SlimWELL® Well Construction System
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The
SlimWELL™ Well Construction System is an evolutionary and patented
oil and gas well construction technique based on a bottom’s up design
of close-tolerance, flush-jointed, liners. SlimWELL™ slims down
the well profile, resulting in the optimum or maximised size of pipe across
the zone of interest, whilst maintaining well integrity, and without restricting
flow or intervention ability.
As a full well construction method, the system has the potential to reduce well construction costs by more than 50%. The SlimWELL™ technique is not slim-hole drilling or expandable technology. SlimWELL™ is based on standard API casing sizes.
Applications to partial well construction include in-fill drilling. Running 1, 2 or 3 SlimWELL™ liners has the potential to increase the flow area of the pipe across the reservoir resulting in increased productivity and thus increasing the Net Present Value (NPV) of the recoverable reserves.
SlimWELL™ achieves the desired size of tubular at the reservoir by incorporating two innovative yet straightforward new technologies. The SlimSLIP™ Hanger System features a high-strength anchor built into the wall of the hanger allowing full-bore access for the next string.
The
DiVERTA™ Flow-By Shoe eliminates surge, swab and ECD effects during
installation and circulating, problems which previously made such close
tolerance systems impractical. Uniquely SlimWELL™ also includes
a high pressure packer at the liner top, a feature previously unavailable
in close-clearance systems.
The benefits of reducing the casing sizes from top to bottom while maintaining the optimum size across the zone/s of interest can be substantial:
- Economic - fewer consumables such as casing, drilling fluids and cement, faster drilling, lower logistics, and hence reduced rig costs
- Environmental - less material consumed, fewer cuttings and less retained drilling fluid to dispose of.
- Reduced Risk - fewer large diameter long casing operations, reduced risk during transportation and handling.
- Contingency - additional casing strings may be run without affecting the final hole size. Additional liners may be spaced over troublesome zones.
- Bottom-Up Design - allows the well to be designed for the required production/tubular without excessively large top-hole sizes.
- Abandonment – fewer large diameter string overlapping at the wellhead area simplifies the abandonment process.