The present disclosure relates generally to zonal isolation systems used in wells. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing gravel-based zonal isolation in a well.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be associated with embodiments of the present invention. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with information to facilitate a better understanding of particular techniques of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
Producing oil and gas from subterranean formations has become increasingly challenging over the years, requiring continuing innovation in nearly every aspect of oil and gas operations. The continuing innovation enables current and future wells to reach reserves in reservoirs that were previously uneconomical. For example, multi-zone wells increase the efficiency of a single well, ultra-deep water wells access previously unreachable reservoirs, wells of greater depth and/or of extended reach wells may enable access to new and/or different reserves from new and/or existing wells, drilling and completion advances allows production from high pressure/temperature reservoirs, reservoirs having long intervals, reservoirs having high production rates, and reservoirs in remote locations. However, the technologies utilized to overcome the challenges increase the individual well cost dramatically and demands fewer wells for an economical field development. Consequently, the well productivity, reliability, and longevity become vital to avoid undesired production loss and expensive intervention or workovers.
As described above, many wells include multiple zones in one more intervals that may be of extended lengths. During operation of wells having multiple zones, it is important to control and manage fluids flowing to and from different zones. For example, in production operations, proper control of the fluid production rates in various zones can result in delaying water/gas coning and in maximizing reserve recovery. Various techniques are known to determine whether zonal isolation will be effective or desirable and where in a well to position the zonal isolation. Exemplary implementations of zonal isolations and inflow control devices installed in wells have been documented in various publications, including M. W. HELMY et al., “Application of New Technology in the Completion of ERD Wells, Sakhalin-1 Development,” SPE 103587, October 2006; and David C. HAEBERLE et al., “Application of Flow-Control Devices for Water Injection in the Erha Field”, SPE 112726, March 2008.
Exemplary operating conditions known to benefit from the use of zonal isolation technologies include the untimely production of water, gas, or other undesirable formation fluids. Water can be produced together with hydrocarbonds during well production for a number of reasons, including the presence of native water zones, coning (rise of near-well hydrocarbon-water contact), high permeability streaks, natural fractures, and fingering from injection wells. Depending on the mechanism or cause of the water production, the water may be produced at different locations and times during a well's lifetime. Careful installation of zonal isolation in the initial completion allows an operator to shut-off the production from one or more zones during the well lifetime to limit the production of water or other desirable fluids.
Zonal isolation in open-hole completions is becoming increasingly more important for establishing and maintaining optimized long-term performance of both injection and production wells. In cases where gravel pack is needed for sand (particle) control, multi-zone gravel packing with zonal isolation in openhole completions had been challenging until the internal shunt alternate path technology was introduced. The internal shunt alternate path technology is described at least in PCT Publication No. WO 2008/060479, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes, and M. D. BARRY et al., “Openhole Gravel Packing with Zonal Isolation,” SPE 110460, November 2007. Zonal isolation in a open-hole, gravel-packed completion could be provided by a conventional packer element and secondary flow paths to enable both zonal isolation and alternate path gravel packing, such as described in PCT Publication Nos. WO 2007/092082 and WO 2007/092083, which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. For example, enlarged and/or irregular boreholes, high pressure differentials, increasing number of zones per well, high temperatures, and temperature fluctuations each can challenge, and sometimes compromise, the effectiveness of the alternate path systems. In addition to these challenging environmental conditions, the operating conditions further complicate the efforts to provide a reliable, robust solution. For example, the longevity of the zonal isolation equipment is increasingly important as wells are required to produce for longer periods of time between workovers and treatment operations. Moreover, the risk or likelihood of water and/or gas production increases over the life of the well (due to increasing drawdown and depletion) requiring zonal isolation equipment that can endure the conditions of the well for extended periods.
For one or more of these reasons, there is a continuing need for improved zonal isolation technologies. Improved zonal isolation technologies would preferably provide one or more improvement such as being less sensitive to downhole conditions, being more forgiving of operational variables, being more flexible in its use and capabilities, being operationally easy to run into the well, position, and set, and/or being mechanically simple to improve tolerance to well conditions over time.
