SPE 128239 Improving Deep-Well Economics with Foamed-Cementing Solutions

Ahmed El- Seginy and Abdel Azim Atta, Centurion Petroleum Corp (Dana Gas PSJC); Omar Kashif, Akram Zanaty, Khaled El Sawah, and Arshad Waheed, Halliburton

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Cairo, Egypt, 1417 February 2010. 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 of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract The practice of deep-well drilling (i.e., reaching depths of 15,000 ft or more) has been increasing for more than three decades with well costs increasing as record depths are continually challenged. The demand for gas has generally supported this drilling activity, nevertheless the pursuit for drilling the most economical well continues. This paper presents a case history of cementing a long, intermediate casing string. Such casing strings are strategically placed covering a large section of the drilled hole straddling as close as possible between the lowest fracture gradient and the highest pore pressure in the drilled section. Such a design helps minimize the number of casing strings required for the well, thus helping to reduce the well cost. While it might be possible to drill the hole by maintaining a balancing act between flow and loss situations, the cementing challenges remain to be tackled. The use of foamed cementing has addressed the issue of cementing in a lost-circulation situation and controlling the flow from a gas zone found within the same interval. When compared to conventional cement jobs, foamed cement was not only superior in technical design but provided several cost-saving benefits that many potential users might be unaware of. For example, the bulk cement-volume requirement dropped by a factor of 1.72, provided a cost saving of approximately 35 to 40%, and reduced the bulk equipment footprint from 1,560 ft2 to 936 ft2. The job-time also decreased by three hours. These discrete savings combined are significant. Though this solution brings much benefit to operators, it is still regarded as an unconventional cementing solution. This paper provides a case history, economic analysis, physical properties, and developmental background of foamed cementing that should help operators see its benefit and use. Introduction Deep-well, onshore drilling in the West El Manzala concession in the Nile Delta area of Egypt (Fig. 1) is primarily in an exploratory phase at this stage for the operating company. There are four primary gas-zone targets in the Miocene age, Sidi Salem formation, and some secondary gas-zone targets in the Pliocene age Kafr el Sheikh and Abu Madi formations (Fig. 2). The pore pressure ramps slowly from 9.0 lbm/gal close to surface to 11.5 lbm/gal at a depth of 3400 m. A rapid pressure ramp is seen from 3400 m to 3600 m, reaching a maximum pore pressure of 18.5 lbm/gal, continuing on until the well total depth (TD) of 4509 m (Fig. 3). The reservoir pressure reaches 14,000 psi at TD with the static bottomhole temperature of 280F (Fig. 4). These wells are drilled vertical and, because the wells are environmentally sensitive, water-based muds are used. Considering the pore pressure trends and the lithology, the plan usually is to run five casing strings with a contingency to run an additional casing string, if needed (Fig. 5). The challenge is that there is a considerable amount of uncertainty in pore-pressure prediction when drilling these wells because several sand streaks are lodged between the shale bodies and, depending on the fluid content (i.e., salt water), they could either be abnormally pressured or have low fracture gradients that can cause lost circulation. The wells are programmed to take 90 days to drill at an approved cost of approximately $15 million. Should problems be encountered, the cost overruns can be as much as 100% of the approved cost. This paper presents a cementing case history where a special foamed-cement slurry was used to control cost overrun when the well encountered an unexpected difficulty.

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Fig. 1The Nile Delta region.

Fig. 2Lithological column in the Nile Delta.

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Fig. 3Actual PPFG, LOT, MW, and overburden pressure.

Fig. 4Bottomhole-temperature profile.

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Fig. 5Planned well profile.

Case-Study Background The tophole 26-in. section of this well was drilled to 1325 m through the unconsolidated formations of Mit Gamr and Wastani. While running the 20-in. casing, it got stuck at 885 m, leaving 450 m of uncovered formation. The next hole section, 17 in., was typically drilled to 2828 m through Kafr el Sheikh, Abu-Madi and partly though the Sidi Salem formations. The 13 -in. casing was run across the openhole, isolating the two targeted gas zones in Kafr El Shiekh and Abu-Madi formations (Fig. 6).

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Job Challenge The 13 3/8-in. casing now not only had to cover the 17 -in. hole section, but the 450 m of the 26-in. hole that was left uncovered following the 20-in. casing cement job. The cement job for the 13 3/8-in. casing needed to isolate the gas-producing zones in the Abu Madi formation and sustain its full hydrostatic weight across the upper weak intervals of the Mit Ghamr and Wastani formations with an added problem of poor hole-cleaning results when trying to circulate across large, washed-out holes.

