COMPLETION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A WELL HAVING TWO OR MORE LATERAL BORES
A method of well completion includes: introducing a hydraulic set liner hanger assembly into a cased main bore, the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a first pipe assembly and a second pipe assembly coupled to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the first pipe assembly comprising a first seal coupled to a distal end of a first pipe, the second pipe assembly comprising a second seal coupled to a distal end of a second pipe, the second pipe being longer than the first pipe and the second seal having a larger outer diameter than the first seal; advancing the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly through the cased main bore, the second seal abutting a deflecting surface of a hollow diverter located in the cased main bore and being directed into a second lateral bore to provide a seal between a second liner received in the second lateral bore and the second pipe, the first seal passing through the hollow diverter to provide a seal between a first liner received in a first lateral bore and the first pipe, the deflecting surface of the hollow diverter being located adjacent to the second lateral bore; and setting the hydraulic set liner in the cased main bore.
The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/971,879 filed Mar. 28, 2014, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present application relates to lateral well completions.
BACKGROUND DISCUSSIONIn oil sands, a Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) process is typically used to produce oil. Before any oil is produced, well completion is performed on a drilled bore in order to prepare the well for production. Well completion is a time consuming process because equipment is deployed downhole in a particular order and in a number of steps.
Well completion for multilateral wells is generally more complicated and more time consuming than well completion of a single well. However, well completion for multilateral wells typically takes less time than well completion of two or more single wells at different locations because only one completion and one surface location is required for each multilateral well. Multilateral wells typically result in a cost savings on a field development basis. In addition, a single surface location has additional cost savings due to reduced: surface infrastructure, surface disturbance, mobilization as well as reduced drilling cost to reach the production interval(s). In the case of SAGD, these savings may be significantly increased due to the high cost of surface infrastructure associated with steam injection activity.
SUMMARYIn an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of well completion for a well comprising a first lateral bore and a second lateral bore, comprising: introducing a hydraulic set liner hanger assembly into a cased main bore, the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a first pipe assembly and a second pipe assembly coupled to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the first pipe assembly comprising a first seal coupled to a distal end of a first pipe, the second pipe assembly comprising a second seal coupled to a distal end of a second pipe, the second pipe being longer than the first pipe and the second seal having a larger outer diameter than the first seal; advancing the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly through the cased main bore, the second seal abutting a deflecting surface of a hollow diverter located in the cased main bore and being directed into the second lateral bore to provide a seal between a second liner received in the second lateral bore and the second pipe, the first seal passing through the hollow diverter to provide a seal between a first liner received in the first lateral bore and the first pipe, the deflecting surface of the hollow diverter being located adjacent to the second lateral bore; and setting the hydraulic set liner in the cased main bore.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for well completion comprising: a hydraulic set liner hanger assembly for deployment and setting in a cased main bore, the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a first pipe assembly and a second pipe assembly coupled to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the first pipe assembly comprising a first seal coupled to a distal end of a first pipe, the second pipe assembly comprising a second seal coupled to a distal end of a second pipe, the second pipe being longer than the first pipe and the second seal having a larger outer diameter than the first seal; and a hollow deflector for deployment downhole of the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the hollow deflector comprising a deflecting surface located at an uphole end; wherein the second seal is deflectable into a second lateral bore for forming a seal with a second liner received in the second lateral bore by a deflecting surface of the hollow deflector and the first seal is receivable through the hollow deflector for forming a seal with a first liner received in the first lateral bore.
Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
Embodiments of the present application will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.
Referring now to
The first lateral bore 26 is drilled by running a bridge plug 36 followed by a whipstock 34 into the main bore 22, milling a window through the casing 24 and drilling the first lateral bore 26. The bridge plug 36 includes a sealing element 35 and slips 38 to maintain the position of the bridge plug 36 in the main bore 22. The whipstock 34 is set against the bridge plug 36 to trigger a setting mechanism and is oriented to direct milling and drilling tools in a selected lateral direction. The first liner 30 is then run into the first lateral bore 26 along with a setting collar including a first polished bore receptacle (PBR) 40. A landing depth of the first PBR 40 is recorded for use later in the completion operation.
