Published: 01/20/2016
Published: 01/20/2016
A customer needed to remove all debris from the wellbore to ensure optimal horizontal multilateral drilling, well completion, and production. The turnkey project in Saudi Arabia had received two cleanouts using conventional cleanout equipment from a third-party supplier; on both occasions, the strings returned to surface without debris. During the first cleanout operation attempt, three scraper blades remained downhole after the equipment lost external bolts and retention bolts. During the second trip, the backup string tagged high in the well at 3,801-ft [1,158-m] MD and was unable to proceed.
The well plan included a smart completion consisting of two permanent downhole monitoring tubing systems and inflow control valves (ICVs) with dual gauges to monitor and control reservoir
The customer asked M-I SWACO to design and run a debriscapture cleanup string to remediate the problems. Specialists designed a string that included a JUNK MUNCHER tool for collecting larger debris and a MAGNOSTAR magnet for extracting larger debris. Both tools recover ferrous and nonferrous debris and have an extensive track record in Saudi Arabia.
A HEAVY-DUTY RAZOR BACK CCT was run ahead of the other tools to equip the BHA with a milling face and scraper to prepare the wellbore ahead of debris recovery and eventual packer setting for the whipstock kickoff point.
The cleanup run using M-I SWACO technology proved to be successful compared with the previous trips with alternative equipment. The MAGNOSTAR magnet recovered 70.5 lbm [32 kg] of ferrous debris averaging 4 to 6 in, and the JUNK MUNCHER tool recovered 1.1 lbm [0.5 kg] of mostly springs and other parts associated with the conventional scraper. The success of the first trip initiated a second trip, which pulled no returns and indicated that the wellbore was free of debris.
The customer allocated 149 hours of NPT for the first two unsuccessful cleanout runs as a direct result of the lost scraper blocks. M-I SWACO technology helped the customer eliminate any additional NPT and prevented an unplanned mechanical sidetrack, allowing the wellbore to be properly completed.
Challenge: Remove debris from the wellbore for optimal future operations in Saudi Arabian well
Solution: Perform a cleanup run using a MAGNOSTAR high-capacity magnet and JUNK MUNCHER wellbore cleanup tool in a BHA; prepare wellbore with a HEAVY-DUTY RAZOR BACK advanced casing cleaning tool (CCT)
Results:
