SPE DL: Cementing - Planning for Success for the Life of Well

Tuesday, 13 February 2007 Read 7042 times
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Abstract

Cementing is a relatively low component of overall well construction cost. Unsuccessful first time cementing operations impact drilling Non Productive Time (NPT) but much more critically, and often over-looked, is its long term effect on well operability and well integrity.  The cost of loss of hydrocarbon production and early onset of water production due to poor cement isolation is thought to be huge, but is rarely measured by operators due to the technical disconnect that can occur between an operator’s drilling and production staff.  Similarly there has been little quantification of the cost associated with sustained casing pressure on well operability and long term abandonment.

Problems during well construction which result in direct NPT have been well researched.  There is agreement about the best practices for topics such as setting cement plugs and preventing gas migration   However, the industry is now waking to the legacy of a large number of wells with sustained casing pressure as a direct consequence of poor cementing.  In many cases this is related to poor cement placement, but it can also be attributed to long term cement durability.  Many wells are now being designed for >10 year life of well and long term cement isolation is becoming a major consideration.  

This presentation details some of the generally agreed best practices for prevention of drilling non productive time related with setting cement plugs and fluid migration after cementing.

It will also address:

  • Issues impacting long term zonal isolation.
  • Minimum engineering design requirements for successful primary cementing and long term isolation.
  • Balancing good drilling fluid performance and successful primary cementing.

Biography

Daryl Kellingray

D.S. Kellingray is a Drilling Specialist in the Drilling Technology Unit in BP’s Exploration and Production Technology Group, Aberdeen, UK. He holds BTech (Hons) and MPhil in Industrial Chemistry.  He started his oil industry career in 1984 working in the Cementing Research Group in the BP Research Centre in London looking at gas migration/cement shrinkage and mixing energy effects on cement slurries, later moving to look after Cementing operations in the UK sector of the North Sea.  He has co-authored 5 SPE papers, presented in-house training on cementing and developed internal guidelines on cementing best practices.  Currently he is BP’s Global Cementing Specialist also offering technical support in drilling fluids and drilling waste management.

Congress Center of RF CCI. Start at 7 p.m.:

Meeting presentation

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated. HTML code is not allowed.