Prior efforts to improve upon mechanical packers for zonal isolation have provided improvements such as swellable packers. Still additional developments include the use of an annular gravel pack between a blank basepipe segment and a wellbore wall having very low permeability, such as a shale section of the well. The annular gravel pack forms an axial zonal isolation and provides substantial flow resistance. However, it is not possible for such gravel pack barrier to form without introducing a proper fluid leakoff path to dehydrate the gravel slurry. Due to the low permeability of the formation, the fluid leak-off in such implementations is through the basepipe to return to surface. One example of such a system is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,254 to Hurst et al. However, if any leak-off path exists, water or gas production will follow the same path and render the isolation functionality of the gravel pack ineffective. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for zonal isolation systems and methods.
Other related material may be found in at least U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0124304; PCT Publication No. WO 2005/059304; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,465; 6,619,397; and 7,108,060.
In some implementations of the present invention, a tubular assembly adapted for downhole use in wells includes an upstream manifold, a gravel packing conduit, a transport conduit, and a leak-off conduit. The upstream manifold is adapted to receive a gravel-laden slurry. The gravel packing conduit is in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and extends longitudinally away from the upstream manifold. The gravel packing conduit is adapted to receive at least a portion of the gravel-laden slurry from the upstream manifold and is adapted to be in fluid communication with an annulus between a wellbore wall and the tubular assembly when the tubular assembly is disposed downhole in a well. The gravel packing conduit is adapted to communicate gravel-laden slurry into the annulus during isolation forming operations. Moreover, the gravel packing conduit is at least substantially isolated from direct fluid communication with a downstream flow path. The transport conduit is in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and in fluid communication with the downstream flow path. The leak-off conduit is in at least partially restricted fluid communication with the upstream manifold and is in fluid communication with the downstream flow path in a region longitudinally spaced from the upstream manifold. The leak-off conduit is in fluid communication with the annulus through permeable media adapted to retain particles while communicating fluids, thereby providing fluid leak-off from the annulus during the isolation forming operations.
Numerous variations on the tubular assembly are possible, at least some of which are described in this Summary and others are described herein. The gravel packing conduit may include at least one flow path adapted to gravel pack an interval of the wellbore. Additionally or alternatively, the at least partially restricted fluid communication between the upstream manifold and the leak-off conduit and the fluid communication between the leak-off conduit and the downstream flow path may be configured to maintain the fluid pressure in the leak-off conduit below a pressure in the annulus and a pressure in the gravel packing conduit during at least a portion of the isolation forming operations. In such implementations, the fluid pressure in the leak-off conduit may increase as isolation forming operations progress, as downstream portions of a well are gravel packed, for example. As the further downstream portions are gravel packed, the back pressure from downhole may cause gravel-laden slurry to enter the leak-off conduit from at least one of the downstream flow path and the transport conduit as isolation forming operations progress. As gravel-laden slurry enters the leak-off conduit, the fluid in the gravel-laden slurry in the leak-off conduit may exit the leak-off conduit into at least one of the annulus and a basepipe associated with the tubular assembly thereby gravel packing the leak-off conduit. The fluid may exit the leak-off conduit through at least one flow control valve, such as a nozzle, a one-way valve, etc. When the leak-off conduit is gravel packed, the gravel packed leak-off conduit and the gravel-packed annulus together provide a zonal isolation assembly in the wellbore.
In some implementations, the leak-off conduit and the gravel packing conduit may be adapted to provide a zonal isolation assembly in the wellbore in a region adjacent the tubular assembly. The zonal isolation assembly is adapted to at least substantially isolate annular intervals on either side of the tubular assembly. In some implementations, the zonal isolation assembly may be formed during gravel packing operations. Additionally or alternatively, the zonal isolation assembly may be formed in association with an imperfect isolation device to provide enhanced zonal isolation.
Additionally or alternatively, some implementations of the tubular assemblies described herein may be configured such that at least one of the gravel packing conduit, the transport conduit, and the leak-off conduit is operatively associated with a base pipe. In some implementations, at least one of the upstream manifold, the transport conduit, the leak-off conduit, and the gravel packing conduit may be adapted to promote fluid flow from the upstream manifold into the gravel packing conduit. Still further, some tubular assemblies may be configured to provide the fluid communication between the leak-off conduit and the downstream flow path through a double-U assembly.
