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Abstract
Amoco Sharjah Oil Company (ASOC) has drilled several duallateral horizontal wells in its Sajaa Field since 1996. Two of the
wells did not reach their geologic and leg length objectives due
to massive, incurable lost circulation and several of the wells
were hampered by differential sticking. A recently completed
well was drilled using underbalanced techniques in order to
mitigate or eliminate these occurrences. Dry sales gas from the
Sajaa Gas Plant re-injection system was used to achieve the
underbalanced condition. A 7 tieback casing string with
perforations in the bottom joint was installed prior to drilling
the horizontal legs and the gas was injected down the 7 x 9
5/8 annulus. Conventional mud motors and MWD tools were
used in the bottom hole assemblies with the addition of a back
pressure valve and a "restrictor" sub. Clean water with periodic
high viscosity pills was pumped down the drill string. Surface
equipment included a rotating blow out preventer (RBOP), a
choke manifold with two bladder type adjustable chokes,
sample catchers and a four-phase separator. The project was
completed ahead of schedule, under budget, and without an
accident or serious incident. The two main benefits were
achieved plus some additional ones such as increased
penetration rates and more efficient sidetracking. This paper
discusses the pre-planning and team building conducted prior
to beginning underbalanced operations, the surface and down
hole equipment involved, the general procedures followed,
plus the operating parameters and results experienced.
Introduction
Amoco discovered Sajaa field in 1980 and first production was
in June 1982 after completion of separation and export facilities.
Development drilling progressed in five phases, four of vertical
well drilling and the current horizontal drilling phase. The
vertical wells were all cased, perforated and acid fraced; the
horizontal wells have all been completed open hole. To date
there are 37 producers in Sajaa field, 13 of which are horizontal
wells.
The Lower Cretaceous Thamama Group Pay is divided into
four zones. The top two zones contain the most Gas-In-Place
and have been the target of the horizontal wells. The Thamama
is a relatively clean, but tight, carbonate. Average porosity is
7.3%, permeability ranges from <0.1 to 8.0 md, and average
bottom hole temperature (BHT) is 2850 F. Sajaa field is a
thrusted anticline, which is sealed by the overlying Nahr Umr
shale.
The Thamama is a retrograde condensate reservoir
producing below dew point. Original reservoir pressure was
7,900 psi and average pressure now is 2,800 psi. All the
horizontal wells have been drilled using an oil base mud (OBM)
with a minimum possible weight of 7.3 pounds per gallon (ppg).
In parts of the field the pore pressure of the reservoir has
decreased to 4.0 ppg equivalent mud weight (EMW) or less.
Severe and incurable lost circulation was encountered in
two of the 19 lateral sections completed prior to drilling
underbalanced. In the first instance several days were spent
attempting to heal the losses using LCM pills, cement, gunk
plugs, etc. Ultimately, the lateral was drilled blind for another
2,817 feet to total depth (TD) using water and diesel/OBM pills
for lubrication. This resulted in excessive fluid losses and
probable damage to the formation, along with extensive clean
up time. Due to the massive losses, the planned second lateral
in this well was canceled.
In the second case, a very limited attempt to cure the losses
was made; this was followed by drilling an additional 500 feet
blind, but the lateral was stopped 2,500 feet short of target TD.
In both wells the geologic targets were not met. These
"cracks" were not seismically predictable.
SPE 57569
SPE 57569 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING OF AN UNDERBALANCED, DUAL-LATERAL HORIZONTAL WELL IN THE SAJAA FIELD, SHARJAH, UAE
normal flow path while in the UBD mode was through one of
the bladder type chokes. These chokes are hydraulically
operated using a hand pump positioned next to the separator
control station. A second inlet line to the UBD choke manifold
was connected from the rig's choke manifold. Return flow from
the well bore was diverted through this line whenever the rig's
BOPs were closed, for example when changing the RBOP
packer element.
Downstream of the UBD choke manifold the normal flow
path is through 6", 2,000 psi flanged piping to the separator
inlet manifold. A secondary contingency flow line of 4" chik
san was also connected from the UBD choke manifold to the
separator. During the first trip out of the hole in the UBD mode,
a bypass line of 4" chik san was installed from the UBD choke
manifold directly to the flare line.
