Cost Effective Well Abandonment

Cost Effective Well Abandonment Russell Jordan; Russell Jordan Pentex Oil Plc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Philip Head Philip Head XL Technology Ltd. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 1995. Paper Number: SPE-30349-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/30349-MS Published: September 05 1995 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Jordan, Russell, and Philip Head. "Cost Effective Well Abandonment." Paper presented at the SPE Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 1995. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/30349-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractWell abandonment is now becoming an important consideration for many operators, particularly in expensive offshore locations. The traditional methods are very expensive to apply, and it is important to remember have a negative economic impact, other than good housekeeping.An innovative technique has been developed to enable all the well casing annuli to be permanently sealed in a single operation. A simulated well abandonment using this technique is planned for the summer of 1995 and the results will be presented together with time analysis and cost estimates.IntroductionWhen production from a well drops below an economic level, the well may be stimulated, worked over or be subject to secondary and/or tertiary recovery techniques. However, the well will eventually require abandoning when it is no longer economic. Operators traditionally accrue for this eventual abandonment. However the costs of abandonment have soared due to inflation, and the higher costs of meeting ever stricter environmental requirements.Current techniques involve plugging each of the casings in a large number of sequential steps, then removing the casing. It requires the mobilisation of a rig and associated equipment to remove the casing from the well. A large cement plug is then placed to finally seal the well.The cost of the currently employed techniques are prohibitively high with operators often budgeting in excess of 650,0002 for abandonment costs.These high costs has forced operators to look at more cost effective methods1. However until now no cost effective method has been developed which could guarantee the long term integrity of the abandoned well.The technique proposed in this project will improve the quality and long term integrity of casing annul sealing at greatly reduced cost.The greatest assistance to oil companies can be given in the case of offshore where logistics and the environmental issues are more expensive to address. The techniques developed can be equally applied to land operations.Regulatory RequirementsFor platform structures - all well equipment and platform hardware has to be removed up to a minimum of 55m below sea level.For sub sea wells - the sea-bed must be cleared to 10 ft below mudline of all well equipment.For wellbores -all producing zones must be effectively isolated from each other.all producing zones must be effectively isolated from the sea-bed.all other potential producing zones that are either over pressured or hydrocarbon bearing must be effectively isolated from the sea bed."effective isolation" is normally achieved with two verified cement barriers.Project PhilosophyTo significantly reduce the cost of well abandonment while matching current and potential future regulatory requirements, which will almost certainly involve post abandonment sampling of the seabed within an ever growing radius.By removing no casing or tubing from the wellbore avoids the use of a rig and the disposal of these used tubulars which potentially could have radioactive scale deposits.P. 53 Keywords: subsea well, abandonment, tailpipe, nrv, plug, society of petroleum engineers, platform, well abandonment, packer, upstream oil & gas Subjects: Perforating, Completion Installation and Operations, Completion Operations This content is only available via PDF. 1995. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.