The present disclosure further describes methods for providing a gravel-based zonal isolation system in a hydrocarbon-related well. In some implementations, the methods include providing a tubular assembly, which may be according to the description above. The methods may further include positioning the tubular assembly at a predetermined position within a well. The methods further include pumping gravel-laden slurry to the upstream manifold and flowing at least a portion of the gravel-laden slurry to the gravel packing conduit of the tubular assembly to gravel pack an annulus between the tubular assembly and a wellbore wall. The gravel pack in the annulus is then dehydrated through at least the permeable media of the leak-off conduit. The filtrate through the permeable media flows through the leak-off conduit to the downstream flow path. The methods further include gravel packing the leak-off conduit with gravel-laden slurry from at least one of the upstream manifold, the downstream flow path, and the transport conduit. The leak-off conduit gravel pack is dehydrated to at least one of the annulus and a basepipe associated with the tubular assembly. The leak-off conduit gravel pack and the annular gravel pack are adapted to provide a zonal isolation system.
The methods and equipment used therein may be varied in any suitable manner. For example, the tubular assembly may be varied according to any of the descriptions provided above or elsewhere herein. Additional examples of variations on the methods are described in this Summary and elsewhere herein. In some implementations of the present methods, the tubular assembly may be coupled to downhole equipment when positioned at a predetermined position within the well, such as one or more of annular coiled tubing, production tubing basepipe, sand control equipment, and gravel pack equipment. In some implementations, the methods include flowing at least a majority of the gravel-laden slurry in the upstream manifold to the gravel-packing conduit. Additionally or alternatively, some implementations may include dehydrating the gravel pack in the annulus through the wellbore wall to a formation.
Some implementations of the present methods may include gravel packing distal regions of the well with gravel-laden slurry of which at least a portion flowed through the transport conduit. The gravel packing of the distal regions may utilize at least one of conventional gravel packing technology and alternate path gravel packing technology. In some implementations, the gravel packing of distal regions may include providing at least one additional gravel-based zonal isolation assembly.
Exemplary variations on the equipment that may be used with the present methods include a tubular assembly having at least two gravel packing conduits in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and the annulus. Additionally or alternatively, the gravel packing conduit(s) may be in direct fluid communication with only the upstream manifold and the annulus. The permeable media of the leak-off conduit may comprise a plurality of openings, such as may be provided by a slotted tube and/or a sand screen.
The present disclosure further discloses methods of operating a hydrocarbon-related well. Exemplary methods may include conducting gravel packing operations in a wellbore utilizing at least one sand screen; forming a gravel-based zonal isolation system in the wellbore while conducting gravel packing operations; and conducting at least one additional operation in the wellbore utilizing the gravel-based zonal isolation device.
In such methods, forming a gravel-based zonal isolation system may utilize a tubular assembly comprising: an upstream manifold; a gravel packing conduit in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and extending longitudinally away from the upstream manifold; wherein the gravel packing conduit is adapted to receive a gravel-laden slurry from the upstream manifold; wherein the gravel packing conduit is adapted to be in fluid communication with an annulus between a wellbore wall and the tubular assembly when the tubular assembly is disposed downhole in a well; wherein the gravel packing conduit is adapted to communicate the gravel-laden slurry into the annulus during isolation forming operations; and wherein the gravel packing conduit is at least substantially isolated from direct fluid communication with a downstream flow path; a transport conduit in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and in fluid communication with the downstream flow path; and a leak-off conduit; wherein the leak-off conduit is in at least partially restricted fluid communication with the upstream manifold; wherein the leak-off conduit is in fluid communication with the downstream flow path in a region longitudinally spaced from the upstream manifold; and wherein the leak-off conduit is in fluid communication with the annulus through permeable media adapted to retain particles while communicating fluids providing fluid leak-off from the annulus during the isolation forming operations. In some implementations, the gravel packing conduit comprises at least two gravel packing conduits in fluid communication with the upstream manifold and the annulus. Still further, in some implementations, the gravel packing conduit is in direct fluid communication with only the upstream manifold and the annulus.
The methods described herein include forming a gravel-based zonal isolation system, which may include a steps such as: positioning the tubular assembly at a predetermined position within a well; pumping gravel-laden slurry to the upstream manifold; flowing at least a portion of the gravel-laden slurry to the gravel packing conduit to gravel pack an annulus between the tubular assembly and a wellbore wall; dehydrating the gravel pack in the annulus through at least the permeable media of the leak-off conduit; wherein filtrate through the permeable media flows through the leak-off conduit to the downstream flow path; and gravel packing the leak-off conduit with gravel laden slurry from at least one of the downstream flow path and the transport conduit; wherein the leak-off conduit gravel pack is dehydrated to at least one of the annulus and a basepipe associated with the tubular assembly; and wherein the leak-off conduit gravel pack and the annular gravel pack are adapted to provide a zonal isolation zonal.
