SPE 163890

Electric-Line Pipe-Cutting Operation Optimizes Completion Removal,

Offshore Russia
Howard Otten and Bill Connon, Sakhalin Energy; Alex McKay, Kirill Kirsanov and Moray McGillivray, Welltec

Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well Intervention Conference & Exhibition held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2627 March 2013.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
In 2012, in its first field trial, an electric-line-conveyed mechanical cutting tool was used to cut completion tubing in a well
off the east coast of Russia. This e-line cutting tool required no explosives, no chemicals, and no subsequent run to dress the
top of the cut, as is typically the case with conventional pipe-cutting methods. With these characteristics, the operator did not
have to address any of the operational and administrative concerns or costs associated with conventional explosive methods
such as: extra procedures, time for safe handling, limited vessel traffic, added security, nor additional operational rig time to
dress off the flaired cut end before removal.
On a previous workover, the operator had experienced problems pulling a packer, debris was suspected in the annulus
resulting from an explosive cut then subsequent run to dress off the flaired end. Therefore, they were looking for a different
method for tubing cutting operations, one with reduced risk, reduced debris, and fewer post-cutting tasks prior to removing
the tubing and completion.
In the first trial, the tool was used to successfully cut 4-1/2-inch, 12.6-lb/ft tubing in a 57 deviated well, at a depth of
more than 2,133.6 m. Total operating time was six hours and actual cutting time approximately 80 minutes. The e-line cutting
tool cut the tubing cleanly without flairing or creating substantial debris, leaving a smooth, beveled interior which can be
fished without dressing off the cut using a conventional overshot.
Introduction
This paper describes a pilot project using a new e-line cutting tool to cut production tubing so that the tubing and downhole
completion can be removed for workover and re-completion. Topics discussed include:
Overview of the well problems and operational challenges.
The proposed solution, a pilot project using the e-line cutting tool.
Pilot planning, operational details, and results.
Conclusions of the successful pilot project.
Well and Operational Challenges.
During workovers on several wells on the east coast of Russia, an operator discovered that heavy duty shear pins had been
installed in the packers instead of the shear pins specified. To shear the heavy duty shear pins and remove the packer for
recompletion was beyond the tensile rating of the tubing. The operator then planned to cut the tubing above the packer and
fish the packer with drill pipe.
In a previous well where an explosive cutter was used this resulted in a flaired cut and deposited debris in the annulus. To
clean off the cut an additional drill pipe run was performed before a running in with a conventional overshot.
Additionally, the explosive cutter increases operational complexity and cost. Special operational considerations when
using explosive cutters include:
Special permitting for moving and storing explosives on site and offshore.
Increased risk to asset and personal with the presence of explosives.
Additional security is often required.
Other operations must change or stop completely, for example, halting of other vessel traffic to and from a rig when
explosives are in use.

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The operator wanted to find alternative cutting technology, ideally one that worked more efficiently minimizing debris
and delivering clean cuts that could eliminate the extra rig time required to clean up the top of fish before the tubing could be
safely removed from the well. Also, a new technology with simplified logistics and operations, compared with explosive
tools, would improve operational efficiency of the cutting operation, reduce impact on other rig operations, and reduce costs.
Proposed Solution.
The operator had worked with a service company that had developed a new e-line cutting tool that featured a mechanical,
abrasive cutter. Testing was conducted using Shell qualification criteria in Denmark and Aberdeen. During the tool
development resulted in clean cuts without flaring and minimal, very fine debris which was contained internally. Based on
test results, the service company was confident that the e-line tool could perform a clean cut of the tubing string that would
enable it to be fished from the well without having to dress the cut ends. The operator decided to conduct a pilot project
using the new e-line cutting tool.
Specific pilot objectives included:
1. To perform a successful cut of the well tubing.
2. To assess the quality of the cut by obtaining information from the retrieved tubing and obtaining information on how
successful the subsequent tubing-removal (fishing) operation was, for example, to determine if there were any
problems catching the tubing stub.
3. Obtain actual downhole data from the tool running on wireline - temperature and pressure. Observing current drawn
and other operational parameters.
4. To capture information from wireline tension and pipe string tension to help confirm positive indications of cutting
through vs. predicted time.
5. To capture any lessons learned from the planning and implementation of this new service to aid future operations
involving this technology.
6. To prove compatibility with the wireline company's equipment, including the acquisition of casing collar locator
(CCL) signals from the service company's CCL by the wireline company for correlation.
Pilot Operations
This section describes the planning and execution of the pilot operation.
Well Details.
The well is deviated 57 and has at a depth of more than 2,133.6 m (Fig. 1) and has the following key characteristics:
True vertical depth (TVD): 1,826 m
Temperature: 60C
Pressure: 188 Bar
Fig. 2 shows the schematic of the completion equipment to be removed from the pilot well, which includes 4-1/2-inch,
12.6-lb/ft tubing and a packer.

