SPE 94039

Cementing a Long Horizontal Wellbore Using CT Squeeze Technology

W. Rauchenstein and C.G. Blount, SPE, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.

Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2005 SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference
and Exhibition held in The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.A., 12 13 April 2005.
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Abstract
Coiled Tubing (CT) cementing has been widely used and
highly successful for remedial squeeze and plug back
operations for over 20 years1,2,3. However, the vast majority
of these wells were at deviations less than 90 degrees.
A long horizontal well in the Alpine field on the North
Slope of Alaska was drilled early in the development phase
and was out of pattern (Fig. 1). The well required a plug back
and sidetracking to maintain desired off-take strategy (Fig. 2).
The well was drilled to a total depth of 11,984 feet and
completed with approximately 2,050 feet of 4-1/2 slotted
liner inside the 2,210 of 6-1/8 hole. Near the middle of the
horizontal section, the wells deviation climbed to a maximum
of 96 degrees.
Cementing operations have long been recognized as a
problem in horizontal wells. However, a search of the SPE
online library identified only 5 papers that mentioned the
challenge we faced while a search of horizontal yielded
5,534 hits. Although the 5 papers did discuss the problem and
gave some general guidance to cement design consideration,
there was little specific information on the best practice
approach to Plug and Abandon (P&A) long horizontal
wellbores.
Based on the successful CT squeeze program in Alaska, a
team of engineers and field supervisors decided to use CT
cement squeeze technology to seal the lateral portion of the
wellbore and leave a cement base for subsequent sidetracking
operations. This paper will discuss the details of this job
including:
1. Job Planning
2. Cement design and testing
3. Tools and Equipment
4. Wellbore geometry and Placement details
5. Onsite Job Execution details
6. Results
7. Lessons learned

Field Overview
The operator, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., and partners in
1994 discovered the Alpine field. The Alpine field is located
in the Colville River Delta a few miles south of the Arctic
Ocean and approximately 70 miles west of the Trans Alaska
Pipeline. The facilities are connected to the North Slope road
system via ice road for approximately three months of the
year. Aircraft provide the only mode of transportation at other
times. Produced crude is transported to the Trans Alaska
Pipeline via the East-West running Alpine and Kuparuk
common carrier pipelines.
The reservoir was under-saturated at discovery with a gas
oil ratio of about 850 SCF/Bbl. The produced oil gravity
currently averages 39 API. As a result of the depositional
environment and minor fault offset, excellent vertical
permeability is observed and the productive sands are pressure
connected across large distances. A water alternating
miscible gas flood is being conducted in the Alpine reservoir.
The field is developed with line drive patterns, utilizing
horizontal producers and injectors in a one to one ratio (Fig.
2).
Given the high mechanical strength of the clean finegrained Alpine sandstones, the operator elected to leave the
horizontal sections on the wellbore uncased, to minimize the
chance of formation damage. A 7.0 intermediate casing shoe
is set just below the top of the producing formations at high
angle. The uncased horizontal production hole typically
extends 3000-4000 feet beyond the intermediate casing shoe.
Production and injection tubing is primarily 4.5 although
some lower rate wells are completed with 3.5 tubing. A
production or injection packer is located a few hundred
measured feet above the casing shoe. A typical Alpine well
completion is shown in Figure 3.
While performing above expectations, this completion
practice has proven to be a difficult environment to access.
Early attempts at logging these wells using CT memory tools
and conductor line tractors provided less than ideal results in
reaching the TD in the extended horizontal open-hole sections.
Drilling and formation debris and abrasive formations in
combination with wellbore geometry limited our ability to
reach the full measured depth of the lateral sections. Portions
of open-hole lateral sections with fill or debris is not the only
potential challenge to successfully cementing these wells;
recent caliper logs suggest that the wells may also have
sections that are washed-out or significantly out of gauge.
Although the final field development plan called for long
open-hole lateral wellbores with injection and producing wells
in a line drive configuration, there were a few early

