Drilling HT/HP Wells Using a Cesium Formate Based Drilling Fluid

Saasen, Arild; Jordal, Ole Henrik; Burkhead, David W.; Berg, Per Cato; Løklingholm, G.; Pedersen, Erik Sandtorv; Turner, Jim; Harris, Michael J.

doi:10.2118/74541-ms

Cited by 55 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Mechanical removal of the external filter cake and centrifugation of the core resulted in restitution of the core permeability to the approximately the level found after flooding and back production with pure brine alone. It has been found in core flooding studies conducted by Statoil for their Huldra and Kvitebjoern field developments that the permeability of cores containing retained formate brine filtrate can be restored to near native levels by washing with dilute organic acid (Saasen 2002) or flushing with formation water (Berg 2007) . In reality the 15 HPHT wells drilled and completed to date in Huldra and Kvitebjoern with Caesium Formate brine have all been good producers, and no well stimulation treatments have been required (Berg 2007) .…”

Section: Table 4 -Baseline Formation Damage Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent HPHT developments such as Braemar (Downs 2005) and Judy (Fuh 2006) in the UKCS and various fields in the Norwegian sector (e.g. Visund (Stenhaug 2003) , Huldra (Saasen 2002) and, Kvitebjoern (Downs 2006, Berg 2007 ) have combined the use of Caesium Formate brine as a perforating and well kill fluid with its more common use as a kill weight fluid at the completion running stage.…”

Section: Hpht Perforation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Evaluation of Perforating Techniques and Use of Caesium Formate Kill Pills to Optimise Productivity in HPHT Gas Wells and Minimise HSE Risks

Roy¹,

Twynam²,

Parke³

et al. 2008

Proceedings of Offshore Technology Conference

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Section: Table 4 -Baseline Formation Damage Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hpht Perforation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Perforating Techniques and Use of Caesium Formate Kill Pills to Optimise Productivity in HPHT Gas Wells and Minimise HSE Risks

Roy¹,

Twynam²,

Parke³

et al. 2008

Proceedings of Offshore Technology Conference

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“…A cesium formate drill-in fluid at a density of 1.91 g/cm 3 was used to drill and complete the 8 ½" reservoir sections of 6 wells in Huldra during the period 2001-2 [Saasen et al, 2002]. The wells were drilled at a 45º -55º inclination through the reservoir and completed in open hole with 300-micron single-wire-wrapped screens.…”

Section: Huldramentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long-Term Production Performance of Deep HPHT Gas Condensate Fields Developed Using Formate Brines

Olsvik

Howard

Downs³

2013

All Days

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Formate brines have been in use since 1995 as non-damaging drill-in and completion fluids for deep HPHT gas condensate field developments. The number of HPHT fields developed using formate brines now totals more than 40, and includes some of the deepest, hottest and highly-pressured reservoirs in the North Sea. The well completions have been both open-hole and cased-hole.An expectation from using formate brines as reservoir drill-in and completion fluids is that they will cause minimal damage to the reservoir and help wells to deliver their full productive potential over the life-time of the field. The validity of this expectation has been tested by examining the long-term hydrocarbon production profiles of eight HPHT gas condensate fields in the North Sea where only formate brines have been used as the well completion fluids. In five of these fields the wells were drilled with oil-based muds and completed by perforating in cased hole with high-density formate brines. In another two of the fields the wells were drilled with formate brines and completed with screens entirely in open hole using the same brines.The last of the eight fields was drilled with formate brine and the wells were then completed with same fluid in either open hole or cased hole.The results of the production analysis provide a unique insight into the impact of a single type of specialist drill-in and completion fluid on the rate of recovery of hydrocarbon reserves from deeply-buried reservoirs in the North Sea.

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“…Formate brines have been used over a number of years as drilling-and-completion fluids for HP/HT fields (Howard 1995;Bungert et al 2000;Saasen 2002;Simpson et al 2005;Oswald et al 2006;Berg et al 2009;Qureshi et al 2008;Downs 2011;Olsvik et al 2013). Olsvik et al (2013) summarized the results from eight HP/HT fields in which cesium formate was used as the completion fluid in conjunction with a cesium-formate drilling fluid or oil-based mud.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formate Drilling and Completion Fluids: Evaluation of Potential Well-Productivity Impact, Valemon

Fleming

Moland

Svanes

et al. 2016

SPE Production &Amp; Operations

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Valemon, operated by Statoil, is a high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) gas/condensate field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Production started at the beginning of 2015 from a development consisting initially of cased-and-perforated wells. However, during early field development, the orginal concept was for a standalone-screen (SAS) lower completion. A potassium/cesium (K/Cs) formate water-based system with a density of 2.02 specific gravity (sg) was considered as a candidate drilling-and-completion fluid for the wells completed with screens, one of which could potentially be suspended in formate brine for up to 10 months before the arrival of the platform and before cleanup and the onset of production. An unknown was the possibility for any near-wellbore interaction with these fluids during extended contact and the possible detrimental impact on productivity. Computational-fluid-dynamics (CFD) modeling was performed to determine the length of time formate would be in contact with the near wellbore, demonstrating that, especially for the lower-permeability intervals, a contact time of approximately 45 days was a possibility. In light of this, a sequence of corefloods was performed that involved extended soaks in formate along with preand post-test analyses to identify potential damage mechanisms. Those identified included kaolinite dissolution, precipitation of barium and cesium silicate, and swelling of kaolinite because of the incorporation of potassium and cesium into the kaolinite lattice. To confirm the findings from the CFD and coreflood modeling, a field review was made of Statoil's experiences with suspending wells for extended time in formate before cleanup and production. The field review demonstrated positive experiences in the use of formates in suspended wells with respect to productivity. Lower than expected productivity was experienced for some wells, but this could not be related conclusively to the use of formates. This paper provides an overview of lessons learned from coreflooding, CFD modeling, and actual field data on wells suspended in formate before cleanup and production.

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Drilling HT/HP Wells Using a Cesium Formate Based Drilling Fluid

Cited by 55 publications

References 24 publications

An Evaluation of Perforating Techniques and Use of Caesium Formate Kill Pills to Optimise Productivity in HPHT Gas Wells and Minimise HSE Risks

An Evaluation of Perforating Techniques and Use of Caesium Formate Kill Pills to Optimise Productivity in HPHT Gas Wells and Minimise HSE Risks

The Long-Term Production Performance of Deep HPHT Gas Condensate Fields Developed Using Formate Brines

Formate Drilling and Completion Fluids: Evaluation of Potential Well-Productivity Impact, Valemon

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