reducing risk and total cost of well cleanup operations
TRANSCRIPT
David Malone, CEO AccessESP
Reducing Risk and Total Cost of Well Cleanup Operations
Enhancing flowback and cleanup operationsEffective well cleanup following completion is an essential step in preparing the reservoir for production and for ensuring the integrity of fluids entering the gathering system. In some high-value, challenging wells, the flowback and cleanup operation can be risky and time consuming since it requiresa complicated coiled tubing (CT) and nitrogen lift process to remove debris and reduce the hydrostatic head in the wellbore. The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) set out to develop a safer, less costly alternative method that would meet four objectives:
• Minimize risk by dramatically reducing the amount of heavy equipment and personnel at the wellsite
• Establish a new technical limit for well cleanup operations with less rig time, fewer execution failures and reduced operating cost
• Eliminate the use of high-pressure gas and chemicals to ensure zero environmental impact
• Cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The JumpStart Well Cleanout Service offers operators a range of service and support options to ensure a highly reliable, cost-saving well cleanout solution. This patent-pending method of deploying a fully retrievable through-tubing ESP system reduces flowback and cleanout rig time by 50 percent in vertical, deviated, horizontal and multilateral wells. An alternative to conventional flowback and cleanup operations, the JumpStart service is licensed to AccessESP by Saudi Aramco Technologies Company for worldwide deployment in onshore and offshore wells.
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The AccessESP GoRigless™ ESP System was selected to meet these objectives by cleaning out the wellbore without coiled tubing or nitrogen lift. By temporarily installing a slickline-retrievable electric submersible pump in the well, heavyweight kill fluids can be removed in half the time required to perform a coiled tubing–deployed nitrogen lift operation, enabling natural flow to begin several days to a few weeks earlier.
Documented savings from using the GoRigless ESP technology for wellbore cleanout and flowback operations have averaged US$1.1 million for offshore deviated and horizontal wells, US$3 million for multilateral wells and US$0.8 million for land wells. In one Aramco field, using this technology is estimated to generate a savings of US$190 million over a five-year field development program by eliminating coiled tubing and nitrogen lift services.
Proven operational procedureThe GoRigless ESP System used in the well cleanout procedure has been qualified, tested and proven in offshore and land wells in Alaska, Angola, Brunei and Saudi Arabia. The equipment has achieved a high-reliability track record for new completions and for gas lift well conversions to ESP. It is designed for 4.5-in. or larger production tubing.
The procedure begins with the GoRigless Permanent Completion Assembly installed with tubing. The setting depth is determined for each well based on unloading requirements. The Permanent Completion Assembly serves as a docking station for the GoRigless Retrievable Assembly, a slickline-deployed downhole pump and permanent magnet motor. A unique dry-mate connector mounted on a plug arm makes the electrical connection between the cable run outside the casing and the motor run inside the tubing.
A slickline unit is deployed for six to eight hours to make four runs to install the Retrievable Assembly. Once the ESP system is ready to run, the well fluid can be lifted directly to the surface at very high rates — 3,000 to 6,000 bbl/d. Note the pumpoff rate for coiled tubing nitrogen lift is typically 300 to 600 bbl/d.
At the conclusion of the cleanup, the Retrievable Assembly is quickly removed with slickline, and the well is ready to flow to the production facility without removing tubing. The Permanent Assembly and cable remain in the well to allow an ESP to be redocked in the
10 to 20 days 5 to 10 days
CT N2 Injection Rigless ESP
10 to 20 days 5 to 10 days
CT N2 Injection Rigless ESP
CT N2 Injection (top) vs deploying a rigless ESP pumpout solution (bottom). Saudi Aramco and AccessESP jointly developed a reliable method to deploy an ESP to remove kill fluids without CT or N2 injection.
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Packer
Seals/protectors
PermanentMagnet Motor
(PMM)
Sensor Pump
Packoff
Tubingstop
Check valve
Plug armAnnularconnection
port
1 2 3 4
PermanentCompletionAssembly
RetrievableAssembly
The Permanent Completion Assembly is installed with the production tubing to offer life-of-well flexibility for well cleanup and optimized drawdown. The Retrievable Assembly can be removed and redeployed through tubing with four slickline runs. The ability to selectively change out the entire assembly or the pump alone without pulling tubing saves millions in workover costs.
A comparison of the typical CT nitrogen-lifted well cleanup with a GoRigless ESP System cleanout reveals multiple, significant benefits.
