Multilateral/Extended Reach

Casing-Running Challenges for

Extended-Reach Wells
Running long production-casing strings
in extended-reach wells is one of the most
critical of all well operations. Failure to
reach target depth has a profound consequence on well deliverability and overall
cost. The full-length paper presents an
overview of the status of current casingrunning tools and techniques as well as
case histories from the Caspian and
North Seas. This is complemented with
an assessment of the effect of drilling
technology on the ability to run casing.
New Technology
Rotary-steerable systems (RSSs) are one of the
biggest advances in drilling technology during
the last decade. The ability to steer without the
need to slide drill leads to a smoother wellbore. Other advantages of RSSs include
improved hole cleaning because of continuous
rotation, reduced torque and drag, a more ingauge hole, reduced wellbore spiraling and
ledging, and higher-quality logging runs. The
drilling community has recognized these benefits because most of them are measurable.
There is an increasing trend to drill and
underream hole sections before running casing. Usually this is done to improve overall
drilling efficiency and mitigate hole problems.
This can aid equivalent circulating density
(ECD) management and reduce the effects of
swelling shales. With close-tolerance casing,
the underreamed section also will provide
additional surge-pressure relief. Risks to
underreaming include more-stringent holecleaning requirements and tool reliability.
Another complexity is the introduction of
nonstandard casing sizes and the potential
effect these could have on casing running in
standard hole sizes. Drilling engineers are
usually comfortable with running 95/8-in.
casing into 121/4-in. hole. However, what is
the net effect of running 97/8-in. or even
10-in. casing into the same hole size?
Flush casing usually is selected when a
contingency liner or casing is part of the casing design. Flush casing is designed to pass
through a close-tolerance liner so the outside
diameter of the connection is reduced. While
this is a good idea, there is an effect in terms
of reduced tensile strength and the ability to
centralize the string inside open hole.

JULY 2004

Solid-expandable-tubular (SET) technology has begun to generate genuine options for

both well construction and contingency
planning. While many of the SET runs have
been in high-cost wells with relatively low
inclinations, the opportunity for implementation in extended-reach-drilled (ERD) wells
also exists. SET poses a number of challenges
for running casing. SET necessitates, through
design, a flush connection and thus the same
issues considered for flush casing also exist
for SETs. To mitigate potential sticking
effects, the ability to centralize SET in highangle wells poses a specific challenge.
For wells where frictional drag exceeds the
available running weight, there are a number
of proven casing-running techniques. For
wells where an incremental drag reduction is
required, roller centralizers or centralizers
with a low coefficient of friction are available.
These also can be used in combination with
mud lubricants or low-friction beads that act
like tiny ball bearings. For shallow ERD wells
where the string is not excessively long, rotation and reaming down the casing is usually
the best option. For wells where more dramatic drag reduction is required, full flotation
or partial flotation may be applicable. This
technique works by significantly reducing
the buoyed weight of the casing string and
therefore frictional drag. With this approach,
both casing-collapse and well-control issues
need to be addressed properly.
Harding Field
The BP-operated Harding field, 270 km
northeast of Aberdeen, has been developed
from a jackup platform in 110 m water depth.
The majority of deviated wells have stepouts
as much as 2500 m of which 300 to 600 m are
horizontal reservoir sections. The wells are
completed with prepacked screens or openhole gravel packs. The Balder and Frigg reservoirs currently suffer from depletion and low
fracture pressures. The overburden comprises
mainly Horda mudstone interspersed with
occasional limestone stringers.
ERD casing running in the Harding field is
considered challenging because of the relatively shallow reservoir horizon at approximately
1750 m true vertical depth. This means that
overcoming frictional drag, particularly during

This article, written by Assistant

Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper SPE 84447,
Casing-Running
Challenges
for
Extended-Reach Wells, by Colin J.
Mason, SPE, Jesse Lopez, Sigve
Meling, and Robert Munger, SPE, BP
plc, and Barry Fraser, Avanteq, prepared for the 2003 SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition,
Denver, 58 October.