At the separator inlet manifold the 6" line from the UBD
choke manifold was split into three different lines: two 4" lines
and one 3" line. Each of the 4" lines contained a globe valve
designed to throttle flow in a very harsh environment. The
function of the 3" line was to divert flow to the sample catchers
for the collection of geological samples. Two sample catchers
were piped together to allow for continuous sampling. The
sample catchers employed a tangential entry and operated
under the same principle as a cyclone separator. With this
cyclone effect, the heavy samples were forced to the bottom of
the collection pot where they remained until extracted through
the manifold system on the bottom.
The 200 psi UBD separator had a vortex inlet, a very large
surface contact area combined with a cyclone action, to aid the
separation of solids and gas from the liquid phase. The
separated cuttings fell to the bottom of the inlet section of the
separator and were kept agitated by the "sparge" system. The
sparge pump took its suction from the clean fluid end of the
separator and jetted it back into the separator inlet end through
two inch lines. The drill cuttings slurry mixture was removed
from the separator by a progressive cavity pump which
pumped the slurry to the rig's shale shakers.
The separator was equipped with two liquid outlets. In
normal operation (stable fluid production) fluid dumped from
the lower outlet but if a slug of liquid occurred and the lower
liquid outlet could not pass the fluid fast enough, the upper
liquid outlet opened. Both liquid outlets were equipped with
control valves and turbine meters. Downstream of the control
valve on each liquid leg was a centrifugal pump, used to assist
in liquid transfer when pressures were too low to transfer the
liquid out of the separator. External level sight glasses
monitored the liquid level inside the separator.
The lower liquid outlet from the separator was piped to the
rig's shale shakers and the upper liquid outlet piped to the rig's
poor boy degasser. Also a tee was installed on the lower liquid
return line and piping was run to a 500 barrel storage tank set
at the edge of the location for the collection of produced
condensate.
The separator gas measurement was obtained using a 6"
meter run complete with a Daniel senior orifice plate fitting and
full set of orifice plates. Manual readings of the flow variables
were taken and the flow rate calculated from the Barton chart
recorder. The back pressure on the separator was maintained
by two 4" bladder valves. The separator was equipped with
two safety relief valves, which were sized to protect it from
over pressure. These valves were vented to the flare pit
through a 5" flow line. The gas out from the separator was also
directed to the flare pit through a second 5" flow line.
Down Hole Equipment
All the bits used during the UBD operations were IADC series
4-4-7 and the mud motors were 4-3/4 OD, 4/5 lobe, 3.5 stage,
positive displacement motors with an adjustable bent housing
(ABH) (Fig. 2). The motors were run without a dump valve.
The settings of the ABH were either 1.50 or 1.83 degrees.
Maximum allowable flow rate through the motors was 250
gallons per minute (GPM).
Immediately above the motor a conventional drill string
flapper type back pressure valve (BPV) was installed. The
purpose of this valve was to prevent flow up the drill string
during trips in or out of the hole. A "restrictor" sub was
installed above the BPV. The sub had an internal profile and
threaded receptacle that permitted the installation of a standard
bit nozzle. The nozzle was sized to give a predetermined
pressure drop at anticipated pump rates. This was necessary to
counteract the strong U-tube effect while in the underbalanced
mode and to permit the recording of positive pressure pulses at
surface from the MWD tool.
The next item in the bottom hole assembly (BHA) was the
MWD tool. The tool used was a standard positive pulse tool
powered by a down hole turbine. It was configured to measure
inclination, direction, tool face readings and Gamma Ray
counts. The tool was designed to continuously update all the
readings as long as the down hole tool was in sync with the
surface computer. In order for the tool to get in sync it had to
see a no flow condition so that its turbine would power
down and switch off. Whenever flow was resumed the first
signals from the tool were a synchronizing sequence that the
surface computer had to recognize in order to correctly
interpret the subsequent data being transmitted. It was
possible to program the down hole tool at surface to have a
certain amount of delay from flow on until it transmitted the
synchronizing sequence.
Above the MWD tool, conventional flex drill collars, heviwate drill pipe and drilling jars were run. A drill string dart sub
was also included in the BHA to provide a means to install an
additional back pressure valve in the event that the flapper
type BPV failed. The drill pipe used was a combination of
3 1/2, 15.5 lb/ft (ppf), NC38 Grade G and X initially. At one
point in the well the X drill pipe was replaced with S135.
