SPE-186113-MS

Using a Resin-Only Solution to Complete a Permanent Abandonment

Operation in the Gulf of Mexico

John E. Davis, Oceaneering International, Inc.

Copyright 2017, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition held in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 5-8 September 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
This paper describes the successful application of a rigless well abandonment method that isolated the well's
production interval using resin-based sealant, without cement and without latching a conventional subsea
blowout preventer (BOP).
An offshore operator needed to permanently abandon a subsea well that had become uneconomic due
to excessive sand production. Several subsea wellhead and downhole conditions would have made killing
the well by conventional means difficult if not impossible. Wellhead fatigue and soil erosion around the
wellhead meant that a conventional drilling BOP could not be used in the operation due to the equipment's
weight. Fluids to kill the well and permanently seal the formation could only be pumped down the tubing,
and an obstruction in the flow path would limit the injection rate. Typical wireline and coiled tubing
intervention tooling and circulation could not be used. Cement and micro-cement have particles that could
potentially bridge at the downhole obstruction, preventing it from sealing the formation.
Considering these factors, the operator and service provider designed, tested, obtained regulatory
approval, and successfully implemented a rigless abandonment operation using a service vessel and well
stimulation tool to inject resin-based sealant into the well to seal the formation and enable safe final
abandonment and tree removal using a light intervention vessel. These results suggest that this method
can potentially be used during abandonment of subsea wells with smaller trees and wellheads that have
experienced fatigue.

Background
A subsea well located in the Gulf of Mexico in 1,450 ft (442 m) of water was drilled directionally to 20,413
ft (6,222 m), with a single production interval at 20,170 to 20,280 ft (6,148 m to 6,181 m). The well was
completed with eight strings of casing and production tubing (Figure 1). The well was worked over and
was re-completed in 2009 and then produced until September 2013 when it was shut in due to high sand
production caused by an apparent completion failure. In 2015, the operator decided to permanently abandon
the well.
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Figure 1—Wellbore schematic showing all tubular stings, obstruction, and production interval

In planning the abandonment, the operator determined that the wellhead had experienced fatigue that
compromised its ability to withstand the load from attaching a conventional subsea BOP. In addition,
significant soil erosion had taken place around the wellhead. These factors precluded the use of a BOP, and
eliminated the option of using through-tubing tooling and techniques. In addition, in reviewing the well's
history, the operator's engineers determined that there was an obstruction in the production tubing that would
constrict flow into the producing zone.

Selecting an Isolation Fluid

The selection of the isolation fluid was a critical factor in enabling a successful abandonment of the
producing zone. To overcome the challenges posed by the well, the isolation fluid could not be susceptible
to contamination associated with pumping it along with completion brines to a depth greater than 3.5 miles
(5.6 km). In addition, the fluid needed to be pumped around the obstruction in the well and squeezed into
the formation without particles separating from the fluid and packing off the flow path.
Isolation materials considered for this application were evaluated according to the following performance
criteria:

• Minimal acceptability to contamination with CaCl/CaBr brine

• Ability to squeeze through small clearances without bridging

• Mechanical properties sufficient to act as a permanent barrier.

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Conventional cement is the most common isolation material used in the oilfield and offers a cost-effective
solution due to its relatively low cost. However, exposure to CaCl/CaBr brine reduces cement thickening
time significantly. This factor meant that conventional cement could not be pumped without additional
spacer fluid between the brine and the cement slurry. Using this technique would have increased the required
total treatment volume. In addition, when squeezing through tight restrictions, conventional cement—with
its large particle size—is highly susceptible to bridging and was identified as having a low probability
of reaching the formation that needed isolation. All of these factors combined effectively ruled out using
conventional cement as a solution.
Micro-cement also was considered; it has similar properties to conventional cement, except that its small
particle size reduces the risk of bridging across tight restrictions. However, micro-cement also experiences
reduced handling time when contaminated with CaCl/CaBr brine, and would also need additional spacer
fluids.
Resin, however, provided a viable alternative to cement in this application. Resin is immiscible in water,
so it would not experience any deleterious effects from CaCl/CaBr brine contamination. In addition, liquid
phase resin could be pumped through the obstruction without bridging and could isolate the formation below
the obstruction once the resin hardened. Based on this evaluation, resin was chosen as the isolation fluid
for the project.

Project Planning and Regulatory Approval

Once resin was selected as the appropriate isolation fluid, the operator, service provider, and resin provider
worked together to develop a single-vessel based intervention campaign using a well intervention tool (RAT-
Rapid Access Tool)— in place of a BOP—to connect to the subsea wellhead. Detailed pumping procedures
included displacement of the well with kill-weight brine (KWB), pumping of the resin-based sealant, and
positive and negative pressure tests. The operator and resin provider conducted laboratory tests to ensure
that there were no fluid compatibility issues and to confirm hardening times through the range of expected
subsea and downhole temperatures, to assure that the resin would not harden in the topside equipment,
well stimulation tool, or tree hardware. The operational plans and laboratory test results were presented to
the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which granted approval for the first
deepwater, resin-only, permanent lower abandonment in the Gulf of Mexico.

