Enhancing Offshore Coiled-Tubing

Interventions in Difficult Weather Conditions

A n operator requiring an offshore

coiled-tubing (CT) intervention
offshore Brunei in the South China Sea
compensated gangway. These limita-
tions made safe operation impossible
during monsoon season. Once the oper-
sel to maintain position and remain on
station at a safe distance adjacent to a
platform while performing intervention
encountered challenging monsoon ating rate was deemed limited, stimula- operations. Typically, a DP footprint ex-
weather conditions as well as tion (acidizing) activity was postponed, isted of the distance the vessel operated
limited and aging offshore facilities. thus affecting production results. How- from within a central axis. Each DP ves-
Innovative technologies from various ever, with new concepts of intervention, sel had referencing systems, depend-
applications, including a full-catenary the vessel was able to continue operating ing on the operator or end-user require-
CT system, a dynamic-positioning during rough sea conditions safely and ments. The vessel discussed in this work
(DP) vessel, a knuckle-boom crane, more efficiently. had three referencing systems to pro-
and a heave-compensated gangway, vide a redundancy so that the DP-­system
were combined to provide the New-Concept computer could ascertain the vessel’s
operator with a successful solution for Stimulation Vessel exact location as well as the magnitude
CT-intervention improvement. DP Vessel. The well-intervention/ and direction of environmental forces
stimulation vessel was newly built; it was affecting its position. If changes in posi-
equipped with a DP Class 2 system, which tion were detected by the computer on
Introduction included antiroll tanks and a computer- the basis of the parameters provided by
Operations were performed in the Da- ized ballast-control system. This vessel the referencing system, the DP comput-
russalam offshore waterflood oil field. was designed to operate year-round in er provided automatic command signals
The field’s average sea depth was ap- typical seasonal weather of southeast- to the propulsion systems to increase or
proximately 30 m of water, and the field ern Asian waters. In the coastal waters decrease thrust and direction heading
was approximately 70 km northeast of off Borneo Island, typically in Brunei of the thrusters (in the case of azimuth
Seria. A central field complex had living Darussalam, the significant wave height thrusters) until the desired set location
quarters for approximately 160 person- during the monsoon period from No- or direction was achieved. This was per-
nel, gas lift and compression facilities, vember to February was approximate- formed without operator intervention,
and water-injection facilities. Water- ly 3.5 m. During the remainder of the although a DP operator was fully aware
flooding was a significant factor sup- year, wave height was between 0.5 and of what the system was doing while he or
porting the hydrocarbon-production 2.5 m. However, during the occurrence she monitored the operation.
levels, and, to increase hydrocarbon pro- of storms offshore, the significant wave Another advantage of DP vessels
duction, water-injection improvements height could reach 3.5 to 4.0 m. was that mooring anchors would not
were required. DP vessels were capable of respond- be required to maintain the vessel po-
During monsoon season, the con- ing to dramatically changing weather sition;  this removed the requirement
ventional well-intervention vessel had conditions by helping ensure that the for anchor-handling/towing vessels re-
a limited operating envelope because it DP system interpreted environmental quired to  lay mooring anchors. Gener-
was unable to hold in a rough sea posi- data and allowed the operator to hold ally, DP vessels  were faster and safer
tion and lacked emergency-disconnect or change the vessel’s position accord- when approaching  offshore platforms
CT and hydraulics-hose systems and a ingly. This capability allowed the ves- and well jackets.
The vessel discussed had four DP-
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of referencing systems (each operating on a
paper OTC 24693, “Enhancing the Operational Envelope for Offshore Coiled-Tubing different principle) for helping to ensure
that, should any issues with a particular
Interventions To Be Performed in Monsoon Season,” by Reawat Wattanasuwankorn,
type of referencing system arise, they
Franklin Hammer, and Richard Christieson, Halliburton—Boots & Coots, and
would not negatively affect the rest of
Yan Song and Nick Long, Brunei Shell Petroleum Company, prepared for the 2014 the referencing systems. These systems
Offshore Technology Conference Asia, Kuala Lumpur, 25–28 March. The paper has included a dynamic global-positioning
not been peer reviewed. system, a laser-­scanning system, a high-
precision acoustic-positioning system,
Copyright 2014 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. and a radar-wave location-­determination

The complete paper is available for purchase at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

