The Hibernia field is located in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, approximately 315 km east southeast of St. John's (Fig. 1). The Hibernia Gravity Based Structure (GBS) platform has a total of 64 slots available for well construction and currently only a limited number of well slots remain. Since production began in 1997, it has become apparent more than 64 wells will be required to develop the resources adequately. As such, it was recognized a platform slot constraint issue could become a limiting factor for the timing of development of the remaining resources. To optimize the use of the remaining slots, a unique technical solution was developed. The design concept was to drill a well through the upper Ben Nevis - Avalon (BNA) reservoir (G Block) and into the Hibernia reservoir (DD Block). This well (WIDD1/AWIG1) was the first Hibernia dual concentric water injection well. To realize this design concept, the world's first annular safety valve for dual concentric water injection was designed, manufactured, fully tested, and qualified in a fast track manner to enable injection into the annulus for the upper BNA target and through the tubing for the lower Hibernia target. The WIDD1/AWIG1 well was successfully drilled and completed allowing dual concentric injection as envisioned in the original well proposal. To date, one additional dual concentric injector well has been drilled and other dual concentric well concepts are actively being pursued. Introduction The Grand Banks of Newfoundland is one of the harshest environments in the world with extremely cold temperatures, significant wind and wave forces, and seasonal ice and iceberg presence. The area is also known as one of the foggiest areas in the world. This environment increases the challenges faced by offshore industry, especially subsea drilling projects. Glory holes, excavated basins, are used to protect subsea Christmas trees and exposed flowlines from the presence of scouring icebergs. This requirement adds significant cost and complexity to a project. The Hibernia GBS platform has two drilling rigs, M71 East and M72 West, paired with two drilling shafts with a total of 64 slots. The field development since the platform was constructed has clearly indicated that more than 64 wells will be required. Therefore, slot constraint will be an obstacle that will need to be overcome to develop the total resources available. The resources could be developed by augmenting a subsea portion to the current platform project. This, however, would be a costly endeavor. Therefore, the focus was placed on extending the capabilities of the current structure. One of the proposed solutions to the constraint is the dual concentric water injection well design. The WIDD1/AWIG1 well that was drilled and completed in 2005 was the first Hibernia well to apply this design concept. The well was drilled through the "G" Block of the BNA reservoir and then into the "DD" Block of the Hibernia reservoir. The concept was to inject through the annulus into the upper BNA reservoir block and through the tubing into the lower Hibernia reservoir block. To achieve this goal, various challenges had to be addressed. Therefore, the following objectives were developed: Challenge As this was the first dual concentric water injector well at Hibernia, the most significant challenge was to deliver an ASV within a very limited timeframe. ASVs are not new to the oil and gas industry, however, to date they have been mainly used as an annulus barrier for gas lift applications in the North Sea.
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