initiate liner-hanger
setting. Applied pressure in the workstring
sets the liner hanger, releases the running tool
from the liner, and arms the locating mecha-
nism in the inflation tool so the tool can be
positioned across the ECPs for inflation. The
inflation tool is pulled up to a testing-profile
subassembly in the liner string and set, and the
workstring-to-liner seals are pressure tested to
ensure that the tool is pressure tight before any
inflation cement is pumped into the well.
After a successful pressure test, the
plug/ball is blown out to restore circulation
through the workstring, allowing the infla-
tion cement to be spotted into the inflation
tool. The inflation cement is isolated from
the mud system by a spacer fluid and wiper
plug run ahead of the slurry. The tail of the
inflation cement is isolated with a foam pig,
and spacer fluid is run behind the pig.
Once the plug lands, inflation of the lower-
most ECP begins. The locating mechanism of
the inflation tool (setdown dogs or tension col-
let) positions the inflation tool across the ECP-
valve system. The inflation-tool injection ports,
located between the annulus seals, are then
opened either by workstring setdown weight
or hydraulic pressure (Fig. 2). The valves in the
ECP are opened with applied pressure, and the
packer element is inflated with cement. Once
the element is fully inflated, the inflation tool is
closed, retaining the inflation cement in the
workstring, and released from the ECP. The
inflation tool is then picked up to the next ECP
and the process repeated.
An ECP may be run above the casing
shoe to provide hydraulic isolation of the
production-liner top. This packer is inflat-
ed with the inflation tool after the lateral-
isolation packers have been inflated. After
all ECPs have been inflated, excess cement
in the workstring is reverse circulated out
of the well before pulling the workstring.
NEW STAGE-CEMENTING VALVE
The next step in enhanced wellbore isolation
for openhole horizontal completions is
Fig. 2Inflation assembly with injection ports open across the lowermost ECP.
AUGUST 1998
T E C H N O L O G Y
annulus cementing around the production
liner in the build section. Previous systems
used a plug-actuated stage valve that
required a drillout trip to reopen the pro-
duction liner after the annulus-cementing
operation. A newly designed hydraulically
operated cementing valve enables cement to
be displaced through the workstring by use
of the inflation tool to isolate the valve. The
hydraulic port collar (HPC) is run in the
liner immediately above the ECP at the bot-
tom of the build section. This ECP creates an
annulus seal, which is required to provide a
base for the cement displaced into the annu-
lus through the HPC. The HPC is designed
to be opened hydraulically after the inflation
tool is positioned and set across the valve.
OPERATION OF THE HPC
After all ECPs in the wellbore have been inflat-
ed with cement, the inflation tool is positioned
across the HPC inlet ports. The workstring
contains the cement volume required to fill the
annulus to the desired height. The inflation-
tool injection ports are opened, allowing
hydraulic communication with the inside of
the HPC. Pressure applied to the workstring
shifts an internal locking piston in the valve
that deactivates the mechanical lock used to
prevent premature shifting of the closing
sleeve before the valve is opened. An increase
in workstring pressure then opens the valve to
the annulus against a spring-loaded check
valve inside the tool. After the cement volume
is displaced into the build section annulus,
workstring pressure is bled off, allowing the
check valve inside the HPC to close.
The inflation tool is released by picking up
the workstring, and the locating mechanism
is then landed into a profile in the inner clos-
ing sleeve of the HPC. Setdown weight is
applied to the workstring to shear the inner
sleeve down. Once completely down, exter-
nal seals on the closing sleeve isolate the
annulus ports in the HPC. The inner sleeve
also locks in the closed position to prevent
accidental opening of the valve during any
later wellbore-intervention operations. This
provides a redundant backflow sealing sys-
tem to ensure that cement does not enter the
liner. Any excess cement inside the work-
string is reverse circulated to the surface, and
the workstring, inner string, and inflation-
tool assembly are pulled from the well.
CURRENT SYSTEM LIMITATIONS
Annulus-cementing operations require that the
liner top be open to allow mud displacement
flow as the cement is placed in the annulus.
This requires that the liner-top packer be set
after the ECPs are inflated and cementing of
the build section is completed. In an operation
where ECPs are cement inflated and the build
section is to be cemented in one trip, hydraulic
considerations are critical. Existing equipment
requires that the annulus cement slurry follow
the inflation cement because a method to spot
the annulus cement to the tool after inflating
the packers is not currently available. If the
workstring hydraulic pressure caused by the
additional cement for annulus cementing is too
large, the ECPs may be inflated in an uncon-
trolled manner. There may be no surface indi-
cation that the packer is inflating if the hydro-
static pressure is greater than the ECP-valve
opening pressure. If the hydraulic pressure is
less than the pressure differential required to
open the ECP valves, normal ECP verification
methods are viable. A method is being
designed to spot the annulus cement to the
inflation tool after inflation of all ECPs.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Cementing the build section in hori-
zontal openhole completions provides an
isolation mechanism between the open
hole and upper wellbore.
2. Openhole completions with cement-
inflated ECPs and cemented build section can
be accomplished without drilling out the liner.
3. Cementing of the build section of a
horizontal or highly deviated wellbore
should be performed after all ECPs in the
lateral are inflated.
4. An ECP-inflation tool has been used
successfully to isolate a hydraulically
opened cementing valve during stage
cementing and to close the valve perma-
nently after the operation.
5. The annulus cement should be spotted
to the inflation tool after inflation of the
ECPs or the workstring fluid should be cir-
culated through the HPC ahead of the
cement slurry.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
77