Fig. 6Well profile.

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Cement-Slurry Design Based on the formation characteristics described above, it was necessary for the slurry to have gas-migration control properties, be suitable for production as potential producing zones existed, and be of a density that could be run across weak zones. A 15.8lbm/gal antigas-migration slurry was first considered as a cost-effective option to cement the entire hole section. It was realized that the slurry weight would not be helpful in maintaining the fluid gradient in the well, but it was necessary for production-casing design. However, simple job-volume calculations assuming 30% excess for hole washout showed that 1,533 bbl (or 7,488 sacks) of antigas-migration, 15.8-lbm/gal tail slurry, would be required with a mix-water requirement of 890 bbl. Logistically, this meant 10 cement silos for holding bulk cement, four tanks for mix water, and a job time of 10 hr pumped at a rate of 4 to 6 bbl/min. The other option proposed was using lead and tail slurries with a 12.5-lbm/gal lightweight lead-production slurry and a 15.8 lbm/gal tail-slurry. The options for lightweight, production zone lead slurries are generally limited to special lightweight formulations using ceramic beads or foam; the common lightweight filler materials, such as bentonite or silicate, would not meet the requirement. A cost and logistics comparison between the three choices is presented in Table 1. It was obvious from the analysis that the foamed slurry was the best choice.
Table 1Comparing Foamed Versus Conventional Lead Slurry Options Comparison Lead Slurry Density, lbm/gal Base slurry volume, bbl Sacks of cement required, sacks Number of cement silos required, silos Mixing water volume required, bbl Mixing tanks required, tanks Dead volume, bbl Time for premixing cement chemicals, hr Total pumping time, hr Cost Comparison Cost per bbl reduction Foamed vs. Conventional, % Foamed vs. Conventional lead slurry cost reduction, % Cost per bbl reduction Foamed vs. Special Lightweight, % Foamed vs. Special Lightweight lead slurry cost reduction, % 35 62 40 65 Foamed Slurry 12.5 895 4,366 6 519 2 zero zero 7 Conventional 15.8 1,533 7,488 10 892 4 40 4 10 Special Lightweight 12.5 1,533 3,590 5 855 4 40 10 10

Fig. 7Fluid position.

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Foamed-Cement System Advantages The foamed cement system offered a number of unique characteristics and advantages over the conventional and the alternative slurries in this particular case. High Viscosity and Improved Hole Cleaning A foamed fluid typically has significantly higher viscosity than an unfoamed-based fluid. Because of the highly energized and viscous nature of foamed-cement fluids, better mud displacement can be achieved with foamed cement than with conventional cement systems. Better mud displacement means effective mud removal from the wellbore and replacement by competent slurry leading to proper protection of the casing and sealing of the annulus, thus helping eliminate costly squeeze-cementing operations and other repair work. Elasticity Set foamed cement has been found to be significantly more elastic than conventional cement systems. This elasticity feature of cement slurry helps the cement sheath in holding up to cyclic pressure or temperature loads that can be applied in an HP/HT well during operations, such as completing, pressure testing, injecting, stimulating, and producing. As an example, a foamed cement may have a Youngs Modulus (Ym) of 900 ksi and Poissons ratio of 0.15, while a conventional slurry may have 1,740 ksi Ym and 0.11 Poissons ratio. Gas-Migration Control The gas phase of the foamed cement causes the unset slurry to have significantly more compressibility than conventional cement slurries. By nature, foamed fluids have a degree of built-in fluid-loss control. Both of these properties help prevent gas and/or fluid migration into a cemented annulus. Gas migration through unset cement occurs when overbalance pressure is lost to the gasbearing zone. Loss in pressure overbalance can be caused by the combined effect of filtrate fluid loss (i.e., change in fluid volume), gel-strength development, and the shrinkage of the cement slurry as it sets. It has been found that during the slurrys transition time, the gel strength of the cement slurry increases while it is going through the hydration process. The cement column starts to support itself and does not transfer a major part of the hydrostatic pressure to the flow zone. Also, the cement slurry loses filtrate while it is setting, causing a reduction in volume; hence, another pressure-drop mechanism in the cement column occurs. Thus, as the hydrostatic pressure drops below the formation pressure, the fluid influxes from the errant zone, possibly causing a flow channel in the cement column. Conventional, water-extended cement slurries have long transition times and no fluid-loss control, making them less suitable for flow situations. On the contrary, compressible cement systems, such as foamed cement, are able to compensate for cement-slurry filtrate losses and maintain hydrostatic pressure at all times. This is possible because the built-in gas in the foamed cement can expand and adjust to the changes in pressure and volume of the cement column. The foamed structure also inherently restricts filtrate loss and is a good fluid-loss control agent when compared to neat cement. These benefits of foamed cement have been verified with large-scale tests where downhole pressure gauges were used to measure the bottomhole pressure during the setting of cement. (Bour et al. 1998; Green et al. 2003; Griffith et al. 2004) These factors are made mostly inconsequential because foamed cement is compressible (i.e., minimal pressure loss with a given amount of fluid loss) and has built-in fluid-loss control; the loss of pressure in the annulus is minimized while the cement is setting up. Minimizing pressure loss helps to prevent annular gas and/or fluid invasion. ECD Control A significant reduction in the ECD while cementing with a 12.5-lbm/gal foamed slurry compared to the conventional, the ECD decreased from 14 lbm/gal to 12.8 lbm/gal. It resulted in controlling losses during the job and ended up with zero losses. Final differential pressure was as designed, which proved that cement was brought to its desired depth. Reduced Environmental Impact Less cement and potentially fewer chemicals are needed to obtain an equivalent volume of cement slurry for a given job compared to conventional lightweight cement systems. Reduction in these materials means less impact on the environment in manufacture, transportation, and utilization during the cementing operation. Reduced Footprint Less cement compared to conventional cement systems meant reduction in cement silos, mixing-water tanks, and cement additives.