Fig. 1Trajectory of well where cutting operation was performed.

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Fig. 2Well schematic (with equipment cross section) of the pilot well. In the pilot operation, the e-line cutting tool severed the
tubing string at approximately 2,340 m.

Solution Overview.
E-line Cutting Tool. The new e-line cutting tool enables efficient and safe drill pipe, liner/casing, and tubular recovery
operations without the need for explosives. When the additional complex operations and related costs of using explosives
for example, the additional permitting and security, need to transport and store explosives, increased risk to rig personnel, and
disruption of other rig operationsare all considered, the e-line cutting tool offers a safer, faster, more reliable, and more
cost-effective approach to pipe-, casing-, and tubular-removal operations.
In addition, the e-line cutting tool delivers a well-defined upper surface of the casing/tubing thereby avoiding the need for
another tool run to redress this surface, as is required for explosive cuts. The e-line cutting operation is actually more
grinding than cutting, so it only produces particles smaller than 1 mm. No large debris, shavings, or parts that can interfere
with other interventions or production are left behind.
The e-line cutting tool has been designed to cut pipes that may be under compression while minimizing the risk of getting
stuck, featuring a built-in, passive fail-safe cutting mechanism.
The e-line cutting tool (Fig. 3) has two hydraulic circuits. The first one activates two sets of anchors to hold the tool in
place when the pipe is being cut. When the anchors are set, the second hydraulic circuit actuates the cutting arms that are
rotated using an electric motor coupled to a gear box.
The tool is designed to cut pipes that may be in compression. Therefore, to minimize the risk of getting stuck, the tool
features a built-in, passive fail-safe mechanism; if the tool loses power, the fail-safe mechanism retracts the cutting
mechanism to its transport position so the tool can be brought back to surface.

SPE 163890

Fig. 3The e-line cutting tool features hydraulically activate anchors to hold the tool in place while cutting and a second hydraulic
system to actuate the cutting arm.

Tool String Overview. Fig. 4 shows the complete tool string used in the pilot project, which, in addition to the tool itself
includes fairly standard tool string equipment such as connectors and a casing collar locator (CCL) for determining location
in the wellbore. The tool string also features some of the service company's proprietary equipment, which includes: a swivel,
that rotates freely, even under high down-hole pressure, and is fully oil compensated; A release device (WRD), which enables
the safe and controlled release of a stuck tool string down hole by physically separating (releasing) itself into two sections.
The WRD can be command or time activated.

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Fig. 4Tool string used in the pilot well cutting operation.

Project Planning.
This section discusses several of the key considerations to properly plan this pilot cutting operation. As with all its
operations, the tool service company worked with the operator's personnel and underwent extensive qualification exercise
prior to it use, the wireline contractor, and other necessary personnel to develop detailed operating procedures for the pilot
cutting operation. Because each job is unique, the service company uses custom software to model the environment and
conditions, with those results being used for proper tool design, tool string configuration, and developing custom operating
procedures based on best practices and the unique conditions of the specific project.