casing running, is more difficult to achieve

than for many other North Sea wells.
Harding Well PN1
The Frigg reservoir in the north of the
Harding field originally held 7.15106 m3 of
reserves of which 1.74106 m3 should be
recoverable. Access to Frigg reserves required
the first ERD well to be drilled. Well PN1 was
designed as an undersection 121/4-in. pilot
hole, and Well PN1z was designed as the horizontal production well. These ERD wells
were twice the stepout of wells drilled previously in the field. The 171/2-in. surface hole
was drilled with 133/8-in. casing set at
2285 m. Despite adopting best ERD practices
at that time, drilling of the subsequent hole
sections was beleaguered with problems.
These included poor hole cleaning, multiple
packoffs, borehole instability, surface-equipment failures, and unsuccessful attempts at
logging. These problems ultimately led to the
need for a sidetrack well, Well PN1y.
The 121/4-in. section of Well PN1y was
drilled successfully with oil-based mud
(OBM) and an RSS. The well is a build-andhold type with a long tangent section inclined
at 78. Losses were encountered upon entry
into the reservoir. The well was plugged back
to manage the losses and 4665 m of 103/495/8-in. casing was run. Harding production
casing usually has 430 m of 103/4-in. casing at
surface to accommodate the subsea safety
valve, and 95/8-in. casing forms the remainder
of the string. Conventional couplings are used
on both strings.
During the planning for Well PN1, a
review of offset casing-running data from

59

other wells in the field indicated cased-/openhole friction factors from 0.30/0.20 to
0.30/0.40. Data collection at that time was
fairly primitive, and a conservative approach
was adopted in the design of the Well PN1y
casing-running operation. The decision was
made that friction factors of 0.30/0.40 would
be appropriate for the first ERD casing run.
Drag analysis indicated that casing was
unlikely to reach depth unless friction-reduction measures were used.
A review of drilling and tripping torque
and drag data indicated that cased-/openhole friction-factor values of 0.25/0.12 provided a good match. The low openhole friction factor is typical of drilling the Horda
mudstone with OBM.
For drag-reduction purposes, the decision was made to spot pills of low-friction
beads along the bottom 900 m of open hole.
Additionally, 125 roller centralizers were
installed from 600 to 2145 m on 95/8-in.
casing with the shoe at total depth (TD).
This means that the rollers would be contained entirely within the 133/8-in. casing.
Also, the decision was made not to centralize the 95/8-in. casing inside the open hole
because this was considered detrimental to
drag. The centralizers reduce clearance and
increase overall string weight and stiffness.
After some expected drag along the first
1200 m of open hole, the running weight
spontaneously and dramatically recovered
at the same time that the drag-reduction
measures were meant to work. For this run,
cased-/openhole friction factors of 0.25/0.45
were calculated. Further analysis suggested
that friction factors of 0.05 could be attributed to the roller centralizers and beads.
The Well PN1x 81/2-in. sidetrack was
drilled through the Well PN1y casing
shoe and into the reservoir. Massive losses
again occurred, with ECDs recorded at
13.8 lbm/gal. The well was plugged back
and suspended.
The reservoir fracture gradient was
decreased from 14.6 to 13.5 lbm/gal. With
this constraint, it was not possible to continue the well in 81/2-in. hole size, because
ECDs of 14.2 lbm/gal could be expected at
the end of well.
Nine months later, operations recommenced with the Well PN1y casing string
being cut and pulled. Well PN1w was then
sidetracked from the pre-existing 133/8-in.
casing. The 121/4-in. overburden section
again was successfully drilled with an RSS
and revised ERD operational practices. The
previous Well PN1y casing-running success
provided an invaluable reference point. To be
conservative, 0.30/0.40 again were used as
cased-/openhole friction factors for planning

