IPTC 13611

Long Column Cementing of Light Slim Hole Wells, Mahakam Delta,

Indonesia Case History
Nilo Neto, Schlumberger; Novrendi Saragih, SPE; and Mukhlis Taufik, Reinhard Panjaitan, TOTAL E&P Indonesia

Copyright 2009, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Doha, Qatar, 79 December 2009.

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Abstract
Gas fields in the Mahakam Delta are the most prolific in Indonesia. TOTAL E&P Indonesia operates Tunu, Tambora, Handil,
Peciko, Bekapai and Sisi Nubi fields. To meet the increased production requirements while enhancing economic development,
the operator is reducing drilling costs as much as possible. Slim hole well is the optimal gas well configuration being applied
in Tunu and Tambora fields. The slim hole design diminishes the size and number of casing strings to produce the low
pressure gas reserves economically.

The latest well design, known as the light slim hole well, reduces the number of casing strings from previously four, to become
three strings: conductor, surface, and production tubingless. In light slim hole well, the 24-in. conductor casing is hammered to
130 m depth, similar to the previous design. The 9 5/8-in. surface casing is set at 1,300 m TVD. The well then is completed
with 4 -in. production tubing, which is set at around 4,000 m TVD.

Like all gas wells, light slimhole requires adequate zonal isolation along the production section. Cement sheath failure will
result in sustained casing pressure and, in the worst case, loss of the well. A long open hole section has to be cemented from
bottom across the production zones to 300 m above surface casing shoe. Placing a nearly 3,000 meters column of cement
slurry along production casing is therefore one of the most challenging operations done on the well.

The long cement column translates into large temperature differences between the bottom hole and the top of cement and high
circulating pressure during slurry placement. In this case, the temperature difference can reach 90 degC [162 degF]. Design
and selection of the cement slurry requires specific and tailored approach to ensure the cement sets uniformly along the long
column, ensuring proper zonal isolation. By using advance software resources, the temperature of the cement particle is
analyzed precisely during the cement placement. This paper outlines cement design approach for this long section hole,
describes the overall cementing process, and shows field results of light slim hole wells in the Mahakam Delta.

Introduction
For several years, TOTAL E&P Indonesia had been optimizing their well architecture by reducing the size of slim hole wells
in order to cut the overall drilling cost. These efforts between 2005 and 2007 led to reducing the drilling time of these slim
wells toabout 22 to 26 days.
The drilling phase has three sections which are shown in Fig.1, while the conductor pipe construction was not included in
drilling time as it was hammered before rig arrival on well site.
The new light well design has two drilling phase as shown in Fig.1and is identified as light slim hole well. The design had
gone through comprehensive study to meet Geology-Geosciences requirement as well as economic value. The main
characteristics of the light slim hole well design are:
Two drilling phases i.e.:
o 12 -in. OH cased by 9 5/8-in. surface casing
o 8 -in. OH cased by 4 -in. production tubingless.
Well profile has J shape.
Maximum well inclination is 30 degree.
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Surface casing cementation for light slim wells are similar from the previous traditional slim hole well architecture but with a
reduced size. Thus the slurry volume is smaller and the circulating pressure higher in these smaller annuli.
The major challenge is for construction the production drilling phase. As the intermediate section is eliminated on the new
Light Slim Hole Well, the drilling phase of production section is extended long enough until reaching the hydrocarbon target.
This is only possible due to a good understanding of the field characteristic, which allows TOTAL E&P Indonesia to drill
deeper while maintaining the trajectory in low pore pressure area. In gas producer wells, TOTAL E&P Indonesia requires
zonal isolation down to the production hole total depth up to 300 meters overlap with the previous casing shoe. The
firstchallenge for cement slurry design in this particular production string is to identify the technical requirements and then
match those with the present and available cementing technology on the location. To narrow down the design boundary, three
conditions are considered as the primary factor:

A long column of cement has to be placed (e.g. up to 3000 meters). In this regard, the top of cement is very critical as
an overlap of 300 m in the previous casing is required to guarantee that no sustained casing pressure will appear
during the well life. That long column of cement will also generate higher hydrostatic pressure. Thus maintaining the
equivalent circulating density (ECD) below the fracture gradient is an important and challenging factor. On the other
hand, minimizing the ECD should be done keeping tailored mechanical properties for the set cement such as high
compressive strength and low permeability.
The second condition is a large temperature difference between the bottom hole and the top of cement, as a 3,000 m
column gives rise to a 90 degC [160 degF] difference. This condition requires the cement slurry system to be able to
build compressive strength within reasonable time while maintaining its fast gel strength development for gas
tightness properties.
Annulus between the 4 -in. tubing inside the 8 -in. open hole is two inches wide. This is a significantly wide
annulus compared to the traditional slim hole well. This third factor requires proper mud removal to ensure good
cement coverage up to the top cement. Special designed centralization is required to fit this wide annulus and
guarantee proper stand-off. Losses, wash-outs and other open hole characteristic are also considered during the job
design.

