SPE 104443
Technology of Plugging Long-Interval High-Pressure Channeling Wells by Cement
With Overburden Pressure During Curing
Wang Yan, SPE, Wang Demin, SPE, Wan Jun, Luo Jiangtao, Zhong Ping, Dong Zengyou, and Liu Yingzhi, China U. of
Petroleum (Beijing) and Daqing Oil Co. Ltd.
Copyright 2006, Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2006 SPE International Oil & Gas Conference
and Exhibition in China held in Beijing, China, 57 December 2006.
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Abstract
With the prolonged time of development and increased
interlayer pressure difference, there is numerous cement
channeling problems between isolated zonal intervals in
production and injection wells in Daqing Oilfield. The cement
channeling problems, especially in long intervals, change the
original layers developed and make the interlayer interference
more severe. Furthermore, all kinds of chemical treatment
methods that are used to remedy channeling cannot meet the
needs of plugging long interval channeling wells in the field
because of the disadvantages of complex process, high cost, low
success rate, safety concerns, high risk and etc. Therefore, a new
method has been developed specifically for plugging long
interval high pressure channeling wells by cement curing with
an overburden pressure and the results are encouraging.
Introduction
Cement channeling problems have adversely affected the oil
production of the oilfield. Although the operators have done a
great deal of research in terms of channel plugging, the present
techniques cannot meet the needs of channel plugging,
particularly long interval channels.
The present chemical plugging methods can be divided into
two kinds based on the plugging agents:
The first one is high strength plugging agents, which takes
advantage of the characteristics that the plugging agent can be
cured in a short time, so the channel plugging job can be
completed before the high pressure fluids push the plugging
agents out of channeling interval. Or under the conditions of
ensuring safety, the tubing string is pulled out of the casing after
the plugging agents completely cures. Because of its high risk
and complexity of the process, the methods that utilize high
strength plugging agents to plug channels are not suitable for
long interval or multi-interval channel plugging.
The second type is low strength plugging agents. Although
safe to apply, it is only suitable for water shutoff of high water
cut formation. This method causes the reservoirs to be
completely plugged and the production cannot be maintained.
Therefore, this kind of plugging agent is neither suitable for
channel plugging nor long interval channel plugging.
Furthermore, since the techniques are quite complicated, present
chemical plugging methods can be only mastered by a few
technical workers who have engaged in the research work for a
long time, which greatly restricts the spreading and application
of channel plugging techniques.
Analysis for Channel Cause and Technical Keys to
Cement Pluging
During the original stage of well cementation, the cement slurry
displaces the well bore slurry from the bottom to the top,
resulting in the annular region out of the casing being
completely filled with cement slurry. But cement slurry has a
solidification process from its initial curing to final curing. The
higher the solidification, the more difficult it is for the fluid
column weight of the cement slurry to pass to the cement and
the reservoirs. During this period, the cement slurry is under the
conditions of zero pressure. Under such a circumstance, the
fluid column weight cannot overcome the pressure from high
pressure layers. Then fluid from high pressure zones will
channel through the uncured cement slurry and flow into low
pressure layers, the cement slurry is diluted and channels form
(Seen as Figure 1).
In addition, for ordinary wells, the cement goes through a
dilatation-shrink process during its curing and the shrinking
ratio is up to 2% or so. The shrinking effect of the cement
creates slight cracks between the cement and the casing and/or
the formation, resulting in the cementation factor gradually
declining with time during the period of one month after well
cementation.
Before the cement slurry cures, high pressure layer fluids may
channel into the slurry that will lead to the failure of the plug
job. To solve this problem, an overburden pressure, which is
higher than the formation static pressure and less than the
formation fracture pressure, should always be put on the cement
column during the curing time. Thus, the problem of cement
returning back into the well bore ,which is caused by the high
pressure of the formation (higher than the fluid column static
pressure) before the cement cures and resulting in the failure of
the pluging job, to be overcome.
2 SPE 104443
The technique to plug the channels by cement has the
following advantages:
Low damage to the formation and can be used in large
quantities to plug long interval channeling wells;
The curing time of the improved cement slurry is
adjustable and the operation is quite safe;
The improved cement slurry has the characteristics of
better flow ability during the initial curing time, and then rapid
curing of the cement slurry, which can greatly reduce the
possibility of interlayer channeling;
The particle diameter of ultra fine cement is small;
therefore the cement can enter into the small cracks of the
channels;
After the cement is cured, its slight dilatation effect can
make the plugging more solid and obtain good results of the
cement plugs;
It can avoid the very complicated process to identify the
channels; the working efficiency is improved;
The operation process is simple, easy for the operation
team to perform and also available for large scale application in
the field.
Cement Properties for Channel Plugging and Lab
Studies
To increase the success rate of cement plugs, the properties of
the cement slurry have been improved so that they can satisfy
the needs of channel plugs with an overburden pressure during
the curing period. On the basis of laboratory evaluation and
analysis of different kinds of the cement properties, agents are
added into the cement slurry to improve the slurry properties.
For the cement slurry, adding a rapid curing agent can make
it have a characteristic of rapid curing solidification, while
adding the dilatant can make it slightly dilate after the cement
slurry cures, and the retarder makes the curing time adjustable,
the intensifier added into the slurry can increase the curing
strength as well as the cementation strength.
Rapid curing solidification of the cement slurry. With a rapid
curing agent, the cement slurry can keep its fluidity before the
initial curing happens. Meanwhile, the slurry can rapidly realize
its final curing as soon as initial curing ends; this characteristic
is called rapid curing solidification.
The solidification curves of Portland cement slurry and
slurry with agents added are shown in Figure 2. The curves
indicate the agent cement slurry has the characteristics of rapid
curing solidification. Therefore the improved slurry can to the
utmost prevent fluid channeling between high pressure layers
and low pressure layers and decrease the chance for the slurry to
return back into the well bore, which can improve the success
rate of channel plugging operation.
Slight dilatation of cement slurry. To overcome the
disadvantage that the Portland cement slurry will shrink after it
cures a dilatant is added into the cement slurry. The dilatability
is controlled at the range of 0.01% to 0.2%. The dilatability
comparisons between the cement with dilatant and Portland
cement can be seen in Table 1.
The curing time is adjustable. The initial and final curing time
must be prolonged to meet the needs of the operation. The
solidification time can be controlled by adding different
amounts of the retarder. When the amount of the retarder ranges
from 0.5% to 0.8%, the curing time will be prolonged 170-
350min accordingly (Seen as Table 2).
Since the curing time of the cement is controllable and the
cement has the characteristics of rapid curing solidification, the
appropriate curing time can be designed in advance according to
the real status of the operation, which can avoid tubing strings
being plugged. Meanwhile, it can to the umost prevent the fluids
from channeling between high pressure layer and low pressure
layers. Therefore, the chance of the fluids returning back into
the well bore decreases and the success rates of the operation
increases.
Strength and the permeability of gas and water after
curing.The improved cement has been tested for its pressure
resistance strength, breaking strength, interface strength and the
permeability of gas and water. The test results show that all
properties of the improved cement have been improved (Seen as
Table 3).
Studies on the damage the cement slurry has on the cores.
Core flowing tests were conducted to determine the damage of
the cement slurry filtrate on the formation. The test results are
shown in Table 4. For all of the three kinds of slurry filtrates,
the permeability recovery rate reaches above 88% with an
average of 90.8%.
Bridge plugging agents can effectively prevent the
loss of the cement slurry
The formation fractures cause a large amount of cement slurry
lose, so cement curing with an overburden pressure cannot be
implemented. To solve this problem, bridge plugging agents
were developed. The agent is made of organic and
macromolecular material and it has favorable transformation
and condensability characteristics. Tests indicate that ineffective
loss of the cement slurry can be greatly reduced by adding this
kind of bridge plugging agent (Seen as Table 5). Therefore, the
success rate of cement curing, with an overburden pressure,
increases. The volume of the agent added should consider the
pumping capacity and not affect the rheology of the cement
slurry. The bridge plugging agent can be directly added into the
cement slurry during the operation.
Operation Process of Channel Plugging in the Field
The process the cement pluging job is as follows:
(1) All the intervals with poor quality of cementation and
other targets suspected to be channeling, should be perforated.
The perforating charge DP30RDX-2 is usually selected. The
charge has the characteristics of shallow perforating depth and
low cost.
(2) Test the well pressure and measure the injectivity of the
interval to be plugged. According to the injectivity, the cement
column height to be reserved is calculated. If the injectivity is
too high, the bridging agent will be added into the plugging
cement slurry to reduce the loss of the cement slurry.
(3) To protect the intervals not to be plugged, a sand pack or
packers can be used.
(4) Run the tubing 3m higher than the well bottom, and
inject the cement slurry.
SPE 104443 3

