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Abstract
As the subsea industry ages, the number of premature subsea well shut downs are increasing due to
insufficient well intervention programs. In the past, subsea well interventions have not been widely used
because of a lack of economic feasibility; however, with appropriate project planning, the recent economic
climate, and advances in well intervention technology, a greater overall project return can be realized by
implementing a proactive well intervention program. While intervention on surface wells is a familiar
topic, the benefits and negative consequences of more recent subsea intervention developments, such as
riser-less light well intervention, riser-less mud return, and well flow back and testing, are evaluated.
These different well intervention methods carry varying amounts of risk with them, with the potential to
greatly enhance or diminish well performance and thus affect recoverable hydrocarbons. The risks
involved with the different well intervention methods are evaluated and recommendations are made as to
which methods are utilized depending on desired return rates and risk aversion levels. Recommendations
are made for implementing a successful well intervention program, such as production monitoring,
scenario planning, application of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team, cross-organizational collaboration,
and logistical improvements. With an effective well intervention program, reservoirs can be further
exploited, potentially increasing project return and supplying hydrocarbons to a demanding global market.
Introduction
Secondary Recovery Methods Integral to Initial Field Development
Employing secondary recovery methods is becoming integral to initial onshore field development in order
to achieve maximum hydrocarbon returns. Original onshore field development practices consisted of
operators exhausting primary depletion, then installing waterflood facilities and converting producers to
water injectors. This caused a protracted period of reservoirs being without pressure support, leading to
complications with shut-in wells and underutilized pipelines and facilities. An early success in changing
this approach was in the high-risk Arctic development, the Kuparuk River Field (Nelson 2007). Kuparuks
initial production began in 1981 and by the end of 1982, ninety wells were completed, 75 of them
producers. Immediately following the wells being brought online, waterflooding began in January 1983.
This increased the expected ultimate recovery from 350-600 million to 1.25-1.5 billion barrels of oil. The
project faced considerable technical challenges in waterflooding due to the cold temperatures of the North
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Figure 1Forecast ROIP at cessation of production for 45 largest developed Neogene fields (Lach 2010, his Fig. 43).
Slope, but due to the focus placed on reservoir management rather than just field development, the
technical challenges were overcome and waterflooding helped the project surpass production levels ahead
of schedule. Similar to what was experienced in Kuparuk, secondary recovery methods made integral to
initial subsea well field development could help achieve maximum hydrocarbon production, and thus,
maximum project returns.
Remaining Reserves in Subsea Wells
A clear picture of the opportunity for improved oil returns in subsea wells is seen in a report discussing
improved oil recovery for deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) reservoirs, prepared for the Research
Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) (Lach 2010). Per the report, for 56 major GOM
oil-producing fields that began production from 2000 to 2009, the average remaining oil in place (ROIP)
per field is 66 MMBOE. In other terms, the volume-weighted average Return Factor (RF) for major
oil-producing fields in the GOM is 28.9%. For further illustration, the forecasted ROIP for the 45 largest
Neogene / Pleistocene reservoirs in deepwater GOM is shown in Fig. 1. There is strong evidence for
improved oil recovery in subsea GOM reservoirs, in addition to improving overall project economics once
thought unachievable. Sunk project costs associated with initial development of the subsea fields are now
further covered with subsea interventions that offset production declines; capturing more reserves
ultimately. By use of a secondary recovery method through subsea well interventions, a greater return can
be achieved.
Operators Options
An operator has three fundamental options when a subsea well becomes uneconomical to produce, i.e. the
costs to recover the hydrocarbons are greater than the value of the hydrocarbons produced. One option is
to launch a subsea intervention campaign or employ a larger scale secondary recovery method in an effort
to increase the production rate of more than one uneconomic well. The second option is to shut-in or
potentially abandon the well. The third option is consideration of selling the well in a package if the
operator is opting to exit. Due to the fact that the well needs intervention work to begin flowing with more
economic efficiency no matter the owner, the selling operator would have to sell their working interest at
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a discounted price. An economic intervention is likely the best option to produce maximum returns for the
original operator; much like performing preventive maintenance in operations to maintain value of the
assets. Since subsea well interventions come at a great cost and require extensive coordination between
multiple parties, approaching subsea well interventions proactively ensures an operator will achieve
maximum returns from their subsea well portfolio.
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operations. In a subsea environment, coiled tubing requires a hydraulic connection to a mobile drilling unit
as well as a rigid conduit through which it can reach the wellbore.
