This invention relates in general to subsea templates in oil and gas operations, and in particular to a well insert that is compliant and that is for use with a subsea template manifold system.
Structures used in oil and gas operations may include a subsea template manifold system to simplify installation of a wellhead and a conductor therein. In at least one embodiment, subsea template manifold systems may be used in underwater installation, to collect the oil and gas production extracted from subsea wells. The collection may be passed through a flowline network that is provided to further transport extracted hydrocarbons of the collection to receiving and processing facilities located at a topside of an offshore platform or to an onshore location. The subsea template manifold system may include any of different types of subsea manifolds. Subsea wells may be directly installed within the subsea manifold.
In at least one embodiment, a system to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve is disclosed. The system includes a guide sleeve within a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve can include a pivot shoulder. The system includes the well insert sleeve having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a pivot surface. The pivot surface can be in contact with the pivot shoulder of the guide sleeve. The top portion of the well insert sleeve can be at a top clearance from the guide sleeve, while the bottom portion can be at a bottom clearance from the guide sleeve. The top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact enable the compliance by a predetermined tilt for the well insert sleeve during assembly of components thereon.
In at least one embodiment, a system is disclosed to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve. The system includes a guide sleeve to be used with the well insert sleeve for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve has a clearance and a contact relative to the well insert sleeve. The clearance and the contact are to enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve by a predetermined tilt relative to a vertical axis of a wash-out hole. The system includes at least one shear pin that is associated between the guide sleeve and the well insert sleeve so that the shear pin can shear upon thermal expansion of a well associated with the well insert sleeve.
In at least one embodiment, a system is disclosed to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve. The system includes a guide sleeve to be used with the well insert sleeve for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve has a clearance and a contact relative to the well insert sleeve. The clearance and the contact are to enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve by a predetermined tilt relative to a vertical axis of a wash-out hole. The system includes a mounting plate that is provided for an Xmas tree flowline connector. The mounting plate is associated with the well insert sleeve to enable a movement that is associated with the compliance of the well insert sleeve.
In at least one embodiment, a system is disclosed to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve. The system includes a guide sleeve to be used with the well insert sleeve for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve has a clearance and a contact relative to the well insert sleeve. The clearance and the contact are to enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve by a predetermined tilt relative to a vertical axis of a wash-out hole. The system includes a wash-out sleeve comprising a determined length to enable cement application to fixedly associate the conductor within the wash-out hole and to prevent the cement application from fixedly associating the conductor with the template structure of a subsea template manifold system.
Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
In the following description, various embodiments will be described. For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.
A wellhead may be a top-end of a subsea well. A Christmas (Xmas) Tree is a device fitted to a wellhead in order to gather and control production of hydrocarbons flowing up from a well. A subsea template manifold system may accommodate several wellheads and their corresponding Xmas trees. In at least one embodiment, a subsea template manifold system may have four offsets, which accommodates four distinct wellheads and Xmas tree assemblies. Each Xmas tree may be linked to a template piping system by means of one or more subsea operable connections.
A well insert may be a mechanical device that provides a structural link between a wellhead and a template. In at least one embodiment, to ensure that the wellhead is correctly positioned for installation and is properly secured to its dedicated slot within a subsea template manifold system, various time consuming and error-prone trial-and-error procedures were previously conducted.
Conductors in a wash-out hole may be installed over a subsea template manifold system, by a specialized offshore platform, often referred to as a drilling rig. The wash-out hole is a drilled hole enabled by the drilling rig in a seabed. The drilling rig may be floating or standing over a seabed. The drilling rigs may be outfitted with different equipment required for perforating the seabed. The perforation may be to enable deployment of a conductor into the drilled hole. Care may be taken to ensure that the drilled hole is vertical and routed precisely through a well insert sleeve. This operation, however, is difficult as physical obstacles may be found along a theoretical drilling path.