80 JPT • JUNE 2014

CT24693.indd 80 5/15/14 12:35 PM


Fig. 1—Knuckle-boom crane lifting
CT equipment onto the offshore
platform. The knuckle-boom-crane
design provided better operational
flexibility during the rig-up.
system. (For detailed descriptions of
each of these systems, please see the
complete paper.)
Knuckle-Boom Crane. This type of
crane was used for lifting the CT equip-
ment required on the platform for full-
catenary operations (Fig. 1).
Auto-Compensated Gangway. This sys-
tem was a vessel-based, self-­stabilizing
platform that actively compensated for
all vessel motion to provide safe off-
shore access to the platforms. The sys-
tem helped reduce gangway rig-up time,
eliminate potential hazards from transfer
by boat, and reduce operating downtime
caused by environmental conditions.
The auto-compensated-gangway
platform actively compensated wave-­
induced motions of the vessel in six de-
grees of freedom by individually actu-
ating each of its six hydraulic cylinders.
Also, a flexible telescoping access bridge
(gangway) was installed on top of the
auto-compensated gangway platform to
passively compensate for any remaining
motion and extend the gangway to the
landing position.
To transfer personnel, the gangway
was lowered to the vessel deck, and per-
sonnel were transferred to the gangway
platform. The operator then adjusted the
gangway platform to the required height
and pitch and extended the telescoping
gangway to the landing area. The end
of the telescoping gangway maintained
a contact force on the landing structure
82
CT24693.indd 82
Fig. 2—ISO lock securing the corner
block to the mounting section, lock
handle, and profile that connects to
the ISO-lock lower mounting section.
at all times. The gangway operator then
signaled that it was safe for an individ-
ual to cross the gangway. Once all per-
sonnel were transferred, the telescop-
ing gangway was retracted and stowed
on the vessel.
Emergency evacuation drills, in-
cluding stretcher cases, were performed
and included in the vessel’s emergency-
response plans.
CT and Pumping Unit With Full-­
Catenary System. The stimulation ves-
sel was originally designed to minimize
the quantity of CT equipment trans-
ferred onto the production platforms,
allowing work to be performed on small-
er platforms with limited deck space, re-
ducing rig-up time and lifting hazards,
and avoiding overloading of the platform
structure. An added safety benefit was
that, because no engine-operated equip-
ment was placed on the platform, a po-
tential ignition source was eliminated.
CT, Nitrogen, and Pumping Equip-
ment. A complete set of CT, nitrogen,
pumping, and acid-blending equipment
was installed on the vessel to provide all
CT with well-intervention capabilities.
To further reduce the number of lifts to
the platforms, a redesigned lifting frame
was built that allowed the injector and
injector-jacking frame to be lifted as one
unit. The single-lift design saves vessel
deck space. A subbase with International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)
locks was added to the injector-jacking
frame to secure it to the vessel during
transport. The subbase ISO locks were
also the attachment points for the cast-
ers used for positioning the injector once
on the platform. A support was designed
Fig. 3—The ISO-lock lower mounting
section was welded to the vessel
deck before vessel operation.
Fig. 4—ISO lock assembled. ISO
blocks were built into all equipment-
support frames.
to be positioned between the injector
frame and injector-jacking frame to alle-
viate some of the weight from the injec-
tor while in transport mode. The lifting
frame was removed once the injector was
on the platform.
Equipment Sea Fastening. On the stim-
ulation vessel, ISO locks were used to se-
cure all equipment to the vessel deck in-
stead of using traditional methods such
as chain and boomers or welding equip-
ment. Because some of the equipment
had the same footprint area, using ISO
locks provided more flexibility with re-
spect to equipment placement and chan-
geout in the event that repairs were re-
quired. The empty raw-acid tanks and
liquid-nitrogen tanks were easily re-
placed with full tanks between jobs
using this system. Most of the equip-
ment used on the vessel had built-in ISO
blocks. For equipment without built-in
ISO locks, subframes were added. The
ISO lock system consisted of the ISO
blocks, lock, and lower mounting sec-
tion. The ISO locks worked by installing
the lock into the lower mounting section
welded to the deck. Next, the equipment
with ISO blocks was positioned onto the
JPT • JUNE 2014
5/19/14 9:27 AM
 lock, and the lever was turned, locking
the equipment to the deck. The lower-
mounting-section ISO-lock welds  were
all magnetic-­particle inspected before
operation of the stimulation vessel.
ISO locks have long been used in the
shipping-­container industry and provide
a safe and secure method of attaching
equipment (Figs. 2 through 4).
The ISO blocks provided an addi-
tional benefit as an attachment point
for hydraulic-lift casters when moving
the lifting frame onto the platform deck.
Once the casters were installed, a hy-
draulic hand pump was used to raise the
injector-­jacking frame off the deck, al-
lowing easier movement.
Full-Catenary System. The system was
designed so that the CT power pack,
control cabin, and pumping and mix-
ing equipment remained on the ves-
sel. Only the CT injector, tubing guide,
and pressure-­control equipment were
JPT • JUNE 2014
CT24693.indd 83
lifted to the platform. Additional flow-
back equipment could be positioned on
the platform, depending on the job re-
quirements. Two video cameras were
installed on the platform. The display
monitor located in the control cabin al-
lowed the CT operator to observe what
occurred on the platform at all times. An
emergency-­disconnect system also ex-
isted that could be activated if the vessel
needed to pull away from the platform
during an emergency.
All hoses from the platform were
equipped with recovery slings, which al-
lowed quick retrieval so that operation
could be resumed in a short time peri-
od. A Koomey unit was also placed onto
the platform to operate the safety blow-
out preventer (BOP) in the event that
an emergency disconnect from the plat-
form was required.
Well Control. Once the CT was cut at
the reel and the vessel pulled away, well
control was maintained by means of
external barriers, the BOP and Koom-
ey system, internal barriers, and the
double-­flapper check valves in the CT
string. Once the conditions allowed the
resumption of CT and stimulation activi-
ties, the CT could  be rejoined by use of
double-ended connectors. All hydraulic
hoses could be retrieved and reconnect-
ed for operations.
Job Results
Throughout the 4 months that the
vessel was used in the field, 28 acid-­
stimulation  and well-intervention
operations were performed with a
100% operational success rate. The
high-­priority  work on the injection
wells  helped achieve greater injectivi-
ty than the operator expected. The op-
erator has applied the lessons learned
using the enhanced concepts trialed dur-
ing this work period to a new interven-
tion vessel. JPT
83
5/19/14 7:02 AM