Typical CT nitrogen–lifted cleanup
• Much simpler• Low risk• 4 to 5 lifts• 3 connections• High slickline availability• Low slickline day rate• > 6 years failure free• Much less HSE risk
JumpStart well cleanup with GoRigless ESP System
• Lower CAPEX• Lower OPEX• Accelerated production• High ROI, payback• Reuse of equipment or
leave in well for lift• 3000- to 6000-bbl/d
pumpoff rate
• Very complex• High-risk operations• >25 lifts• ~20 connections• Uncertain CT availability• High CT day rate• High-pressure operations• 300- to 600-bbl/d pumpoff rate
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future to boost production without an expensive heavy intervention with a rig.
In Aramco wells, the time required to confirm the removal of completion fluid and debris was reduced from an average of 21 days to 10 days offshore and from 10 days to 4 days on land. The cost saving gained by reducing rig time and eliminating coiled tubing and nitrogen pumping is significant. The new cleanout process also lowers transportation costs, decreases heavy lifts, reduces the number of personnel on board, and frees deck and bed space previously required for CT operations. In addition, the volume of gas to be handled at the surface is considerably less because completion fluid can be pumped directly to the tanks with no gas to separate until wellbore fluids begin to arrive, which provides a measurable improvement in safety.
Overcoming inertia to adopt game-changing technologyAccessESP offers operators critical support to reliably deploy the GoRigless ESP system to accelerate time to first oil while reducing risk, well cleanup rig time, opera-ting cost and greenhouse gas emissions. The innovative JumpStart Well Cleanout Service allows relevant drilling, completion, production and reservoir stakeholders to collaborate with the AccessESP team to ensure effective cleanout and flowback at the lowest possible overall cost.
Four levels of support are available:
• For high-temperature, high-pressure or corrosive wells using the new well cleanout method, Platinum level offers end-to-end pre-job design, testing, installation and operational support with equipment proven to meet the most extreme downhole conditions.
• For more benign well conditions, Gold level offers end-to-end pre-job design, testing, installation and operational support with equipment proven to meet standard downhole conditions (<300°F, <20,000 psi, <3% H2S).
• Silver level offers pre-job design and field installation support of equipment rated for standard conditions. This option is suitable for operators who already have experience with the GoRigless ESP System.
• Bronze level support allows operators to design the well cleanout operation themselves and to receive field installation support of standard equipment.
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For operators who are not accustomed to giving oilfield service companies access to the information they need to design and implement an effective well cleanout operation, AccessESP signs strict confidentiality agreements to protect well data and proprietary processes the operator wishes to protect.
To help overcome operator reluctance to adopt the JumpStart Well Cleanout Service, AccessESP offers a JumpStart Value Chain Lab process that allows members of the operator’s asset team to collaborate with AccessESP project managers and technical advisors to analyze the tradeoffs between well cleanout and flowback methods. If the GoRigless ESP System for well cleanout is deemed a viable solution, a business case with project objectives and a timeline can be completed. The process includes an eight-hour workshop led by a neutral facilitator to ensure alignment is achieved with full transparency on objectives, key performance indicators, risks and costs.
To be successful, the workshop must bring together key stakeholder positions from each side. The operator assigns a relevant manager, completion engineer, production engineer and HSE and procurement representatives to participate. On the AccessESP side are a JumpStart project manager, an engineer and HSE and commercial representatives. During the workshop, participants identify specific risk-reducing and cost-saving activities that ensure operating expenses are reduced while efficiency and safety are improved.
The AccessESP management team firmly believes that real collaboration in the well cleanout design and planning process ensures a successful operation with the greatest bottom-line value.
Value Chain Lab
Operator
AccessESP
Mgr Engr HSE SCM
Mgr
Facilitator Observer
Engr HSE Commercial
ValueChainLab
4 Steps to De-Risking
Projects
BusinessCase
Alignment
JumpStartWell Cleanout
Service
ScorecardMonitoring
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+1 (713) [email protected]
About AccessESPAccessESP delivers advanced technologies that help oil and gas operators reduce intervention costs, maximize well productivity and enhance reservoir recovery rates by achieving the technical limit in ESP performance. With several years of failure-free performance, GoRigless™ ESP technologies are proven to reduce risk and lower total cost of operations in high-value offshore and onshore wells. Operators who partner with AccessESP benefit from exclusive access to JumpStart™ Services to fast-track adoption of game-changing technologies that reduce greenhouse emissions through the company’s GoGreen™ initiative.