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Reduced-Cost Impact Less cement and fewer chemicals not only reduced the footprint and the logistics involved, but reduced cost by 35%. Foamed-Cement Job Setup The cement equipment required for mixing and pumping the base slurry (i.e., pumping and mixing unit, bulk trailer, and compressor) is identical to conventional cement jobs, but for foamed cementing, additional equipment was required, namely: Nitrogen high-pressure pumping unit and vaporizer Foam-generator, a high-pressure mixing chamber that combines gaseous nitrogen and cement slurry into foamed cement Foaming surfactant-injection skid that mixes foaming agent in the base slurry In-line data-acquisition for density, rate, and pressure Job Design For the foamed cement job, proper safety measures and job objectives were reviewed and discussed. The final job design was changed to allow cement coverage only across the 17 -in. hole with a reduction in excess volume of 30% for tail slurry and none for the lead slurry. For simplicity and ease of operation, the foamed-cement job was calculated and designed based on constant nitrogen-feed rate, constant cement-slurry base density, and a constant pump rate for the cement and the foaming agent (see Fig. 7 for a fluid position plot and Fig. 8 for a typical density gradient plot on Well M2). The annular (17 1/2-in. hole 13 3/8-in. casing) foamed-cement column was therefore of variable density (see Table 2) and quality, but the overall ECD was tailored to lie between the flow and fracture gradient (FGs) of the 17 1/2-in. openhole section (Figs. 9). A comprehensive interactive system that includes both static and dynamic modeling for foamed-cementing jobs was used to model optimum pump rates for maximum mud displacement, predict circulating pressures ECDs at any time during the job and at any depth in the well, to help ensure adequate safety and protect the formation, incorporate electronically imported caliperlog data into the design, and design centralizer placement with any combination of holes, casing, and centralizers. The fluidspumping schedule (Tables 3 and 4) was derived from this software. It is important to realize that foamed cement presents unique characteristics, even in a variable density form. The mechanical and physical properties of foamed cement vary with density, but chemical properties (e.g., thickening time and durability) are unaffected and remain the same as the base slurry. Therefore, the base-slurry composition is optimized, depending on the properties desired for the final foamed cement, regardless of the density aspect. The reason is simply that the gas added to reduce the density of the system is inert and does not affect the slurrys chemical properties.

Fig. 8Density gradient.

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Table 2Foamed-Cement Slurry Data No. 3-1 3-2 3-3 1325.0 1573.6 1848.4 2063.3 Description Foam slurry Foam slurry Foam slurry Density, lbm/gal 12.15 12.57 12.38 12.08 Base Slurry Volume, bbl 94.83 123.44 152.97 Foamed Slurry Volume, bbl 123.80 162.36 202.95 Quality, % 25.46 22.84 24.57 27.05 Bulk Cement , sk 463 603 747 Water Req., gal/sk 4.960 4.960 4.960 11.23 11.41 11.55 11.64 Yield, ft/sk 1.1500 1.1500 1.1500

Measured Depth, m

Hydrostatic Gradient, lbm/gal

Fig. 9Downhole pressure profile.

