Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU

Introduction
The problem of sustained casing pressure (SCP) is straightforward. If the cement seal of a well fails, it
may allow gas to bubble up through the fluid-filled annularspace between well casings and collect in
the casing headthat seals the top of the well. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else about the
problem is a matter of dispute or conjecture. For instance, although the SCP problem is as old as the
oil industry, it has only been dealt with case-by-case rather than systematically. As a result there is no
real consensus as to the gravity of the problem, what the scientific basis of regulating it should be, or
how operators should go about diagnosing and solving it.
Ahead of his keynote presentation at this Deepwater & Mature Well Abandonment Summit 2014, Dr
Andrew Wojtanowicz of Louisiana State University shared his insight with Upstream Intelligence on
the nature of the challenge and the efforts being made to determine a final solution.

Andrew K. Wojtanowicz, Texaco Environmental Chair and Professor

in the Craft and Hawkins Petroleum Engineering Department at the
Louisiana State University, has held faculty positions at two other
universities and also worked for industry as a drilling engineer,
drilling supervisor, and drilling fluids technologist in Europe and
Africa.
As a Conoco Environmental Research Fellow, he applied dewatering
technology for closed-loop drilling systems. Later, he received
Special Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation for water
coning control with Downhole Water Sink (DWS) and has directed a
Joint Industry Program (JIP) on DWS, since 1998.
Wojtanowicz studies have been reported in 206 publications and
eight books.

Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures (SCP)

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU

One of the first studies of the scale and seriousness of SCP was conducted at Louisiana State
University (LSU) and submitted to the US Mineral Management Service (MMS) in two reports: A
Review of Sustained casing Pressure Occurring on the OCS, by A.T. Bourgoyne, Jr., S.L. Scott, and W.
Manowski, 2000, and Diagnosis and Remediation of SCP in Wells by A.K. Wojtanowicz, S.
Nishikawa, and X. Rong, 2001. This suggested that the threat posed by SCP in the Gulf of Mexico was
widespread, with 8,122 wells exhibiting symptoms of it. Although about 90% of these wells had
casing that was able to contain the pressure, the remainder posed a significant pollution risk through
leaking hydrocarbons into the sea or into aquifers beneath it. As a result, regulators such as the MMS
required the elimination of SCP above the low level of 100psi, and Norways Norsok Standard D-010
regulations require SCP to be continuously monitored.

These requirements impose particularly onerous obligations on a company that wants to

abandon a well with a failed cement barrier: the fact that the pressure is sustained means that it
either has to be regularly bled until there is no more gas a task that might take hundreds of years
and is not allowed by the regulations or some way is found of permanently stopping the leak.
However, there has been little agreement on the best way to prevent gas from leaking: most
methods are bottom-up solutions involving some kind of well workover, which requires moving in
a drilling or workover rig to get deep into the well and intercept the gas migration flowpath - a
remarkable feat of engineering. The only other alternative is to apply an annular intervention, that
is to do something with the fluid in the space between the casing pipes to create a barrier to the gas
flow. The option of this top- down solution is attractive because it is much less expensive than setting
up a drilling rig, and potentially much easier to do, as the physical equipment is already in place. The
only problem is that, so far, nothing that has been tried has really worked.

Recently, research into finding new method for SCP has become part of the SCP Program at LSU
funded by industry and directed by Professor Wojtanowicz Over the past year, he has run a project
that has come up with a method of tackling the problem that relies on gravity displacement.

Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures (SCP)

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU

The idea arose when he examined some field data and research that was done in the 1990s on
the effect of pumping a dense liquid into the annuli between well casings. The idea was that this kill
fluid would be heavy enough to form a hydrostatic barrier that could balance the pressure created
by the gas, and thereby eliminate the SCP. Although the idea worked on paper, it turned out not to
work in practice.

