IPTC 17178

Drill Pipe Riser Intervention System Successful Experience in Offshore

West Africa
Christophe Rohart, Henri de Fonvielle, Laurent Bordet, VAM Drilling ; William Campbell, Nenad Susak, Total
Mitra Marajh, FMC Kongsberg International A.G.

Copyright 2013, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Beijing, China, 26–28 March 2013.

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Abstract

While offshore intervention on subsea equipments is quite common, the increasingly deeper water operations require light
weight intervention systems while meeting safe and stringent operating specification. For these new deep offshore challenges,
the conventional risers are becoming a more costly and less desirable solution.

Starting with a recollection of the main drivers that motivated the development of drill pipe riser intervention systems
(DPRISi), the paper details the technical and economical challenges in West Africa that have led to the design of such a
solution. When non productive time and financial aspects are taken into account, it makes sense to develop a dedicated system
in order to provide fast and reliable intervention.

Depending on the field requirements, two different types of drill pipe riser systems using a proprietary double shoulder
connection were used by operators. A first solution was developed in 1999 featuring a seal ring close to the external shoulder.
Subsequently, a new solution featuring a gas-tight metal to metal seal on the pin nose was developed in order to address
increasingly demanding and challenging operations.

Intensively used in West Africa since 1999, the solution using the seal ring has shown robustness and reliability while being
used for several projects in Angola such as Girassol and Rosa and now GirRI. The paper draws a summary of these operations
and the feedback on the field use and maintenance. Also it emphasises the successful qualification process for the metal to
metal seal solution that has been used in offshore Nigeria since 2010 for the USAN project.
2 IPTC 17178

1. The history of Drill Pipe Riser Intervention System

Well completion and intervention operations in offshore environments are becoming increasingly complex due to increasing
water depths and working pressure requirements. These environmental factors are having a great impact on tube body
minimum tensile load capacity and gastight connection requirements. As early as 1996, Petrobras S.A. accelerated the
development of a new type of completion and intervention system when it discovered the Roncador field in 1,800 m of water.
At the time, Petrobras was using a standard dual vertical-bore riser which:
 Was too heavy for use in this ultra-deepwater field;
 Exhibited extended tripping times;
 Had poor gas-sealing capability.

A dedicated project team was created to develop the Drill Pipe Riser Intervention System (DPRIS). The first system delivery
was achieved in 1999. Petrobras had already identified its need for a mobile early production riser for use with a floating
production unit performing extended flow testing of production wells. The new DPRIS could be used:
 For Subsea Tubing Hanger and Production Tree installations;
 As an Early Production Riser (EPR).

DPRIS use has greatly expanded from the initial two Petrobras systems to more than fifty systems presently operating in
deepwater offshore regions. At the same time the first use of the system in West Africa started in 1999 on the Girassol project.

More recently in 2006, the development of new high-pressure gas fields in the North-Eastern area of Brazil (Espirito Santo
basin) led to the need to upgrade the initial DPRIS in order to cope with more stringent technical drivers: gas instead of oil
production, higher service pressures and future exposure to potential sulphide stress cracking related to the presence of H2S.

This resulted in the development of the 2nd generation drill pipe riser featuring new connection designs, H2S resistant material,
evaluation, testing and performances.

Today, drill pipe risers:

 Serve as running tubing hanger in the marine riser;
 Serve as running string for the installation and retrieval of subsea tree, LRPii, EDPiii in open water;
 Provide an improved flow-path for annulus access of circulation such as well clean-up;
 Are fully NACEiv compliant for the most extreme sour service environments;
 Provide conduit to the surface vessel for well production testing and wireline or coiled tubing services;
 Can be run in open sea mode and inside drilling riser and BOPv systems.

a. Initial technical challenges

When the development of the DPRIS has started back in 90s, seven main drivers were identified:
 Resistance to load requirements, mainly tension and bending associated with internal and external pressure;
 Resistance to fatigue: service life greater than 20 years with a design safety factor of 10 meaning 200 years of
theoretical service life. Traditionally all risers are extensively tested in fatigue as this is key to their performance. It is
to be noted that drill pipe, when used in its primary function –drilling – has also to comply with highly severe rotary
bending fatigue. This makes it a very appropriate candidate for riser applications;
 ID clearance greater than 5” in order to install and perform intervention on 5” subsea horizontal trees;
 Lower weight than dual bore risers. This was a significant requirement since some of drilling rigs motion
compensators had a nominal capacity of 600,000 lbs. Dual bore risers exceeded this constraint while drill pipe risers
total weight don’t even reached 300,000 lbs total weight;
 Seal ability up to 5,000 psi working pressure for injection of fluids or test production of the wells;
 Fast tripping time, motivated by the economic equation of intervention operations as vessels used for this type of
operations can have spread rates going up to 750,000+ $/day if the operator uses a deepwater drilling unit. Therefore
time saving when possible is more than welcome;
 Multiple make and break capability to ensure proper durability of the product and long service life. Indeed, high
pressure sealing often requires elevated contact pressures between the sealing parts of an assembly. This can lead to
galling which jeopardizes the durability of the product.