development wells drilled that did not fit the final offtake linedrive strategy. The subject of this paper is the P&A of Well B
in preparation for a sidetrack to put the well in pattern.
Wellbore Completion and Geometry Details
Well B was drilled early in the development of the Alpine
development. This well did not conform to the final line drive
production strategy for Alpine field. A P&A proposal was
considered to allow sidetracking of Well B to put this well in
conformance with the rest of the Alpine development (Fig. 4).
The original completion of Well B included:
16 Conductor set at 109 TVD/MD and cemented to
surface
9-5/8 40# L-80 Surface Casing set to 3,326
MD/3120 TVD and cemented to surface
7 26# L-80 Production Casing set to 9,775
MD/7,200 TVD
6-1/8 Open Hole from 9,775 MD to 11,984 MD
Lined with a 4-1/2 12.6# L-80 Production Slotted
Liner from 9,590 to 11, 643 MD/+-7,133 TVD, no
cement.
4-1/2 12.6# L-80 Production Tubing from surface to
8,777 MD/7,031 TVD with SSSV nipple, sidepocket GLMs, landing nipples, production packer,
and tailpipe with entry guide.
The schematic of the subject Well B is shown in Figure 5.
The geometry getting down to the horizontal completion is
shown in Figure 6.
Pre-Job Planning
Preparations for this program started with a meeting to
compare options to P&A the well in preparation for a
sidetrack to normalize the well to field pattern. P&A options
included:
1. Full-bore cementing the entire wellbore
2. Cementing through a retainer in the top of the liner
3. Setting a mechanical whipstock at the desired
sidetrack location and down-squeezing cement
4. Performing a CT placed liner-top cement downsqueeze
5. Performing a bottom up cement squeeze using the CT
squeeze procedure commonly performed in more
conventional wells in Alaska.
During the meeting, the participants determined that one
important goal of the job was to ensure that the original
wellbore was not left as an underground conduit for injected
or produced fluids that could affect sweep pattern efficiency.
A literature search to help offer additional guidance proved
of little use providing only 5 papers generally addressing
horizontal cementing operations. The majority of these papers
discussed the cement properties for horizontal wells and
primary cement job considerations; none specifically
addressing the operational challenges of this horizontal P&A
squeeze job.
Review of various other jobs performed in Alaska yielded
some useful data points including a high angle CT squeeze on
a 21,100 well, and some work on performing a chemical
packer job in another horizontal well4. This chemical
packer refers to a thixotropic cement system designed to form

SPE 94039

discrete plugs of cement when pumped into horizontal

wellbores.
The more conventional approach of laying the cement
from the deepest measured depth attainable in the wellbore
was chosen for this well. The most compelling reason for this
approach was due to the need to do the best job possible in
hydraulically isolating the original wellbore to help assure
conformance with the injection and offtake pattern strategy.
The chance of leaving a 2,200 high permeability channel was
not tenable in this particular circumstance. One comforting
aspect of using a more conventional approach was the sheer
number of CT squeeze jobs performed on the North Slope,
numbering well over 1,000 operations over the last 20 years.
The plan involved:
1.
Running the cement nozzle to 11,570 CTMD
(staying in the slotted liner that was 341 MD from
the end of the openhole section, and above the packoff bushing near the bottom of the liner)
2.
Liquid packing the wellbore, bottoms up
3.
Laying in the cement while pulling up hole at about
a 1-1 volumetric ratio following spotting of 15 Bbls
of cement near TD
4.
Pulling up hole to a depth where the deviation was
less than 45 degrees so the cement top area would be
more manageable
5.
Hesitate squeezing by pumping fluid above the
cement top to help displace any wellbore fluid
pockets in the horizontal section back into the
formation and filling the voids with cement
6.
Running in hole and washing excess cement above
the desired sidetrack depth
7.
Pulling out of the hole washing all nipples and
jewelry
This bottoms-up approach brought with it numerous
challenges. Reaching TD was not certain based on previous
open-hole experience in other Alpine wells. However, CT
forces modeling suggested that since the well was lined, we
should be able to reach the shoe of the liner at 11,643 (341
shallow of the open hole TD) using a tubing straightener5 on
the 1.75 OD tapered CT string.
Another concern was the possibility of becoming stuck
while spotting the dense cement. Numerous open hole and
even conventional cement squeeze jobs have proven how
effective the viscous and dense cement can be in moving
wellbore debris and occasionally bridging and sticking the CT.
Early field operations by Arco and BP in cementing other
high-angle wells experienced problems in the heel area where
the low viscous fluids mixed with the cement and dropped
debris that had been carried up in the cement. To further
exacerbate the concern, historical trends have shown that
formation spalling and cuttings are not uncommon in Alpine
wellbores6. The fact that this wellbore contained a slotted
liner (1/4 slots) helped alleviate some of these concerns.
In addition to determining the type of P&A, the nature of
the isolated Alpine field and the time of year no ice road at
the time- precluded bringing in additional equipment
commonly used in Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk CT squeeze
operations.
Alpine does not have a year-round road
connection to the well-established oilfield infrastructure
available to other North Slope fields. The only time large