When Wojtanowiczs team looked at what had been done, they realised that the idea was
indeed sound and the gravity displacement technique could work assuming proper selection of the
kill fluid and the injection procedure. The key was to find a kill fluid heavy enough and as
hydrophobic as possible for the water-based fluid already present in the annuli. That meant the two
liquids had to be immiscible, to prevent them dissolving chemically, and they have to displace each
other with as little turbulence as possible, to prevent them emulsifying physically. As Wojtanowicz
puts it: We hypothesized that the heavy fluid being pumped should slip down the annulus to the
cement top so it would displace the lighter fluid and build sufficient hydrostatic pressure to stop gas
migration. But the pumping must introduce the fluid in a very gentle and slow way. The aim is to
create a laminar jet a non-turbulent flow in which all the molecules of the kill fluid are moving
with the same velocity; that way one fluid will gradually, possibly over the course of days, displace
the other.

The formulation of the proprietary heavy organic fluid was developed by researchers from the
Albemarle Corporation. Wojtanowicz says: We will do the mathematical modelling later; so far the
work is experimental. We have done a small-scale bench top test, and we also finished this summer a
pilot test in a 20-foot vertical column and then we also did one test in the 2,700-foot deep
experimental well at LSU. Our problem is the scaling what might work at small scale may fail in a
real well annulus as there may be effects that we dont know about.

Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures (SCP)

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU

This is all still research-in-progress but it is very promising. If it works in one well, we cant
see any reason why it wouldnt work in every well, unless the pressure is just too high to be killed by
gravity. If successful, the gravity-displacement annular intervention would present a very efficient
and cheap method of removing SCP. Service companies would offer the solution to every operator
that has this problem.

The team is aiming to complete their research within couple of years, by which time they hope
to find an operator to conduct a field trial in a real well. Once this type of field trial is successful
then there is a natural process of getting everyone interested in
using it. This is not an operation that is going to significantlyinterfere with other well
operations in active wells; it could be done concurrently with production, and in idling wells - just
before well plugging and abandonment (P&A).

SCP removal study is only one aspect of the SCP Program at LSU - a Joined Industry Program (JIP)
consortium open to new industrial members contributors. The SCP program targets several other
aspects of the Sustained Casing Pressure issue by providing petroleum industry with technical and
analytical tools for tacklingthe problem. Wojtanowicz says: The project is not just about gravity
displacement we are also developing diagnostic testing models and procedures, and methods for
assessing environmental risk of SCP. At the moment, there are threshold pressure values above
which an operator must take action, but are they based on any science, or are they just somebodys
arbitrary determination? Zero tolerance is too expensive, but what is the right value?

The LSU research consortium is presently working through a $450,000 funding grant, which will
keep it in business until late 2015, by which time the oil industry should be in a better position to
answer these questions.

Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures (SCP)

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU

Critical challenges such as Sustained Casing Pressures will take centre stage at this years pioneering
2nd Annual Well Integrity & Lifecycle Management Conference 2015, which will take place at in,
Houston TX, June 16-17.

Join 200+ Offshore and Onshore Well Integrity professionals to discuss how a data-driven and
integrated approach to Well Integrity lifecycle governance. Increase production levels, optimize
investment and extend operational lifetime of your wellbore.
Data and Lifecycle Management: Hear about the new data and lifecycle management tools
available, and how you can more effectively manage resources to increase production efficiency
Cementing: Debate cementing best practice and how new technologies to manage the lifecycle
and increase the longevity of your wellbore
Regulation and Legislation: Discuss the impact of the Well Integrity Rule, annulus reporting
regulations and RP100-1; understand how you can guarantee compliance in the new regulatory
landscape
Global Standards: Gain insight into the new global standards and management systems
implemented to safeguard operations and integrate a data-driven approach to Well Integrity
governance
Annulus Pressure Management: Reduce costs, workload and risks to guarantee a better approach
toward the monitoring of annulus pressure
Corrosion Management: Review the technologies and oversight models you can employ to
manage and mitigate the impact of corrosion

Finding a solution to the challenge of Sustained Casing Pressures (SCP)

An interview with Dr Andrew Wojtanowicz, LSU