T
he past 18months have proven to be challenging for the oil and
gas industry as awhole. Operators and service companies that
once thrived in aUS$90/bbl market are experiencing extremely
tightmargins, as they face oil prices in themidUS$30s. In order to stay
profitable in the currentmarket, completion experts are looking for new
innovations to complete their wellsmore efficiently and economically.
Before oil prices dropped to recent lows, the completionsmarket was
accustomed to a backlog of expensivewell intervention operations such
as the use of coiled tubing andworkover rigs. The demand for a cheaper,
faster way to achievewellbore isolation and plug removal during frack
procedureswas very high, and companies began designing and testing
dissolvable tools that would allowoperators to performtheir completion
jobswith less risk, lessmoney, and in less time. This began the race to
develop themost reliable, most efficient dissolvable frack plug on the
market.
In 2014, well completion equipment and service provider
MagnumOil Tools International Ltd, launched its first dissolvable frack
plug. Two years later, after further development, theMagnumVanishing
Plug™ (MVP) has evolved. Atmore than 99.5%dissolvable, theMVP has
increasedwell completion efficiencies and decreased time to production
throughout theNorth American shale plays and other emergingmarkets
worldwide.
The technology helps tomakewell completions safer, more efficient
andmore economical by reducing the risks and delays that are associated
withwell interventions. Byworking closelywith operators to develop tools
that address specificwell completion challenges, a tool was developed
that has satisfied demand fromexploration and production companies for
an efficient frack plug.
In an effort to improve the completion economics and efficiency of a
long horizontal well in the South Central OklahomaOil Province (SCOOP),
an operator recently chose to run 17MVPs downhole, accounting for
each of the 17 stages in thewellbore. Thewell had 5.5 in. 20# casing and
a bottomhole temperature of 190˚F. The plugwas chosen for this job
because the operator knew that they could avoidmillouts and get thewell
to production faster than using composite plugs for wellbore isolation
and coiled tubing for removal operations. Because of the effectiveness of
theMVP, thewell was put on production faster andwithout drilling out a
single plug – or conducting a clean-out runwith coiled tubing – atypical
for wells of its nature in this region. Thismeant significant savings in
comparison to similar wells being completed in a similarmanner – aswell
as an alleviation of delayed production and the safety risks that comewith
well intervention. Ultimately, the operator was able to reduce their time to
production by 90%.
The company first embarked on its development of a dissolvable
product linewith the creation of a dissolvable frack ball. TheMagnum
Fastball™was designed to be utilised in sliding sleeve systems and to
eliminate the need for removal by coiled tubing or rig intervention.
The success of the Fastball and the increasing demand for a reliable,
GARRET FRAZIER, MAGNUM OIL TOOLS, USA,
OUTLINES THE BENEFITS OF DISSOLVABLE
FRACK PLUGS IN COMPLETIONS OPERATIONS.
CUTTING
COMPLETIONS
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