SPE 94039

equipment can be brought-in is during the three winter months

when the ice roads are available. Any large items that cannot
be transported by medium sized DC-6 or Herc aircraft,
including CT and cementing equipment, must be staged in the
field during the ice season.
The only equipment available to mix and pump the cement
was an Arctic Drilling Rig located at the extreme distal end
of the pad from the well to be P&Ad- some 600 away (Fig
7). The available onsite equipment options did not include a
conventional batch mixer, commonly preferred to help ensure
cement quality for CT cementing jobs in Alaska.
Cement Design
A slow setting, low fluid-loss latex blend cement system was
chosen given the wellbore geometry and condition, required
placement and squeeze techniques, and necessity of attaining
the best hydraulic seal possible. The class G cement was
designed to 15.8 ppg in fresh water with .4% BWOC TIC
dispersant D065, .2% BWOC mid temperature retarder D800,
.2 gal/sk antifoam D047, and 2.0 gal/sk liquid latex D600G.
The Pv was measured at 32.2 cP at 81 deg F and 68.2 cP at
140 deg F. The Ty was 4.2 lbf/100ft2 at 81 deg F and 7.0 at
140 deg F. The Fann 35 rehology numbers of the cement
system are shown in Table 1.
The thickening time of the cement system was increased
from the traditional 3-8 hours to 8-10 hours at static bottom
hole temperature of 160 F (beginning with 80 F mix
temperature raised to 160 F BHCT in 44 minutes) to allow
trouble time should problems develop when laying in the
cement through approximately 4,500 of the wellbore
including the horizontal section. The chance of rubble and
debris sticking the CT was still of concern while pumping the
cement job.
A low fluid loss cement blend was selected to minimize
the chance of prematurely bridging off localized areas that
may take more fluid. The squeeze design called for an API
fluid loss of approximately 15 mL in 30 minutes (blend tested
at 14 mL). Since there was no plan to washout excess cement
through the liner and considering the fact that the liner was
slotted and uncemented, the normal requirement of developing
adequate node height was not a concern.
The cements API free water tested as close to 0% as
measurable.
The high latex content provided for the best possible
cement bond, helped lower the fluid loss, and provided for a
robust and resilient kick-off plug7.
All needed cement additives were flown in from the
service company base. The cement additives were mixed into
the mix-water and stored in a Vac truck the night before the
job to allow ample time for hydration.
Tools, Equipment, and Procedure
The CT unit for this job was an Arctic Mast CT Unit with
15,210 of tapered 1-3/4 coiled tubing. A pipe straighter was
previously installed on the CT unit to extend the attainable
reach into the extensive horizontal sections of Alpine
completions. Other equipment for the job included 3 Fluid
supply tanks, 4 returns tanks including a 200 Bbl trip tank, 1
HP cementing pump unit on the nearby drilling rig, 1 HP
pump on the CT unit, a re-circulating cement mixer, 640 of