Snubbing Operations
Snubbing, also known as a hydraulic workover, can be performed in live wells. It involves running a
bottom hole assembly (BHA) on a drill string against wellbore pressure to perform the desired tasks, such
as fishing or milling (Ford et al. 2011). Snubbing is advantageous over other live well intervention
methods due to its small footprint on the rig, ability to reach great depths, and rigidity to apply high weight
on bit. Modern snubbing units require complicated hydraulic systems and a rigid conduit to the well.
Tubing Retrieval Operations
Tubing retrieval refers to pulling and replacing the tubing hanger and production tubing usually due to
performance deterioration. It is an expensive operation due to the complexity of the procedure. Typically
tubing retrieval is performed on older wells or if the well integrity is severely threatened or due to
changing reservoir conditions which require a new completion. The main requirement for tubing retrieval
is full wellbore access.
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Drilling vessels demand the highest day-rates of the SSWI methods, therefore are reserved when
full bore access is required.
The completion / workover riser method is most suitable for coiled tubing operations when a rigid
conduit is required, however, it is typically a more expensive and complex operation than wireline.
RLWI vessels are cable of pumping, wireline, flow back, XT retrieval/installation operations; and,
RLWI is the most cost efficient method of the wireline operations.
Technical challenges prevent RLWI vessels from performing coiled tubing operations. Research
and development efforts are underway to enable the use of coiled tubing without the use of a riser
system.
Each method and operation combination is designated a compatibility level in Fig. 2. Green
indicates that the method and operation are technically compatible and cost-effective. Red
indicates that either using a method with a specific operation would be too cost prohibitive or not
technically feasible. Yellow indicates that the operation could be performed using this method, but
that there are currently more cost-effective or safer alternatives.
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Figure 2While some SSWI methods and operations are compatible, not all are economically advisable.
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Figure 3Case 1 SSWI with follow-on increase in hydrocarbon production. (McGennis 2008, his Fig. 7)
Figure 4 Case 2 SSWI with follow-on production increases. (McGennis 2008, his Fig. 10)
contingencies, rehearse emergency plans, and schedule operational staff for round the clock coverage to
address problems that might arise in the high cost environment of subsea development and production.
Similar proactive decision and risk analysis applied to SSWIs would enable increased intervention
reaction time, thus improving projects returns.
For example, results from SSWI campaigns from 2002 to 2007 are charted in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, referred
to as Case 1 and Case 2 (McGennis et al. 2008). These case studies were taken from subsea wells located
in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea, where the average water depth is approximately 300 ft.
(European Observation Network Territorial Development and Cohesion 2013). The interventions were
performed with a light well intervention vessel, having an average intervention operation time of 8.5 days.
In Case 1, the cumulative recovered oil from the SSWI was approximately 720,000 bbls. With an
average crude price of $58/bbl from July 2004 to June 2005, the additional recovered oil from Case 1 is
valued at approximately $41.5MM. (Visual 2012) The reaction time from the well collapsing to the
intervention going online was six months. Using a conservative rate of return of 3.5% in a simple Time
Value of Money (TVM) calculation, if the well were intervened in two months, one-third of the time, a
savings of $487k would be realized.
In Case 2, the cumulative recovered oil was approximately 345,000 bbls. With an average crude price
of approximately $71/bbl from September 2006 to September 2007, the additional recovered oil from
Case 2 is valued at approximately $24.6MM USD. Using a conservative rate of return of 3.5% in a simple
TVM calculation, if the well were intervened in one- third of the time, a savings of $484k would be
realized.
At first, the savings made by improving the response time of the interventions in Case 1 and Case 2
might not seem substantial; however, these improvements in production are seen on wells much different
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than modern deepwater wells. Production rates in deepwater subsea wells are orders of magnitude higher
and their SSWI intervention reaction times are much longer. The savings realized from a similar reduction
in intervention reaction time would be much more substantial on major deepwater subsea well interventions.
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Figure 6 Adapted from Aihevba (2004), using a closed loop process would enhance intervention effectiveness and execution.
organizations, such as Royal Dutch Shell, since the 1970s (Wilkinson 2013). These efforts have created
direct economic value when evaluating specific scenarios and have given Industry a greater ability to
recognize, decipher, and react to change. Similarly, creating a multidisciplinary team dedicated to subsea
well intervention scenario planning could increase an operators response time and thus economic gain in
subsea wells. A team consisting of all interested parties- reservoir, completions, operations - could be
continuously developing what if scenarios for SSWIs for an operators portfolio. By continuously
analyzing production rates, reservoir conditions, qualities of the producing hydrocarbons, ability to
mobilize equipment, a dedicated SSWI team could enhance an operators ability to reduce ROIP through
effective intervention operations.