Drilling technology may not be able to guarantee that a drilled hole is perfectly coaxial and parallel to a well insert sleeve. In practice, there may be always an angular misalignment between these two cylinders which may lead to an angled drilled hole. Even though the drilled hole may be tilted only a fraction of degree with respect to a well insert sleeve, such a fraction may be enough to prevent a conductor from penetrating all the way down the drilled hole. One reason may be because it is difficult to bend a conductor to fit both well insert sleeve and drilled hole. The conductor is a pipe that may be very stiff.
This problem may be furthered also by an outside diameter (OD) of a conductor being universally increased from 30 inches to 36 inches. The OD change has more than doubled the stiffness of a conductor. As a result, installations have failed, with the conductor jamming into a well insert and being unable to be set down in an intended position in a wash-out hole. Further, repeated attempts and offshore repairs may result in high economical losses, as the drilling rig is an expensive vessel to be retained for long periods of time for the installation process.
A further problem addressed herein is that due to a well's thermal expansion, a template structure of a subsea template manifold system may be subject to large upward loads, which can complicate structural design. Underestimation of this problem can result in costly repair interventions required at a later time than the installation time. Yet another problem addressed herein is a lack of proper containment for a return path of drilling mud and of filling cement, which may result in dilution of soil around a top of the conductor. Such dilution may, cause a loss of structural stability for both, a conductor and for a foundation of a subsea template manifold system.
In at least one embodiment, one or more systems or methods herein addresses issues where it may be difficult to install a wellhead with the subsea template manifold system. A well insert sleeve may be provided with a guide sleeve for locating and supporting a conductor to a precise and determined position within a slot of a subsea template manifold system. As such, instead of a well insert sleeve that is rigidly fixed to the subsea template manifold system, the well insert sleeve herein may be associated with the guide sleeve via a shear pin. This addresses problems of a lack of relative movement allowed between the guide sleeve and the subsea template manifold system. Relative movement includes relative translations and relative rotations that are, therefore, prevented.
In at least one embodiment, a well insert sleeve may be made compliant by its association with a guide sleeve. Compliance or being compliant, as used with the well insert sleeve, is to allow the well insert sleeve to move in an angular manner relative to a vertical axis of a wash-out hole. This allows the well insert sleeve to be offset from a vertical axis so that installation of components therethrough is possible without requirements for the components to bend or align to the vertical axis. The well insert sleeve may be a mechanical device, that, along with the guide sleeve, are not rigidly fixed to a template structure of a subsea template manifold system. Instead, clearances are provided in millimeters between the well insert sleeve and the guide sleeve. The clearances enable compliance of the well insert sleeve in an angular manner, such as a tilting to a certain predetermined angle. In at least one embodiment, while relative translation of a well insert sleeve, with respect to a subsea template manifold system, may be prevented, a relative angular rotation is, instead, allowed.
In at least one embodiment, a further feature enabled herein is to extend compliance of a well insert to an Xmas tree flowline connector. For example, the Xmas tree flowline connector may be directly mounted on a mounting plate that is associated with the well insert sleeve. This can address any lack of separation between an Xmas tree flowline connector and well components due to an offset of the well insert sleeve. Particularly, this can address prior contact issues from the mounting plate being associated with a template structure of the subsea template manifold system.
In at least one embodiment, a further feature enabled herein is to allow the well insert sleeve, even if compliant, to move upward to absorb thermal expansion of a well under operation, For example, shear pins may be initially used to fasten the well insert sleeve to a template structure of the subsea template manifold system. However, such shear pins may be caused to shear (such as, break and release). The shearing of the shear pins enables the well insert sleeve to move when the well expands upwards, for instance.
In at least one embodiment, a further feature enabled herein is to allow a well insert sleeve to incorporate a long wash-out sleeve. The long wash-out sleeve protrudes several meters down a wash-out or conductor hole. This facilitates suction of drill mud and facilitates cementing of the annulus between a drilled hole and the conductor. As a result, in part, from the long wash-out sleeve, cement application does not lock the conductor to the template structure of the subsea template manifold system. The conductor remains free to move upward to release any thermal expansion.
