This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/EP2013/072699 filed 30 Oct. 2013 which designated the U.S. and claims priority to EP Patent Application No. 12190841.2 filed 31 Oct. 2012, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a barrier testing method for testing a production casing in a borehole. Furthermore, the invention relates to a completion system for oil production from a well and to an oil production facilitated by the method barrier testing method.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also referred to as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico oil or the Macondo blowout, is an oil spill which flowed unabated for three months in 2010. This blowout is considered one of the largest accidental marine oil spills in the history of the petroleum industry, and the spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil gush that resulted from the 20 Apr. 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig which drilled on the Macondo Prospect. It is guessed that one of the primary reasons for the cause of the blowout is a defective cement job during completion of the well. Cement is used to seal between a first tubular and a borehole wall and between the first tubular and the next tubular. The cement is injected, and for some reason, the cement settles in the intended space, and during this process, unwanted pockets are formed in the cement or the cement disappears in an unexpected fracture in the formation. If the cement does not sufficiently fill the annular space, e.g. between the first tubular and the borehole wall, the oil may leak during production and gush through the cement or along the tubular, and an oil spill disaster may be the next step.
After the Macondo blowout, ensuring well integrity has been an increased focus of governments around the world, and thus also of the oil industry. To this effect, the downhole barrier systems incorporated in the well completion designs have been brought into focus to improve the well integrity.
It is an object of the present invention to wholly or partly overcome the above disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. More specifically, it is an object to provide an improved barrier testing method of barriers to be applied in a completion before initiating production in a well.
The above objects, together with numerous other objects, advantages, and features, which will become evident from the below description, are accomplished by a solution in accordance with the present invention by a barrier testing method for testing a production casing in a borehole, the method being applied before initiating production in a well, and the method comprising the steps of:
In an embodiment, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of setting a first barrier packer between the first production casing and the intermediate casing; disconnecting the drill pipe; pressurising the first production casing and the intermediate casing from within to a second predetermined pressure; and testing the first barrier packer by measuring if the second predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
Furthermore, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of setting a first barrier packer between the first production casing and the intermediate casing; pressurising the intermediate casing from within to a second predetermined pressure; and testing the first barrier packer by measuring if the second predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
In addition, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of inserting a second production casing into the well, the second production casing having a plug arranged within the second production casing and a downhole safety valve arranged within the second production casing closer to the top of the well than the plug; setting a second barrier packer in an annular space between the second production casing and the intermediate casing; pressurising the annular space from within to a third predetermined pressure; and testing the second barrier packer by measuring if the third predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
Moreover, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of opening the downhole safety valve, pressurising the second production casing from within to a fourth predetermined pressure; and testing the plug by measuring if the fourth predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
Additionally, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of closing the downhole safety valve, pressurising the second production casing above the downhole safety valve from within to a fifth predetermined pressure; and testing the downhole safety valve by measuring if the fifth predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
Further, the barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of replacing the drill head with a well head, pressurising the annular space from within to a sixth predetermined pressure; and testing the second barrier packer by measuring if the sixth predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
The third and sixth predetermined pressures may be identical.
Also, the barrier testing method may comprise further the steps of pressurising the second production casing above the downhole safety valve from within to a seventh predetermined pressure, and testing the downhole safety valve by measuring if the seventh predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
In an embodiment, cement is provided between the intermediate casing and the borehole and the intermediate casing comprises at least two annular barriers, and before the first production casing is arranged in the well, the annular barriers of the intermediate casing are expanded to abut the wall of the borehole, thereby displacing the non-cured cement so that a pressure increase is created between the annular barriers, the method comprising the step of testing the annular barriers by monitoring the pressure increase for a period of time.