The methods of forming a gravel-based zonal isolation system may similarly include a number of variations. For example, flowing at least a portion of the gravel-laden slurry to the gravel packing conduit may comprise flow at least a majority of the gravel-laden slurry in the upstream manifold to the gravel-packing conduit. Additionally or alternatively, dehydrating the gravel pack in the annulus may include dehydrating fluids through the wellbore wall to a formation. The methods may include further steps such as gravel packing distal regions of the well with gravel-laden slurry, at least a portion of which flowed through the transport conduit. In such methods, gravel packing distal regions of the well may utilize conventional gravel packing technology. Additionally or alternatively, gravel packing distal regions may include providing at least one additional gravel-based zonal isolation assembly.
The foregoing and other advantages of the present technique may become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
While the technologies of the present disclosure are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific exemplary embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific exemplary embodiments is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed herein, but on the contrary, this disclosure is to cover all modifications and equivalents of the technologies defined by the appended claims. It should also be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating principles of exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, certain dimensions may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles. For the purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure, nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention.
The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than the broadest meaning understood by skilled artisans, such a special or clarifying definition will be expressly set forth in the specification in a definitional manner that provides the special or clarifying definition for the term or phrase.
For example, the following discussion contains a non-exhaustive list of definitions of several specific terms used in this disclosure (other terms may be defined or clarified in a definitional manner elsewhere herein). These definitions are intended to clarify the meanings of the terms used herein. It is believed that the terms are used in a manner consistent with their ordinary meaning, but the definitions are nonetheless specified here for clarity.
A/an: The indefinite articles “a” and “an” as used herein mean one or more when applied to any feature in embodiments and implementations of the present invention described in the specification and claims. The use of “a” and “an” does not limit the meaning to a single feature unless such a limit is specifically stated. The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein.
About: As used herein, “about” refers to a degree of deviation based on experimental error typical for the particular property identified. The latitude provided the term “about” will depend on the specific context and particular property and can be readily discerned by those skilled in the art. The term “about” is not intended to either expand or limit the degree of equivalents which may otherwise be afforded a particular value. Further, unless otherwise stated, the term “about” shall expressly include “exactly,” consistent with the discussion below regarding ranges and numerical data.
Above/below: In the following description of the representative embodiments of the invention, directional terms, such as “above”, “below”, “upper”, “lower”, etc., are used for convenience in referring to the accompanying drawings. In general, “above”, “upper”, “upward” and similar terms refer to a direction toward the earth's surface along a wellbore, and “below”, “lower”, “downward” and similar terms refer to a direction away from the earth's surface along the wellbore. Continuing with the example of relative directions in a wellbore, “upper” and “lower” may also refer to relative positions along the longitudinal dimension of a wellbore rather than relative to the surface, such as in describing both vertical and horizontal wells.
And/or: The term “and/or” placed between a first entity and a second entity means one of (1) the first entity, (2) the second entity, and (3) the first entity and the second entity. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements). As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.”
Any: The adjective “any” means one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity.
At least: As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements). The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.
Based on: “Based on” does not mean “based only on”, unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” describes both “based only on,” “based at least on,” and “based at least in part on,” which may be used interchangeably herein.
Comprising: In the claims, as well as in the specification, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of and “consisting essentially of shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.
Couple: Any use of any form of the terms “connect”, “engage”, “couple”, “attach”, or any other term describing an interaction between elements is not meant to limit the interaction to direct interaction between the elements and may also include indirect interaction between the elements described.
Embodiments: Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “some aspects,” “some implementations,” “one implementation,” or “an implementation” means that a particular component, feature, structure, method, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment, aspect, or implementation is included in at least one embodiment and/or implementation of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or “in some embodiments” (or “aspects” or “implementations”) in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment and/or implementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, methods, or characteristics of any one or more embodiments or implementations may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more additional or different embodiments or implementations.