However, a few limitations on the use of the system were acknowledged at that time. These included:
 Restricted ID and flow-path for annulus access or circulation compared with dual-bore solutions;
 Risks of corrosion resistance as DPRIS systems are usually not fully NACE compliant;
 The annulus bore is not accessible for wireline operations.
IPTC 17178 3

These challenges were addressed with the development of a double shoulder tool joint with a Teflon® seal ring ideal for high
pressure work-over applications. The addition of an internal shoulder allows more torque to be applied to the connection but
also and above all to have a flush ID, ideal when running equipment inside the riser.

b. Additional technical challenges for current operations

Today, the interventions are done in more severe environments: deeper water depths, corrosive environments, higher pressure
controls. Some of the end users’ main drivers for the use of DPRIS are:
 Safety and reliability of operations;
 Better control of the deployment process;
 Large production bore, to be at least compliant with the ISO13628-7vi drift class 4A (5.090” OD);
 Ability to run an umbilical along with the tree;
 Extended depth capability for deepwater operations;
 Higher pressure rates, as a minimum 10ksi gas working pressure;
 Low susceptibility to fragilization due to environmental conditions. For the most challenging applications, materials
shall be qualified to IRP1.8vii;
 ISO13628-7 qualification, which is believed to be a good certification level for such demanding and challenging
operations.

These new requirements have led to the development of the 2nd generation riser which incorporates a double shoulder tool joint
with a metal to metal seal for high pressure work-over applications. Again the addition of an internal shoulder allows for more
torque to be applied to the connection.

2. Drill pipe riser solutions

a. 1st generation DPRIS

With standard drill pipe, the sealing performance of the shoulder is not sufficient to ensure gas-tightness to the high pressures
encountered in many wells. Therefore, a groove, similar to the stress relief contour specified for drill collar connections
according to API Spec 7 has been designed into the pin to accommodate a resilient sealing
ring. This sealing ring is made from Teflon® and shrunk on using a special procedure. To
obtain an internal flush connection which is required to ensure turbulence-free flow, the
pin has a cylindrical extension where the thread runs out, and an internal back-up shoulder
machined inside the coupling. The shape of the Teflon® ring as well as the box counter
bore have been correspondingly optimized during an extensive series of test.

The 1st generation drill pipe riser which succeeded in meeting all requirements features:
 A common steel drill pipe construction with all its typical handling features
 Large OD and tool joints: 6-5/8" nominal OD x 0,500" body wall welded on 8"
OD x 5,079" ID tool joints
 A special thread design including an API thread form with a dual shoulder along
with a Teflon gas-tight seal for service pressure up to 5,000 psi (test pressure
above 7,500 psi)
 API steel grades for both pipe (X95) and tool-joint (120 Ksi)
Figure 1 DPRIS connector
b. 2nd generation high pressure DPRIS ®
with Teflon ring

If the seal for the 1st generation DPRIS is managed close to the external shoulder with a Teflon ring, the metal-to-metal seal of
the 2nd generation DPRIS is located close to the internal shoulder. This location allows for reducing the contact pressures on
the sealing surface to avoid early galling and gives better stability to the seal contact. It also avoids gas pressure migration
from the Internal Diameter (ID). To achieve the stable behaviour of the metal to metal seal for the range of possible
interferences due to production tolerances, the design has incorporated a double radii, or wave effect, in the 1/4" taper seal
area. With two contact surfaces, the solution offers a better contact pressure distribution and reduces the risk of galling without
reducing the performance of the seal. In addition, having the seal close to the internal shoulder benefits the connection design
by providing consistent and stable contact pressure under combined loads.