60

purposes. Drag analysis showed that casing

would not get much beyond 4300 m unless
friction-reduction measures were used.
A casing-running plan based on that used
for Well PN1y also was used. This time, an
additional 183 m of 103/4-in. casing was
run at surface. This provided a slight weight
advantage, but more crucially, it helped
minimize ECDs during drilling of the
81/2-in. section. A similar number of roller
centralizers were used, but this time pills of
beads were spotted over the bottom 1500 m
of open hole. Again no centralizers were run
inside open hole. A 500-m, 81/2-in. section
was subsequently drilled, screens were run,
and the well was put on production.
Harding Well PNE1
In December 2001, Well PNE1, the next
ERD well, was drilled to access reserves
from the northeast reservoir. Unfortunately,
this well and two geological sidetracks, Well
PNE1z and Well PNE1y, failed to find a suitable completion interval. As a consequence,
no production casing was run. The well was
suspended back to the 133/8-in. casing shoe
set at 2237 m.
Harding Well WN1
Despite challenging drilling problems, Well
PN1w proved to be a highly successful production well. However, the need for additional pressure support and the desire to
improve recovery led to the requirement for
a sister water-injection well, Well WN1.
A decision was made to drill from the
existing Well PNE1 133/8-in. shoe to reach
a suitable water-injection target 5.4 km from
the platform. Well WN1 was spudded in
March 2003. The drilling was even more
challenging because the fracture gradient
was revised downward to 13.0 lbm/gal. The
overburden section was drilled with the latest generation RSS in 121/4-in. hole, and
even greater attention was given to drilling
and tripping practices. To minimize ECDs
and improve overall drilling efficiency, the
decision was made to simultaneously drill
and underream a 131/2-in. hole in areas
where stringers tended to impede both
drilling and tripping efficiency. The first use
of 57/8-in. drillpipe from the platform
reduced the amount of pipe handling and
also assisted with ECD management. The
overburden section was successfully drilled
to intersect 20 m of reservoir with TD at
5393 m.
It was expected that the larger 131/2-in.
hole diameter also would assist with casing
running if clearance, tortuosity, and casingstiffness effects were significant. The same
casing-running philosophy used in Well

PN1y and Well PN1w was used. This time

the decision was made to deploy 670 m of
103/4-in. casing at surface, run a similar
number of roller centralizers inside
133/8-in. casing, and layer beads over the
bottom 900 m of open hole. Beads were
deployed by use of a pump-and-pull
method to distribute beads as evenly as possible. As before, no centralizers were run
inside open hole.
For planning purposes, cased-/openhole
friction factors of 0.25/0.40 were used as the
basis for a drag-risk plot. A lower cased-hole
friction factor could be justified on the basis
of previous experience. Because of the
uncertainty of the likely openhole condition, the decision was made to maintain
0.40 as the openhole friction factor for planning purposes.
From the casing-running drag plot, the
cased-hole friction factor was 0.20 compared with the planned value of 0.25. The
133/8-in. casing string already had been
exposed to a large number of rotating hours
before Well WN1 was drilled. This is consistent with the polishing effect noted on
PN1w. For the next 500 m of open hole, the
friction factor tracked a 0.40 trend. After
that point the weight also spontaneously
recovered, but before any drag-reduction
effects were anticipated. This change in
trend also was seen on Well PN1w. As TD
was approached, significant downhole
resistance was observed and only enough
weight was available to run in the last few
joints. In this case, drag-reduction techniques proved valuable in securing a successful casing run. No observable trend
change in drag was seen when transitioning
from the 121/4- to 131/2-in. hole sections.
The best-fit openhole friction factor was
calculated to be 0.25.
Harding Casing-Running Summary
Three long ERD casing strings were successfully run to depth in the Harding field. In
each case, a decision was made to provide
drag relief through the use of roller centralizers and friction-reducing beads. Because of
the high variability in openhole conditions
between the various wells, it is difficult to
confidently attribute different drag-reduction levels to the rollers and beads. However,
a successful formula has evolved, providing
JPT
a basis for future casing runs.

For a limited time, the full-length paper

is available free to SPE members at
www.spe.org/jpt. The paper has not
been peer reviewed.

JULY 2004