Recovering damaged straddle packer

Desafio
Pescaria
Recovering damaged straddle packer - Well Intervention - Welltec
  • Max. temperature 194°F ( 90°C)
  • Max. deviation 75° @ 10.833 ft (3.302m) MDRKB
  • H2S concentration 35 PPM

Background

When a seemingly simple operation turns complicated, a fast and efficient remedy is always preferred. That is exactly what a client was facing when trying to pull straddle packers from a well located off the coast of Norway.

The straddle packers were set across an area of parted tubing but after three months they had begun to leak, and that was just the beginning. Fortunately, Welltec’s capabilities to supply a variety of solutions provided the means to overcome the problems as they arose.

Operation

As part of the original, planned operation, a Well Stroker® was mobilized to replace the straddles. Having successfully recovered the first one, it was discovered that a metal spring was missing from the upper element. Nevertheless, a decision was made to also pull the next straddle as it was assumed the spring would have minor impact on the operation.

This is where it got complicated. The next straddle was extremely difficult to pull as it got stuck several places in the well. It was finally recovered but the Well Stroker had to be used through the downhole safety valve and side pocket mandrel. At surface, it was concluded that the lower section of the straddle was missing the entire rubber element.

In order to quickly amend the situation, a Well Cleaner® Power Suction Tool (PST) was rushed to the rig for recovery of the lost elements at 17.303 ft (5.274m) MD. The PST made several runs and the rubber elements and steel spring from the upper straddle packer were retrieved to surface along with several, unidentified items. Upon investigation, these unidentified items were found to be the “arms” that keep the rubber element of the lower HEX straddle together. The PST also recovered several broken elements from the well, implying that the straddle had gotten damaged and the loose parts had been produced through the higher placed straddles. It was concluded that the HEX straddle had been crushed due to movement of the parted tubing.

With all the elements safely recovered and accounted for at surface the client was assured that the well was clean of debris down to the top straddle.

Achievements

This operation demonstrated the strong pulling power of the Well Stroker by recovering a damaged straddle packer to surface through a restriction. The PST successfully cleaned out the entire well for lost items, delivering vital information for the operator in order to plan the next step of the workover and return the well to production.

Since the entire operation was performed on e-line it was executed considerably faster than alternative methods and with a much smaller footprint.