Operational Details
The rigless well abandonment was completed from a 312-ft (95-m) multi-service vessel with 10,255 ft2
(953 m2) of clear deck space, a 150 mT active heave compensated crane, and two heavy work class ROVs.
The vessel was fitted with a well stimulation tool that allowed for the resin to be delivered to the well via
dual coiled tubing strings, choke and applicable ESD and barrier devices required by BSEE for safe well
intervention. The vessel was also equipped with controls that enabled the onboard crew to directly monitor
and operate the wellhead valves via an umbilical connected by the ROV so the tree did not need to be
controlled from the host platform several miles away. Figure 2 is a schematic of equipment used during
the intervention.
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Figure 2—Equipment Schematic for Rigless Well Intervention

The project required modifications to the topside pumping, mixing and blending equipment prior to
mobilization. Because resin is a dry chemical, it required appropriate blending equipment that could mix
the two-part chemical and the additional fluid to complete the resin mix.

Figure 3—Resin placement to isolate productive zone (red area)

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The abandonment plan called for pumping 35 bbl of resin down the production tubing; this would squeeze
10 bbl into the formation with the estimated top of resin at 18,339 ft (5,590 m). Figure 3 shows the planned
resin placement isolating the production interval and establishing a plug inside the production tubing. To
keep the resin at static conditions after placement, it was decided to displace the entire well to 11 ppg brine
and check the pressure at surface. Then KWB would be used to displace the resin treatment to ensure that
after displacement no additional resin would be lost into the formation. Table 1 summarizes the pumping
procedure.
Table 1. Pumping Procedure for Resin-Based Well Abandonment

Balance Well with Brine

• Line up pumps on surface to inject 11.0 ppg brine

• Hold 1 bpm rate for 5 minutes while confirming a steady decrease in tubing pressure

• Perform step rate test by increasing rate from 1 bpm to 4 bpm in 0.5 bpm increments

• Continue pumping total volume of 250 bbl

• Shut down pumps and monitor tubing pressure for 15 min

• Recalculate bottom hole pressure

• Blend kill weight CaCl/CaBr brine based on calculated bottom hole pressure

• Displace well with 250 bbl of KWB and shut down.

• Monitor pressure for 30min to confirm well is static

Pumping Resin Based Sealant

• Begin mixing resin material in 50 bbl blender

• Confirm final resin density to be 14 ppg.

• Pump 10 bbl KWB to clear all surface lines

• Pump 35 bbl 14 ppg resin based sealant

• Displace with 203.7 bbl KWB

○ This will squeeze 10 bbl into the formation and leave 25 bbl inside the tubing
• Record final displacement rate and pressure

• Begin cleaning surface equipment with solvent

• Monitor pressure while waiting on resin to cure

Perform Pressure Test

• Line up surface equipment to perform a positive pressure test

• Using KWB, pressure up against the resin plug to 1,000 psi over the final injection pressure

• Hold pressure for 30min

• After a good positive pressure test proceed to negative pressure test

• When lines are completely displaced, open valves on SSXT and confirm well is static for 30 min
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• Document all valve positions, displace the coiled tubing lines as required, and prepare to rig down
and demobilize from location
The vessel was mobilized on 26 January 2016. Because the project was conducted during winter, the weather
was continuously monitored to assure that sea state conditions would permit at least a 24-hour window
to start and finish pumping operation. Continuous pumping was critical as resin pumping could not be
interrupted as it would negatively affect or prevent formation isolation.
The operation was performed according to the procedure, with minimal complications and down time.
Real-time monitoring of the tree, well, and well stimulation tool was supplied to the vessel and onshore
teams to ensure the functional and safe execution of the project's activities.
The planned KWB weight of 12.7 ppg was decreased to 12.5 ppg to ensure no losses to the formation were
induced in static conditions. While performing the resin squeeze, a gradual pressure increase was observed,
indicating that the resin-based sealant was being squeezed into the formation. The final displacement
pressure was 3,731 psi at 0.5 bpm. Figure 4 shows the pressures and slurry rates for the resin treatment.
After waiting for the resin to cure, a good positive pressure test was achieved to 4,700 psi for 30 minutes.
Next, a negative pressure test, equivalent to the loss of riser margin, confirmed the resin treatment was
successful and the production interval had been isolated. The vessel was demobilized on 9 February 2016.

Figure 4—Record of Resin-Sealant Injection

Conclusions
• The first rigless, resin-based lower abandonment of a subsea well was successfully completed in
the Gulf of Mexico.
• The rigless method was chosen because it could be performed on an older subsea wellhead that had
experienced fatigue and soil erosion around its base, and therefore could not withstand the load of
being latched onto by a BOP.
• A resin-based sealant was chosen over conventional cement and micro-cement because it would
not be contaminated by CaCl/CaBr brine and could be pumped through the wellhead and through
an obstruction in the production tubing above the producing interval.
• Laboratory tests verified that the resin would not be contaminated by brine, could be pumped
without bridging, and would harden sufficiently to isolate the zone at downhole temperatures.
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• Lab results and detailed pumping procedures were presented to the regulatory agency, BSEE, which
granted approval for the lower well abandonment using resin.
• The rigless intervention was performed from a multi-service vessel using a well stimulation
tool, two coiled tubing strings, and two heavy workclass ROVs. Operations were monitored and
controlled in real time from the vessel and monitored from the shore base.
• The pumping operation was completed successfully to isolate the zone from 20,170 ft to 20,080
ft (6,148 m to 6,181 m). After the resin hardened, positive and negative pressure tests confirmed
that the well had been killed successfully.
• The lower well abandonment was completed ahead of schedule and below budget, at a substantial
cost savings compared to a conventional rig-based abandonment. No equipment downtime was
experienced during pumping operations.
• After the operation, the wellhead could be removed safely and the upper abandonment could be
carried out using a light intervention vessel.
• Results on this project suggest that rigless intervention using resin-based sealant has potential for
use on other subsea wells with smaller trees and wellheads that have experienced fatigue.