2 1502 hard line, a HP dual choke manifold, a HP cementing

manifold, and 1 HP downstream tank manifold.
The simple Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) for Well B
consisted of a 1 cold roll connector for 1 by .109 wall
coiled tubing, 1 dual check valves, 5 of 1 extension
pipe, along with a 1 combination cement/jet-swirl nozzle
(Fig. 8). The BHA size was selected to be slick to the CT
diameter to minimize the chance of debris stacking on a BHA
shoulder and sticking the CT. The combination cement/jet
swirl nozzle has been used extensively for CT squeeze work
on the slope. The ball coverts the nozzle from a large bore,
low differential pressure cement nozzle to a high differential
pressure, up-down nozzle shown to effectively wash solids
and produce a turbulent vortex of fluid above the nozzle to
help sweep solids up-hole (Figs. 9 and 10).
The cement slurry was mixed on-the-fly using the
drilling rigs re-circulating cement mixer. The drilling rigs
cement pump was used to pump the spacers and cement to the
CT units high-pressure surface manifold. The CT unit also
had a pump tied into the surface manifold and was used to
displace the cement and tail spacer from the CT and for all
subsequent pumping operations.
General Procedure and Job Documentation
With the limited resources available, it was necessary to begin
the job setup several days in advance. As common with the
beginning of all new programs, the first several hours were
set-aside for Sim Ops and safety meetings.
Following pre-job meetings, two 380 Bbl seawater, and
one 380 Bbl diesel upright supply tanks were spotted inside a
secondary containment system -which holds a minimum of
110% of the capacity of the largest tank. Inspection of the
tank farm, and approval by the on site supervisor completed,
filling the seawater uprights commenced by tapping into the
seawater injection header available on the drill site. An onsite tanker then loaded the diesel upright tank with preheated
diesel (80 F) for freeze-protect fluid.
While the fluid transfers continued in the background, the
CT crew, 3 roustabouts, and two cementers commenced
hammering up the 640 of 2 1502 hardline.
The returns tank farm downstream of the dual choke
manifold consisted of three 400 Bbl open tops, one 400 Bbl
tiger tank, and one 200 Bbl gauge or Trip tank.
Once the basic equipment was in place, the coiled tubing
unit was spotted in front of the well and rigged up. After
raising the derrick, the BOPs were flanged up to the
wellhead. The injector head and lubricator was then hoisted
and the BHA was installed. The BHA consisted of a simple 1
cold roll, 1 dual check valves, 5 of 1 spacer pipe,
and a 1 combination cement/jet swirl nozzle (Fig. 8).
Following nipple-up completion, all employees
participated in a safety and environmental walk thru of the
location. All well control equipment and hardlines were
pressure tested after the walk thru was completed.
Radios were the primary communication tool due to the
extensive distance between the cementing equipment, the
choke manifold, the tank farms and the CT unit. All radio
contact was performed with complete voice communication,
rather than abbreviated acknowledgement such as radio
clicking for acknowledgement.

The cement pumps were brought on line at minimum rate

to fill all hardline and coiled tubing while taking returns to the
returns tank farm through the choke manifold. Once fluid was
observed through all flow paths and at all return tanks, the
pumps were shut down and individual components were
pressure tested following standard operating procedures.
After successful pressure testing, current wellhead valve
conditions and all relevant pressures were recorded along with
the number of turns to open the swab valve.
Preparations for mixing the cement slurry began as the
coiled tubing operator ran in hole with the pipe straightener
on. All cement additives were previously premixed into the
mix water in a Vac truck and allowed to hydrate for about 12
hours to achieve desired properties in the continuously mixed
cement slurry.
Weight checks were performed every 2.500 Coiled
Tubing Measured Depth (CTMD), while running in hole. The
pipe straightener was turned off during weight checks to
minimize coil life reduction.
Due to the fact that this particular wellbore had an open
guide shoe with a 2 pack-off bushing seal bore and 341 of
open 6 1/8 hole, the onsite CPAI supervisor chose to not exit
the liner, and planned on down-squeezing cement to the toe.
A depth correlation flag was painted on the coiled tubing
11,570 CTMD. Once on depth, the bottom up loading
procedure was started to displace any gas and other wellbore
fluids from the well. A wellbore liquid packed with known
fluids would provide a means to monitor the bottom-hole
pressure by using the CT by production tubing annulus
pressure. The bottoms-up load job was selected due to the
long horizontal section and concerns of effectively displacing
the gas with the more common bullhead loading of
conventional vertical cement jobs. The CT nozzle was moved
up and down across the liner noting any weight anomalies,
while the hole was loaded.
Choke backpressure was
maintained on the wellhead to assure slight overbalance to the
formation and prevent any gas or oil influx. The cement
supervisor began weighting up the blend toward the end of the
loading process.
Once a full wellbore plus 10% was circulated, cement
pumping operations were initiated through the long hardline
section, a Micro Motion meter and into the coiled tubing. Five
barrels of fresh water spacer was pumped in front of the
cement to minimize cement seawater mixing. The barrel
counter was zeroed when the CT Micro Motion meter density
indicated 11.5 PPG cement @ 68 F just before the full weight
of 15.7 ppg cement. All subsequent pump volumes were
based on this zero.
The CT units Micro Motion meter indicated the cement
was a constant 15.7 ppg. The cement mixers density
indicator showed the cement to be closer to 16 ppg. Samples
were weighed which showed the density running within this
range. The onsite supervisor elected to keep pumping at that
blend ratio rather than try adjustment, which may have caused
density fluctuations in the pumped slurry.
Pump rates averaged 1.1-1.3 BPM at 1,545 psi coiled
tubing pressure while holding 367 psi backpressure at the
choke system when cement pumping began. All returns were
taken into gauge tanks with 10 Bbl markers for tracking total
volumes returned. The coiled tubing pressure climbed to

