People and Technology for the Life of Your Well

Wireline Pipe Recovery Considerations In Stuck Drill Pipe Situations

J W Segura E.I.C. Pipe Recovery Operations, Gulf of Mexico

Schlumberger Oil Field Services Houma Offshore Services 101 Southwood Dr Houma, LA 70363 (985) 851-1074

People and Technology for the Life of Your Well

J W Segura E.I.C. Pipe Recovery Operations, Gulf of Mexico

Schlumberger Well Services Houma Testing & Production Services 101 Southwood Dr Houma, LA 70364 (504) 851-1074

Wireline Pipe Recovery Considerations This letter is an attempt to improve the information sharing between a client and a wireline pipe recovery provider like Schlumberger when you experience a stuck drill pipe situation. There are several areas and quite a number of items which are considered when planning a stuck pipe load out. The well dynamics along with pipe specifications and BHA are all important factors to consider. I will try to provide as complete a list of considerations as possible, along with an explanation of their importance for your/our use. _________________________________________________________________ Information for the client to provide/vendor to request when calling for a wireline pipe recovery crew: 1. Pipe size and connections for lubricator selection. a) Needed for the correct connections to match the drill string at surface. b) Needed for proper internal diameter requirements as not all TIW valves and drill pipe swivels are full open bore. 2. Top drive or kelly rig. a) Top drive rigs will need Top Entry or Side Entry wireline subs for access to the pipe bore.

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3. Pressure on the pipe/annulus a) If a grease seal unit is necessary the cable size may be a changed factor from the standard load out along with the grease equipment. b) Top Entry sub should be used to Freepoint/recover pipe with a grease seal unit because it allows the wireline tools straight access to the pipe bore. The side entry wireline sub does not allow the cable straight access to the pipe bore. c) Pressure wireline work requires additional sinker bars for tool descent. d) Drill pipe plugs may be necessary to isolate drill string from bit. e) Limited penetration perforators for drill pipe inside casing may be necessary. 4. Well depth, bit depth. a) Explosive type and amount. b) Cable length, size and availability. c) Tool specifications - hydrostatic and temperature ratings. 5. Mud properties. a) Explosive type and amount. b) Sinker bar amount. c) Tool specifications like hydrostatic and temperature ratings. d) Reactivity with exposed explosive components. 6. Casing size and shoe depth. a) Open hole interval length may help determine quantity of expendables. b) Open hole interval length may dictate additional evaluation logs to be used, such as Stuck Pipe Accoustical log. 7. BHA details including minimum internal diameter. a) Wall thickness of BHA components will determine some explosive selection (perforators, severing tools, plugs). b) Minimum ID for choosing tools used in pipe recovery services ( All tool sizes are tailored for drill string components ). 8. Hole angle and kick off point. a) Angle used to determine hydrostatic/temperature considerations. b) Angle used to determine possible descent problems inside pipe. c) Kick off point used in considering how to manipulate drill string when Freepointing/working pipe. 9. Drilling Jars moving, Circulation, Rotating. a) Jars moving tell us the interval of possible stuck pipe. b) Circulation yes/no may determine amount of perforating guns loaded. c) Rotating but not moving up or down hole alert us for possible severing instead of back-off services.

People and Technology for the Life of Your Well

10. Type of rig. a) Although we service any type of rig some considerations for floaters in rough weather need to be explored. b) Our main Freepoint anchors inside the pipe with motorized arms but friction spring anchoring freepoint tools will need additional slack-joint consideration from the wireline crew. _________________________________________________________________ Information used to determine what measures are necessary to effectively manipulate the drill string for Freepointing and recovering pipe. 1. Pipe weight before sticking. a) Weight up before sticking, weight down before sticking and rotating weight are all used to help determine how to work pipe. b) A point to remember is that even though these weights are good starting points in a recovery procedure the string no longer has the luxury of being pulled down the hole by the pipe weight and BHA and now must be pushed down past doglegs and kick-off points. c) In deviated wells the weight may need to be lowered below the rotating weight of the string to obtain torque readings in pipe. 2. Evaluation of string sticking condition. a) The information obtained by the Freepoint tool must be understood for the client/specialist to make good recovery decisions. The FPIT not only provides us with free pipe percentages, it also tells a trained pipe recovery specialist how the string is best manipulated. b) 1st station should be in known free pipe in order for the pipe recovery specialist to determine how the string is best manipulated. c) It is important to know at which string weight point that the torque is transmitting downhole the most effectively. It is important to know when in the torquing sequence the pipe downhole starts moving. Dont be afraid to try different rotating weights to obtain the best response. A little time spent obtaining this info in known free pipe will save time while running the FPIT at station depths where the sticking condition is yet to be determined. d) Stretch readings are necessary to determine if pipe can be pulled uphole but are limited to the travel area of the tool joints along the formation. For example: if a drill string is stuck in sand and has been pulled up to the maximum safe pull factor before the freepoint is run the tool joints

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in the uppermost portion of the sand have already moved to make slots in the sand allowing them to move upward for a short distance allowing the Freepoint to obtain stretch readings. But if the string is separated below this tool joint and pulled uphole it will impact the slot made in the sand and be unable to be pulled out of hole even though the Freepoint obtained good stretch readings. e) The point at which the FPIT closes its stretch sensor while slacking down the drill string, after pulling the string for a stretch reading, should be noted for working torque downhole later. This is the weight at which the string now moves downhole without the benefit of the BHA. 3. Recovery putting your info to work. a) Once the FPIT stations are done and you are ready to make your recovery it is time to put the FPIT information to use. If the drill string began its torque movement on bottom on the 4th round of torque applied while running the FPIT then you know that the minimum amount of torque which should be applied in reverse on the initial turn of the pipe is 4 rounds. That is not to say that 4 rounds is all the torque that should necessarily be applied, but rather it is the minimum initial torque. b) You should know, from the FPIT, the most desirable string weight to set the string on to apply the torque because the FPIT readings in torque moved most effectively at that weight. c) You should know what string weights you will need to work the torque downhole in deviated wells from the FPIT stretch information. The string weight at which the FPIT completely closed after taking a stretch reading should have been noted, this is how low you should go to work the torque downhole. Also you should know how high the string weight will have to go to move the string uphole from the FPIT stations. _________________________________________________________________

People and Technology for the Life of Your Well

Obviously there is no way I could include every scenario of stuck pipe you could possibly encounter, but these basic steps of information should provide you with the information you will need to determine what it will take to recover the free portion of your drill string. It should be noted that the Schlumberger FPIT is, to my knowledge, the only Freepoint tool that independently measures stretch and torque. This allows us to take torque readings while holding torque in the string and working the drill pipe up and down to force torque downhole. In highly deviated wells with shallow kick-offs and in wells with long deviated areas below dog-legs, this feature becomes invaluable in determining the deepest recovery possible. Also of notable importance is the fact that the Schlumberger FPIT can be used to observe reverse torque applied to string before effecting a back-off. This left-hand torque reading should be used as the final Free Point station prior to a controlled string shot back-off to ensure that reverse torque can be applied to the connection being considered for back-off.