Productivity Improvement Case Studies Session V:

Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult

Well Trajectory2019-NAPS-5.2AUTHORS: Larry Albert, Jason Booher and Anthony Wilson, Allied-Horizontal Wireline Services; Fraser Hamilton and Jason Hradecky, Impact Selector International; Dustin Dunning and Vadim Protasov, WireCo WorldGroup

DALLAS - FORT WORTH. AUGUST 5-6, 2019.

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Zones Above Reservoir Target Cause Drilling Problems

• An E&P operator planned a horizontal well in an area where zones above target cause drilling problems when trying to build angle and land lateral

• Offset Wells proved difficult; therefore, new drilling plan was devised

• New plan required drilling through target reservoir

• After reaching base at 14,000 ft., drill up at maximum of 114⁰ until reentry of target reservoir

• Maximum Dogleg Severity (DLS) 24.6o/100 ft.

• Due to faulting in area and required well direction, target reservoir was dipping up at ~10⁰ laterally toward horizontal drilling target

• The well had to be drilled at ~100⁰ deviation to 21,100 ft.

The Problem – Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

The Problem – Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Well Plan

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

• High frictions on the wireline due to well trajectory

• Wireline tools would slide down inclined casing during and after operations

• If tool position not maintained, wireline could be entangled and result in stuck tool

• If overrun occurred next to perforating guns when detonated, wireline could be severed

Challenges for Wireline Plug & Perforating

Normal wireline plug and perforating completion operations could prove extremely difficult

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Alternatives if Wireline P&P Cannot be Executed Could Be Expensive (estimated $millions)

• Abandon acreage

• Continue drilling attempts building angle above target

• Reposition surface location and drill down dip

• Reduce angle and shorten lateral in target

• Coiled tubing conveyed plug and perforating completion

Alternatives Expensive

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Extended Lateral Technology

• Jacketed wireline

• Addressable separation tool

• Downhole tension tool

• Advanced risk deployment modeling

Meeting the Challenges

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Challenge: Increased Friction with Standard Wireline

• Guns and plug assemblies are gravity deployed, pumped down and pulled out of hole

• Friction created by steel armor increases with changes in hole direction/deviation

• Wirelines have defined breaking strength and a maximum safe pull of 50% of breaking strength

• Wireline friction, plus vertical weight causes high surface tension

• Severe doglegs and long laterals can cause surface tensions to exceed safe working limits

• High potential for drum crush on long laterals when tools are pumped down at low surface tension and pulled out at much higher tension

Inner Conductor

Insulation

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

When POOH Tools Can Overrun Wireline

• Tools slide down inclined casing

• Wireline can be perforated and severed

• Assembly potentially stuck in borehole

• Complex fishing operation may result

Challenge: Wireline Overrun

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Jacketed Wireline

• Specially formulated polymer jacket

• Eliminates grease injection

• Reduces Friction, lowers surface tension & allows higher tension to cable head

• Prevents drum crush

• Fully torque balanced

• Higher safety margins & faster running speeds

• Eliminates difference between fixed and free ends breaking strength

• Eliminates bird-caging, high stands, broken armors and crossed armors

• Stiffness helps eliminate wireline overrun

Jacketed Wireline

Insulation

Inner Conductor

PolymerJacket

Steel Armors

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Modeled Jacketed vs. Standard Wireline

• Modeled surface tension • Standard: 3,000 lbs• Jacketed: 2,250 lbs.

(-25%)

Comparing Friction of Jacketed vs. Standard Wireline

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Challenge – How to Release Wireline if Stuck in Well

Cable Head Weak-Point

• A method to separate the wireline from the tools is required

• If wireline is not recovered, fishing operations are substantially more complicated

• Traditional methods involve building a cable head weak-point

• Tension must be applied at, or above weak-point rating• Straight-forward for vertical wells, but becomes more

challenging as borehole deviation increases

• Surface tensions are high in long laterals with high dogleg severity, making it impossible to pull enough tension at surface to break cable head weak-point

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Addressable Separation Tool

• Developed specifically for plug and perf in longer laterals

• Ballistic release and an addressable switch that can be selected and fired on command

• Can run stronger weak-point, reducing the risk for unintentional pump-offs.