SPE 94039

3,568 psi at 1.3 Bbls/Min while filling the coil volume of 34

Bbls. The pump rate was lowered to 1 BPM @ 2,328 psi
coiled tubing pressure as the cement exited the nozzle and
began to fill the liner from 11,527 CTMD. From barrel count
34 to 43, the well head pressure was slowly increased to assist
in pushing the cement out the bottom of the liner through the
2 seal bore located at approximately 11,630 and into the
openhole toe. At barrel count 44, the wellhead pressure was
slowly lowered back to 500 psi. Pump rate was maintained
between 1 and 1.3 as constant as possible so minor changes in
pressure could be seen that may have indicated potential
problems. At 50 Bbls pumped, the nozzle was slowly pulled
up hole at 27 fpm laying in the 15.8 PPG latex cement 1 for 1.
Proper laying-in cement procedure requires complete
accountability of returns verses barrels pumped in order to
ensure the nozzle remains below the cement top. Pulling the
nozzle out of the top of the cement will contaminate squeeze
cement. While this horizontal well posed a significantly
different geometry than normal, the keep the nozzle in the
cement logic was based on expected mixing, and a presumed
more viscous cement wave. The large holes in the nozzle
should have helped minimize in-situ mixing of cement and
wellbore fluids. In reality, the nozzle depth may have had
little effect on the efficiency of displacement while filling the
horizontal section.
As the 120 Bbls of 15.8 ppg latex cement count
approached, the cement crew prepared to displace the cement
into the CT with 10 Bbls of fresh water followed by seawater.
The cement tail and CT nozzle depths were closely monitored
and minor adjustments were made to assure that as the last of
the cement exited the nozzle as the nozzle depth neared the
calculated top of cement based on wellbore void volume. The
pull out of hole rate was increased when approaching the precalculated worst-case top of cement timing the nozzle
breakout of cement to the same time as the fresh water spacer
exited the nozzle. The top of cement was over 1,000 MD
above the top of the formation in a 45 deviation section of the
wellbore providing a small-area cement top. An illustration of
the wellbore and relative depths is shown in Figure 11.
The nozzle was pulled up to safety depth of
7,200CTMD for the duration of the hesitation squeeze period.
Circulation was broken occasionally to prevent freezing pump
lines and coiled tubing given the negative 34 F ambient
temperatures during the job. The CT was also occasionally
moved to assure that it remained free.
Wellhead pressure and pumped volumes were closely
monitored and used to estimate the volume of additional
cement that displaced any pockets of wellbore fluid into the
formation during the hesitation squeeze. Eight hesitations
steps were used to increase the final squeeze pressure up to
1,040 psi shut in wellhead pressure, or about 800 psi
overbalanced pressure for 40 minutes:
Step
SIWHP
SICTP Volume pumped Post WHP Post CTP Time/min
Pressure Loss
1
81
113
0.2
200
230
12
130
2
102
125
0.3
190
272
11
110
One hour circulation stage to warm all surface lines and allow cement temp to rise. Maintain 70# WHP
3
70
120
0.3
200
250
10
100
4
96
146
0.4
300
300
10
130
5
370
480
0.4
500
500
13
180
6
262
264
0.8
750
750
15
200
30 min. circulation stage to warm up surface lines maintain 430# WHP. NO LOSSES
7
460
560
1
1000
1000
10
310
8
715
717
1
1040
1068
11
314
Begin contamination proceedures with 2 PPG Biozan holding 500# WHP. NO LOSSES

