Oil and Gas Well
Cementing
D. Steven Tipton, P.E.
April 16-17, 2013
EPA Technical Workshop on Well
Construction/Operation and Subsurface Modeling
Research Triangle Park, NC
Protecting Water is Essential
For Everyone
Cementing
Cementing is one of the most critical steps in the drilling
and completion of oil or gas wells
Well cementing technology is the application of many
scientific and engineering disciplines
Primary Cementing
• Process of placing cement in the annulus between
the casing and the wellbore
• Objectives:
• Provide Hydraulic Seal
• Create Zonal Isolation
• Protect Useable Water
• Provide Structural Support for Casing
• Protect Casing from Corrosion
• Isolate Casing Seat for Subsequent Drilling
Primary Cementing Starts with a Plan
• The plan should take well from drilling through
plugging
• The well plan includes:
• Wellbore Environment
• Well Type
• Casing and Cement Program
• Mud System
• Type of Completion
Effective Primary Cementing
Good drilling practices and mud properties
Casing movement while cementing
Centralization of the casing
Optimal borehole pipe clearance
Use of spacers and mud flushes
Fundamentals of Cement Placement
Casing Hardware
• Float Equipment
• Centralizers
• Wiper Plugs
• Multi-stage tools
Hole conditioning and mud properties
• Mud Rheology
• Gel Strength
• Fluid Loss
• Circulation Rate
• Filter cake removal
Casing movement while cementing
• Rotation
• Reciprocation
Use of spacers and mud flushes
Variables Affecting Zonal Isolation
BOREHOLE:
GEOMECHANICS:
Size, shape, uniformity BOREHOLE STABILITY:
In-situ stresses, change in
stresses along borehole, Lost circulation, flows, structural
change in stresses in cement integrity and characteristics of
and pipe formations
CEMENTING
PROCESS:
CHEMISTRY: Displacement design,
Corrosion and chemical job execution, cement
resistance of casing and cement volumes, cement
material properties
GEOLOGY/GEOCHEMISTRY: MATERIAL PROPERTIES:
Formation type, structure, Cement, relationships between
formation fluid chemistry pipe-cement-formation
PRESSURE AND
TEMPERATURE
CHANGES/CYCLING
Over the life of the well
Benefits of Pipe Rotation During Cementing
3-D Computer Modeling of Displacement of Mud by Spacer and Cement
Courtesy of
No Pipe Rotation 20 RPM Pipe Rotation
Current Well Design – Deep Intermediate Casing
FORM. / CSG TVD MD CASING PROFILE HOLE SIZE CSG SPECS MUD INFO NOTES
50' 50' 20"
100% Excess
Shallow Shales 17 1/2' Cmt to Surf. Vertical
< 2º
13 3/8", J-55
13 3/8" Shoe 1,500' 1,500' 54.5#
CIT 300 PSI / 30 min
12 1/4" 11.0 PPG FIT
Base/Heebner Shale (GDS) 6,861'
9 5/8" TOC 7,500' 7,500' TOC ~1,000' Vertical
above Deese
Deese (GDS) 8,789'
5 1/2" TOC 10,800' 10,800'
Primrose (Morrow ) 11,459'
Springer Shale 11,838' 9 5/8", L-80
9 5/8" Shoe 11,900' 11,900' 40#
CIT 1500 PSI / 30 min
12.5 PPG FIT
Swell packer @ 7,000'
TOC 1,000 into Build: 14-16º/100
Black Marker 13,174' 8 3/4" 9 5/8" Csg
Springer 2 (false caney) 13,743'
Springer 3 (false caney) 14,059' 23#, P-110, Blue
KOP 14,400' 14,400'
Caney 14,414'
Woodford 14,731'
EOB 14,901' 15,310'
LOL: 4,950 TD: 20,260
TD TVD: 14,721
Newfield Mid-Continent Operations
Drilling
• Mud circulated until it has the
required properties
• Casing is Centralized
• Casing is reciprocated rotated
during cementing
• On the production casing a
swell packer is run and set
inside intermediate casing
string
• Using TergoVis! Efficiency
Fluid
Newfield Mid-Continent Operations
Completions
• Test annulus between the
production casing and
intermediate casing for
pressure
• Annular pressure monitored
during hydraulic fracture
treatment
• Production casing pressure
tested to 80% of yield before
pumping hydraulic fracture
treatment
• Production casing attached to
automatic shut downs and
relief lines while pumping job
Summary
• Zonal isolation for each well must be designed and constructed
with regard to its unique geological environment.
• There is no single fit-for-purpose design, well construction, or
barrier verification process that is right for all wells.
• The barrier system that protects usable water includes surface
casing and cement.
• Verification of the barriers is typically accomplished by both
pressure testing (direct measurements of casing and shoe
cement) and by an operational evaluation (cement placement
behind pipe).
• There is no direct measurement available to verify a cement
barrier behind casing at this time.
Conclusions
• Casing has been cemented
in wells for more than 100
years
• Cementing best practices
have been known for more
than 60 years.
• Best practices have to be
used by everyone to
• Protect the environment
and community
• Obtain maximum value
from your wells
Questions!?!?!
