Abstract
It is considered essential to perform cleanout trips before setting or retrieving specific tools inside casing, such as whipstocks and completion packers. Multiple cleanout trips may be required, e.g., when milling a window in a multilateral well, before setting a whipstock, before retrieving a whipstock, etc. This paper explains how the cleanout trips can be combined with setting and retrieving trips to save time and improve efficiency.
Risk and engineering analysis were performed; the need of new and existing technologies such as high- performance string magnets, casing scrapers and a specialized metal catcher was identified. The data from multiple wells is presented to illustrate the reliability of the optimized practices.
This innovative approach has been implemented in over 50 wells, saving a minimum of two days per lateral in each multilateral well, and up to five days per well based on the number of whipstocks and the completion type; moreover, zero failures were recorded to date. The paper also outlines how the process was further improved by adding larger diameter magnets and scrapers above the liner top, to enhance metal recovery, and reach the theoretical metal weight value expected. This new procedure, also contributed to minimize the completion cleanout trips required for smart completion, from 5 runs to 3 runs per well as average. Finally, the paper discusses the HSE incidents exposure reduction due to the reductions of the number of trips, and highlights future improvement opportunities.