In at least one embodiment, one or more of such features enabled for a well insert sleeve enables compliance of the well insert sleeve to angular movement and can address problems of the conductor jamming inside the well insert sleeve. A result achieved by leaving the well insert sleeve free to tilt in an angular manner, is to allow automatic or forced alignment of the well insert sleeve in the drilling hole (wash-out or conductor hole), when the conductor is installed. As the conductor is stiff, instead of bending the conductor, the well insert sleeve is movable angularly to suit the well insert sleeve
In at least one embodiment, a tilt allowed, under the compliant requirements for a well insert sleeve, also does not generate any detrimental effect to an installation process for the Xmas tree. For example, as both, the Xmas tree and a flowline connection hub are fitted to a well insert that is compliant, there is no relative movement between these two components. Further, as the well insert sleeve is compliant and able to slide up when the retaining pins are sheared off, no large forces are applied to a template structure of a subsea template manifold system, as a result of thermal expansion of the well. This can result in a simpler and safer structure.
In at least one embodiment, further, the long wash-out sleeve may be set at a bottom of a well insert sleeve that is compliant. This largely reduces a risk of wash out of return drilling mud and cement. This also eliminates a risk of reduced structural stability of a conductor and template foundation, while also reducing pollution.
At least one shear pin 306 enables the well insert sleeve 304 to be associated with a guide sleeve and may enable a further association with a mounting sleeve and with the template structure, as further described with respect to
In at least one embodiment, a conductor may be installed with an offset, such as one or more angles 322, into a wash-out hole. The offset is from a vertical axis 320 of a wash-out hole. Further, the top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact between the pivot surface 614 and the pivot shoulder 612 enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve 304 to accommodate the offset.
In at least one embodiment, a wellhead housing 604 and a wellhead 402 are to be installed with a conductor. Then, one or more of the wellhead housing, the wellhead, and the conductor are to be installed with an offset into the wash-out hole. The offset is an angle 322 from a vertical axis 320 of a wash-out hole. The top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact between the pivot surface 614 and the pivot shoulder 612 enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve 304 to accommodate the offset.
In at least one embodiment, a mounting sleeve 506 may be provided between the guide sleeve 504 and the well insert sleeve 304. The mounting sleeve 506 can allow the guide sleeve 504 to rest thereon, using a should 620 for instance. In at least one embodiment, the compliance is a degree or angle 322 of tilt away from a vertical axis 320 of the wash-out hole. Further, the compliance discussed herein is a degree 322 of tilt away from a vertical axis 320 of the wash-out hole and is a measure determined based in part on a ratio of a sum of the top clearance 606 and the bottom clearance 608 to a length (in callout or excerpt 610) of the contact between the pivot surface 614 and the pivot shoulder 612.
Further, even though illustrated with a gap in the callout or excerpt 610 of
In at least one embodiment, the top clearance and the bottom clearance are less than a first determined value and the degree of the tilt is less than a second determined value. Further, the first determined value and the second determined value are associated with an alignment of the wash-out hole.
In at least one embodiment, the contact between the pivot surface and the pivot shoulder is over an annular conical surface. For example, both, the pivot surface 614 and the pivot shoulder 612 are slanted or angled surfaces and are also annular, thereby forming conical surfaces. The slanted or angled surfaces are such that the well insert sleeve 304 cannot sit flush with the guide sleeve 504. This at least allows the movement referenced herein, in an angular 322 manner for the well insert sleeve and its connected components thereon.
In at least one embodiment, a system to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve 304 herein includes a guide sleeve 504 to be used with the well insert sleeve for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve 504 has a clearance 606, 608 and a contact (generally referenced in callout or excerpt 610) relative to the well insert sleeve 304. The clearance 606, 608 and the contact 610 can enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve in an angular 322 manner relative to a vertical axis 320 of a wash-out hole.
In at least one embodiment, the system can include at least one shear pin 306 that is associated between the guide sleeve 504 and the well insert sleeve 304. The shear pin 306 can shear, upon thermal expansion of a well associated with the well insert sleeve 304. The well insert sleeve 304 is also enabled to move upward upon the shearing of the shear pin 306. A mounting sleeve 506 may be associated with the at least one sheer pin 306. For example, the shear pin 306 can project from the well insert sleeve 304 and can traverse the mounting sleeve 506, as well as the guide sleeve 504. The shear pin 306 may be fixed to the template structure.