After experiencing a rapid decline in oil production in Oman fields, the Northern Oil Directorate of
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) increased its well intervention activity aggressively, doubling well
intervention expenditures in a period of 4 years. The Well Services division of PDO managed this increase
in well intervention activity through several project management approaches, including the Intervention
and Life Cycle and Feedback loop shown in Fig. 6. This is similar to closed loop processes widely used
throughout the oil and gas industry, commonly referred to as Lessons Learned of After Action
Reviews. By employing similar methodologies, a SSWI planning team could improve an operators
SSWI portfolio, successfully predicting the need for and properly executing SSWIs. (Aihevba 2004)
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have been joint efforts between academia and industry throughout the United States to collaborate on
research in order to achieve goals as evidenced by the RPSEA and DOE partnership in 2005 to improve
deepwater production, technology, and cost effectiveness and to meet high level industry needs (Schroeder et al. 2009).
Improving Logistics
While there has been extensive discussion about potential improvements to SSWI execution, logistical
successes between business partners have been previously experienced. One such case study reviews how
a SSWI campaign was performed successfully by a RWLI vessel on seven wells from December 2011 to
March 2012 off the coast of Equatorial Guinea (Bosworth et al. 2013). The operation was planned from
Houston, the vessel contractor was located in Aberdeen, UK, and the vessel was mobilized to operate in
West African waters; therefore, effective project management and efficient logistical execution was vital.
Planning started 6 months before the operation mobilized and the project engineers worked with the client
at their corporate office in Houston. During the planning period, weekly conference calls were held
between Houston, Aberdeen, and Malabo in order to keep all parties updated and resolve any challenges.
Project engineers had to organize and communicate aspects of the operation and maintain constant
communication with all parties in order to finalize the execution plan, mitigate potential risks, and update
equipment status. Also, several requirements were reviewed to ensure employees had necessary paperwork and vaccinations for working in West Africa, while communication with official shipping agents
allowed for customs clearance for the vessel and equipment to be completed without any setbacks.
The SSWI campaign took 66 days while the total transit time of the vessel from the UK to Africa and
back took just 39 days, stressing that the logistical flexibility of RWLI, without need for standby vessels
and reduced helicopter flights, allowed for the operations to be performed more efficiently and cost
effectively than if other methods were used. This case study highlights how effective project management
and improved logistics between business partners throughout the planning stages is crucial to determining
the success of RLWI during the operational stage.
Conclusions
To attain the great financial rewards from improving the recovery of hydrocarbons from subsea fields,
efforts should be focused not only on well development, but improving reservoir performance. Subsea
well interventions are a key method to offsetting production declines and potentially improving hydrocarbon recovery. However, proactive efforts are needed to improve the relevant technologies and
execution strategies. Investment needs to be made in improving existing SSWI technologies, filling
technological voids that exist in the more affordable intervention methods. Methodical SSWI decision and
risk analysis aligned with stage-gated project management from the initial stages will enable organizations
to respond when unexpected production problems arise. This includes dedicating skilled personnel, to
continuously evaluate well performance and the ability of an organization to counter declining production.
Operators can no longer approach subsea well interventions in a reactive manner if maximum returns are
to be gained from the ever increasing number of aging subsea wells.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the intensive efforts by Gojko Matovic in assisting with the
research presented in this paper and to the Texas A&M Harold Vance Department of Petroleum
Engineering for providing research support. A specific acknowledgement goes to Professor Priscilla G.
McLeroy in recognition of her guidance in shaping and refining the direction and purpose of the paper and
invaluable contributions. The author would also like to give a special acknowledgment to David L.
ODonnell for his personal and professional mentorship throughout the authors career.
The authors would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the individuals and teams conducting oil and
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gas operations, plus drilling contractors, service providers, equipment manufacturers, academic institutions, and others who have made individual and collaborative efforts to advance subsea well intervention
technology and execution. This is a new and challenging frontier and continued efforts to work together
as an industry will enable meeting the worlds energy needs for generations to come.
Nomenclature
BHA
Bottom hole Assembly
BOP
Blowout Preventer
DOE
United States Department of Energy
GOM
Gulf of Mexico
MM
Million
MODU Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit
PDO
Petroleum Development Oman
RF
Recovery Factor
RLWI
Riserless Well Intervention
ROIP
Remaining Oil in Place
RPSEA Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America
SSWI
Subsea Well Intervention
TVM
Time Value of Money
USD
United Stated Dollars
XT
Christmas Tree
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