Exemplary: “Exemplary” is used exclusively herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
Flow diagram: Exemplary methods may be better appreciated with reference to flow diagrams or flow charts. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the illustrated methods are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be appreciated that the methods are not limited by the order of the blocks, as in different embodiments some blocks may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from that shown and described. Moreover, less than all the illustrated blocks may be required to implement an exemplary method. In some examples, blocks may be combined, may be separated into multiple components, may employ additional blocks, and so on. In some examples, one or more of the blocks may be performed by a combination of equipment and operators. Additionally or alternatively, one or more blocks may be performed by equipment alone and/or by computer systems. In some examples utilizing computerized systems, blocks may be implemented in logic or processing blocks may represent functions and/or actions performed by functionally equivalent circuits (e.g., an analog circuit, a digital signal processor circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), or other logic device. Blocks may represent executable instructions that cause a computer, processor, and/or logic device to respond, to perform an action(s), to change states, and/or to make decisions. While the figures illustrate various actions occurring in serial, it is to be appreciated that in some examples various actions could occur concurrently, substantially in parallel, and/or at substantially different points in time.
Operatively connected and/or coupled: Operatively connected and/or coupled means directly or indirectly connected for transmitting or conducting information, force, energy, or matter.
Operatively associated: Operatively associated means the recited components or elements are disposed relative to each other in a manner to accomplish the recited operation. Depending on the components described as being operatively associated, the association may be by way of coupling or other connection, by way of disposition near or adjacent to each other, or by way of other relationships. For example, an optical sensor may be operatively associated with another component by being in a line of sight with the other component. Other relationships may be require greater proximity, fluid tight connection, thermal relationships, electrical relationships, etc. Operatively associated refers to all suitable relationships identifiable to one of skill in the art for accomplishing the recited operative functionality.
Order of steps: It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, in any methods claimed herein that include more than one step or act, the order of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarily limited to the order in which the steps or acts of the method are recited.
Preferred: “preferred” and “preferably” refer to embodiments of the invention that afford certain benefits, under certain circumstances. However, other embodiments may also be preferred, under the same or other circumstances. Furthermore, the recitation of one or more preferred embodiments does not imply that other embodiments are not useful, and is not intended to exclude other embodiments from the scope of the invention.
Ranges: Concentrations, dimensions, amounts, and other numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a range of about 1 to about 200 should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1 and about 200, but also to include individual sizes such as 2, 3, 4, etc. and sub-ranges such as 10 to 50, 20 to 100, etc. Similarly, it should be understood that when numerical ranges are provided, such ranges are to be construed as providing literal support for claim limitations that only recite the lower value of the range as well as claims limitation that only recite the upper value of the range. For example, a disclosed numerical range of 10 to 100 provides literal support for a claim reciting “greater than 10” (with no upper bounds) and a claim reciting “less than 100” (with no lower bounds).
Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments and implementations. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features described herein and additional applications of the principles of the invention as described herein, such as would occur to one skilled in the relevant art having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention. Further, before particular embodiments of the present invention are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular process and materials disclosed herein as such may vary to some degree. Moreover, in the event that a particular aspect or feature is described in connection with a particular embodiment, such aspects and features may be found and/or implemented with other embodiments of the present invention where appropriate. Specific language may be used herein to describe the exemplary embodiments and implementations. It will nevertheless be understood that such descriptions, which may be specific to one or more embodiments or implementations, are intended to be illustrative only and for the purpose of describing one or more exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, as the scope of the present invention will be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation or operation are described in this disclosure. For example, some well-known features, principles, or concepts, are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the invention. It will be appreciated that in the development of any actual embodiment or in the operation of any actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions may be made to achieve specific goals, such as compliance with system-related, process-related, and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. For example, the specific details of an appropriate gravel-packing fluid, basepipe materials, connections, etc. for implementing methods of the present invention may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that decision-making efforts required to finalize these details for an actual implementation may be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure.