Alternatively, when constructing a new well, the first lateral bore may be drilled using conventional drilling methods. For example, the first lateral bore may be a continuation of the main bore that is drilled as a single well from the surface using geosteering methods, as would be understood by a person skilled in the art. In addition, the first lateral bore could be part of an existing horizontal well or a highly-deviated well.
The second lateral bore 28 is drilled by running a whipstock packer 42, followed by a whipstock (not shown) into the main bore 22, milling another window through the casing 24 and drilling the second lateral bore 28. The whipstock packer 42 includes a sealing element 43 and slips 45 to fix the whipstock packer 42 in the main bore 22. A pipe 44 is coupled to a downhole end of the whipstock packer 42 and a hollow diverter part 47 is received in an uphole end thereof. The pipe 44 includes a seal assembly 46 that is received in the first PBR 40 to form a seal therewith. The whipstock (not shown) is supported by the whipstock packer 42 and oriented to direct milling and drilling tools in a selected lateral direction. The second liner 32 is then run into the second lateral bore 28 along with a setting collar 48 including a second polished bore receptacle (PBR) 50. A landing depth of the second PBR 50 is recorded for use later in the completion operation. The whipstock (not shown) is removed from the main bore 22 following the milling, drilling and liner setting operations for the second lateral bore 28.
A method of deploying a first pipe and a second pipe to form seals with first and second liners of first and second lateral bores 26, 28 in a single operation will now be described with reference to
First, a hollow deflector 52 is run down the main bore 22 and coupled to the whipstock packer 42. As shown in
The hydraulic set liner hanger assembly 56 includes a hydraulic set liner hanger 58, a dual crossover 60 including an inlet portion 63 and an outlet portion 67, an inlet pipe string 65 coupled to the inlet portion 63 of the dual crossover 60 and a first pipe assembly 66 and a second pipe assembly 68 coupled to first and second outlets 69 and 71, respectively, of the outlet portion 67 of the dual crossover 60 by threaded connections, for example. As shown, the hydraulic set liner hanger 58 is fixed in the main bore 22 by a sealing element 57 and slips 59 and the dual crossover 60 is coupled below the hydraulic set liner hanger 58 by a threaded connection, for example. The first pipe assembly 66 is aligned with a first bore 62 of the dual crossover 60 and the second pipe assembly 68 is aligned with a second bore 64 of the dual crossover 60. As shown in
Referring again to
Referring now to
As shown in
The completed multilateral well may now be used to circulate steam or another fluid through the lateral bores 26, 28, to pre-heat the formation around the well or may be used as an injector well or as a producer well in a SAGD process, for example. Referring to
Referring to
In vertical lateral wells in which gravity may not be used to locate the second bore first, the tubing 78, 80 may instead be selective, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art.
In addition to facilitating deployment of tubing through the completed multilateral well, measurement equipment may be deployed quickly and accurately into the first and second liners 30, 32. For example, a first distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system line 86 may be deployed into the first liner 30 and a second distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system line 88 may be deployed into the and second liner 32 in a similar manner as has been described for the first and second tubing 78, 80. The DTS 86 and DTS 88 may be landed directly into the first and second liners 30, 32, respectively, or, alternatively, may be landed into the first tubing 78 and second tubing 80. Other types of measurement systems may also be deployed downhole including bubble tubes, temperature sensors and pressure sensors, for example.
The first liner 30 and the second liner 32 may be slotted liners, screens or other sand control device, for example. The first liner 30 and second liner 32 may be the same type of liner or, alternatively, may be different types of liners. In an embodiment, the first and second pipes 78, 80 are 101 mm outer diameter pipes. As will be understood by a person skilled in the art, other sizes are possible. In addition, either or both of the first liner 30 and second liner 32 may have flow regulation devices associated therewith. For example, the first liner 30 and second liner 32 may incorporate inflow control devices (ICDs), steam splitters, or other types of flow control technology.
