Modern development of shaped charges has resulted in greater and greater explosive loads on the perforating guns and has stretched the capacity of perforating guns into uncharted territory. Traditional gun design approaches and standards use collapse pressure calculation and swell measurement with overloaded charges as design verification methods. The extremely complicated interactions between explosives, fragmented casings, and the gun wall are evaluated on an empirical basis, and the nature of these interactions is not well understood. In this paper, we present a new design model that augments traditional design approaches and provides gun designers with better data on gun system structural performance including the effects of phasing, shot density, and charge type. The loads imposed on the gun body by the explosives are multi-dimensional due to the spiral arrangement of most shaped charges. The resulting dynamic response of the gun body is therefore quite complex and requires three-dimensional analysis. High-frequency bending, torsion, and tensile loads are expected. The casings are typically fragmented, and some of the larger fragments can impose large impact loads on the gun wall. A fully-coupled computer model has been developed that incorporates the rapid explosion, casing fragmentation, and multi-dimensional structural responses. Multiple instrumented surface tests were carried out to validate the dynamic three-dimensional model. Proprietary testing techniques were used to extract gun internal pressure history and gun stress history at multiple locations immediately following detonation. Redundant strain gages were used and shots were repeated to ensure the integrity of the data. This paper first presents the newly developed three-dimensional simulation model in full details. The second section describes the instrumented gun test set up and results. The final section of this paper presents validation of the model through comparison with test data.

There has been a substantial decline in production of wells drilled in Libya over the last 30 years. This sharp, early decline suggests that significantly increased drilling will be necessary in the near future to sustain the country's oil and gas production. With the increasing cost of drilling and completing new wells, attention was focused on the depletion rates and the reasons behind them. Through offset well data and extensive field knowledge, the producer concluded that the most likely scenario was scale buildup. Data indicated that the scale was barium sulfate (BaSO4), which accumulated in the perforation tunnels, impeding the flow of the hydrocarbons to the production string and, in essence, to the surface facilities. A cost-effective intervention method to restore the production to the previous producing rates was requested. The intervention would have to be done without suspending the well as well as have the ability to bring back samples of the scale for further testing. This paper presents a case history of the successful removal of barium sulfate (BaSO4) without killing the well or costly chemical intervention. The method harnesses the effects of dynamic underbalance, sound engineering interpolation, and the versatility of the SurgePro™ software to optimize the job design.

Through-tubing bridge plugs (TTBPs) enable the production of new zones by isolating abandoned zones without requiring a costly and time-consuming workover rig. Previously available hydraulic setting tools were not applicable to all types of well conditions and plugs, often because of extended toolstring length requirements, making them not suitable for wells with limited rigup height capability. A nonexplosive electromechanical setting tool can provide an easy-to-transport, flexible setting tool for all environments. An electrically controlled motor enables the effective setting of multiple sizes and types of TTBPs, not dependent on the environmental effects on downhole fluid required by hydraulic tools to facilitate the setting process. The tool uses rotational torque converted to linear pull tension and operates independently of downhole conditions, not requiring specialty fluid types or relying on the appropriate fluid availability. Because fluid is not required for operations, a shorter overall tool length is required compared to existing hydraulic or pneumatic tools. The ability to deploy shorter toolstring lengths means that the electromechanical setting tool can be used in a wider variety of scenarios, such as remote platforms or rigless environments. With the introduction of the electromechanical setting tool to operations, wells that might have been previously suspended because of the availability of a workover rig can now receive timely interventions, efficiently isolating noncontributing zones and enabling the perforation and production of contributing zones. Operators can benefit from rigless operations by accessing new zones at a lower cost and with a faster turnaround, enabling them to benefit from economically advantageous market conditions. The real-time feedback of the electromechanical tool also confirms that the plug has been set at the required tension using a slow and controlled setting method. This paper presents case histories to illustrate the advantages of the shorter rigup lengths enabled by the electromechanical setting tool; these advantages are made possible by pinpointing instances in which the hydrostatic setting tool methodology would not have allowed recompletion of producing zones. Job data from the electromechanical setting tool are used to illustrate that the slow, controlled set of the TTPBs was achieved within specifications of the plug design, which cannot be confirmed using hydrostatic setting tools. Cost savings and realized production gains are also highlighted in instances in which the electromechanical setting tool was used to increase asset return value.

This paper discusses using a perforating toolkit as a computational paradigm to provide perforating solutions to field personnel. This toolkit provides an extensive list of charges and gun systems and generates the effects on the target rock and overburden pressure. Outputs include depth of penetration and casing hole sizes. It has an improved graphical user interface (GUI) and updated algorithms based on data from the flow laboratory. The perforating toolkit uses up-to-date API data as the basis for the calculations; simulations are based on parameters set by the user and outputs are in a graphical format, showing the perforating performance within the reservoir. The perforating toolkit software is designed to use improved data obtained from recent laboratory testing. The most up-to-date flow laboratory testing was used to generate the algorithms for the perforating toolkit, generating more precise algorithms and producing improved perforation predictions. Testing involved a broader range of data than was previously used, allowing the software to make more accurate predictions. This new tool was benchmarked using laboratory testing, which demonstrated the quality of the paradigm and its functional use for improved downhole perforating. The software provides the field user with a tool to predict downhole shaped-charge performance quickly and in a cost-effective manner. The models also allow a number of parameters to be varied for a better comparison of different scenarios. This paper discusses how new data across a broader range from the flow laboratory was used to improve the basic software algorithms and help provide the most accurate prediction of downhole charge performance.

As the number of mature wells that are no longer economically viable increases, so does the need for effective well abandonment processes that meet stringent environmental and regulatory conditions. Because of varying well configurations and types, a unique or more tailored engineering approach is required to meet plug and abandonment governmental requirements, as well as operator-specific objectives for varying well designs. Through proper planning and design, this method also decreases operational and health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks for a variety of challenging scenarios. This paper presents case histories of the successful use of a single-trip abandonment approach that saves time for the producers by addressing specific well types by simplifying the abandonment process in an economical and flexible manner through engineering planning and shaped-charge performance design. The single-trip abandonment approach can drastically reduce associated costs common in well abandonment campaigns, including rig time and support services that are involved in making multiple trips in and out of the well. With an average rig rate of USD 500,000 per day for floaters, USD 100,000 per day for jackups, and USD 60,000 per day for barges (Rigzone 2015), any reduction in rig time exposure can be beneficial to the producer. By providing a method of successfully abandoning a well in one trip, as opposed to separate trips involving the cutting and removal of casing strings, the single-trip well abandonment approach allows producers to successfully plug and then spot cement in a combined action, permitting an expedited well abandonment process. Through extensive testing and development of both tool technology and shaped-charge design, the single-trip well abandonment approach has proven to be a versatile and an effective system for a variety of well abandonment scenarios. Providing flexibility in operational capabilities for abandoning a well, squeezing off zones, providing limited casing entry, and allowing annular cement squeezing for remedial work, the single-trip abandonment approach has proven to be reliable and efficient, particularly in operations in the AsiaPac region. Using the engineering aspects of advanced tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP) design and capabilities as a building block in the single-trip system allowed for the successful implementation of required abandonment procedures while also providing the capability to be deployed in a variety of casing sizes, weights, and wellbore conditions. This paper provides an in-depth study of the technical design, advanced modeling, multiconditional testing, and shaped-charge optimization of the systems for the single-trip abandonment approach. Additionally, the paper provides beneficial information that could be applied to well abandonment projects around the world.