Drilling Program
The well was drilled conventionally to 11,372 ft MD (11,012 ft
SPE 57569
TVD) and a 7" liner was set and cemented using conventional
liner hanger equipment (Fig. 3). After cleaning out the excess
cement on top of the liner, a 7 casing tie back string was run
which included a 15 seal assembly on bottom and a perforated
joint just above it. The perforated joint had 7/8 diameter holes
drilled in it, 12 holes per foot, with a linear distance between
holes of at least 3 inches. Starting 2 ft up from the pin end, the
joint was perforated over a length of 15 ft.
Once the tie back string had been landed, the RBOP and
surface UBD equipment were installed and tested. The 7" liner
was cleaned out to the landing collar using a rotary BHA
which included the BPV, restrictor sub and the MWD tool.
Gas injection was begun down the 7 x 9-5/8 annulus and
after the well unloaded the pump was staged back up to 126
GPM. Several hours were spent varying gas injection and
pump rates to find good ranges for steady state conditions.
The 7 landing collar, shoe track cement, and shoe were drilled
out while continuing to experiment with pump rates and gas
injection rates. After drilling the shoe, the well was killed and
the bit pulled in order to run the standard mud motor BHA.
The 6 diameter A leg was drilled to a final TD of 15,580 ft
MD (11,659 ft TVD). A logging run was made using drill pipe
conveyed logging tools then a GR-CCL log was run on wireline
over the length of the 7 liner.
The well bore was prepared for drilling the second leg by
setting a 7" packer with orienting profile, installing a 5"
retrievable bridge plug (RPB) below the packer, latching a "one
trip" whipstock into the packer and milling a window through
the 7" liner. After tripping in the hole with a 6 bit and mud
motor BHA, gas injection down the 7 x 9-5/8 annulus was
resumed and the B leg was drilled to a final TD of 16,016 ft
MD (11,229 ft TVD).
At TD the well was circulated and flowed until clean. The
bit was pulled up into the 7 liner, the well killed and the bit
pulled to surface. The 7" whipstock and the 5" RBP were
retrieved from the well and then the Lateral Entry Nipple (LEN)
was run and latched into the 7" packer.
A bridge plug was set on wireline approximately 10 ft above
the holes in the 7" perforated joint. In order to confirm the
bridge plug was correctly set, a CCL-Gradio log was run to find
the fluid level inside the 7, additional water was pumped, and
the fluid level checked again to confirm it had risen the correct
amount. The 7 casing tie back string was then pulled from the
well.
The 5 tubing completion string was run with a 4.125 plug
set in a nipple 20 ft above the 5 seal assembly. The first 5,500
ft of tubing was filled with water and the remainder run without
filling. The tubing was spaced out and landed. The BOPs
were removed and the Christmas tree installed and tested. The
4.125 plug was retrieved from the bottom of the tubing string
and a temporary flow line rigged up from the Christmas tree to
the UBD choke manifold. Injection gas was opened up to the
5 x 9-5/8 annulus and the well unloaded through the UBD
surface equipment. The well was flowed several hours for an
SPE 57569 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING OF AN UNDERBALANCED, DUAL-LATERAL HORIZONTAL WELL IN THE SAJAA FIELD, SHARJAH, UAE
through the down hole tools and the elevated temperature, the
calcium was precipitating out of the water. Treatment of the
drill water with soda ash until the hardness was 0 mg/l was
begun at this point and continued throughout the remainder of
the well.
A new mud motor was tripped in the hole and drilled 660 ft
in 10 hours with instantaneous penetration rates in the range
of 120 - 140 ft/hr most of the time. Drilling continued for
another 1.5 hours but the penetration rate suddenly dropped
from 120 ft/hr to only 20 ft/hr. A problem with the motor was
suspected so the BHA was pulled. The motor looked OK at
surface and in hindsight the reduced ROP was actually due to
drilling through a low porosity section of rock.
The last motor used in the A leg had the best and longest
run with a total of 57 hours circulating and drilling. Drilling was
discontinued because the drill string became partially plugged
and it was not possible to get sufficient flow rate to operate the
motor. When the BHA was pulled to surface it was discovered
that the top of the MWD tool was plugged with dehydrated
gel. While drilling the A leg periodic high viscosity pills
containing bentonite and PAC R had been pumped to help
clean the hole. The formulation being used was not correct for
the temperature environment and after this plugging incident
we started using pills mixed with XC Polymer only.
The RBOP and surface UBD equipment all worked
extremely well while drilling the A leg. Six complete trips were
made while drilling this section with only 5 RBOP packer
elements consumed. All the circulation had been through the
bladder type chokes in the choke manifold and only one
bladder was consumed during the process.
