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Why Is Well Integrity Important

Well integrity is important to prevent economic losses and environmental damage from blowouts. The Montara blowout leaked for 74 days in 2009 without fatalities. The Macondo blowout in 2010 caused 11 fatalities and discharged an estimated 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. Loss of well integrity can cost over $11.5 billion annually, equivalent to the cost of drilling 115 deepwater wells. Proper well barriers and life cycle governance are needed to maintain well integrity from drilling through abandonment.

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Yovaraj Karunakaran
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127 views7 pages

Why Is Well Integrity Important

Well integrity is important to prevent economic losses and environmental damage from blowouts. The Montara blowout leaked for 74 days in 2009 without fatalities. The Macondo blowout in 2010 caused 11 fatalities and discharged an estimated 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. Loss of well integrity can cost over $11.5 billion annually, equivalent to the cost of drilling 115 deepwater wells. Proper well barriers and life cycle governance are needed to maintain well integrity from drilling through abandonment.

Uploaded by

Yovaraj Karunakaran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Why is Well Integrity

Important?
Montara Blowout – E.
Timor Sea – 8/21/09
• Leaked for 74 days (est. flow
2000 BOPD). Stopped
w/relief well – no fatalities
• Most likely hydrocarbons
entered well thru 9 5/8”
cemented casing shoe and
flowed up the casing
Photo www.wellintegrity.net Source: Montara Commission of Inquiry,
2010 – www.ag.au/cca
Society of Petroleum Engineers
Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
7
Why is Well Integrity Important?

• Macondo Blowout, Gulf of Mexico, April 2010


• 11 fatalities
• Est. 5 million barrels discharged into GOM over 87 days
(photo www.nytimes.com)
Society of Petroleum Engineers
Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
8
Economic Loss Due to Well Integrity
Problems
5% loss in production
equals $11.5
billion/year
($55 per Barrel)

Cost of constructing 115 new


deepwater wells @ ~ $100 million/well

or
Drill/complete 1600 new oil-shale wells
onshore @ ~ $7 million/well

US Produces ~ 4.2 billion barrels/year (Avg 11.5 MMBOD)


Society of Petroleum Engineers
Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
9
Well Integrity Process
Assurance of Well Barriers over
lifecycle:

▪Barriers for subsurface that prevent


outflow or inflow from subsurface
▪Barriers that control the effect of loss of
containment to surface
▪Barriers that control the effect of loss of
containment to process
▪Barriers for safe well bore access
Source: Hopmans, 2015

Society of Petroleum Engineers


Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
10
Well Integrity Barriers

MUD

ANNULUS FLUID

CEMENT

NORSOK D-010

Society of Petroleum Engineers


Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
11
Barriers Breached & Relationship of
Barriers to Critical Factors

Society of Petroleum Engineers


BP’s Deepwater Investigation Report, 2010
Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
12
Well integrity – Life cycle governance (ISO 16530-1)

References: (1) ISO 16530-1-2017 – Well Integrity Part 1: Life cycle governance – www.iso.org;
(2) https://oilandgasuk.co.uk/product/well-life-cycle-integrity-guidelines; (3) www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/ed-well-
integrity.pdf; (4) http://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/wells.htm

Society of Petroleum Engineers


Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
13

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