SPE 94039

The cleanout procedure to remove the excess cement

began immediately following the final squeeze step (Fig. 12).
The excess cement from estimated depths 8,300 to 8,880
CTMD (7,096 TVD) was diluted with 2 ppg welan polymer
followed by seawater to circulate the diluted cement out of the
well and leave the top of cement at the desired depth for the
planned sidetrack. 8,880 MD was 100 MD deeper than the
production tubing tail to assure that the 4-1/2 tubing tail was
not cemented in place, which would have complicated the
workover. This cement top TVD at this measured depth was
also at least 26 TVD higher than any depth to the measured
TD of the well. The wellhead pressure was maintained at 500
psi to assure overbalance and minimize the possibility of
formation fluids contaminating the cement.
All jewelry was washed with the swirl nozzle while pulling
out of the hole to ensure wireline access to GLMs and
nipples. Cement returns were seen at close to the expected
barrel count indicating the cement top was as designed.
Pumped fluids were managed to leave a diesel freeze protect
volume from 2,500, approximate permafrost zone, to surface.
Wellhead backpressure was adjusted to compensate for the
reduced hydrostatic head of the diesel. Figure 13 shows a
graph of various parameters during the job.
Squeeze Results
The target depth for the Top of Cement (TOC) was 8,880
corrected depth. Following waiting on cement to cure, the
conductor line tagged the TOC at 8,885 corrected depth. This
measured depth kept the TVD height of cement at least 26
higher than the highest point further down the lateral section.
The combination of TVD height of cement and applied
wellhead pressure on the wellbore assured that cement did not
U tube; solid cement should have remained in the entire lateral
section following the down squeeze.
Washing the cement slurry down to 8,880 MD allowed
adequate distance below the production tubing to assure that it
was not cemented into the casing. This depth also provided
the drilling rig adequate distance to dress off the TOC to
9,078 MD in preparation to set the sidetrack whipstock at
9,078 MD. A pressure test verified a competent hydraulic
seal. During the workover, the drilling rig encountered good
hard cement drilling, set a whipstock, kicked off 30 degrees
right of high side and recompleted the well in line with the rest
of the field.
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Even with the challenges and departures from conventional
CT squeeze techniques, the cement job was performed without
significant problems. Available information suggests that all
program goals were met.
Factors that contributed to the success of this work
include:
1. Extensive pre job planning and contingency
identification
2. Workforce familiar with CT squeeze procedures
3. Knowledge and familiarity of cement slurry designs
4. On site and laboratory cement testing
5. A thorough record of the wellbore geometry to
understand critical depths and hydraulics forces

6.

