Intervention in a highly deviated lateral well required a flexible tractor that could travel easily past the debris. Overcoming many obstacles, the service delivered stroking forces up to 16,500 lbf, shattering two glass disc valves and opening production in the well.

After having drilled and completed a long lateral well with more than 13,000 ft of highly deviated sections followed by 17,000 ft of horizontal sections onshore Alaska, an operator needed to bring the well into production.

The upper completion had several sliding side doors (SSDs), a gas lift mandrel, and many restrictions. The lower completion was a long 4 1/2-in perforated liner with two glass-disc shatter valves in the central section. The glass discs obstructed the flow during installation and required intervention to restore production.

The job would require delivering a high stroking force deep into the well, negotiating many obstacles, and tractoring up to 21,000 ft to reach the glass discs using a debris-tolerant tractor that would not get stuck in the debris from the shatter valves. The original plan was to perform the glass disc rupture with a coiled tubing (CT) unit. But, due to lack of CT availability, the operator used the ReSOLVE iX™ intelligent extreme wireline intervention service in tandem with the TuffTRAC iX™ intelligent extreme wireline tractor—both from SLB.

The TuffTRAC iX tractor was key to a successful job because it is specially designed for interventions in extreme environments, including H₂S, CO₂, high temperatures, and high debris—conditions that can cripple conventional tractors. On short notice, the SLB team designed the job and delivered the solution to the operator’s Arctic location.

The first runs involved opening an SSD at the bottom of the highly deviated section to circulate fluid in the upper completion. When this first step was successfully completed, a subsequent run reclosed the valve.

Next, the TuffTRAC iX tractor conveyed the ReSOLVE iX anchor-linear actuator tool through the numerous completion obstacles and used a pointed tool to apply high force on the glass disc. Despite estimating that a 12,000-lbf force would be needed to shatter the disc, the team quickly realized that the required force was higher. Because of the high push force capability of the ReSOLVE iX service, the team increased the stroking force to 16,500 lbf to rupture the disc. Such a high force would have been a challenge for CT so deep in the well.

The TuffTRAC iX tractor then conveyed the bottomhole assembly (BHA) past the debris from the first glass disc to reach the second glass disc deeper in the well. The second disc also required a higher force than expected—up to 14,500 lbf. After shattering, the disc was cleared with the tractor and the BHA was successfully pulled out of hole. This light and rapid intervention enabled the well to be brought back into production quickly.