The downturn in the market has affected the majority of oil and gas producers and made their ability to maximize the production of current wells a crucial goal. Completion installations are becoming increasingly complex with many incorporating sliding sleeves to gain access to multiple zones in the wellbore. These completions are often concentric in design and engineered with packers, outer gravel pack screens, and an inner tubing string to isolate zones. The production rate often decreases before its expectancy due to fines migration, asphaltine and scale. These factors are coupled with the inability to acidize and stimulate behind the inner tubular through the sliding sleeve or without damaging the integrity of the gravel pack screens. Advances in electromechanical slot-cutting technology address the need to cut multiple slots in a single trip. As a result, costly field production can be quickly restored to meet daily production flow targets, considerably minimizing downtime, risk, collateral intervention damage and overall intervention complexity and cost. Reliable, precise slot cutting of the tubing is imperative for maintaining the screen integrity. The use of shaped charges to penetrate the inner tubing without damaging the outer screen has proven to be an un-reliable solution due to a varied depth of penetration. Field results demonstrate the ability of electromechanical slot-cutting technology to produce surface-monitored slots per design that are precisely controlled for penetration and maximum flow area. Slot locations and dimensions are designed to optimize overall flow rate while preserving the durability of the cutting elements and the supporting hardware assembly. As a result, multiple slots can be made in a variety of difficult operating conditions, pipe materials and environments without damaging adjacent completion components, and with minimal debris. The ability of electromechanical slot-cutting technology to pass through inner-diameter restrictions and complete slot cuts for zonal stimulation further improves the capital efficiency and investment return to the operator. Logistical and environmental constraints are also greatly reduced by providing precise slot cuts without the use of hydraulic jet systems, ballistics or hazardous chemicals that pose safety and environmental hazards. This paper shows the novel electromechanical technology's ability to perform slot cuts in a variety of conditions and environments. The paper includes a deepwater case history to illustrate the advanced operating capabilities and to show how operators can incorporate this advanced technology into the engineering of future completions.

Deepwater production installations are increasingly more complex and present many new challenges. These completions are often engineered to incorporate a "cut to release" retrievable packer, enabling simultaneous recovery of the production installation items and the packer. The operational requirements to precisely and successfully cut the packer's release mandrel often limit the use of traditional mandrel cutting techniques. Advancements in electromechanical pipe cutting technology address the need for a precise, successful cut of the packer mandrel. As a result, downtime, risk and overall intervention cost are minimized. This paper discusses the electromechanical technology's ability to perform mandrel cuts in a variety of conditions and environments. The paper includes a case history to illustrate its operating capabilities and how operators are now incorporating this advanced technology into the engineering of future completions.

Recently, a significant producer in the deep water Gulf of Mexico (GoM) exhibited a loss of production. An investigation determined that a valve in the sliding sleeve assembly, a small portion of the installed completion, malfunctioned and resulted in the valve not opening as commanded. The operator created a team to diagnose the problem without using the usual method of recovery and replacement of the full assembly, which would require a significant amount of time and costly equipment. The team of various subject matter experts (SME) from the completions unit, the manufacturing company of the equipment and an electric line intervention provider determined that they could use two methods to exploit the design of the sliding sleeve to create a new flow-path and restore production without damaging the rest of the in-place completion. Both challenging methods required a high degree of precision and accuracy. To maintain the mechanical integrity of the downhole equipment, the tolerance window for the cut was within two inches (at depths greater than 27,000 ft), and cut radius tolerances were less than 1/100th of an inch. Two electric lines intervention tools were found to be capable of performing the type of cut required for the primary and secondary methods (one for each method). These selected tools are frequently used in the GoM, which promotes a high level of confidence in their success. After extensive surface testing, the tools were deployed downhole and were successful on the first attempt. The operation was monitored and controlled at surface, and the tools performed the required cut in less than sixty minutes. Once the tools were retrieved, the sleeve was commanded open once again, and full communication to the formation was restored. With the utilization of this technology and methodology, the project was able to save in excess of $40,000,000 USD.