Good CT depth correlation to assure leaving adequate

vertical column of the cement while keeping below the
top of 4-1/2 production tubing
Lessons learned or more accurately stated, relearnedduring this job include:
1. Ensure all tanks and lines are thawed and clean. A
potentially serious problem developed when the warm
diesel was stored in an available upright tank that
previously held water based drilling mud. The warm
diesel melted a thin sheet of frozen mud lining the
inside of the tank. This resulted in higher than normal
CT pump pressures when a small volume of 11 ppg
diesel was pumped down the CT during the freeze
protect while coming out of the hole. This could have
plugged a suction hose or caused triplex pump
problems.
2. On larger programs such as this, 2 full sets of crews
would have allowed for fresh crews had lengthy
problems developed during the squeeze.
3. A smaller trip tank with smaller volume barrel
markers would have improved the accuracy of the
fluids in and out management. The normal 40 Bbl
cement trip tank was not available at Alpine.
4. Continuous mixing operations are a convenient
method to mix large volume jobs. However, there are
fewer contingencies available during these on-thefly operations. Batch mixing allows a greater degree
of quality control verification of all cement pumped
into the well.
The procedures and methods discussed in this paper appear
to represent a viable technique for P&A or remedial squeeze
work in long horizontal wells.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the management of ConocoPhillips Alaska,
Inc., BP Alaska, and other Unit Owners for permission to
publish this paper. This paper reflects the views of the
authors, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the
Colville River Unit, Greater Kuparuk Area, Prudhoe Bay Area
or other Working Interests. The dedication of the on-site
personnel to implement these procedures cannot be overstated,
and is greatly appreciated. The authors wish to specifically
acknowledge the contributions of Perry Cline, Steve
Doughten, Mike Burnett, Howard Gober, Cliff Crabtree, Chris
Pierson, and Aras Worthington. A special thanks is given to
Jack Kralick and Doug Cismoski for persevering in editing
this paper and their technical input. The authors also
acknowledge the contributions of the ConocoPhillips Alaska
Wells Group, BP Alaska Wells Group, and Dowell
Schlumberger.
Nomenclature
Bbl = Barrel
HP = High Pressure
ppg = pounds per gallon
psi = pounds (f) per square inch
Pv = Plastic Viscosity in cP
TD = Total Depth
TVD = True Vertical Depth
Ty = Yield Point in Pounds Force per 100 square feet

SPE 94039

References
1.

2.

3.

4.

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Squeeze Technique at Prudhoe Bay, paper SPE 15104, 56th
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Bond, A. J., Blount, C. G., Davies, S. N., Keese, R. F.,

Lai, Q. J., and Loveland, K. R., Novel Approaches to
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SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San
Antonio, Texas, 5-6 October, 1997.

5.

Bhalla, J., Coiled Tubing Extended Reach Technology, paper

SPE 30404 presented at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference,
Aberdeen, Scotland, 5-8 September, 1995.

6.

Blount, C., Crabtree, C., Kralick, J., Pierson, C., Rennie,

S., Diller, G., and Mackenzie, G., Inflatable CT
Conveyed Selective Well Testing System for Logging
Open Hole and Horizontal Wellbores: Development and
Use, paper SPE 81718 presented at the 2003 SPE/ICoTA
Coiled Tubing Conference, Houston, Texas, 8-9 April,
2003.
Blount, C. G., Brady, J. L., Fife, D. M., Gantt, L. L.,
Huesser, J.M., and Hightower, C. M., HCL/HF AcidResistant Cement Blend: Model Testing and Field
Application, paper SPE 19541 presented at the 1989 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San
Antonio, Texas, 8-11 October, 1989. JPT February 1991,
pages 226-248

7.

SI Metric Conversion Factors

Bbl x 1.590
E - 01 = m3
Ft x 3.048
E - 01 = m
in. x 2.54
E + 00 = cm
Lbf x 4.448 222 E + 00 = N
Psi x 6.894 757 E - 03 = Mpa

Tables
Fann Readings
81 deg F
140 deg F
(rpm)
300
36.0
74.0
200.
26.0
53.0
100
15.0
32.0
60
11.0
21.0
30
7.0
12.0
6
4.0
4.0
3
3.0
3.0
Cement Fann 35 reading (Bob 1 Spring 1)
Figures

Alaska North Slope

Figure 1: Map of Alpine development and

surrounding area on the North Slope of Alaska.

SPE 94039

Al pine 3

8
20
12

13

10

23

15

23 PB

22

14

25

A lpine 1A

32

31

13PB

16

28

24

18

17

B
33
30

2 4PB
3 4PB
3 2PB

Al pine 1

34

50 PB

26

29
19

42 PB

46

49

40

39 PB

Al pi n e 1B

45

a
35

42

39

38

3 3A

43

44

35

50

41

N ev e 1

51

48

52

47

56
53

55

57
58
36
37

Figure 2: Drillsite 2 in-line pattern configuration. Subject Well B area is circled.

