Macondo Relief Well
Responded to the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon blowout. Participated in the BP incident investigation team and authored an independent report on the casing negative test and the events leading up to the blowout. Transferred to the response team and mobilized to the Transocean DD3 rig, which drilled the primary relief well. Coordinated the relief well effort, and updated the relief well trajectory from the first ranging run until the relief well intersected the Macondo well.
Relief Well P&A
Drilled a relief well with the objective of plugging a well, which had become inaccessible from the surface due to the production tubing buckling and shearing. After confirming hydraulic communication between the relief well and the target well, a cementing operation of the inner annulus/production tubing commenced and successfully plugged the target well.
Relief Well for a Shut-In Well
Responded to a well incident in Syria, where the drillstring parted and dropped in the hole. Subsequent fishing attempts caused a kick, and the well was shut in. A relief well was drilled and the hydrocarbons circulated out using a modified drillers-method. As no Gyro was available in the country, a magnetostatic-interference model was developed to improve survey quality and the homing-in process.
Relief Well P&A Offshore
Responded to the abandonment of a production well in Brunei, where the platform conductor had slumped and sheared the 13-3/8" casing and drillstring, leaving a fish in the openhole. The abandonment was achieved by drilling a stand-alone relief well that intersected the target well below the 13-3/8" casing shoe.
Relief Well for a Low-Accuracy Survey Data
Responding to a blowout where rig was lost due to fire and gas broach to surface. Challenges included high media exposure, 8000’ of open hole exposed to unconsolidated formations and only low accuracy inclination-only survey existed for the target well. The target well was successfully located, intersected, and plugged to the satisfaction of the Texas Railroad Commission.
Gas Storage Leak
A leak from a gas storage facility resulted from loss of well integrity at relatively shallow sections of the well, which resulted in broaching to the surface. After surface source control attempts were not effective, a relief well was drilled, and performed dynamic kill operation to stop and plug the leak. A relief well was drilled and eventually stopped the leak, and the lower section of the well was plugged. A WellCTRL Engineering member was involved during the surface source control attempts, relief well and dynamic kill planning and execution, plugging, and preparing the well for the investigation team.
Hurricane Damaged Well Intervention
An underwater mudslide toppled and buried several wells in the Gulf of Mexico. A risk-based approach was performed to rank the wells with the highest probability of leak. After identifying the critical wells, relief wells were drilled to intercept and plug the identified wells. The process required detailed planning for drilling the relief well and plugging process due to lack of surface access to the wells. A robust decision-making tool was developed to analyze the plugging process, which included the fluid segregation in the wellbore, compressibility of the wellbore fluids, volume of pumpable sealing materials (cement or resin), and potential flow paths.
Capping Stack Deployment
Participated in oil spill drill which included testing capping stack, mobilization, deployment, landing and testing capping stack, and demobilization.
Relief Well Operations
Planned and drilled a relief well for an offshore gas well in southeast Asia. As part of the relief well task force, designed the relief well, dynamic kill operation, and verified the casing design of the relief well. The relief well intercepted the target well and stopped the flow. The reservoir depletion caused losses, which required several loss management strategies to gain control of the well and successfully plug the well.
Developing Dynamic Kill Program
Performed dynamic kill design for a response to a blowout incident in China. The design included considerations for the well site and available equipment. Provided the support for integration of the relief well design, magnetic ranging, and dynamic kill operation.
Well Control Support and Relief Well Planning
Responded to a well blowout in Pennsylvania and provided on-site support for well control incidents and planning a relief well. After clearing the area, the well was capped and top kill operation was performed to gain control of the well
Relief Well Drilling and Water Flood Operation
A relief well was drilled to approach a well with a corroded outer casing in a shallow water environment located in the West Africa region. The presence of a corrosive environment and H2S in the shallow section of the well resulted in corroding the surface casing and caused a gas leak through the outer annulus of the well. A relief well was drilled to approach the target well and flooded the flowing zone with seawater to stop the flow. Then, the operator was able to access the well to perform diagnostics and repair the well.
CO2 Injection Well Failure
Responded to multiple shallow gas blowouts and craters with high CO2 levels in Louisiana. The operational response included a combination of source control, well intervention, and drilling relief wells. After gaining access, the wells were successfully P&A’ed per local regulatory requirements.
Production Well Blowout
Responded to a gas blowout in Nigeria which required clearing the well site, cutting the wellhead, and stinging operation to gain control of the well.
HTHP Well Control Response
Responded to a well control incident on a HTHP well in Louisiana. An influx was observed during the tripping out of the well and the well was shut-in. After stripping to the bottom, the well was circulated with a kill fluid and regained control.
Hydrate Plug Removal and Well Kill
The GoM well had a hydrate plug formed in the wellhead with the center wellbore being zonally isolated with a cement retainer. Supported the client with the re-entry, kill and P&A operations.
Underground Crossflow Bullhead Kill
Challenging kill with a high flow potential and an extremely narrow PPFG window.
Well Control Modeling and Support for Mini Well Test Operations
Developed a well control modeling process for circulating reservoir samples after performing mini well test operation for a client in the north sea region. The design included the type of the fluid sample, sampling procedure, sampling tool, and circulating samples to the surface. The modeling process was validated against collected data and field observations for 2 wells.