Referring now to
In this embodiment, the inlet pipe string 65 is not coupled to the dual crossover 60. Instead, the dual crossover 60 is coupled by threading, for example, to a downhole end of a liner hanger 61 that is fitted with a tie back receptacle on the uphole portion thereof. The liner hanger 61 receives a seal assembly 94 located at a downhole end of a pipe 96 that is coupled to a downhole end of a second whipstock packer 98. The second whipstock packer 98 includes a sealing element 100 and slips 102 to fix the second whipstock packer 98 in the main bore 22. A second hollow diverter part 104 is received in an uphole end of the second whipstock packer 98. A whipstock (not shown) is supported by the second whipstock packer 98 and oriented to direct milling and drilling tools to drill the third lateral bore 90. The third liner 92 is run into the third lateral bore 90 along with a setting collar 106 including a third polished bore receptacle (PBR) 108. A landing depth of the third PBR 108 is recorded for use later in the completion operation. The whipstock (not shown) is removed from the main bore 22 following the milling, drilling and liner setting operations for the third lateral bore 90.
A method of deploying a third pipe and a fourth pipe to form seals with the inlet portion 63 of the dual crossover 60 and the third liner 92 of the third lateral bore 90 in a single operation will now be described with reference to
First, a second hollow deflector 110 is run down the main bore 22 and coupled to the second whipstock packer 98 in a similar manner as described for the second lateral completion. A second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly 112 is then introduced into the main bore 22. The second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly 112 is similar to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly 56 and, therefore, will not be repeated here. An inlet pipe string 126 is coupled to an inlet portion of the dual crossover and a third pipe assembly 114 and a fourth pipe assembly 116 extend in a downhole direction. The third pipe assembly 114 includes a third seal 118 coupled to a distal end of a third pipe 120 and the fourth pipe assembly 116 includes a fourth seal 122 coupled to a distal end of a fourth pipe 124. The fourth pipe 124 is longer than the third pipe 120 and the fourth seal 122 includes a larger outer diameter than the third seal 118. The difference in length between the third pipe 120 and the fourth pipe 124 is determined based on the difference between a landing depth of the third PBR 108 and a PBR (not shown) in the dual crossover 60. The sizes of the outer diameters of the third seal 118 and the fourth seal 122 are determined based on the size of the opening through the second hollow deflector 110, as has been described with respect to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly 56.
Referring now to
Tubing may then be deployed to the first, second and third lateral bores 26, 28 and 90 of the completed multilateral well, as has been described. Measurement equipment may also be deployed as has been described.
It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that the method and apparatus described herein is not limited to multilateral wells having two or three lateral bores. The method and apparatus described herein may be used to complete multilateral wells having four or more lateral bores. As will be understood by a person skilled in the art, the maximum number of lateral bores of a multilateral well may be determined by the diameter of the main bore 22, diameters of the pipe assemblies 66, 68, 114, 116, for example.
The description above does not include details relating to orientation equipment such as gyros and universal bottom hole orienting sub (UBHO) equipment. It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that this equipment along with alignment to scribe lines and other orientation procedures are performed in order to ensure that equipment is correctly placed during the completion method. In addition, many components include mule shoes to facilitate direction of the components into position. Such components are known in the art and will not be described in detail herein.
An advantage of the method and apparatus described herein is that two or more wells may be drilled from one surface location and well bore completion steps may be performed in a single operation. This results in significant time, and therefore, cost savings, which may amount to 25% or more. In addition, measurement equipment may be run into each one of the lateral bores in a single step. This provides additional downhole information and saves deployment time to achieve the additional information.