Furthermore, the intermediate casing may comprise an annular barrier, and before the first production casing is arranged in the well, the annular barriers of the intermediate casing are expanded to abut a second intermediate casing arranged outside the intermediate casing, whereby a second annular space is provided above and between the intermediate barriers and the second intermediate barrier, the method comprising the steps of pressurising the second annular space from within to an eight predetermined pressure, and testing the annular barrier by measuring if the eight predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
The barrier testing method may further comprise the step of rotating the first production casing while inserting the same.
Moreover, the second end of the first production casing may comprise exterior edges adapted to function as a “drill head” during the insertion of the production casing into the second part of the borehole.
In addition, before the step of sealing the second end of the first production casing is initiated, the first production casing may be pressurised with a flushing fluid so that the flushing fluid is injected from the second end of the first production casing for flushing drilling mud outside the first production casing.
Furthermore, the flushing fluid may be any kind of fluid, such as well fluid, water or sea water.
In an embodiment of the barrier testing method the step of pressurising may be performed by pressurising fluid into the well from the top of the well.
Also, the step of sealing the second end of the first production casing may be performed by dropping a ball into the first production casing, the ball being adapted to seal off an opening provided at the second end of the first production casing.
Additionally, the step of sealing the second end of the first production casing may be performed by inserting a plug into the opening at the second end of the first production casing.
The barrier testing method may further comprise the step of removing the plug arranged in the second production casing.
Moreover, the barrier testing method may further comprise the step of providing apertures in the first production casing to allow fluid communication between the borehole and the casing.
In addition, the apertures may be provided by punching, drilling, pulling, sliding sleeves, perforating the first production casing or a combination thereof.
Also, the expandable sleeve may be made of metal.
Further, the tubular part of the annular barrier may comprise an opening.
Additionally, the intermediate casing and the first and second production casings may be made of metal.
In an embodiment, the barrier testing method may further comprise the step of injecting stimulation fluid out through the apertures into the borehole to perform stimulation of the borehole.
Moreover, the stimulation fluid may be an acid.
Furthermore, the barrier packer may be an expandable annular barrier.
In addition, the drill pipe may be connected with the first production casing by means of a running tool.
Also, the plug may be a glass plug or a formation isolation valve (FIV).
The barrier testing method may further comprise the steps of storing data from the testing of the first production casing, the first barrier packer, the second barrier packer, the plug, the downhole safety valve and the annular barriers, respectively, for documenting an overall integrity of the well before oil production.
The present invention furthermore relates to a completion system for oil production from a well, adapted for carrying out the method according to any of the preceding claims.
Finally, the present invention relates to an oil production facilitated by the method described above.
The invention and its many advantages will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, which for the purpose of illustration show some non-limiting embodiments and in which
All the figures are highly schematic and not necessarily to scale, and they show only those parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the invention, other parts being omitted or merely suggested.
Subsequently, the annular barriers 17 are expanded to abut against the inner wall 9 of the borehole 4, as illustrated in
In
After testing the first production casing 3, the drill pipe 10 must be disconnected, but before doing so, a first barrier packer 31 is set between the first production casing and the intermediate casing 11, as shown in
In another embodiment, the intermediate casing 11 is pressurised from within to a second predetermined pressure so that the annular space 32 between the intermediate casing 11 and the drill pipe 10 is pressurised to the second predetermined pressure for a period of time, and the first barrier packer 31 is tested by measuring if the second predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period.
In known well completion technology, packers and other “barriers” are set, but they are not tested, and it is therefore uncertain whether they are in fact barriers.
After confirming that the first barrier packer 31 is in fact a barrier, a second production casing 33 having a plug 34 and a downhole safety valve 36 is inserted into the well, as shown in
When it has been confirmed that the second barrier packer 35 is a barrier, the downhole safety valve 36 is opened and the second production casing 33 is pressurised from within to a fourth predetermined pressure, and the plug 34 is tested by measuring if the fourth predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period. If the pressure is maintained during the predetermined period of time, it means that the plug 34 is a tight barrier. Subsequently, the downhole safety valve 36 is closed again, and now, five barriers have been tested.