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Selecting a Cutting Depth. The service company worked closely with the operator to determine the best depth at which to
cut the tubing for this particular well, which was ultimately determined to be at 2,340 m. Several factors had to be
considered, including a section of tubing that was punched (or punctured) to equalize the pressure above and below the
packer and inside the tubing before making the cut.
The following criteria were used to select the optimum cutting depth:
At least a 4 m stick-up section of tubing had to be left down hole so that drilling could retrieve and, if necessary,
dress the remaining tubing. This 4-meter section must not include a collar, because the slightly larger OD of the
collar could cause issues when trying to latch onto to the string to retrieve it from the hole.
To leave the option of a second cut depth in case the first attempt failed, this depth also had to meet the first criteria
defined in the previous point. This second cut must be below the first cut so as not to weaken the remaining stickup
left for retrieval.
The cut depth had to be below the section of punched tubing at 2,330 m as not to weaken the remaining stick-up
piece for retrieval.
Placement of the e-line cutting tool anchors had to be so as not to position them on or across a coupling/collar that
joins two pipes, but on a single joint of pipe to achieve more stable anchoring.
To reduce the risk of cutting through or damaging casing, the optimum cut location is where the tubing is most
centralized in the wellbore, which is at or as close to the packer as possible.
We considered a cut below a coupling as the joint would be offset thus avoiding casing damage, but decided on
cutting closer to the packer.
Operations personnel needed to use completion diagrams and determine correct location in the string to avoid
cutting other down-hole equipment, such as control lines or centralizers behind tubing.
Considerations for Cutting the Tubing in Compression and Tension. Compression. Testing during the design of the eline cutting tool showed that when tubing is in compression during cutting, the cutting time increases, though cutting quality
is still excellent. However tubing in compression has a couple of disadvantages and risks.
While cutting in compression, you need to consider how far the tubing can move vs. the depth of the wireline
(stretch). In some cases, after the e-line cutting tool's anchors are set, the operation may require slackoff of line
tension. In this particular case, it shouldnt be impossible for the 4-1/2-inch top section of tubing to jump down past
the remaining stub because the inside diameter (ID) of the 9-5/8-inch casing will not allow this to happen. However,
if it was possible (for example, larger diameter casing), there could be a risk of pulling or breaking the weak point
(the device that connects the wireline to the tool) because the cutting tool is anchored to the tubing and would also
move down with the tubing.
The main disadvantage of having the tubing in compression is that any indication of a successful cut would be
minimal. There would be no indication from wireline tension and, if the completion was hanging in the block, there
would also be no indication on the drillers hook load. The only indication would be by estimating the length of time
to that the tool was cutting. Therefore, it may be possible to cut through the tubing and continue cutting with the
potential of damaging the casing or other downhole equipment.
Tension. Cutting with the tubing in slight tension provides the best opportunity to see an indication of when the e-line
cutting tool has completed the cut, thereby reducing the possibility of damaging casing.
However, if the tubing is in excessive tension, the cut is complete and the tubing separates, the upper tubing string will
spring up, which could possibly damage the tool/anchors and if the tool moved etc. it may be possible to pull the cable-head
weak point resulting in the tool string being left down hole and having to be fished, etc. It is also suspected that excessive
tension could affect the quality of the cut.
The completion company provided calculations to help provide an estimate of string tension down hole (Table 1).
Table 1Packer Tension (Weight in 1,000 lb (K))
Friction Factor (FF) =0.2, Weight of Column=77.7 K,
Block Weight=74 K, Specific Gravity (SG) =1.02
Extra load at
packer (K)
0 (free string)
1

Extra Load on
Surface (K)

Hook Load
(K)

Weight Indicator
(K with block 74 K)

Elongation (m)

