Cuttings re-injection (CRI) technology is a reliable waste management option for eliminating environmental liabilities and reducing surface contamination risks associated with traditional disposal techniques. The technology complies with the strictest regulations enabling oil and gas exploitation in areas where it was not before possible. Three wells were drilled in the Chambira field (Block 8). Drilled cuttings from those wells were stored in pits for three years due to the lack of a conventional disposal method that meets Peruvian regulations. Two years later in 2013, CRI technology was selected as the waste management option for disposing the cuttings. An old abandoned well, CHAM-124XCD, was conditioned and prepared for re-injection. Cuttings were removed from the pits and transferred to the processing unit where they were mixed with water and additives to form a suitable slurry, which was injected down the hole into an interbedded formation. This first CRI application in Block 8 eliminated the environmental liability of the Chambira field. All drilled cuttings accumulated from previous drilling operations were successfully injected. Approximately 100,000 bbl. of waste (including spacers and displacement fluids) was disposed into the Chambira formation. As a result, three (full-size) cutting pits were cost-effectively cleaned. This paper shows that the selected cyclic injection technique enabled disposal of all cuttings without disturbing the initial stress state of the formation. After the injection, minimal changes in horizontal stress and fracture propagation pressure were observed; thereby, demonstrating that the injection strategy was appropriate for the formation. The results from this operation indicate that cuttings re-injection technology can be a very effective method for eliminating drilling cuttings in remote and mature fields. This paper presents a successful CRI application in a remote Peruvian oil field as a reliable and cost-effective solution for cuttings disposal. Properly customizing available equipment at the site enabled complete disposal of the accumulated cuttings, which were major environmental and financial liabilities for the operator. The customization methods developed during the re-injection operation in Chambira field are new and applicable for similar formations in other fields.

One of the most important functions of drilling fluids is to maintain adequate wellbore stability until casing is run and cemented properly. Lack of wellbore stability generates an enlarged non-homogeneous elliptical weaker borehole. This non-cylindrical shape of the wellbore leads to complex drilling problems such as poor hole cleaning, high solids production, stuck pipe, unsuccessful wireline runs, poor cement bond representing large cost to operators. Micro-fractured shale formation represents a challenge due to its natural lack of stability when exposed to conventional water-based mud (WBM). As a solution, oil-based mud (OBM) becomes a technical option to overcome the issues observed with conventional WBM. It tremendously reduces the chemical interaction with micro-fractured shales. However, environmental constraints of the OBM makes this option non-applicable for environmentally sensitive areas. According to recent publications, with similar complicated environments, Aluminum-Based High-Performance Water-Based mud (HPWBM) has shown good performance with features closely comparable to that of OBM. The Peruvian Amazon has the largest Peruvian oil and gas reserves. However, it is located in an environmentally sensitive area marked by a large biodiversity and native communities. Environmental concerns related to drilling activity are very restrictive. Furthermore, most operations are performed as “offshore on land” (i.e., helicopter-transportable operation) where drilling fluid management cost strongly affects the final Well’s Authorization for Expenditure (AFE). Aluminum-based HPWBM has been successfully introduced recently in the Peruvian Amazon for drilling vertical and deviated wells resulting in considerable improvement in drilling performance and goal achievements. Issues related to shale instability were previously reported and financial losses forced operators to use Aluminum-Based HPWBM to reduce non-productive time and associated costs. Two groups of case studies from four wells drilled in Blocks 8, 56 and 88 blocks of the Peruvian jungle are presented in this paper. A Wellbore Quality Index (WQI) tool and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are introduced to make comparison between aluminum-based HPWBM and previously used (i.e. conventional) fluid systems and to validate the effectiveness of the aluminum-based HPWBM system in stabilizing micro-fractured shale formations. A proper fluid design was selected during the planning phase of each project and fluid properties were monitored at the rig site to evaluate performance. In addition, wireline logging, casing runs, trips, wellbore quality and drilling performance were closely monitored to examine the impact of using aluminum-based HPWBM. Results show tremendous performance improvement introducing a new benchmark in drilling operation in the Peruvian Amazon.

Heavy oil production presents tremendous challenges in subsurface development, production wells, and surface transport. Therefore, highly efficient transportation calls for innovative engineering processes to facilitate the transport from subsurface to downstream. In Block 192- Peru, previous production experience indicated that mixing light oil at the well production manifold to heavy oil stream was a feasible option. However, this option strongly depends on the availability of light oil. The aim of this study is to present alternatives to improve heavy oil transportation performance in the block 192. Results of a fundamental study conducted on the heavy oil transportation performance in Jibaro, Jibarito and San Jacinto fields are presented herein where multiple possibilities are evaluated to reduce the ratio of light oil per barrel of heavy oil production (i.e. to increase the efficiency of the diluent). This study provides guidelines to select one of the three following methods: diluent injection, emulsion injection or reservoir-based technology. Previous operators performed extensive reservoir characterization and simulation modeling which led to recovering over 200 million barrels of heavy oil (up to July 2015) through Vivian sands. Therefore, this confirmed the suitability of introducing new methods to feasible transport and sell heavy oil. Jibaro, Jibarito and San Jacinto fields are used in this study due to their significant heavy oil reserves. The complexity of these fields includes high water cut production, Heli transportable logistics and high cost of produced oil. The first method proposed in this study consists of injecting a diluent in the extraction stream of heavy oil up. The second method uses emulsion water to transport high viscous oil. The third method involves applying a technology in the extraction process to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil, and in-situ upgrade the heavy oil up to sales specifications with a consideration of long distance between fields. This study concludes that a conceptual engineering and a selection of a compatible diluent and solvent are critical. Finally, environmental permitting increases the complexity of any project in the area and the possibility to introduce new technology.

In subsea applications, our Intelligent Casing-Intelligent Formation Telemetry (ICIFT) Systems focus on using fiber optic sensing methods for lifetime monitoring of a well and its reservoir. The production casing and/or formation/cement outside the casing are instrumented with fiber optic cables that require continuity connections with other fiber optic cables that exit the wellhead. Two new technology tools are needed to join two fiber optic cables downhole laterally across an annulus. One is a "lateral" fiber optic (FO) pressure balance oil filled (PBOF) wet-mateable connector. The other tool needed and the one addressed in this articel is one that can align two FO cables with millimeter precision for connection laterally across an annulus. For that purpose, a downhole autonomous robot rendezvous tool is designed that can align two FO cables at a lateral crossover point with millimeter precision; two prototypes are constructed and tested. The setting of this research is to bring fiber optic cables through the wellhead in the annulus outside the production tubing, down through the production packer, and crossing laterally in the annulus over to the production casing. The autonomous robot rendezvous tool developed with prototypes and tested uses two subassembly designs: a tubing subassembly design and a casing subassembly design. The objective of the autonomous robot rendezvous tool is to align the two subassemblies with millimeter accuracy in two dimensions (i.e., in depth direction and in angular rotational direction). The designs of the two subassemblies are developed for popular subsea 7" OD production tubing and 9 5/8" OD production casing and for a completion fluids-based annulus environment (e.g., brine, water, and diesel). Test results of the two prototypes provide 5 mm "ballpark" accuracy for rendezvous alignment in the depth direction and 2 mm accuracy for rendezvous alignment in the angular direction. The development of the autonomous robot rendezvous tool is one step in the direction of making the reservoir intelligent outside the production casing via all means of distributive fiber optic sensing methods without the need for power and electronics downhole during the lifetime of well.