Another improvement on the 2nd generation is a new thread profile that replaces the API thread form by a triangular thread
with a reduced angle on the loading flank. This leads to less sensitivity of the connection to high axial tension and provides
better control of the sealing zone. The root of the radius was almost doubled to provide better fatigue resistance and the
number of threads per inch was reduced to get a quicker make-up thus reducing non-productive time on the rig floor.
4 IPTC 17178

Other changes include a larger pitch diameter to get a better balance between Pin & Box
critical cross sections and a stress relief groove was added on the box to avoid dope
pressure entrapment for better fatigue behaviour.

The first high-pressure DPRIS was developed in 6-5/8" 0.5" wt and X-95 grade. During the
USAN project, it was suggested the configuration be changed in order to have a thick wall
for corrosion allowance and higher grade for tensile strength. This has led to a new
configuration:
 Strengthen pipe body 6-5/8" 0.625" wt and G-105 grade;
 Connection accepting the 5.09” drift as specified by the drift class 4A in
ISO13628-7;
 A special thread design including a proprietary thread profile with a dual shoulder
along with a metal to metal seal located on the pin nose for service pressure up to
10,000 psi (test pressure above 15,000 psi);

The qualification program carried out during the USAN project covered all requirements
for full compliance to ISO-13628-7. Part of the qualification program was the resonant
fatigue test with mean tension applied by 5,000 psi internal water pressure and the Figure 2 DPRIS connector with
temperature cycles tests between 121 °C and -18 °C. M/M seal

Fatigue tests with mean tension

All samples for USAN DPRIS qualification were extracted from

actual production. Thus the connection had standard machining
tolerances and the material, the surface treatment, and the welding
process were fully representative of the delivered drill pipe risers.

Hydraulic proof test was performed on each sample before fatigue

Figure 3 250psi leak detection defined as fatigue failure
testing to confirm assembly integrity. As recommended by the ISO
standard a pressure of 7,500 psi representing 1.5 times working pressure is applied during 3 min then 15 min. No leak was
observed.

A quantity of 3 DPRIS has been submitted to resonant fatigue at 3 different stress levels and with 5,000 psi internal water
pressure. The test was continued until a pressure drop of 250 psi was detected.

All fatigue failures were detected due to leaks caused by cracks as shown on Figure 4.

All failures occurred in the pipe upset

zone and after a longer cyclic time than
the minimum specified. The upset zone
is known as a weak part of drill pipe in
terms of fatigue and is the location
where maximum bending stress is
measured during a resonant fatigue test.
These results were therefore conclusive.

The following graph shows the fatigue

Figure 4 S/N fatigue test results
results plotted on an S/N curve. The blue
squares are the results obtained for
DPRIS connections machined on 110 ksi
drill collars and tested in a rotary fatigue
frame whereas the green dots are the
results obtained on USAN drill pipe riser
configuration tested in a resonant frame
and using a 5,000 psi internal water
pressure.
IPTC 17178 5

Temperature cycling with pressure cycling test

ISO 13628-7:2005 refers to ISO 10423:2003viii F.1.11 for the definition of the test protocol to be conducted for pressure and
temperature cycles. The USAN project needed a qualification of the connection to temperature class U (i.e. between +121°C
and -18°C). It was identified that in some work over operations with nitrogen injection by coil tubing inside the riser string,
there may be the opportunity for low temperatures at the connection level. A DPRIS from production with standard
dimensions, standard surface finish and friction welded using standard processes was prepared with proprietary end fixings.

This connection was first subjected to a series of 100 make & breaks (M&B). The
connection was inspected and fresh dope re-applied every 2 M&B. No galling
was observed during or after the 100 M&B. A leak path was cut on the external
and internal torque shoulders in a manner so as to ensure that the metal to metal
gas tight seal was the only effective seal during the test. Then the hydraulic proof
test was conducted in the same manner as for other fatigue samples. An assembly
of cooling copper coil, temperature insulation covers, and heating coil was fitted
around the sample before placing it in the 1,350 ton static test frame.

Internal gas pressure was applied using a mixture of 90% Nitrogen and 10%
Helium. The leak detection was achieved via a helium spectrometer calibrated to Figure 5 Sample preparation for temperature
identify a leak of 10-4 N.cm3/s (equivalent to 0.36 N. cm3/hour or 0.9 cm3/15min). cycling test
To validate the functionality of the detector during the test a measure of the quantity of helium in the air was performed at the
beginning and at the end of the test. The level measured needed to fall between 3.10-6 and 7.10-6 N.cm3/s.