Meeting the Challenge – Addressable Separation Tool

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Challenge – Monitor Cable Head Tension

Prevent Pump-Offs and Stuck Tools

• Typically, wireline tension measured at surface and downhole cable head tension estimated based on depth and wireline specifications

• Works well in vertical wells, but suffers as deviation increases

• Very inefficient in horizontal wells, especially long laterals with high dogleg severity

• In long laterals, only small percentage of surface tension applied to cable head

• Difficult to position downhole tools because of lag between wireline movement at surface and tool movement downhole

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Monitor Tension Downhole

Downhole Tension Tool

• Direct measurement of the cable head tension

• Increase RIH and POOH speed

• Mitigate risk in toe-up wells

• Downhole indication of plug set

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Pre-Job Planning is Critical

• Pump down plug and perf, pumps are kicked on at kick-off point

• Tools are pumped below plug setting depth and pumps are shutdown

• Tools are pulled uphole to set plug and to shoot guns

• Long Laterals with high DLS, can be difficult to pull off bottom due to high tension

• At wellbore angles > 100°the tools will slide down the casing, potentially overrunning wireline

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Risk Deployment Modeling

Risk Deployment Models

• For highly deviated and extended wells pre-job planning is a necessity

• Model with wireline friction coefficients• Estimates surface & downhole tensions• Determines if completion can be safely

achieved without damage to wireline• Models fluid effect & pump-rates on

tool assembly• Estimates required pump-rates to:

• Deploy tools• Maintain toe-up tool position

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Risk Deployment

Estimating Pump-Rates

• An average of 6 bpm pump down rate required to maintain tool-string position while pulling out of the hole throughout uphill lateral

• A minimum of 2.2 bpm pump rate was calculated to maintain a balanced cable head tension, i.e. to keep the tools stationary at 114 degrees

• Should pump rate drop out, a negative cable head tension of ~100 lbs. was confirmed, enough to initiate backward movement of the tools

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Risk Deployment Modeling

After careful analysis of wellbore modeling it was decided that job could proceed at proposed drilling trajectory and could be completed with wireline plug and perforating

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Job Execution

Job Execution• Five cluster (3.125 in. 660) 36 holes

perforating and composite frac plug tool assembly

• Toe stages were pumped down at 12 bpm, 2100 psi and 260 fpm line speed.

• Surface tension coming off bottom to position to set plug was 2250 lbs. and downhole tension 500 lbs.

• Pump rate 6 bpm while POOH to plug set depth

• Monitored downhole tension to insure it remained above 0 lbs.

• Tools did not slide down inclined casing overrunning cable

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Meeting the Challenge – Job Execution

• After the plug was set, the outside diameter of the tool assembly was reduced. To counter downward tool motion, pump rate immediately increased from 6 to 12 bpm while monitoring downhole tension

• Tools were pulled up at a constant speed while pumping 12 bpm and 5 guns were perforated at appropriate well depths

• After the last guns were shot the line speed was increased as pump rates were lowered

• Once the tools were back to depth where borehole deviation changed from toe-up (~14,000 ft.), pumps were shut down and wireline tools retrieved to surface

• Well was completed with zero failures and no issues with wireline overrun in the inclined casing

2019-NAPS-5.2 Extended Lateral Solutions for an Extremely Difficult Well Trajectory

Summary and Conclusions

• Proper pre-job planning and application of Extended Lateral technology proved to be key to success on a very difficult well with an extreme trajectory

• With advanced well modeling, the pump rates for tool deployment and positioning can be determined

• Jacketed wireline with a downhole tension tool allowed a precise deployment of the tool string while pumping tools uphole at deviations as high as 114°

• Pump rates were adjusted during plug setting and perforating to keep tool-string from sliding down the inclined casing and overrunning wireline

• The use of addressable separation tool allowed running full-strength cable head weak-point, providing wireline engineer additional tension during pump-down operations without fear of pumping tools off wireline

• The ability to successfully complete this well at proposed trajectory with wireline plug and perforating operations allowed well to be drilled as planned and significantly reduced costs for the E&P operator

DALLAS - FORT WORTH. AUGUST 5-6, 2019. QUESTIONS? THANK YOU

2019-NAPS-5.2AUTHORS: Larry Albert, Jason Booher and Anthony Wilson, Allied-Horizontal Wireline Services; Fraser Hamilton and Jason Hradecky, Impact Selector International; Dustin Dunning and Vadim Protasov, WireCo WorldGroup