K-WAT tool reduces the cost of well abandonment
Wireline Abandonment and Completion Corp. (WACORP) announces Crescent Point Energy’s successful utilization of WACORP’s wireline-deployed K-WAT tool in Alliance and Turner Valley, Alberta in a five-well, 14-zone well abandonment pilot project, to satisfy the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) oil and gas Well Abandonment Directive 20.
From Nov. 30 – Dec. 18, 2021, in temperatures that dipped to – 29 C, Crescent Point Energy conducted a comparison of pressure testing at the target, compared to a full column of fluid pressure test from surface +7 MPa. Crescent Point provided exceptional candidates, with two to four zones per well with a maximum working depth of 1,489 meters. Run times were continuous between K-WAT and dump bailing with less than five minutes to lay down and pickup. No explosives were required to set the plug, as the patented K-WAT system is fully hydraulic.
Pressure below and above the tool is monitored continuously, yielding both a digital and paper record of the entire process for confirmation and regulatory board submission of the pressure test.
Many companies have an increasing number of uneconomical wells. There is significant demand for zonal abandonment of suspended wells. The K-WAT tool’s ability to set and pressure test barriers simultaneously is an industry first, paving the way forward for rigless abandonment technology.
“This is a technological breakthrough,” says WACORP president, Peter Knight. “Our hybrid tool instantly generates pressure at the downhole target. It reads out on surface and completely eliminates the traditional operation. This is the only tool in the world that can do this. It’s a complete process change from the conventional abandonment procedure. It’s the speed you can work with and the efficiency you can create by utilizing it, versus service rigs and coil. It simplifies the complexity of the pressure test.”
“Crescent Point and other oil and gas companies are actively looking for cost savings and economic solutions to these abandonments,” Knight says. “With the K-WAT tool, we now have the technical advancement to make these types of problem wells economical and affordable and get them off their books.
“By supporting this project, Crescent Point has shown the industry they are a true leader in the development of new and cost-saving technology. Crescent Point has helped the whole industry by taking part in this pilot to commercialize it.”
Conventional multi-zone abandonments require a tubing packer run, necessitating the use of a coil tubing unit or service rig. Our system, on the other hand, allows for wireline-only multi-zone abandonments by simultaneously setting and pressure testing the bridge plug on wireline. The K-WAT tool sets and pressure tests the bridge plug, eliminating the costly tubing run. The K-WAT tool can save as much as 50% in both time and expenses, compared to current multistage abandonment practices.
This tool means that organizations specializing in the abandonment and reclamation of oil and gas well sites can carry out abandonment operations using only a wireline truck. Reducing the number of services required on site for any given application lessens the safety risks for all individuals involved during tubing trips and pressure test, and also lowers the carbon footprint.
This greatly reduces emissions, by lowering the amount of equipment and days needed to complete abandonment procedures. Ultimately, the potential savings for oil companies, and taxpayers, are tremendous.
K-WAT tool benefits include:
- Smaller footprint;
- Increased well abandonment efficiency (up to three times);
- Noise pollution reduction 45%;
- Safety incident reduction 50%;
- Man-hour reduction 70%;
- Fuel consumption reduction 80%;
- Eliminates trucking, work strings, rental and standby costs;
- No explosives required.
“The energy regulator is excited about technologies like this that can set and pressure test barriers without the need for a service rig,” Knight says. “They see the digital pressure test as the way forward for proper compliance. With this technology, you have 100 per cent proof that on that day at that depth, this plug was pressure tested properly.”
“It’s important to develop technology that’s going to lower the overall cost of abandonment. With the K-WAT tool, we have the technical advancement to make these types of problem wells economical and affordable to get the off their books.”
The Crescent Point Energy project was part of a 10-well pilot that is now nearing completion. WACORP is now moving into Generation 1.5, with the K-WAT tool as a fully proven field system. It will eliminate dependency on wellbore fluids to set the plug, with an onboard fluid reservoir allowing the tool to work reliably in unstable fluid columns. “It allows us to work in unstable fluid environments by fully onboarding the fluid that we use to function the tool,” Knight explains. “We’ve eliminated the difficulties and complexities of the conventional well abandonment operation.”
Peter Knight founded Wireline Abandonment and Completion Corp. (WACORP) in 2016 to streamline the abandonment of oil and gas wells in Alberta.
For more information, contact Peter at 1-403-988-9758 or peter@wacorp.ca
