Meticulous Planning, Design, and Execution of Thru-Tubing Fishing Campaign in Corrosive HP/HT Wells for NOC in the Middle East Recovers more than 68,000-ft of Coiled Tubing

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Authors

Ademola Lawal (Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East, Kuwait) | Khaled Saleh (Kuwait Oil Company, Kuwait) | Abdulaziz Al-khudari (Kuwait Oil Company, Kuwait) | Joan Josep Vidal (Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East, Kuwait) | Roy MacKenzie (Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East, Kuwait) | Cesar Perozo (Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East, Kuwait)

Publisher

SPE - Society of Petroleum Engineers

Publication Date

March 24, 2020

Source

SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, 24-25 March, The Woodlands, Texas, USA

Paper ID

SPE-199810-MS

Abstract

An operator in the Middle East had several corrosive high-pressure wells which were shut in due to stuck coiled tubing. The well design and status eliminated options for conventional work-overs, so the fish had to be recovered to surface utilizing a Hydraulic Workover Unit and specialist Thru-Tubing fishing equipment. This required highly experienced fishing & milling personnel who could ensure the correct equipment was used for each run-in hole, thereby enabling a safe and efficient operation.

Successful execution was based on detailed up-front planning and application of thru-tubing well intervention services for high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) conditions. The ideal operation would include selection of the right personnel, technology and bottom-hole assembly (BHA) configuration that would offer:

Built-in contingencies for pressure control.

Meet the material selection guidelines for operations in the corrosive environment.

Allow for adequate consideration for all possible contingencies that may arise during the operation.

Following this careful up-front planning, more than 1,082 runs were carried out in 15 wells. More than 68,000-ft of coiled tubing, with sizes ranging from 1.250in. -1.750in, was recovered to surface. In total, more than 42,664 man-hours were completed with Zero LTIs and Zero NPT.

This paper serves to highlight the value that competent up-front planning, equipment selection and choice of personnel adds to an extremely high profile and complex fishing campaign. This allowed complex fish to be recovered, restoring production without the need for a costly work-over operation and ultimately saved the operator from major expense.