Water Shut Off from a LWIV in Offshore Angola

Identification of problem

An operator in Angola, Africa, encountered excessive water production for the lower zone of 2 separate subsea wells with open-hole gravel pack completions. This was not only increasing the volume of water being produced, increasing handling and disposal costs, but also decreasing the volume of hydrocarbon produced.

Issues to overcome

Each of these tools were set at high deviation, around 50°, and required tractors to reach setting depths. With wire wrap screens, shunt tubes and proppant in the open hole formation, the alloy had to flow through some very small, tight restrictions to seal off the well.

Application

A light well intervention vessel (LWIV) was used to deploy and set a wel-lok™ WSO tool on e-line inside the 5” base pipe of each well, sealing through the base pipe and gravel pack screen and mixing with the proppant out to the 8.5” open-hole formation.

Outcomes/Conclusion

The client has reported the wells are showing an average increase in oil production of 1,200 bopd per well. These were the first BiSN tools to be deployed utilizing a LWIV.

About the application

The wel-lok™ WSO (Water Shut Off) has been specifically developed to reduce unwanted water production from wells with sand screen and open hole gravel pack completions (OHGP). Unlike any other solution on the market, the wel-lok™ WSO tool seals the annulus and the wellbore in one operation without the need to perforate the sandscreen or squeeze the alloy into the open hole annulus. The melted alloy fills inside the completion and in the annulus to form a metal to metal sealing solution that is seamless, significantly reducing unwanted water production.

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