During the full test the temperature did not exceed limits by more than 11°C, and the pressure remained stable above 5,000 psi
and with variation under 250psi per hour during the 1 hour qualification process as required by the ISO standard. The testing
flow chart is detailed on Figure 6 below.

100 M&B Assembly Hydrotest Sample Preparation Internal Gas Pressure

Max Torque / Nom Dope Min Torque / Nom Dope 3min + 15min @ 7,500 psi Cooling & Heating coils 300 psi / 60min / Room T°
1 2 3 4 5

Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure
5000 psi / 60min / +121°C 0 psi / 5min / Room T° 5000 psi / 60min / -18°C 0 psi / 5min / Room T° 5000 psi / 60min / +121°C
10 9 8 7 6

Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure
5000 psi / 60min / -18°C 0 psi / 5min / Room T° 5000 psi / 60min / +121°C 0 psi / 5min / Room T° 5000 psi / 60min / -18°C
11 12 13 14 15

Final inspection Internal Gas Pressure Internal Gas Pressure

Leak detectior verification 300 psi / 60min / Room T° 5000 psi / 60min / RoomT°
18 17 16

Figure 6 DPRIS Temperature cycling testing flow chart

6 IPTC 17178

3. Successful operations

a. Angola Block 17

The historical development of Angola Block 17 has had a

great impact on the global oil and gas industry, with
fifteen discoveries to date and an extraordinary
production potential. Through its outstanding
management of the Girassol development in 2001, Total
paved the way for the economic production of Angola’s
deepwater resources.

Within Block 17, TOTAL has been using the first

generation Drill Pipe Riser Intervention system on
Girassol, Rosa and Jasmin for subsea trees installation
and well interventions. Figure 7 Angola Block 17 configuration

Girassol

Girassol was the first deposit on Block 17, in offshore Angola, to go into production. Located 200 km northwest of Luanda,
the deposit covers an area 14 km by 10 km.

Girassol has been the first major deepwater project in West Africa and the biggest development employing a Floating
Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and subsea wells anywhere in the world. The water is deep (1,400 meters)
and cold, presenting significant flow assurance problems that had to be overcome with a number of technical innovations that
were “firsts” for the industry.

From the reservoir to the export system, Girassol has presented a series of challenges to the development team that had to be
met and overcome in order to bring the large reserves in the field to the world energy market. The reservoir is of a turbidite
nature with an estimated 1,55 billion
barrels of 32° API crude oil in place.
This innovative landmark project has
been supported by an international
team of contractors and suppliers from
Europe, North America, Africa and
Asia. Some were asked to qualify
existing equipment for the
requirements created by Girassol
deepwater location. Others were asked
to develop new concepts, equipment
and materials that had to meet new,
even more demanding criteria.
Figure 8 Arrangement around an FPSO

The result has been to create a new catalogue of concepts and systems for use by the offshore industry in deepwater
developments around the world.

At a 1,400-meter water depth location, the installation of equipment was always going to be an important element, including
the setting up of equipment on the seabed, where the reliability of the Drill Pipe Riser Intervention Systems was a key
challenge.

Thirty-three wells were drilled: 19 for production, 12 for water injection and two for gas injection. Another seven wells on
Jasmim were subsequently drilled.

TOTAL E&P Angola has been using this solution on Girassol since 1999 as Drill Pipe Riser Intervention Systems. TEPA has
performed, on Girassol, 33 subsea trees installations and numerous well interventions.

Recently, the DPRIS solution has been also used for 4 subsea trees installations on Girassol Resource Initiative (GirRI)
project.
IPTC 17178 7

Rosa

Rosa was discovered in 1998, 135 kilometers off the coast of Angola. While
smaller than the neighbouring Girassol field, it is nonetheless one of the major
reservoirs of Block 17.

The development scheme revolves around a subsea network tying the field’s two
main reservoirs into the Girassol FPSO, moored some fifteen kilometres away. It
consists of 15 producing wells, 11 water injection wells and four, four-slot subsea
manifolds.

A network of 225 kilometres of flow lines and umbilicals is producing Rosa’s

resources at an estimated rate of 145,000 barrels per day plateau. A Bundled Hybrid
Offset Riser (BHOR) tower standing 1,200 meters tall transfers fluids to and from
the Girassol FPSO, where extensive upgrading works were performed to boost
capacity and accommodate the installation, hookup and start-up of seven new
dedicated modules and other equipment to process Rosa’s production.

