Successful cementing of shallow steamflood wells in California

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · SPE Drilling Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/21777-PA· OSTI ID:7007693

Goodwin, K J; Calvert, D G ^[1]; Root, R L; Henderson, V S ^[2]

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1. Mobil Exploration and Producing Services, Inc., Dallas, TX (United States)
2. Dowell Schlumberger Inc., Tulsa, OK (US)

Successful cementing of shallow casing strings (150 to 400 ft) for steamflood operations in Kern County, CA, has been difficult to achieve. Lost-circulation problems accompanied by cement fallback are common. Ultrasonic cement evaluation logs commonly show the cement sheath to be severely cut with gas (air) and show numerous cases of large gaps in the cement column. Extensive remedial work typically is required for effective completions. Numerous cement formulations, including foamed cement, have been pumped to solve these problems, without apparent or consistent success. This paper reports that a system now has been developed that provides operationally precise low-rate nitrogen metering from commercially available nitrogen cylinders to overcome previous metering problems. Several yard tests were conducted, and 26 wells were cemented with foamed cement with a low-rate nitrogen metering system. Surface-stable foamed-cement systems have been created with nitrogen rates as low as 6.4 scf/bbl and densities as low as 6.5 lbm/gal. Results illustrate that, with proper metering equipment, typical field crews can perform foamed-cementing treatment with minimum equipment. Post-treatment evaluations demonstrate that properly designed and executed foamed-cement treatments virtually have eliminated the lost-circulation problems and gaps in the cement sheath.

• OSTI ID: 7007693
• Journal Information: SPE Drilling Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: SPE Drilling Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States) Vol. 7:3; ISSN 0885-9744; ISSN SDENE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
023000 -- Petroleum-- Properties & Composition
ACOUSTIC TESTING
BUILDING MATERIALS
CEMENTING
CEMENTS
COLLOIDS
DENSITY
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EVALUATION
FLUID FLOW
FLUID INJECTION
FOAMS
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
METERING
NITROGEN
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
NONMETALS
OIL WELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PRESSURE DROP
STEAM INJECTION
STIMULATION
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TESTING
ULTRASONIC TESTING
WELL CASINGS
WELL COMPLETION
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS