Innovative Technologies Making Well-Intervention More Efficient

The well-intervention industry is integrating innovative technological advancements into its operations for a faster, more accurate, cost-effective, and reliable outcome.

FREMONT, CA: The only sector of the oil and gas industry remaining steady in a down market is the well-intervention segment. Few service vendors expect progress in the industry that will also sustain in the coming years. Operators need to maintain wells and keep production increasing as economically as possible. The industry is anticipating stability for intervention services and, in some places, an uplift to alleviate the decline in rig activity. In support of that approach, new tools and technologies have driven well intervention to a different level.

Advances in coiled tubings, such as increased diameter, optimal welding technology, and new metallurgy to improve strength, have become significant tools for various intervention functions. With the adoption of this new technology applied to the coiled tubing bias weld, companies will be able to improve the fatigue life of the tubing and create a more corrosion-resistant end product. They are also using milling technology that includes digital camera components, enabling operators to more accurately monitor and record the weld temperature profile at the weld seam. This is an innovative and revolutionary technology concerning the strip well.

A chemical applied in fractured wells where proppant has begun to move into the wellbore is also introduced. This has eliminated the need for operators to carry out frequent clean-outs and lost production time. This process involves a resin-based technology that coats proppant grains in the fracture to prevent the proppant from spilling into the wellbore. The resin is applied via coiled tubing using a pulsing tool that enables better dissemination in the fracture and optimises the pumping process.

In highly deviated and extended-reach wells, a new service uses a proprietary gel that increases lubricity and enables the coiled tubing to move farther into the wellbore. This new technology has replaced expensive downhole tractors used for this purpose. Furthermore, new technologies can modify the relative permeability of the formation to water versus oil. They will prevent water flow into or out of the formation but do not detract from the flow of the hydrocarbons. The relative permeability modifier (RPM) technology is successfully helping to control unwanted water production and loss to the formation.

Advanced new downhole power unit (DPU) technology is a non-explosive, electromechanical tool that offers a reliable alternative to traditional hydraulic or explosive tools to set and retrieve packers or other wellbore devices on a slick line, electric line or coiled tubing. DPU is ideal in areas where transporting explosives is dangerous or expensive. Moreover, with the new DPU intelligent series tool, operators can measure the force and control the stroke length required to set the packers or plugs in real time. These features assure the quality of setting wellbore devices.