85.3

159.3

0.22

1.6

86.8

160.8

0.25

7.9

93.2

167.2

0.37

10

16.2

101.4

175.4

0.52

50

85.7

171.0

245.0

1.77

115.2

201.0

286.3

360.3

3.85

128

223.8

309.0

383.0

4.26

140.8

246.5

331.8

405.8

4.67

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On the pilot well, an estimated 30,000 lb of tension was applied to the tubing at the cut depth. During planning, the e-line
tool service company requested this tension to be lowered because of the reasons mentioned above. However, because the
hanger had to be unseated to allow a sufficient flow path past the hanger, the string had to lifted 0.6 m (Elongation), which
means approximately 30,000 lb of tension was applied down hole.
Preventing Casing Damage during Cutting Operations. When performing down-hole cutting operations, personnel need
to establish criteria for determining when a cutting operation has completed its objective and to establish methods to prevent
unintended cuts and damage to casing and other down-hole equipment.
Tubing Centralization. If the cut depth can be positioned at a depth in the well where the tubing is centralized, then the
potential for casing damage can be eliminated, for example, near completion items with large outside diameters (OD), such as
packers where the tubing is centralized.
Centralizing helps prevent damage because the max OD of the cutter can only extend to 5.5 in.; therefore, a standoff
distance of 1/2 in. means it would be impossible for the cutting pads to contact the casing wall.
In the pilot well, the cut depth was positioned 13 m above the packer; it was thought that the tubing would be slightly
stood off the casing because of the proximity to the packer and the deviation of 47 at this depth.
Indicating that a Cut is Complete. If the e-line cutting tool can be powered down as soon as the tubing cut is complete,
then casing damage can be prevented. However, to power down the tool, the tool crew needs an observable indication that the
cut is complete. There are three key indications that the cutting operation is complete: wireline tension, drilling tension, and
tool current.
Wireline Tension. When the tubing is in tension and the tool has cut through the tubing, the tubing will move or spring up
the hole. Because the tool string is anchored to the tubing, it will also move up, creating a drop in wireline tension, which the
crew can observe at surface.
On the pilot well, the team decided to apply an over-pull to the wireline, after the tool string anchors had been set, which
would help indicate when the cut was complete. A 500-pound over-pull at surface (wireline/tool string hanging weight at cut
depth + 500 lb) should be sufficient and below the force of the cutting tool anchors so as not to dislocate the tool with
wireline tension.
Drilling Tension. Hookload tension can also serve as an indicator that the tubing cutting operation has been completed. If
the tubing can be put into tension and held by the drilling block, then hookload tension can be observed by the driller; when
the cut is complete, the weight of the tubing/completion string will drop off and a tension drop can be observed.
This indication may not always be possible depending on the state of the well and the rig-up setup. If the rig has long
enough bailer arms, it may be possible to hang the tubing in the elevators and rig up wireline (and wireline pressure control
equipment (PCE)) between these elevators and the top drive, which is commonly known as a wireline backoff rig up.
On the pilot well, it was not possible to use the driller's tension as an indicator, because it was not possible to rig up the
wireline PCE in between the top drive and the elevators because the bailer arms onboard were not long enough. The team
also decided that full wireline PCE (increasing rig up height required) would be required because of concerns with potential
well control issues and well loss.
Tool Current. During the testing and development of the e-line cutting tool, the development team noticed that when on
the last stages of completing the cut (breaking through), the tool typically stalls; therefore, this stalling can be used as an
indication that the cut is almost complete.
Operation Details.
This section summarizes highlights from the actual cutting operation. Planning activities led the team to predict, that once
the e-line cutting tool was at the proper depth, it would take approximately 90 minutes to cut through the 4--inch tubing.
The procedures developed during planning were used to rig up the tool, perform all equipment checks, and run the tool
into the hole to the cutting depth. A communication check was conducted at 800 m; all equipment was determined to be
operating/communicating correctly and the CCL was set back to feedthrough mode as the tool string was run into the hole.
Pick-up weight checks were performed every 500 m to determine normal cable tension when running down hole, which is
needed to calculate the maximum safe pull that the winchman can apply to pull a stuck tool from the hole without breaking
the cable.
From the CCL, the tool stopped at a correlated depth of 2,354 m, then the tool was raised up to a depth of 2,331.3 (CCL
depth plus the length of the tool (5.73 m)) for an actual cut depth of 2,337 m. The tool was powered up and the hanging
weight of the tool string was noted, which was needed to apply appropriate wireline tension after the tool was anchored.
First, the tool was powered up and the tool anchored itself to the tubing. Once the tool was anchored, the 500-poundoverpull was applied to the tool using the wireline (as described above) and held throughout the duration of the cut. (The anchors
are strong enough that this overpull will not move the tool string out of position.) Then the cutting head began to rotate and
the cutting pads started to extend and make contact with the tubing. Drilling fluid of 8.6 ppg (1.02 sg) brine was used during
the cutting operation to help cool the bit.
To create an initial cutting groove, the tool rotated at slow speed for 4 minutes, and then the rotation speed increased to
full cutting speed.
After 80 min of cutting time, the tool current spiked and shutdown the tool; at the same time the wireline tension dropped
900 lb, which indicated a change down hole. (Note: The tool does not allow the anchors to retract during a shutdown.) These