Still additionally,
As indicated,
It should be noted the relative positions, sizes, etc. of the gravel-packed zones 224 and the gravel-based zonal isolation systems 232 in
In other implementations, the zonal isolation may be desired at a position where the formation is more permeable. As described above, when the wellbore wall 226 adjacent a zonal isolator is poorly consolidated, permeable, or otherwise susceptible to fluid flow therethrough to flow around the zonal isolator. However, the gravel-based zonal isolation system 232 of the present technologies overcomes these challenges with conventional zonal isolators in a plurality of manners. For example, the gravel-pack of the gravel-based zonal isolation system 232 supports the wellbore wall 226, even those that are more poorly consolidated. Additionally, because the gravel-based zonal isolation systems can be formed of any desired length, the length of a given gravel-based zonal isolation system 232 may be selected such that the distance fluid would travel through the gravel and/or permeable formation is sufficiently long to effectively isolate the adjacent zones. Depending on the characteristics of the formation and the gravel-pack obtained through the present technologies, gravel-based zonal isolation systems 232 may extend from about 1 feet in length to about 40 feet in length (e.g., the length of a conventional tubing joint) to over about 100 feet. As can be understood, the length of the gravel-based zonal isolation system is limited only the practicalities of the materials costs and the characteristics of the well and formation. In some implementations where a long gravel-based zonal isolation system is desired, it may be preferred to utilize multiple tubular assemblies in series rather than a single, long tubular assembly.
As illustrated in
The formation of the gravel-based zonal isolation systems 234 of
The methods 300 further include forming a gravel-based zonal isolation system in the well while conducting gravel packing operations, as at box 320. It should be noted that the gravel-based zonal isolation system is formed in situ in the well rather than being run into the well already formed. Forming the gravel-based zonal isolation system in situ allows the gravel packing and the formation of zonal isolation to occur during a single operating step. which may result in eliminating one or more of: 1) time, expense, operational complexity, and equipment associated with running equipment into and out of the well to activate the mechanical packers; 2) time, expense, operational complexity, and equipment associated with hydraulic pumping that may be used to inflate/activate mechanical packers; and 3) time, expense, operational complexity, and equipment associated with swelling a packer chemically.
The methods 400 of providing a gravel-based zonal isolation system are illustrated as beginning with providing a tubular assembly, at 402, which tubular assembly may be as described below. At 404, the methods continue by positioning the tubular assembly at a predetermined position with a well. As described above, the present technologies allow a gravel-based zonal isolation system to be formed in situ at virtually any location within a well. Accordingly, positioning the tubular assembly at a predetermined position refers to positioning the tubular assembly at whatever locations are suggested by the formation and reservoir characteristics and the operating plans for the well. In some implementations, multiple tubular assemblies may be provided and positioned within the well. The relative locations of the tubular assembly(ies) within the well are entirely dependent of the conditions of the well and the reservoir rather than the equipment or the operators. As will be understood from the description herein, the tubular assemblies may be positioned in series and/or may be spaced from each other to facilitate gravel packing of the well.
With the tubular assembly(ies) in position in the well, the methods 400 continue at 406 by pumping gravel-laden slurry to an upstream manifold of the tubular assembly. The upstream manifold may be configured to collect gravel-laden slurry from an annulus for redistribution among various flow conduits, as will be better understood with reference to
The gravel-laden slurry in the upstream manifold, or at least a portion thereof, is flowed, at 408, through a gravel packing conduit of the tubular assembly to gravel pack the annulus between the tubular assembly and the wellbore wall. The gravel packing conduit of the tubular assembly may be configured in a variety of suitable manners to receive gravel-laden slurry from the upstream manifold and to distribute the gravel-laden slurry to the annulus. In some implementations, the gravel packing conduit may be similar to gravel-packing shunt tubes of prior alternate path gravel packing technologies.
At 412,
Continuing with the discussion of
Using
As illustrated in
With continuing reference to
While flow to the gravel packing conduit 504 may be promoted merely by the relative sizes of the conduits and/or the number of conduits, one or more of the conduits, such as the transport conduit 508 and/or the leak-off conduit 506, may include flow control devices at the fluidic intersection with the upstream manifold. For example, the leak-off conduit 506 is illustrated in
As mentioned above,
The leak-off conduit 506 may be configured in any suitable manner to provide a permeable media 518 to retain particles while passing fluids, which may also be referred to as filtrate fluids. For example, the wall material providing the leak-off conduit may be slotted, may be perforated, or may otherwise include openings sized to retain the particles of the gravel-laden slurry while allowing fluids to enter. In some implementations, the leak-off conduit 506 may be configured with conventional sand control equipment, such as wire-wrap screens, etc.