16" Conductor to 114'

4-1/2" SSSV at 1,796' MD / 1,697' TVD,

SSSV

9-5/8" Casing at 2,727' MD / 2,377' TVD

Cemented to surface

GLM at 4,176' MD / 3,388' TVD

4-1/2" Tubing w/ Thermal Centralizers

Between 3,250' - 6,250' MD

GLM at 6,759' MD / 5,203' TVD

GLM at 8,878' MD / 6,670' TVD

X Nipple at 8,940' MD / 6,708' TVD
4-" x 7" Packer at 8,994' MD / 6,739' TVD

XN Nipple at 9,070' MD / 6,780' TVD

X
N

6-1/8" to TD at 13,977' MD / 6,841' SS

4,533' openhole

Calculated
TOC +/- 9,286' MD
6,803' SS

7" Production Casing at 9,444'MD / 6,824' SS

Figure 3: Typical Alpine horizontal openhole completion.

Figure 4: Close-up of subject Well B between offset wells A and C; before P&A and after sidetrack

SPE 94039

SPE 94039

Figure 5: Completion diagram of Well B prior to P&A and sidetrack.

Figure 6: Plan view and section view of Well B prior to sidetrack.

10

SPE 94039

Figure 7: Layout of major equipment. Due to seasonal road access, the drilling rigs cement equipment had to
be used to perform the CT P&A. The rig-up required use of over 800 of hardline.
Tool Description

Sketch

Tool O/D Tool I/D Length

Inches Inches
Feet
1.75"

1"

0.35

1.75"

1"

1.75"

1"

1.75"

1"

0.5

1.75" Cold Roll Connector

1.75" Dual Check Valve

1.75" Spacer Pipe

1.75" Ball Drop Nozzle

6.85

Figure 8: CT Bottom Hole Assembly. The BHA OD was the same as the CT OD to minimize the chance of
wellbore debris sticking the CT during the cement job.

SPE 94039

11

Figure 9: Example of a combination cement/jet swirl ball-drop nozzle. The ball is pumped following cement
displacement to land on seat blocking larger holes in nozzle and converts the nozzle to a jet swirl cleanout
nozzle. Note up/down swirl configurations in the nozzle to enhance cleanout efficiency.

Figure 10: CT with combination Cement/Jet Swirl nozzle with ball on seat. Picture is downward toward top of CT
in 7 casing showing swirl vortex while pumping biopolymer gel.

12

SPE 94039

Figure 11: Vertical section of wellbore illustrating various positions of equipment, fluid interfaces, and
completion overlaid on a graphically accurate representation of the inclination survey.

SPE 94039

13

Hesitation Squeeze
3500

230
WH Pressure psig

220

CT Pressure
3000

Squeeze

Squeeze

210
200

Total Volume (Bbls)

190
180

Squeeze

Circulate

Squeeze

170

2500

Pressure (PSIG)

150
140
2000

130
120
110
100

1500

90
80

Pumped Volume (Bbls)

160

70

1000

Reset
MM Tot.

60
50
40

500

30
20

RIH to Cleanout

10
22:32:36

22:22:36

22:12:36

22:02:36

21:52:36

21:42:36

21:32:37

21:22:37

21:12:37

21:02:37

20:52:37

20:42:37

20:32:37

20:22:37

20:12:37

20:02:37

19:52:37

19:42:38

19:32:38

19:22:38

19:12:38

19:02:38

18:52:38

18:42:38

18:32:38

18:22:38

18:12:38

18:02:39

17:52:39

17:42:39

17:32:39

17:22:39

17:12:39

17:02:39

16:52:39

0
16:42:39

Time

Figure 12: Graph of Well B hesitation squeeze. Areas marked where wellhead pressure was squeezed.
Circulation took place between squeeze intervals: fluids were circulated to the choke to prevent freezing surface
lines. Fluids in and fluids out were carefully checked during circulation periods.

Figure 13: Graph of various parameters during the execution of the P&A of Well B. Weight is on the right Y-axis.
Density was adjusted to #/100 gallons for resolution. Hesitation squeeze interval is between 500 and 840 min.