By finding a viable solution for a project for which stand-alone development was
perhaps not the most economical choice at the time, Total adds a new subsea flower
to Angola’s “bouquet.” At the same time, Rosa rounds out the already rich palette
of technologies, including the selection and use of VAM DPR SR that TOTAL can
adapt to the most extensive and daring developments of the deep offshore.
Figure 9 Subsea installation
The subsea production system of Rosa field comprises 15 producers and 11 water
injectors.

On Rosa field, TOTAL E&P Angola has been using, like on Girassol, the first generation solution as Drill Pipe Riser
Intervention System and has performed 26 subsea trees installations and well interventions.

The reliability of this first generation of DPRIS was confirmed on Rosa field following the success on Girassol.

b. 1st generation DPRIS field experience on block 17 in Angola

Total has been using the first generation of DPRIS for more than 10 years in Angola. The drill pipe riser string has been used
for:
 33 wells for Girassol field (66 runs: 2 per well for subsea tree installation and to run the tubing hanger)
 26 wells for Rosa field (52 runs: 2 per well for subsea tree installation and to run the tubing hanger)
 7 wells for Jasmin (16 runs: 2 per well for subsea tree installation and to run the tubing hanger)
 4 wells on GirRI (old trees of Girassol project)
 +40 well interventions on the different fields, mainly for well clean-up.

The well interventions usually last for five days and consists mainly of well clean-up a that leads to enhanced production
through reducing or eliminating fine solids that are potentially damaging to the formation.

All joints have roughly seen the same loading while the stands are circulating from top to
bottom from one run to another one.

There have been a total of 180 runs ((33+26+7+4) x 2 + 40) in 12 years. Several inspections
have been performed according to DS-1 category 4. The inspection frequency is every 3000
hours in use (open sea + inside the marine riser)

The results of all these inspections during the 12 years have led to the recut of only 25
connections.

TOTAL never experienced a leak during the pressure tests that are performed for all runs. A
pressure of 5000 psi is applied through several cycles.

Figure 10 Teflon ring

8 IPTC 17178

®
Comments from both the subsea company (FMC) and the operator (Total) are that the solution using a Teflon ring shows
clearly a technical advantage and economical advantage due to:
 Easy to make-up, user friendly connection
 Easy to inspect and easy replacement of the Teflon ring that can be done offshore.
 Robust connection, very low repair rate
 No unpleasant surprises, pressure tests for all runs were successful

c. USAN and the 2nd generation DPRIS

The USAN field lies offshore Nigeria in Block OML 138 approximately 100km south of the Nigerian coastline. Water depth
ranges from 660m to 820m. Field owners include EPNL – TOTAL, the operator, and also Chevron, ESSO and EPNL-
NEXEN. Subsea facilities are arranged around a FPSOix
and composed of 23 production wells, 10 gas injection
wells and 9 water injection wells. There is a potential for up
to 32 production wells, bringing total well count to 42
bores. Each of these will be fitted with a subsea tree,
installed at the seabed.

Since July 2010, the 2nd generation high pressure string has
been in use. More than 34 runs have been performed with
this DPRIS, either inside riser or in open hole for the
successful installation and testing and retrieval of Xmas
trees.

Only the first set of tools has been used for these
operations. Of these, there have been no cleaning issues
and no rust debris impacting operations. Generally, the
torque & connection make up and running at the rig
Figure 11 USAN field location
presented no remarkable problem. One joint was
eventually damaged due to over-torque at the rig floor. It was removed, and operations proceeded seamlessly.

At almost each run, pressure tests were performed, at a minimum water pressure level of 5,000 psi. The string presented no
leakage during all of these pressure tests.

Finally, the end user reported no NPTx related to this DPRIS system to date.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the contributing companies (TOTAL and VAM Drilling) for giving permission to present this
work to the drilling industry.

References & Abbreviations

i Drill Pipe Riser Intervention System (DPRIS)

ii Lower Riser Package (LRP)
iii Emergency Disconnection Package (EDP)
iv National Association of Corrosion Engineer (NACE)
v Blowout Preventer (BOP)
vi ISO13628-7:2005 Petroleum and natural gas industries – Design and operation of subsea production systems – Part 7
Completion/workover riser systems
vii Industry Recommended Practices (IRP) – Volume 1 Critical Sour Drilling – Chapter 8 Drill String Design and Metallurgy
viii ISO 10423:2003 Petroleum and natural gas industries – Drilling and production equipment – Wellhead and christmas tree equipment
ix Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
x Non Productive Time (NPT)