1. George E. King (Well Engineering Advisor, Viking Engineering)
Presenting – “Casing Deformation During Drilling, Completions and Fracturing”
Casing Damage as a result of drilling, completions and/or fracturing appears to be more frequent in multiple fractured horizontal well operations over the past several years. Causes vary but most are associated with non-uniform loading created by interactions of formation and casing, many involving point loads or buckling. This discussion highlights some of the multiple causes and ideas for avoidance.
George E. King is a Registered Professional Engineer in Oklahoma and Texas with 49 years continuous oilfield experience starting with Amoco 1971. He has held senior engineering positions in Amoco, BP. Rimrock Energy, and Apache Corporation. He is now a well engineering advisor for Viking Engineering and works special projects through his own consultancy GEK Engineering PLLC. He has written and/or presented over 100 papers, podcasts, webinars, and book chapters on well integrity, stimulations, perforating, sand control, well integrity, well-work and most phases of production operations. Education includes a BS in Chemistry (Oklahoma State), a BS in Chem. Eng. and a MS in Petroleum Engineering (University of Tulsa).
2. Michael Fitzsimmons (Team Lead, Wells SME GOM, Chevron)
Presenting – “New Mitigations for Frictional Heat Check Casing Failures in Offshore Deepwater Wells”
Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit experienced 4 casing failures in the past 4 years which cost the company ~$100,000,000. This paper describes the investigative techniques which led to the conclusion of heat checking as the likely root cause of undocumented casing failures, and the development of industry first real-time operations solutions based on 3D static FEA modeling which predicts down hole casing temperature as a practical approach to monitor and mitigate heat checking. Data analytics of 20+ wells’ real-time drilling data for wells with and without casing failures were analyzed using a new downhole drill string induced casing temperature model Strong correlations were shown between predicted downhole casing temperature and casing failures. Subsequently, a downhole heat checking safe drilling parameter window was created for the planning phase of all new wells. For the execution phase, the downhole temperature model has been incorporated into Chevron’s real-time Decision Support Center which monitors all of Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico drilling operations and allows for real-time decisions on heat checking mitigations if necessary. This real-time casing temperature log is being tracked by planning engineers in the office, rig personnel, as well as Decision Support Center engineers who are monitoring all Gulf of Mexico well operations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This increased awareness has allowed for quicker and more decisive decisions earlier in the well planning and execution process to enable engineers to mitigate heat induced stress fractures in casing and subsequently casing leaks before they occur. Since implementing this solution along with additional mitigations, Chevron has had zero casing leak events in the Gulf of Mexico due to drilling operations. This paper highlights mitigations to a previously unmonitored industry problem, heat induced casing fracture failures, which has the potential to prevent underground blowouts while shutting in a well during a worst case discharge event in the Gulf of Mexico These industry first mitigations include the creation of a predictive drilling parameter window and a real-time operations downhole temperature model.
Based in Houston, TX, Michael Fitzsimmons is the Team Lead, Wells SME, GOM for Chevron. After earning his B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M, Michael joined Chevron as a production engineer in 2002, held both Wells and Asset Team engineering positions in California, Thailand, and Houston in business units and the technical center.
3. Kirk Harris (Technical Advisor, ThoroughBond LLC)
Presenting – “Cementing to Prevent Casing Failure”
Providing structural support and protection for the casing is one of the main purposes of cementing oil and gas wells. A properly cemented annulus provides a strong and durable barrier that can limit casing corrosion, protect against deformation caused by mechanical stresses, and seal off annular pressures that could collapse the casing. A tightly bonded cement sheath also may eliminate the need for any remedial perforations, which can compromise casing integrity.
Various scenarios in which cementing plays a major role in preventing premature casing failure, are discussed in this presentation. These situations include cementing in corrosive environments, providing a continuous cement seal in deep water, steam injection, and HPHT wells to protect the casing against annular fluid pressures, and placing a strong cement sheath to combat high mechanical forces. Finally, the presentation also highlights concerns with current cementing practices, and includes recommendations to properly cement future wells to prevent premature casing failures.
Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Kirk Harris is the technical advisor for ThoroughBond LLC, which provides technical support for cementing and bond log interpretation. Prior to his current position, Kirk was the global cementing advisor for Oxy, Talisman Energy, and Repsol. He has a total of thirty-nine years of cementing experience, many of those spent with Halliburton, where he worked as a cementer, operations and research engineer, and technology manager. Kirk is a member of AADE, and he graduated from Purdue University with a degree in civil engineering.
