The OSMP* OptiPac service mechanical packer is a mechanically activated hydrostatically set openhole gravel-pack packer with Alternate Path shunt tubes and control line bypasses. When used with Alternate Path screens and the shunt tube isolation valve (STIV), the packer-STIV assembly enables complete zonal isolation between different gravel-packed zones in openhole conventional or extended-reach wells. Zonal isolation or selective production is enabled with the OSMP packer through a variety of common completion architectures either to isolate unwanted zones or for future water and gas shutoff.
Unlike swell packers, which require roughly 18 hours to several days to swell to maximum outside diameter and provide zonal isolation prior to starting the gravel packing, the OSMP packer sets within seconds once activated, enabling gravel packing to commence immediately.
Operating procedure
The OSMP packer is run in conjunction with Alternate Path screens. Each packer is built upon an eccentrically-oriented mandrel, enabling the OSMP packer to be properly aligned with the shunt tubes above and below. Multiple packers can be used within the same sandface completion.
After the OSMP packers, screens, blank pipe, and optional STIVs are run below rotary table, the washpipe and OSMP packer shifting tools are run inside the assembly. One shifting tool is run per OSMP packer placed 30 ft [9 m] below the first packer. The next shifting tool is placed an additional 10 ft [3 m] below each subsequent packer to avoid simultaneous engagement of the shifting tool’s profile, enabling each packer to be set independently. If space-out permits, a single shifting tool can be deployed to set multiple OSMP packers.
The OSMP packer is run into the open hole below a QUANTUM* gravel-pack packer or QUANTUM MAX* HPHT gravel- and frac-pack packer, which is set in the cased hole. Upon reaching the proper depth, the gravel-pack packer is set and tested. Service tool positions are located and—if required—the open hole displaced. The service tool is then picked up, placing each washpipe shifting tool above its corresponding OSMP packer. Subsequently, the workstring is slacked downward, engaging each setting sleeve within the corresponding packer and enabling hydrostatic pressure to set the mechanical OSMP packer. Because OSMP packers are set prior to pumping gravel, all the packer seals are in contact with the wellbore, ensuring complete zonal isolation.
Proven element design
The OSMP packer element is the same design as used in the field-proven Falcon hydraulic-set openhole packer, which has more than 4,000 successful deployments.
APPLICATIONS
Multizone openhole gravel-packed wells that use the OptiPac* Alternate Path† openhole gravel-pack service
Vertical, deviated, and horizontal wells
Land and offshore environments
BENEFITS
Creates and isolates zones in openhole completions
Saves rig time with instantaneous setting
Reduces cost by enabling a single well to access multiple reservoirs
Allows for selective or smart completions for efficient and increased production
Alternate Path system bypass allows gravel packing after packers are set
Enables future water and gas breakthrough shutoff
FEATURES
Shunt tube isolation valve for zonal isolation between gravel-packed zones
Hydrostatically setting with washpipe shifting tool
Control line bypasses for PT gauges
Compatibility with 5- and 5½-in Alternate Path openhole gravel-pack screens and fiber-optic-compatible screens
Differential pressure rating of 3,000 psi [21 MPa] across element
CASE STUDY
Total E&P Angola had planned commingled production from stacked sedimentary layers located in the Kaombo deepwater development. Targeting multiple reservoir layers with each well would reduce well count and therefore capex. Field A consists of five layers; in one instance (Well 1), oil from one of the layers is incompatible with the rest and cannot be commingled because of the risk of asphaltene precipitation. In a second well (Well 2), a water-bearing layer is located between the oil layers. Both wells required isolation of the problematic layers while producing the layers above and below.
Water breakthrough in one or more reservoir layers is a risk associated with commingled production. The rate of production would have to be reduced to delay the event and costly remedial operations undertaken for water shutoff when the breakthrough eventually occurred. This was the challenge presented by the lower three of the four layers targeted by Well 3 in field B. Water shutoff capability was highly desirable in this well. Total’s completion technique of choice was openhole gravel packing because the complexity of multizone frac-pack technology was deemed high risk and the cost was prohibitive.
Alternate Path screens and shunted swell packers have traditionally provided a solution for multizone openhole gravel packing, but the packer swelling process is slow, increasing costs—especially in deepwater applications—while the rig waits. Pumping gravel before swelling is complete can cause the gravel to enter the packer element–wellbore annulus, preventing an effective seal.
The new OSMP OptiPac service mechanical packer addresses all these concerns. The mechanically activated packer is hydrostatically set in a matter of seconds as the setting tool moves through it. Gravel packing can begin immediately without affecting the seal, saving a significant amount of rig time. The packer is equipped with field-proven Alternate Path shunt tubes. Once the uppermost zone is packed, gravel is diverted through the shunt tubes to the next zone, and the process repeats until all the zones are packed.
OptiPac openhole gravel-pack service and OSMP packers delivered complete gravel packs in Wells 1 and 3, confirmed by downhole gauge data and mass balance analysis. Two OSMP packers straddling the unwanted zone in Well 1 and shunted blanks across the zone enabled isolation of the zone, reducing the well count by two and saving Total >USD 100 million.
A single packer in Well 3 provides the ability to seal off the lower reservoir layers by setting a high-expansion plug in a section of blank pipe when water breaks through in the future. Cost-effective water management gives Total the opportunity to produce at an accelerated rate and improves ultimate recovery. Reservoir simulations show that water shutoff can result in an incremental production of 1,000,000 BOE from field B.
Well 2 is scheduled for openhole gravel-pack completion at a later date; it will use two OSMP packers with shunted blanks in between to isolate the water zone. Total is currently evaluating the deployment of additional OSMP packers in future wells.
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