Patent Application
20190120004
The field of the invention is borehole inflow control methods and more particularly where openings in the string can be accomplished in place or closed off to control production or to close off regions where water or undesired fluids are being produced.
Most times casing is slotted for access before being run into a borehole. This requires advance planning to properly locate the slotted segments at the zone of interest. Other access options have been with sliding sleeve valves that can be operated for selective formation access or isolation but in this case also the valved segments of the casing need to be properly located in advance adjacent the zones of interest.
One way that casing openings have been made where needed after running in casing is to use perforating guns that can have multi-directional charges for creating perforations into various zones. This method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,911. This method has uncertainties as to the shape and extent of the openings that are made as well as associated safety issues in handling explosives. A non-explosive alternative for perforating using ignited material is proposed in WO2016/069305 using thermite, which has its own safety issues in handling. Tubulars have been hydraulically perforated as described in US 2016/0237793 using extendable slips to hold the tool steady during punching. Closing operations for existing openings has typically been done with radially expanding clads to cover a region with multiple openings that may need to be isolated because an undesirable fluid such as water is being produced. One such technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,163,468. The openings can be cut into the casing in one or more places and the cutting device can also leave a valve in the opening made by the cutting device as illustrated in US 2013/0233555. Openings can be plugged with materials that are remotely delivered and set up as discussed in US 20160356138.
Existing motor driven sliding sleeve systems that are powered by an external power cable can quickly become inoperative if the cable is damaged when running in the casing. The present invention seeks to integrate several technologies to allow a tool to be located at desired depths and orientated in predetermined directions so that at any given location a desired pattern of openings can be made in the tubular wall. Alternatively, if undesired fluids are being produced the device can locate over existing openings and selectively obstruct them with a conformingly shaped object to close individual openings and if needed add new openings in different locations. The openings can be made mechanically, with laser or water jet to name a few options. Openings can be plugged with an inserted object of a conforming shape that is forced into the opening and secured therein. New openings can be made in existing wells to continue their useful life. Those skilled in the art will better understand more aspects of the invention from a review of the description of the preferred embodiment while recognizing that the full scope of the invention can be obtained from the appended claims.
Plain casing is run for a completion and openings in a desired pattern are added in the borehole. Gamma ray tools or other orientation tools are used to determine depth and orientation of a tool that makes the openings. The openings are created in the borehole in the location and pattern that is desired. The openings can be closed at a later time with a powered tool that inserts an object into the opening and fixates it to the casing to prevent production of undesired fluids. Even after production has started additional openings can be made in the same or connected lateral boreholes to enhance continued production.
The plugs can be hardenable materials, physical plugs, sleeves that are radially expanded over one or more holes, or lasers that melt the formation behind the hole and flow into the hole and set up to block the hole regardless of shape. The method succeeds because the available positioning and orientation technology accurately positions the tool to make one or more openings in exactly the desired location and conversely by knowing the exact location of the existing holes the plugging operation can accurately close existing openings where water or other undesired fluids are being produced or place new holes in locations that are known to not have any openings. A tool with a single head for making a single shape can be repositioned automatically to create a desired pattern of that very shape. Alternatively the tool can have the ability to create custom shapes so that a pattern can be created in the tubular with the same shape or a variety of shapes. Multiple mills can be used to make discrete shapes or a laser or fluid jet can create the same shape repeatedly or a variety of shapes as desired. In this manner flow into the tubular can be balanced with knowledge of the formation pressure at various locations. The tool can make or plug a single opening at a time or multiple openings or plugs at once. The method combines hole making and filling devices that employ known technology and dovetails the precision location of such tools with positioning tools such as Gamma Ray tools to accurately position the tool for making the openings or plugging them. A tractor can also be used to position the tool to create openings or to plug them at existing locations, as shown in
The above description is illustrative of the preferred embodiment and many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention whose scope is to be determined from the literal and equivalent scope of the claims below:
