Coiled-Tubing Drilling Reentry: Case History from East Kalimantan

摘要

As oil and gas developments mature, reservoir depletion reduces field output and fewer opportunities exist to drill new wells. Drilling new wells as the sole means of increasing field production often becomes less profitable, and it presents greater operational risks. Economic risks are also greater as the chance of completing good wells is getting less and the higher capital investment required. In many fields, operators, either intentionally or unintentionally, bypass pay zones during initial development by focusing only on the best zones. Accessing bypassed thinly laminated formations and low-permeability zones is economically attractive but poses several challenges. Several techniques were used to achieve sustainable commercial production from the bypassed zones in East Kalimantan. Hydraulic fracturing and underbalanced perforations were tried, with inconsistent results. Drilling new horizontal wells was not economical. Coiled-tubing (CT) drilling was the solution that provided a cost-effective alternative to the use of a conventional drilling rig. The advantages were a smaller location footprint, shorter trip times, ability to drill underbalanced, competitive rates of penetration, and through-tubing reentry. Because only a few CT drilling campaigns have achieved both operational and production successes, a campaign was proposed that used conventional well design and drilling programs. Previous lessons learned worldwide were used to reduce the drilling risk and enhance the chance of success. This was especially important in drilling a deviated hole through the coal zone of the subject well. This paper will describe three wells from the design phase through post-job evaluation. Lessons learned and improvement plans are also incorporated in this paper.