Annulus Management Plan

KN Deep Wells

Kinabalu Development
Project
18 October 2013

Presentation Outline
Cement Reliability
Cement Stress Analysis
Annulus Fluid Expansion
Comparison of Annulus Management Option
WELLCAT Modeling
Nitrogen Cushion Option

Cement Reliability
1. Key objective is to achieve
reliable isolations across
hydrocarbon sections and
prevent gas migration
throughout lifecycle of the
well.
2. Use of premium cement
gas tight blends. Rids use
of gas tight extended lead
and tail.
3. 10 ppg cement needed to
mitigate losses. Extended
classical leads:
1. Form very low compressive
strength & tend to fail.
2. Are generally quite
permeable for cement and
are prone to allowing gas
migration.
3. Take a very long time to set,
thus, get damaged during
pressure testing & general
well operations.

4. Completed cement stress

B Annulus
A Annulus

C Annulus

Multiple layers
of depleted
sands

Cement Reliability: CemSTRESS

Modeling

CemSTRESS modeling was used to simulate cement behavior for the

whole well life under various combination of temperature and pressure
values

Diferential
Pressure (psi)

9-5/8 Casing @ Packer Depth 14,440 ft-MD /

12,400 ft-TVD

Based on CemSTRESS analysis, cement behind all casings are able

to withstand the anticipated load cases.

Annulus Fluid Expansion: WELLCAT

Modeling
Temperature Modeling using WELLCAT
Max Surface Temp: 219deg F
Well Producing at
100MMSCF/day

1. Impact of Annulus
Pressure Build Up due
to fluid expansion was
assessed using
MultiString Analysis in
WELLCAT
2. Highest temperature
profile: Steady State
production at full rate
(100MMSCF/day)
3. WELLCAT output then
become input for
CemSTRESS
4. 3 cases were
assessed:

Trapped Annulus

Annulus Fluid Expansion: WELLCAT

Modeling
Design Limit Check - Trapped Annulus
18-5/8
FAIL

13-3/8
FAIL

10-3/4 x 9-5/8
FAIL

5-1/2 FAIL

Annulus Fluid Expansion: WELLCAT

Modeling
Design Limit Check Bleeded Off Annulus
18-5/8 PASS

13-3/8
PASS

10-3/4 x 9-5/8
PASS

5-1/2
PASS

Annulus Fluid Expansion

The annulus fluid expansions are summarized below for hot
conditions.
Trapped
Annulus

psi

bbl

Est.
Fluid
Drop (ft)

+ Nitrogen
Cushion
psi

+200 psi

(at cold
temp)

10,283

21.2

506 ft

29

229

9,734

15.8

478 ft

36

236

8,611

13.0

93 ft

10

210

The casings
will fail if the annulus Vent
are left trapped
D

Design check suggested that all casings will remain within

safe envelope with bleed of practice. Minimum impact with
Nitrogen Cushion not a requirement.

Annulus Management Options

Considered for KN-UUD (HPHT)
Options

Advantages

Disadvantages

Opt 1: Bleed off

annulus on day to
day basis

1. Simple and standard

practice

1. Allow air ingress into annuli if

valves open.
2. Rely on human
3. Cant measure volume
returned from well.

Opt 2: Bleed off

annulus & upon
start up lock out
annulus

1. Simple
2. Removes reliance on
human
3. Removes risk air being
drawn into annuli.

1. No ability to top up annuli

2. During intervention, can
damage the well.

Opt 3: Use of
active glycol and
N2

1. Removes reliance on
human
2. Ensures well annuli
pressure compensated
during well cooling.

1. Complex system
2. Indirectly dependent on human
interaction for maintenance.
3. Risk of rapid release of HC from
tubing to annulus.

Opt 4: Bleed off

annulus upon
start up & install
N2 cushion, then
lock out.

1. Removes reliance on
human
2. Ensures well annuli
pressure compensated
during well cooling.
3. Less complex and
dependency on
instruments reliability.
KN-Deep Annulus Management
4. Actively locking out annuli

1. Annulus cannot be simply

opened.

Recommendation - Nitrogen Cushion

WELLCAT simulation indicates that there is no real requirement

for Nitrogen Cushion in KN-Deep Annulus Management.
In the case of annuli being treated per current operational
practice (bleed off whenever annulus pressure exceed 500 psi),
casings will still remain within the design limit.
However in a bigger picture there are some advantages in
pursuing this Nitrogen Cushion method for KN-Deep Wells as
suggested below:
Opportunity for familiarization and to leverage on operational
learning curve prior to KN-UUD well (HPHT Development).
Testing phase to identify any issues in implementing this approach.
Pilot project for PETRONAS Carigali and evaluate the effectiveness
as part of improvement initiative for well integrity.

KN-Deep Annulus Management

10

Operational Procedure for Nitrogen Cushion

1. The procedure will require the rig up of a chicksan manifold that
connect the coiled tubing N2 pumping unit to the cement unit
injection line and end up in the Unihead 2 1/16 kill injection port
immediately below the tubing hanger
2. During cleanup flow, bleed off A annulus and B annulus through
respective choke lines, registering the volumes of the returns
3. As soon as the well is shut in, start injecting N2 through kill line on A
annulus until a 500 psi injection pressure is reached
4. Shut in N2 injection and monitor pressure. Pressure should decrease
while the well is cooling down.
5. When the decrease in registered pressure in the annulus reaches
100 psi, start injecting N2 again until pressure reaches 500 psi
6. Repeat previous step until annulus pressure remain constant at 500
psi.
7. Handover well to production
8. During well production, when steady state flow conditions are
reached, pressure in the annulus will increase to values above 500
psi. Not bleed off in the annulus is recommended, unless surface
KN-Deep Annulus
Management start exceeding 5,000 psi. In this case, the
annulus
pressures
11
intervention of the Drilling Division shall be requested and a well

KN-UUD Completion Procedure

Outline
RIH with Completion String
Pressure Test Production Tubing
Set Tubing Hanger and Test from above
Set Completion Packer and Test from above and below
RIH with CTCP 3 3/8 perforating string and Perforate well
Carry Out Clean Up flow Evacuating A annulus
Shut In Well And Allow to Cool Down
Fill up Annulus Gap with N2 to 500 psi
Handover Well to Production

Kinabalu AMS

2/3/15

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