Logging and Sidetracking
The A leg was TDd at 15,580 ft MD and then the well was
logged using drill pipe conveyed tools. The logging tools were
stripped in the hole using the RBOP until the 7 liner shoe was
reached. At that point water was bull headed to ensure the well
was dead and the wireline side entry sub installed. Logging
down proceeded to a depth of 14,950 ft at which point the
string became differentially stuck. After pulling to maximum
allowable tension on the drill pipe with no movement, an
attempt was made to pull the wireline wet connect out of the
hole. The wet connect was pulled to 5,000 ft before the
maximum allowable wireline tension was reached. The wireline
was clamped to the drill pipe and then cut above the clamp at
the rig floor. An RBOP packer element was placed above the
wireline clamp and the drill string lowered a few feet to install
the packer element in the RBOP. Gas injection was started and
once the well unloaded the pipe came free. After circulating for
a couple of hours to clean up the well the gas injection was
stopped, the drill string fluid allowed to U-tube and it was
possible to pull out of the hole to the side entry sub. The
wireline was found wrapped around the drill pipe in several
places which was why it had not been possible to pull it out
completely with the logging unit.
SPE 57569
SPE 57569 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING OF AN UNDERBALANCED, DUAL-LATERAL HORIZONTAL WELL IN THE SAJAA FIELD, SHARJAH, UAE
did not perform as well as the original. In fact one of them even
caused additional problems by forming a sticky emulsion when
mixed with the wells condensate and fine drill cuttings.
With the B leg at a depth of 14,411 ft MD, the mechanical
limits of the Grade X drill pipe had been reached. Since no
appreciable levels of H2S had been detected while drilling to
this point the decision was made to replace the 3 " X Grade
drill pipe with S135 Grade to give additional torsion and tensile
strength. Several days were spent switching out the drill pipe
and also making a reaming trip with a stabilized rotary
assembly to help smooth out some of the dog legs.
A new mud motor BHA with 1.5o ABH was run in the hole,
but after drilling only 72 ft the Nahr Umr formation was again
penetrated. The first attempt to sidetrack with this assembly at
14,100 ft was unsuccessful probably because the well bore was
fairly smooth and level at that point. The bit was pulled to
13,750 ft where there was a 7.5o/100 ft dog leg and the well
successfully sidetracked in only 5-1/2 hours.
Drilling continued with the same assembly for another 9
hours at which point the drill string became plugged and it was
not possible to circulate. While pulling out of the hole the drill
string became differentially stuck, but by resuming the gas
injection the drill string was quickly freed in only 1 hour and
the trip out completed. The cause of the plugging was found to
be scale in the restrictor sub from the S135 rental drill pipe. A
new mud motor with 1.5o ABH was run in the hole and drilled
to TD at an exceptional rate of 1,608 ft in only 20.5 circulating
and drilling hours.
The surface UBD equipment again worked very well with
only an additional 2 choke bladders consumed (total of 3 for
the entire well). Initially the RBOP also worked well with
consumption of 2 more rubber elements up until the point
where the X drill pipe was replaced with the S135 drill pipe.
From that point onwards consumption of the rubbers increased
dramatically (6 more consumed). The S135 drill pipe had three
grooves cut in the tool joints and the grooves had very sharp
edges. Each time a tool joint passed through the RBOP it sliced
off some of the rubber from the packer element. This did not
occur when using the X Grade drill pipe.
Well Completion
Based on the difficulties experienced while logging the A leg
and the high potential for differential sticking whenever the
well was in the dead condition, the decision was made to not
log the B leg. Completion of the well proceeded according to
the plan. All tools and procedures worked the first time with
one exception. It took 3 trips before all the components of the
whipstock assembly were recovered.
After installing the Christmas tree the well was unloaded by
injecting gas down the 5 x 9-5/8 annulus with production
directed through the UBD choke manifold. The well cleaned up
very quickly and the drilling rig was released to its next project.
When the well was subsequently placed on production and
tested, its rate was 60% higher than anticipated by predictions
References
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SPE 57569
SPE 57569 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING OF AN UNDERBALANCED, DUAL-LATERAL HORIZONTAL WELL IN THE SAJAA FIELD, SHARJAH, UAE
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SPE 57569
SPE 57569 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING OF AN UNDERBALANCED, DUAL-LATERAL HORIZONTAL WELL IN THE SAJAA FIELD, SHARJAH, UAE
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