Easy oil is no longer low hanging fruit for oil and gas operators, and drilling targets are becoming increasingly ambitious, which results in escalation of the well trajectory complexity. This accordingly spirals the well and completion costs. To overcome this situation, technology must play a role to reduce cost, increase efficiency and ensure safety at all times. Conveyance is the key for any data acquisition and well completion activities. Historically, conveyance methods for data acquisition and perforation in highly deviated or horizontal wells required drill pipe or coiled-tubing methods. These methods are time consuming, labor intensive, require a larger equipment footprint, with possible HSE risks involved. Mubadala Petroleum in Thailand has seen a significant increase in horizontal and high deviated wells over the past few years. The wireline tractor technology has been used for the first time in Mubadala Petroleum's Thailand operations during the drilling, initial completion and workover intervention operations, and it has been a game changer for Mubadala Petroleum in Thailand in terms of reducing rig time, well cost, and most importantly minimizing the HSE risks. Over the past few decades, the oil and gas industry has developed the technique of drilling horizontally through the reservoir to maximize the surface contact area of the reservoir, to gain higher recovery and production. However, one downside from this technique is that it has become challenging and costly to perforate or to obtain measurements in this horizontal environment, as gravity will no longer support the wireline tools to reach to the bottom of the well. Wireline Tractor technology has played an important role to overcome this challenge. It reduces time, cost and will improve data quality as well as increase wellbore coverage. The wireline tractor functions with an electric over hydraulic power relationship, using its drive/wheel sections to push the passenger tool downhole as the cable is spooled off the unit allowing the tool to reach the end of horizontal or deviated wells without deploying drill pipe or coiled tubing conveyance methods. With this principle, any job that is typically run on electric wireline in a vertical well can be efficiently done in a horizontal or deviated well using wireline tractor. Material presented in the paper will be from actual operations, examples being tractor conveyed wireline logging tool and 4.5in Outer Diameter (OD) 90 ft heavy long perforation gun in single tractor operations. It will also display the operational efficiencies increases and risk reduction being obtained.

No abstract

The current low oil price environment has driven a renewed focus on managing costs while minimizing exposure to operational risk, and lightweight well intervention activities have not been exempt from this scrutiny. Electric line (E-line) and conventional slickline are important and frequently used tools for light well intervention operations, and are often used at different times during the same well intervention program, leading to multiple rig-ups and rig-downs of the equipment, as well as the requirement to transport both units to the platform. This paper presents a case study of the use of digital slickline technology to perform typical slickline and typical electric line operations with the same digital slickline unit, thus saving costs and reducing risk by eliminating some rig up/rig down activities, minimizing equipment handling, and downscaling crew size. Mubadala Petroleum performs rig less activities similar to other oil operators in the region. Both slickline and electric line equipment must be mobilized to the platform and rigged up separately. This creates inefficiency with logistics, operations, while increasing risk and results in higher overall operational costs. With the introduction of digital slickline to offshore operations, it has changed the way that Mubadala Petroleum performs rig less intervention. The digital slickline data plots shown in this paper are representative real examples of its application. Interventions executed using real time digital slickline have proven to be safer, improve efficiency and are a more cost-effective way to conduct operations by having full real-time control of downhole tool and sensors. It also reduces total foot print of equipment and personnel during simultaneous slickline and electric line operation by utilizing a single digital slickline unit to cover both downhole mechanicals, perforation and real-time logging work scope without switching back and forth between units. Depth accuracy and shot detection was achieved with lower operational risk while working with perforation guns and explosives. Material presented in the paper are from actual operations, with examples of perforation, depth correlation, pressure surveys, and pressure monitoring while perforating, and demonstrate the operational efficiencies and risk reduction being delivered.

The current explosive limit chart using in the oil and gas industry published with unclear condition of safety factor and consequence of overexposing temperature and time, resulting in many published papers disclose the possibility of expanding the safe-operating envelope of HMX. HMX is preferable because it typically provides deeper penetration than HNS but less stability at high temperature. Therefore, this study aims to maximize use of HMX for hollow gun perforation in typical environment in the GOT. The explosive temperature limit depends on two parameters, exposure time and temperature. The maximize use of HMX could achieve by, either ways, reducing the exposure time or extending the temperature limit line. Firstly, the operating time optimization is doable by using statistic record of the depth perforated by HNS and practical running speed together with a 20% safety margin. Secondly, expanding the temperature limit of HMX is a precise task because the HMX once exceeding the stability temperature, the perforating performance losses and explosion hazard arises due to thermal decomposition. However, this could be creditable by integrating the published explosive testing results over the current operating-envelope and applying a safety margin. The represented operating time, counting from running in hole to tool on surface, for perforation with E-line unit in the high-temperature environment could reduce by an hour. This operating time allows the temperature limit of HMX increasing by only 7 F, which considering as insignificant. The integrating result of three published paper indicated no explosive deflagration happens if the temperature is below the "Fiasco line" – introduced by a company, however, the operating time longer than 200 hours is not incorporated. By applying safety margin, the new operating envelope of HMX in the hollow carrier proposes between the typical and the Fiasco line. Combing time optimization and the new line, the HMX temperature limit extends from 375 F to 394 F for 2.2 operating hours. This new criterion has been applied successfully since 2018; 325 m of HMX achieved perforation condition without an indication of misfire or catastrophic self-detonation, resulting in reduce 50% of HNS consumption. In conclusion, the new temperature cutoff is valid for maximizing the use of HMX with a reasonable safety margin.