The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations can be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present application, which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A method of well completion for a well comprising a first lateral bore and a second lateral bore, comprising:
- introducing a hydraulic set liner hanger assembly into a cased main bore, the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a first pipe assembly and a second pipe assembly coupled to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the first pipe assembly comprising a first seal coupled to a distal end of a first pipe, the second pipe assembly comprising a second seal coupled to a distal end of a second pipe, the second pipe being longer than the first pipe and the second seal having a larger outer diameter than the first seal;
- advancing the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly through the cased main bore, the second seal abutting a deflecting surface of a hollow diverter located in the cased main bore and being directed into the second lateral bore to provide a seal between a second liner received in the second lateral bore and the second pipe, the first seal passing through the hollow diverter to provide a seal between a first liner received in the first lateral bore and the first pipe, the deflecting surface of the hollow diverter being located adjacent to the second lateral bore;
- and setting the hydraulic set liner in the cased main bore.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a dual crossover is coupled to the hydraulic set hanger, the dual crossover comprising a first bore and a second bore extending therethough, the first bore being aligned with the first pipe and the second bore being aligned with the second pipe, the dual crossover being oriented to locate the second bore at a lower depth than the second bore.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising feeding a first measurement string though the dual crossover into the first pipe.
4. The method of claim 1, comprising feeding a second measurement string through the dual crossover into the second pipe.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first measurement string comprises a distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second measurement string comprises a distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the difference in length between the first pipe and the second pipe is determined based on the landing depth of a first polished bore receptacle (PBR) coupled to the first liner and a second polished bore receptacle coupled to the second liner.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising:
- introducing a second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly into the cased main bore, the second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a third pipe assembly and a fourth pipe assembly coupled to the second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the third pipe assembly comprising a third seal coupled to a distal end of a third pipe, the fourth pipe assembly comprising a fourth seal coupled to a distal end of a fourth pipe, the fourth pipe being longer than the third pipe and the fourth seal having a larger outer diameter than the third seal;
- advancing the second hydraulic set liner hanger assembly through the cased main bore, the fourth seal abutting a second deflecting surface of a second hollow diverter located in the cased main bore and being directed into the third lateral bore to provide a seal between a third liner received in the third lateral bore and the fourth pipe, the third seal passing through the hollow diverter to provide a seal between the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly and the third pipe, the second deflecting surface of the second hollow diverter being located adjacent to the third lateral bore; and
- setting the second hydraulic set liner in the cased main bore.
9. A method of operating a well completed by the method of claim 1, comprising circulating a hot fluid through the first lateral bore and the second lateral bore.
10. A method of operating a well completed by the method of claim 1, comprising injecting steam into the first lateral bore and the second lateral bore.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising installing a pump and pumping fluids from the first lateral bore and the second lateral bore.
12. An apparatus for well completion comprising:
- a hydraulic set liner hanger assembly for deployment and setting in a cased main bore, the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly comprising a first pipe assembly and a second pipe assembly coupled to the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the first pipe assembly comprising a first seal coupled to a distal end of a first pipe, the second pipe assembly comprising a second seal coupled to a distal end of a second pipe, the second pipe being longer than the first pipe and the second seal having a larger outer diameter than the first seal; and
- a hollow deflector for deployment downhole of the hydraulic set liner hanger assembly, the hollow deflector comprising a deflecting surface located at an uphole end;
- wherein the second seal is deflectable into a second lateral bore for forming a seal with a second liner received in the second lateral bore by a deflecting surface of the hollow deflector and the first seal is receivable through the hollow deflector for forming a seal with a first liner received in the first lateral bore.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, comprising a whipstock packer for supporting the hollow diverter.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, comprising a whipstock packer for selectively receiving a whipstock, the whipstock being received during drilling of the second lateral bore and removed prior to deployment of the hollow deflector.
15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein a dual crossover is coupled to the hydraulic set hanger, the dual crossover comprising a first bore and a second bore extending therethough, the first bore being aligned with the first pipe and the second bore being aligned with the second pipe, the dual crossover being oriented to locate the second bore at a lower depth than the second bore.
16. A method of operating a well completed by the method of claim 8, comprising circulating a hot fluid through the first lateral bore, the second lateral bore and the third lateral bore.
17. A method of operating a well completed by the method of claim 8, comprising injecting steam into the first lateral bore, the second lateral bore and third lateral bore.
18. The method of claim 8, comprising installing a pump and pumping fluids from the first lateral bore, the second lateral bore and the third lateral bore.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 12, 2015
Publication Date: Oct 1, 2015
Inventor: Gary Eric Gill (Calgary)
Application Number: 14/656,468