Cleanout operations following well restart
Caspian Sea, April 2016
Caspian Sea, April 2016
Challenge
After completion in April 2014, a well in the Caspian Sea was put online . However, following a production trip, the well, which hadn’t been flowing for long, had to be shut-in due to significant sand production (2000 pounds per thousand barrels) during operations.
Attempts to restart the well from multiple choke reductions, resulted in an initial positive performance but consistent sand free production could not be achieved. Eventually the well had to be closed completely.
The client had previously attempted special conditioning of the well giving a gradual increase in the production rate. However, this was interrupted by multiple unplanned production trips. Ultimately, the sand shut-off intervention failed and distributed acoustic sensing indicated multiple entry points along the wellbore.
Attempts to restart the well from multiple choke reductions, resulted in an initial positive performance but consistent sand free production could not be achieved. Eventually the well had to be closed completely.
The client had previously attempted special conditioning of the well giving a gradual increase in the production rate. However, this was interrupted by multiple unplanned production trips. Ultimately, the sand shut-off intervention failed and distributed acoustic sensing indicated multiple entry points along the wellbore.
Solution
Due to a low bottom hole pressure a concentric coiled tubing cleanout operation had to be undertaken. Since the particle size was as low as 10micron, the previous sand filtration system was replaced with a DualFlow solids removal system and a custom designed state of the art filter unit for a higher separation efficiency.
Result
The use of DualFlow technology to support the concentric coiled tubing cleanout led to a significantly increased well production rate. Throughout the operation there were no recorded HSE incidents and no recorded equipment downtime. What’s more, the compact nature of our simpler, but more efficient separation technology, saw a reduction in POB.
Outcomes
No recorded HSE incidents
Vastly improved well production rate
269kgs of solids separated during the cleanout operation
67.4kgs of the cleanout solids captured by the FourPhase DualFlow’s filter unit
Vastly improved well production rate
269kgs of solids separated during the cleanout operation
67.4kgs of the cleanout solids captured by the FourPhase DualFlow’s filter unit
