Abstract
Many of the more recent wells in the Ekofisk Field in the Norwegian North Sea have been completed as monobores with lengthy horizontal or high angle sections and several distinct perforation clusters – as many as 20 separate zones can occur. The early methods of stimulating these chalk reservoirs involved high volume acid jobs, featuring bull heading, and the use of frac balls to divert flow to the less permeable sections. However after collection and evaluation of much data it became clear that many of the perforated intervals were unproductive. In order to address this situation it was decided to change to a selective stimulation method using newly designed coiled tubing (CT) deployed straddle pack-off tools.
Subsequent evaluation of this method indicated that it was a more productive approach; however the reliability of the method was less than desirable due to equipment and methodology failures. This realization lead to a detailed study of these CT operations carried out over a period of 9 months involving evaluation of the results of stimulating 9 separate wells with perforation sets ranging from 7 to 20. The study involved review of equipment design and function, material choice and methodology such as pumping techniques, use of glycol trains, accuracy of depth measurements, reliability of pressure measurement equipment etc. with the objective of optimizing them for future operations.
In this paper the authors will briefly review the history and results of the initial stimulation of these wells and the decision to go to straddle pack-off methods. They will then describe in detail the results of the study to evaluate and improve equipment and techniques, the lessons learned and the changes that resulted, leading to more reliable and effective stimulation techniques that are now being used.
