Integrity Evaluation and Management in High Temperature High Pressure and High Production Rate Wells in Southwest China

The Longwangmiao (referred to as LM) gas field in southwest China has characteristics of high temperature (144~156 °C), high pressure(75~76 MPa), and high production rate (70~100×104 m3/d). Serious well integrity problems were encountered in the development process; 21% of 56 wells were subjected to sustained casing pressure (SCP)(≥20 MPa). Downhole leak detection logs indicated the main cause was tubing connection leakage at a depth range of 0~2400 m. Wellhead growth was present in 33 wells and 4 wells exhibited gas leakage through wellhead valves. Theoretical analysis and field tests were conducted to investigate and manage well integrity problems. A method to calculate the allowable pressure for different annuli was proposed based on string strength analysis, and downhole leak detection was conducted using ultrasonic leak detection method. A multi-string mechanical model to predict wellhead growth was established and the threshold values were calculated under different gas rates. According to the structure of wellhead, a method based on ultrasonic phased array to detect the work state of the wellhead was adopted, which measured the actual thickness of key valves to evaluate service life. For wells with SCP, the allowable pressure for different annuli was calculated and the pressure management charts were drawn and all wells were in steady production. Downhole leak detection showed that SCP in the A annulus (annulus between the tubing and production casing) was caused by connection leakage of tubing. In newly completed wells, a premium connection was adopted based on tests under cyclic structural and environmental thermal loads that the connections may encounter at various production phases, and the total ratio of SCP in newly completed wells decreased by 31.4%. Wellhead growth was predicted and compared with actual data, which showed an increase in average accuracy of 20~30% compared to the results from the WellCAT software. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the length of un-cemented casing and the production rate were the critical factors affecting the wellhead growth. The valve leakage of FF level material wellhead was caused due to corrosion after the removal of the coating, and no leakage was detected in the HH level material wellhead. Thickness survey showed that the average reduction was 0.085 mm~0.23 mm for HH wellhead, and 1.12 mm~2.24 mm for FF wellhead.