After closing the downhole safety valve 36, the second production casing 33 above the downhole safety valve 36 is pressurised from within to a fifth predetermined pressure, and the downhole safety valve 36 is tested by measuring if the fifth predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period and thus if the downhole safety valve 36 is tight and consequently a barrier.
A downhole safety valve 36 proven to be a barrier closes the well sufficiently to replace the drill head with the well head which is to be used during production, as shown in
Subsequently, the second production casing 33 above the downhole safety valve 36 is pressurised from within to a seventh predetermined pressure, and the downhole safety valve 36 is tested by measuring if the seventh predetermined pressure is kept constant during a predetermined time period. If both the sixth and the seventh pressure are maintained during the corresponding predetermined period of time, it means that the well head 37 has been successfully connected, as shown in
In
At least one annular barrier 17 may also be arranged between the intermediate casing 11 and a second intermediate casing 41. In
The well has now been completed and the components and their mutual connections have been tested to confirm that the barriers are in fact barriers, and the well is now ready for initiating production, as shown in
When access has been provided to the annulus 16 and thus the formation, the well may need to be stimulated before being able to produce properly. The stimulation of the well is performed by injecting stimulation fluid out through the apertures 38 and into the borehole 4. The stimulation fluid may be a fracking fluid used to provide fractures in the formation, and the fracking fluid may comprise proppants. The stimulation fluid may also be an acid.
As shown in
Furthermore, the first end 20 of the first production casing 3 may have an enlarged diameter (not shown), enabling the end of the second production casing 33 to fit inside the first end of the first production casing. The end of the second production casing may thus be “snuck-fitted” into the first production casing 3. Having such a fitted connection between the production casings prevents a tool, e.g. a tool connected with a downhole tractor, submerged in later operation from getting stuck in the gap between the two production casings, as shown in
Before sealing the second end 21 of the first production casing 3, a flushing fluid may be injected from the second end of the first production casing 3 to perform a clean-out by flushing most of the drilling mud outside the first production casing 3 along the outside of the first production casing 3 and along the outside of the drill pipe.
The second end 21 of the first production casing 3 may also be sealed by inserting a plug, such as a swellable plug or another type drop device, into the opening at the second end 21 of the first production casing 3.
The intermediate casing 11 and the first and second production casings 3, 33 are made of metal like the annular barriers 17. The first and/or second barrier packers 31, 35 may be an expandable annular barrier 17.
To document the overall integrity of the well before production, the data obtained during testing of the first production casing 3, the first barrier packer 31, the second barrier packer 35, the plug 34, the downhole safety valve 36 and the annular barriers 17, respectively, are stored.
The well shown in
By fluid or well fluid is meant any kind of fluid that may be present in oil or gas wells downhole, such as natural gas, oil, oil mud, crude oil, water, etc. By gas is meant any kind of gas composition present in a well, completion, or open hole, and by oil is meant any kind of oil composition, such as crude oil, an oil-containing fluid, etc. Gas, oil, and water fluids may thus all comprise other elements or substances than gas, oil, and/or water, respectively.
By a casing is meant any kind of pipe, tubing, tubular, liner, string etc. used downhole in relation to oil or natural gas production.
In the event that the tool is not submergible all the way into the casing, a downhole tractor can be used to push the tool all the way into position in the well. The downhole tractor may have projectable arms having wheels, wherein the wheels contact the inner surface of the casing for propelling the tractor and the tool forward in the casing. A downhole tractor is any kind of driving tool capable of pushing or pulling tools in a well downhole, such as a Well Tractor®.
Although the invention has been described in the above in connection with preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be evident for a person skilled in the art that several modifications are conceivable without departing from the invention as defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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12190841 | Oct 2012 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2013/072699 | 10/30/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/067992 | 5/8/2014 | WO | A |
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101680282 | Mar 2010 | CN |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20150300154 A1 | Oct 2015 | US |