Amri 2017
Amri 2017
Amri 2017
Faisal Amri, Ayedh Hababi, Andres Ramirez, and Omar Faraj, Saudi Aramco; Rohit Shankar, Ali Alshafai, Roni
Martanto, Youssef Elmarsafawi, and Riefky Abdurrahman, Schlumberger Well Integrity Assurance – a new slogan
in the oil industry
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, 6-9 March 2017.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
With the advent of the API RP 65 – Part 2 (post-Macondo), the concept of well integrity evaluation has
been given an entirely new meaning and importance. Watching acoustic logs in isolation without sufficient
correlation with the formation evaluation logs and cement placement simulation yields a lot of unanswered
questions.
It was at this stage that Schlumberger (SLB) was approached by Saudi Aramco's drilling optimization
team to evaluate the zonal isolation between the Formations Shale A and Sandstone B in Well-A, which
was a well from the unconventional resources group. The objective was to assess the zonal isolation with a
high level of assurance and provide feedback for obtaining better results in subsequent wells.
The paper showcases the technique applied to assess the well integrity through an integrated holistic
approach for the first time in the Middle East that looks all data available rather than being confined to
looking up the acoustic logs in isolation that many times provides only part of the answer.
Figure 1—Schematic layout of the Advanced Cement Evaluation Technique (ACET) process.
• CBL-VDL indicating poor cement bond while USIT indicating better cement distribution.
• Good cement is seen near the top of the liner while looking at the CBL alone.
• VDL shows correlation with GR indicating cement bond in the entire section.
• Good cement placement seen through the section with patches of mud left due to washouts.
The mud density was high at 114 pcf and the slurry was 125 pcf. This constitutes very high solids
concentration that would in turn set in due course of time. This along with the fact that the CBL arrivals in the
double casing interval is not consistent gave the pseudo indication that there is cement at the top of the liner.
On assessing all the data available on the ACET* layout, the correlations can be clearly seen at the top
of cement in the USIT and WELLCLEAN* II clearly put the top of cement well below the previous casing
with some channelling moving upwards.
USIT/CPS vs. CBL
The USIT was indicating the presence of cement while the CBL was indicating nearly free pipe for the
entire section. The VDL was showing good correlation with the GR readings, which is an indication of
good to average casing to cement bond.
This kind of correlation is often witnessed when there is a presence of a micro annulus. Therefore, further
investigation was carried out by looking at the drilling reports immediately after the job until the time of
logging. It was recorded that the fluid in the well during the cementation was 114 pcf mud was changed
over to 75 pcf brine prior to running the cement evaluation logs. To quantify the effect of the same, the
change in hydrostatic and formation type was entered into the CMC* simulation software.
The geomechanic team within SLB were consulted to get the mechanical properties of the formation
using geo-mechanic models that were run in offset wells. This data was entered into the CMC* simulation
software to generate the output. CMC* simulated a 60 µm micro annulus due to the nearly 4,600 psi drop
in pressure inside the casing.
This output confirmed and clearly explained the free pipe output seen by the CBL while the USIT and
CPS give an indication of average to good cement. We could deliver such correlations clearly and quickly
by virtue of having the ACET* layout as the layout puts in all data in perspective in depth scale.
Shale-A formation Log Response
The entire section across the Shale A formation shows average cement bond with channels of fluid in the
annulus. The CPS simulator shows some channels but discontinuous. On comparing with the other sections,
which do not show such behavior, therefore it can be inferred that the formation interaction with the cement
is showing up in the USIT log.
Zonal Isolation of formations Shale A and Sandstone B
As discussed previously, by qualitatively confirming the micro annulus no evaluation or conclusion can
be drawn from the CBL log. But by virtue of having the ACET layout, clear correlations can be seen across
the USIT-VDL-Open Hole logs-WELLCLEAN* II simulator.
With a good level of assurance it can be said that there is good zonal isolation above and below Shale
A and Sandstone B, respectively.
• Perform multi-well analysis using the ACET* platform to further study the effect of shale A on
the cement after placement.
Value to the Client
1. To provide a high level of assurance and lower uncertainty on well integrity and zonal isolation using
correlation of open hole logs, cement placement map and cased hole logs.
2. Maximize the use and value of client data.
3. To enhance design and execution of cementing jobs by identifying the root causes of a bad cementing
job for the selected well.
4. The client will have a comprehensive answer combining the three key elements of ACET, which
optimize the time of decision making.
5. Have a single page standard layout that is standardized and can be compared across wells.
Moving Forward
Further improvements in the ACET evaluation process includes improvements in the plug-in to ensure
inclusion of the following:
1. Real time ACET evaluation.
2. Rapidly assess the cement placement.
3. Provide immediate answer for TOC.
4. Include the 3D models for cement placement evaluation that includes simulation with pipe movement.
SPE-183710-MS 7
Glossary
ACET: Advanced Cement Evaluation Technique
CPS: Schlumberger Cement Placement Simulator
CBL-VDL: Cement Bond Log – Variable Density Log
CMC: Schlumberger Cement Stress Calculator
TOC: Top of Cement
USIT: Schlumberger Ultrasonic Imaging Tool
CCL: Casing Collar Locator
LAS/DLIS: The public file formats used by the logging industry to provide raw data as obtained
from the tools used for interpretation
QaQc: Quality Assurance Quality Control
PTS: Petro-technical services – the services group that perform data interpretation within
the Schlumberger services
WIT: Well Integrity Technology – the services group that is responsible for the Design,
Execution and Evaluation of Cement jobs.
References
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