Table 3Pumping Schedule No. 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 4-1 4-2 4-3 5 6-1 6-2 6-3 Description Drilling mud TS 11.5 lbm/gal Foam slurry Foam slurry Foam slurry Tail slurry Tail slurry Shutdown Top plug Fresh water Drilling mud Drilling mud Drilling mud Total Density, lbm/gal 11.00 11.50 15.80 15.80 15.80 15.80 15.80 8.33 11.00 11.00 11.00 Rate, bbl/min 12.00 5.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 10.00 12.00 5.00 2.00 Volume, bbl 0.00 100.00 94.83 123.44 152.97 158.30 11.66 10.00 1100.99 220.00 32.35 2004.56 Duration, min. 0.00 20.00 23.71 30.86 38.24 31.66 2.33 5.00 1.00 91.75 44.00 16.18 304.73

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Table 4Foam Pumping Schedule for Liquid and Gas Cem. Mix Water Volume, bbl 54.68 71.17 88.20 Foaming Agents Cum. Job Volume, gal 45.9 105.7 179.8 Cum. Job Gas Vol., Mscf 27.1 71.1 138.3

Stage 3-1 3-2 3-3 Stage 3-1 3-2 3-3

Start Time, min 20.00 43.71 74.57

Pump Rate, bbl/min 4.00 4.00 4.00

Base Slurry Volume, bbl 94.83 123.44 152.97

Foam Agents Rate, gal/min 1.9 1.9 1.9

Foam Agents Volume, gal 45.9 59.8 74.1

Start Time, min 20.00 43.71 74.57

Pump Rate, bbl/min 4.00 4.00 4.00

Starting Gas Conc., scf/bbl 286.062 356.365 439.309

Starting Gas Rate, scf/min 1144 1425 1757

Fig. 10Equipment layout.

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Fig. 11Actual job chart.

Job Execution The following is a list of details regarding the job execution. See Fig. 10 for the equipment layout and Fig. 11 for the actual job chart. A special spacer that provided stable rheology under varying temperature and shear rates was used to help ensure high job performance. It was essential that the design phase include a spacer system that could enable proper mud removal and water-wetting of the casing and formation and sufficient volume of the spacer was pumped which has special benefits. The spacer was followed by 15.8-lbm/gal base slurry mixed on-the-fly foamed to 12 to 12.5 lbm/gal with an expansion factor of 1.32. The nitrogen rate (Scf/M) was designed in three stages to maintain the slurry density within the 0.5-lbm/gal margin in density variation. The foamer rate was adjusted automatically to work in conjunction with the cement-slurry rate to help ensure accurate concentration of the foamer, which is obvious by following up the foamer rate and the slurry rate curves (Fig . 8). The rate of the nitrogen was pumped precisely as designed; the nitrogen-rate curve was exactly drawn on the nitrogenpressure curve because they were following the same trend. The wellhead pressure curve followed the same trend of the design as well as the final displacement pressure, which indicated proper evaluation of the hole excess and that the cement was is in place at 1325 m TOC. Conclusions Cementing the well in a cost effective manner and at the same time providing a cement sheath that can help ensure long term zonal isolation during the life of the well are the major concerns for drilling and completing the well. Foam cement is the solution often chosen for various reasons including ultimate characteristics of elasticity, compressibility, fluid loss control and gas migration control; however, this case study demonstrates the value of foam cement as an economical solution for achieving job objectives where the total cost of the lead slurry was reduced by 62%. Foam cement was the choice in this case study because of its ability to withstand the stresses from well operations such as completing, pressure testing, injecting, stimulating, and producing, from which the cement sheath could loose its ability to provide zonal isolation.

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Acknowledgement The authors thank the following groups and individuals for their contributions to this paper Centurion / Dana Gas and Halliburton management Centurion / Dana Gas and Halliburton Technical and Operational team References
Bour, D., Mohan, R., and Schofield, B. 1998. Foam Cement Technology Solves Lost Circulation Problem. Paper presented at the Twelfth Biennial Business and Technology Conference and Exhibition, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, 1113 March. Green, K., Johnson, P. and Hobberstad, R. 2003. Foam Cementing on the Eldfisk Field. Paper 79912-MS presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1921 February. DOI: 10.2118/79912-MS. Griffith, J., Lende, G., and Ravi, K., et al. 2004. Foam Cement Engineering and Implementation for Cement Sheath Integrity at High Temperature and High Pressure. Paper 87194-MS presented at the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Dallas, Texas, 24 March. DOI: 10.2118/87194-MS.