As illustrated, the leak-off conduit 506 is in fluid communication with both the annulus (through the permeable media 518) and with the downstream flow path 510. Accordingly, fluid entering the leak-off conduit 506 from the annulus is allowed to flow to the downstream conduit 510 for mixing with the gravel-laden slurry flowing through the transport conduit 508 and for use with other operations further downstream in the well. In general, the leak-off conduit is in fluid communication with the downstream flow path 510 in a region longitudinally spaced from the upstream manifold 502. The schematic illustration of
For example,
As described above, the leak-off conduit 606 is configured with semi-permeable media 618 providing fluid communication between the annulus (outside of the tubular assembly 600) and the interior of the leak-off conduit. The permeable media is schematically represented here and may be provided in any of the configurations or implementations described above.
The flow control valve 620 illustrated in
Continuing now with
Once the tubular assembly 800 is disposed in the well, the gravel-laden slurry is pumped into the annulus to commence a gravel packing operation, which may be conventional, alternate path, or any other suitable form of gravel packing operation. Some of the gravel-laden slurry enters the upstream manifold, such as described above, and is diverted by the manifold into one of three conduit types, the gravel packing conduit 804, the leak-off conduit 806, and the transport conduit 808. In the absence of a gravel pack building downstream of the tubular assembly, such as by progression of the gravel pack operation and/or by the formation of a sand bridge, the gravel-laden slurry exiting the gravel packing conduit 804 flows into the annulus 834 and proceeds downstream to gravel pack the well in a manner similar to conventional alternate path gravel packing operations. As the building gravel pack approaches the tubular assembly 800, as illustrated in
This gravel packing operation continues with more and more of the gravel-laden slurry being diverted to the transport conduit than the gravel packing conduit as the annulus adjacent the gravel packing conduit becomes more gravel packed. As illustrated in
The flow restriction provided by the flow restrictor 816 and the flow control valve 820 may be varied and selected depending on the specifics of a given implementation. For example, depending on where in the tubing string the tubular assembly 800 will be disposed, where the flow control valve 820 communicates the fluids from the leak-off conduit, etc. Similarly, the number and spacing and positions of the ports 812, the configuration of the permeable media 818, and the configuration, number, position, etc. of the flow control valve 820 may vary to provide greater control over the gravel packing operations. In some implementations, the elements may be configured such that the annular region 834 is further packed during the time that the leak-off conduit is being gravel packed, such as with fluid from the upstream manifold 802. For example, as the pressure continues to build within the tubular assembly 800, the pressure may drive more gravel-laden slurry 840′ into the annulus through the gravel packing conduit 804.
After the gravel pack forms in the leak-off conduit 820, the gravel-based zonal isolation system is formed, comprising the annular gravel pack adjacent the gravel packing conduit and the gravel pack in the leak-off conduit. As described above, the length of the gravel pack in the annulus and the leak-off conduit can be adjusted to vary the integrity or quality of the zonal isolation as desired by the specific implementation and as appropriate for the formation conditions. In some implementations, the degree of isolation desired may be accomplished using a single tubular assembly 800 and other implementations may utilize two or more tubular assemblies in series. In some implementations, the two or more tubular assemblies may be disposed immediately adjacent to each other in the tubing string. Advantageously, the isolation forming operations described in connection with
In some implementations, the desired length of the gravel-based zonal isolation system, such as to accomplish the desired zonal isolation, may range from about 5 feet to about 200 feet, or longer. The only limit on the length of the gravel-based zonal isolation system is the practical realities of the well, such as the costs of the operations. A single tubular assembly as described herein may have a length between about 5 feet and about 80 feet, and perhaps more commonly 40 feet, or the length of common tubing string joint. However, the ability to connect multiple tubular assemblies in series allows gravel-based zonal isolation systems of any practical length.
Still additionally, the tubular assemblies and methods of the present disclosure may be used in combination with a packer, as first described in connection with
While the present techniques of the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, the exemplary embodiments discussed above have been shown by way of example. However, it should again be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed herein. Indeed, the present techniques of the invention are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/169,160, filed Apr. 14, 2009, which is incorporated herein in its entirety for all purposes.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US10/27199 | 3/12/2010 | WO | 00 | 8/19/2011 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61169160 | Apr 2009 | US |