A system of a well insert sleeve that is compliant can also include a mounting sleeve 506 that is fixedly attached to a template structure of a subsea template manifold system. Further, the guide sleeve 504 and the well insert sleeve 304 are removably associated with the mounting sleeve 506 by way of the shear pin 306.
In at least one embodiment, a further system to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve herein includes a guide sleeve 504 to be used with the well insert sleeve 304 for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve 504 has a clearance 606,608 and has a contact 610 relative to the well insert sleeve 304. The clearance and the contact can enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve 304 in an angular 322 manner relative to a vertical axis 320 of a wash-out hole.
In at least one embodiment, the system can include a mounting plate 406 for an Xmas tree flowline connector. The mounting plate 406 is associated with the well insert sleeve 304 to enable a movement that is associated with the compliance of the well insert sleeve 304. Further, an Xmas tree flowline connector 110 can be installed on the mounting plate 406. A separation between the Xmas tree flowline connector 110 or an Xmas tree and the wellhead 402 is ensured in an installation condition that includes the well insert sleeve 304 being offset from a vertical axis 320 of the wash-out hole.
In at least one embodiment, yet another system to enable compliance of a well insert sleeve includes a guide sleeve 504 to be used with the well insert sleeve 304 for a wash-out hole. The guide sleeve 504 has a clearance 606, 608 and a contact 610 relative to the well insert sleeve 304. The clearance and the contact can enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve in an angular 322 manner relative to a vertical axis 320 of a wash-out hole.
The system also includes a wash-out sleeve 410 that has a determined length to enable cement application to fixedly associate the conductor 412 within the wash-out hole 408 and to prevent the cement application from fixedly associating the conductor 412 with the template structure 310 of a subsea template manifold system.
In at least one embodiment, an Xmas tree flowline connector 110 can be installed on the mounting plate 406. A separation between the Xmas tree flowline connector 110 and the wellhead 402 is ensured in an installation condition where the well insert sleeve 304 is offset from a vertical axis 320 of the wash-out hole 408.
In at least one embodiment, the method 700 includes providing (708) a pivot surface of a well insert sleeve to be in contact with the pivot shoulder of the guide sleeve, providing (708) the top portion to be at a top clearance from the guide sleeve, and providing (708) the bottom portion to be at a bottom clearance from the guide sleeve. Further, even if noted as three aspects, the providing (708) feature is one step that is enabled when the pivot surface of a well insert surface contacts the pivot shoulder of the guide sleeve that also enables the clearances to exist. As a result, in step 708, the top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact enable the compliance in an angular manner for the well insert sleeve during assembly of components thereon because the well insert sleeve can move into the clearances while pivoting on the pivot shoulder of the guide sleeve.
The method 700 may include a further step or sub-step for installing a conductor with an offset (or angled) into the wash-out hole. The offset is an angle from a vertical axis of the wash-out hole. The top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact between the pivot surface and the pivot shoulder enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve to accommodate the offset.
The method 700 may include a further step or sub-step for installing a wellhead housing and a wellhead with a conductor. Then, one or more of the wellhead housing, the wellhead, and the conductor may be installed with an offset into the wash-out hole. The offset is from a vertical axis of the wash-out hole. The top clearance, the bottom clearance, and the contact of a surface between the pivot surface and the pivot shoulder enable the compliance of the well insert sleeve to accommodate the offset. The method 700 can include a further step or sub-step for providing a mounting sleeve between the guide sleeve and the well insert sleeve. The mounting sleeve can allow the guide sleeve to rest thereon.
The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. Further, any of the many embodiments disclosed here may be combined by a person of ordinary skill using the present disclosure to understand the effects of such combinations.
This application is related to and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application 63/306,461, titled COMPLIANT WELL INSERT SLEEVES, filed Feb. 3, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein for all intents and purposes.
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Entry |
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International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed May 19, 2023 in corresponding PCT Application No. PCT/EP2023/025052. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230243242 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63306461 | Feb 2022 | US |