(5) When fluid level of cement slurry reaches the pre-set
heights, lift the tubing above the height of cement top. Then the
mud slurry, with a density a little bit smaller than that of the
cement slurry, is used to circulate the remaining cement slurry
out of the tubing.
(6) Add pressure to the well bore and maintain the pressure.
The pressure (supplemental pressure and fluid column static
pressure) should be lower than the formation fracture pressure.
Let the cement cure for 24 hours.
(7) Drill out the cement plug in the intervals and re-perforate
the production zone (Shown in Figure 3).
Field Results
Field practice on 84 wells using this method shows that the
success rate of plugging long interval channeling wells is 97.1%
and the average distance between the top and lower layer of
objective intervals is 157m. The largest length of the plugged
interval is 722.5m for a single plug job. Comparing the
cementation curves before and after the channel plugging, the
well intervals with cementation factors above 0.8 increased 56
percentages, while the well intervals below 0.4 decreased 42
percentages.
Conclusions
1. The specific channel plugging agent has the characteristics
of rapid curing solidification, slight dilatability and it is feasible
to add a bridge plugging agent. The operation to plug long
interval channeling wells needs be performed with an
overburden pressure. Field experiences show that it is simple,
easy for the operation team to master the technique and the
success rate is high.
2. The technology, plugging long interval channeling wells by
cement with an overburden pressure, has many advantages, such
as low damage to the formation, short operation time (1.9 day
per interval on average), quite safe, no need to identify for the
channels, low cost (22.1 thousand yuan per interval on average)
and etc. Meanwhile, it can plug long interval channeling wells
by a single plug job (the longest one can reach more than 700m)
as well as to plug discontinuous multi-interval channeling wells
(at most plugging 18 intervals in one well has been performed).
3. The implementation of cement plugs can effectively bring
channeling problems under control, which can reduce casing
damage, more formations put on production and increase the
recoverable reserves. It is helpful to prevent water or polymer
fluids injected to enter into non-target formations. The
technology can obtain large economic and social benefits as
well.