In summary, early assessment of well duration and cost saving allows to estimate the following benefits of this light slim hole
well compared to the previous traditional well profile: .

The operation to drill three-phased well shows average five days saving. This is mostly contributed by eliminating the
intermediate drilling phase.
In addition, around 700K USD would be saved due to lower consumption of casing and other accessories.
Finally further reduction of consumables and other expenditures are achieved on those five days saved.

Cement Design and Technical Considerations

A preliminary study was done to determine what would be the challenges and the technical limitation imposed by this new
well schematics to the cement slurry. The objective was to determine what slurry properties would be necessary to meet these
well architecture requirements. Definitely a new tailored system is required in order to meet the laboratory testing needs, the
maximum equivalent circulating density (ECD) between the pore & frac limitation, fluid rheology for appropriate mud
removal efficiency and the setting of the slurry under large differences between bottom and top temperatures.
Density was the first parameter to be considered. At the same time that a low density was required to meet the window
between pore and frac pressures, the mechanical properties for the set cement would still need to be adequate to meet the gas
tightness requirement. For this special property, the gel strength development had to be tailored to develop rapidly so that no
gas would migrate during the critical hydration period.
Typical slurry with 1.9 SG density could not meet those requirements. Then, the faster drilling speed of the new slim hole well
revealed to be an additional drawback. This increase in activity put constraints on shipping, logistics and rig storage. It became
apparent that the two previous dry blends of cement should be made into one, making unfeasible to pump dual Lead/Tail slurry
systems.
During the study, it was found necessary to use a lower slurry density such as 1.7 5SG. The slurry also had to have at least 35
percent of active silica content to overcome strength retrogression at the high bottom hole temperature. The solution to satisfy
both the silica content and a lower density range maintaining the solid contents, permeability, compressive strength and slurry
stability was to make use of microsilica, which, being as an extender as well, was able to meet both requirements at the same
time.
Advanced fluid loss additives were added in order to control the slurry rheology and also keep its value below 50ml/30min.
This low fluid loss requirement allowed to maintain the slurry performance during the fluid placement and helped keeping the
top of cement as designed above the previous shoe..
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Latest technology for the cement retarder was implemented to give optimum slurry properties on very long column of cement
with huge temperature difference. This objective was achieved and the cement was setting at about the same time all along
column, even though being under influence of higher temperature in the bottom and lower temperature at the top.
Continuing with the laboratory testing, defining the proper cement test schedules was more demanding as the conditions
required testing the slurry properties and behavior both at the bottom and at the top of cement. Extensive software simulations
allowed obtaining the temperature and pressure schedule that the first and last sack of cement would be exposed. Thickening
time was evaluated at bottom hole conditions but also for top of cement. Strength development was evaluated at bottom hole
and confirmed at upper reservoir and top of cement. Specific test schedule was defined taking into consideration the well
geothermic profile and fluid history depending on which fluid was pumped at what rate. The thickening time and strength
development schedules derived from these simulations were more realistic, as the slurry temperatures increased first from
ambient surface temperature to the cementing circulating temperature as the slurry reached bottom hole and later decreased as
it traveled up theannulus and finally remained static until and heating to geothermal temperature until setting. All laboratory
tests were implemented with these specific schedules, which permitted to improve the slurry performance and meet all
technical requirements.

Case History
A case history of the new light well architecture is given in Fig. 2. It was drilled in the Tunu field inn Mahakam Delta.
Temperature and formation are typical for that area. For simulation purposes, the bottom hole static temperature (BHST) is
taken at 145 degC and static temperature at surface casing shoe is 60 degC. The prognosed fracture gradient at bottom hole is
1.86 SG, while the maximum pore pressure is 1.15 SG. The mud weight in the 8 -in. section was 1.25 SG at bottom depth.
Well data and job conditions were input in a cementing simulator, which output the following parameters:

Expected ECD while mud circulating and cement placement;

Wellhead pressures;
Temperature history;
Casing centralization;
Mud removal efficiency as function of fluid properties and pumping schedule.