SPE 163890

were the two conditions expected when the cutting operation was complete, but a check was performed to ensure that the tool
was still working correctly and powered up for a short period. Confident that the cut had been achieved, the tension was
increased by 500 lb to give a100-pound over-pull above the initial hanging tension (before beginning the cut).
The anchors were then released and the tension dropped 100 lb, back to the normal hanging tension. The tool was then
switched back to logging mode to allow the CCL to record while pulling out of the hole. The tool string was pulled out of
hole and rigged down. The cutter tool pads were inspected for wear and these dimensions were reported back to HQ for
analysis and future reference.
Results.
At the end of the run, the tool stalled at the same time the wireline tension dropped indicating that the tool had completed
the cutting operation. The total operation time was approximately 6 hours and the actual cutting time approximately 80
minutes.
After the e-line cutting tool was removed from the wellbore, a drilling rig was used to successfully pull the top section of
tubing string and then the packer and bottom section of tubing string from the wellbore. Fig. 5 shows pictures of the uphole
side of the cut tubing removed from the pilot well. Personnel who actually performed the latching operation and removed the
remaining tubing stub and packer confirmed that the quality of the cut made by the e-line cutting tool helped the latching and
removal operation go smoothly.

Fig. 5Pictures of cut tubing removed from the pilot well.

Each of the six objectives (refer to page 2) set for the pilot was achieved. These include:
1. The tubing string was successfully cut in approximately 80 minutes.
2. Subsequently the upper section of tubing and the packer and lower section of tubing were removed from the well
without any problems from debris and without any additional dressing operation to the cut tubing ends. The crew
performing latch and retrieval operations commented that the quality of the cuts helped make the process go
smoothly.
3. Downhole data from the tool confirmed information about tool operation and key indications when the cutting
operation had successfully cut through the target, as discussed in the Results section above.
4. Data from wireline tension provided useful indications of cutting through the target. This pilot operation confirmed
that information from the wireline tension can be used as an indication of completing the cut; however, because of
rig equipment in place, the crew was not able to use the hookload tension as an indicator in this operation. The
predicted cutting time of 90 minutes was a good estimate as the actual cutting time was 80 minutes.
5. Several important lessons were learned from the planning and implementation of this pilot operation. These key
lessons include:
a. Thorough planning is vital for successful operations with minimal problems. For this operation, careful
consideration was given to selecting the optimum cut depth, including factors such as centralization, the
potential need for secondary cutting attempt(s), and subsequent fishing operations.
b. Thorough planning was also vital for the determining the correct tension at the cut depth and considering ways
to apply tension while still being able to rig up wireline and execute the job safely.
c. Considering options for and determining how to observe and ensure indications of a successful cut. Of
particular importance was developing the procedure to apply a + 500-pound over-pull on the wireline, once the
e-line cutting tool had anchored itself to the tubing, which allowed any separating/movement of the pipe after
cutting to be monitored by observing changes in the wireline surface tension.

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6.

The operation proved that e-line cutting tool was compatible with the wireline company's equipment and that the
service company's CCL signal could be acquired by the wireline contractor's system for depth/location correlation
purposes.

Conclusion
Results of the pilot project confirmed that the e-line cutting tool is a viable option for cutting tubing under the project
conditions. Additionally, use of the e-line cutting tool, as compared to explosive cutting tools:
Helped improve subsequent workover operations by eliminating significant well debris and the problems that it
causes.
Improved operational efficiency for workover operations and reduced related costs by eliminating the need for an
extra polishing run of the cut ends before the tubing could be removed.
Reduced health, safety and environmental (HSE) concerns and rig operational efficiency by eliminating the special
administrative, logistical, and security requirements of using explosive cutters.
The e-line cutting tool was recently used in another operation for the same client. In this second operation, it was used to
cut a Super 13Cr mandrel of a 9-5/8-inch x 4-1/2-inch packer so that this intelligent completion could be retrieved. The
operation went well and the cutting tool was able to produce a perfect cut at 44.50 inclination in about four hours. After the
tool was pulled out of hole, the client was able to pick up on the tubing hanger and observe that the 9-5/8-inch packer was
free.