Table 1- Dilatability Comparisons between the Cement with the Dilatant and Portland Cements
Time 24h 48h 72h

Portland Cement 0.007 -0.003 -0.013

P.C. with Dilatant 0.012 0.043 0.079

Super Fine Cement with Dilatant 0.048 0.12 0.21

Table 2- Relationship between the Added Amount of the Retarder and the Initial Curing Time
Retarder Amount% 0 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8

Initial Curing Time min 35-60 90-110 150-160 170-220 250-280 300-350

Table 3- Comparison Data of Cement Properties

Gas Resistance
24h Pressure Resistance 24h Interface Water Resistance Permeability
Cement Type Permeability
StrengthMpa StrengthMpa
10 m
-3 2

Constance water pressure 8h

Portland Cement (A) 18.0-22.0 1.20 1.98
Pressure1.5Mpa,permeable depth 12-14 mm
Portland Cement A Constance water pressure 8h Pressure
21.0-23.5 1.25 1.75
(Improved) 1.5Mpa, permeable depth 8-10 mm
Constance water pressure 32h Pressure
Ultra-fine Cement 19.5-22.5 1.45 0.17
3.0Mpapermeable depth 5-6 mm
4 SPE 104443

Table 4- Laboratory Data of Core Damage

Permeability Permeability
Original
porosity after Cement Recovering
Core No. Permeability
Test Fluid % Squeezed Rate
10 m
-3 2
10 m
-3 2
%

3 Ultra-fine filtrate 30.2 959.24 845.36 88.13

3-14 Ultra-fine filtrate 30.5 870.14 784.73 90.18

501-27 Portland cement filtrate 25.86 729.52 680.88 93.33

501-26 fine filtrate 26.3 483.91 443.91 91.73

Table 5- Effect of Bridge Agent on Loss Rate of Cement Slurry

Volume% 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Loss Rateml All 3600 1400 900 500

Loss Ratio% 100 72 28 18 10

High High
High
Pressure Pressure
Pressure

Low Low
Low
Pressure Pressure
Pressure

Cement slurry filled in annular Cement slurry is weightlessness, flowing into Channels Form
region by displacing the slurry low pressure layers from high pressure zones

Fig.1-Channels Form during Well Cementation

SPE 104443 5

Portland cement

Improved cement

Fig. 2- Solidification Curve of Improved Cement Slurry

1. Perforate the interval 3. Use sand pack or packer to

2. Test the well pressure and
of channeling measure the injectivity protect unplugged intervals

4. Cement slurry injection 5. Displace cement slurry 6. Cement curing with 7. Drill the cement plug
with the mud slurry overburdent pressure and re-perforate

Fig. 3-Operation Sketch Maps of Cement Pluging with an Overburden Pressure