The circulating pressure is maintained between the pore and frac pressure as well as within the casing safety factor.
Temperature simulation is a pre-requisiste to get accurate temperature histories that cement would be exposed to during the
placement. It takes into account fluid thermal properties and heat transfer calculation inside wellbore and casing during the
circulation. This temperature history is used to tailor cement slurry testing in laboratory, rather than using traditional API
schedules or considering geothermal temperature and applying local standards. The objective is to reduce the delay for the
cement to set and develop strength at the shoe and at the top of the cement column.
The slurry design considerations for these operations called for not only realistic thickening time and compressive strength,
but also a proper control of other important parameters like rheology, fluid loss and gas tightness properties.
In terms of well control and mud removal, weighted spacer of 1.4 SG is used with optimized rheology. Spacer volume pumped
was 15 m3 [95 bbl] corresponding to 560 m of annular fill in the 4 1/2-in. x 8 -in. annulus.
The top cement requirement was 300 meter inside the 9 5/8-in. casing. Zonal Isolation was required to cover the pay zone from
bottom hole at 4,087 meters MD up to 1,127 meters MD. The well trajectory had a J- shape with inclination of about 30
degree. The 4 -in. production casing was set at 3,658 meters TVD and the cement column was 2,960 meters in length.
Designing cement properties for such conditions was a big technical and operational challenge. A single slurry system meeting
all the job requirements mentioned previously could be successfully designed.

Cementing Job Execution

For light architecture wells, the execution challenges are also considerable. Such a long column of cement requires more than
80 m3 [500 bbl] to be pumped downhole. Considering that TUNU is an offshore location, logistics is a very important
parameter in terms of job preparation and execution.
A system with greater flexibility was needed. In these circumstances, such flexibility could be achieved only with liquid
additives. Once laboratory testing was satisfactorily completed, a field execution was initiated. The first cementing operation
with the new system started in the field in 2006. Cement evaluation logs (CBL) and early production proved the system gave
results as expected.
The combination of liquid additives coupled with blended materials ensured slurry good performance. The microsilica proved
to be at the same time a liquid extender as well as guaranteeing slurry stability and homogeneity. The ability to combine these
materials in a single, cost-effective liquid additive provided important advantages, both logistically and economically.
The slurry system has brought with it many beneficial side effects.
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Conclusion and Project Validation

The cement columns reached 13,789kPa [2,000 psi] compressive strength (Fig. 3) over their entire length in approximately
40 hours.This was significantly faster than comparable cement jobs using conventional cement formulations at this same slurry
density of 1.75 SG. A total of 5 wells in 2006, 7 wells in 2007 and another 11 wells in 2008 was completed and cemented with
the new tailored design. The implementation was so successful that client extended the project also to other fields. With the
feasibility of cementing the long column, the operator could optimize further the well architecture and reduce by another 6
drilling days, saving more than 20% in time and cost.
The cement bond logs in the past years have shown a steady improvement despite the increased challenges of drilling and
completing these wells. The cement evaluation logsthemselves are a good testimony of this success, as well as the absence of
remedial activity for correcting any eventual defect or lack of isolation in those primary cement jobs. The cement evaluation
logs in Fig. 4 show very good cement bond for the bottom, intermediate and top sections during this 4 -in. cementing
operation.

Acknowledgments
The authors thank the management of TOTAL and Schlumberger for permitting to publish this paper. Also, special thanks to
Schlumberger Support Team and Laboratory Services in developing and introducing the new cement slurry, with additives that
were suitable to meet the light architecture well design requirements.

References

1. Gilmore, T., Harrison J., et al., Effective Slimhole Cementing in a Challenging Environment - A Gulf of Thailand
Case History, paper SPE 68671, presented SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition held in Jakarta,
Indonesia, 1719 April 2001.

2. Shanks, F.E., and Willian, K.R.: Slimhole Exploration Requires Proper Technical Preparation, paper SPE 26337,
presented at the 68th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the SPE in Houston, Texas, 3-6 October 1993.

3. Hibberler, J., Seymour R., Rae Phil: Faster, Deeper, Cheaper Slimhole Well Construction in the Gulf of Thailand,
paper SPE 90999, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Houston, Texas, 26-29 Sep 2004.

4. Pattanapong, K., Keittipong, K., et al., Lightweight cement Slurries Using Multifunctional Liquid Additives: A new
approach to offshore well construction, paper SPE 88018, presented at Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia 13-15, 2004.

5. International Organization for Standard: ISO 10426-2:2003, Petroleum and natural gas industries Cements and
materials or well cementing Part 2: Testing of well cements

6. Nelson, Erik B. and Guillot, D. eds.: Well Cementing, Second Edition., Elsevier, 2007

7. Schlumberger Cementing Products Manual

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Fig. 1 - Comparison between current SLIM HOLE and new Light SLIM Hole

Fig. 2 - Case History Example

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Fig. 3 - Compressive Strength Development

CBL close to top of CBL Intermediate-up CBL Intermediate-Bottom CBL Intermediate-Bottom

cement Section Section Section
Fig. 4 Cement bond log of example well