SPE/IADC-214579-MS

Rigless Solution in Replacement of Rig Intervention

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Afnan AL Marzooqi, Mohamed H. Thani Al Hammadi, Hajer Mohamed Ali J. Alshehhi, and Mohamed Salah,
ADNOC Onshore

Copyright 2023, SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition DOI 10.2118/214579-MS

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 23 - 25 May 2023.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE/IADC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s).
Contents of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors and are subject to correction
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its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers or
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Abstract
As part of a brainstorming exercise that was conducting, on finding ways to lower well operation and
intervention duration and have a better allocation of the Drilling function resources. The idea of using the
rigless equipment came into play, prompting a trail in business year 2022. The main objective of this newly
developed initiative was to look into opportunities where it could be made use of the light rigless intervention
which involves the use of light rigless intervention, which involves the use of specialized equipment and
techniques to perform the planned well services rather than the use of a conventional rig or/and heavy
equipment. Based on that, an exercise conducted in conjunction with the drilling operation teams was carried
out, to review and check the drilling workover schedule for potential wells. The scope of work was defined,
cases were studied, and the required resources were prepared. The rigless intervention campaign scope has
been completed within planned schedule and budget in addition to these types of light interventions enable
use fewer equipment footprint, offer improved safety compared to traditional methods by control risks to
workers and use of smaller crew members, and leave a remarkable reduction in carbon emission footprint
on each well location which in turn makes a positive differences when it compared with conventional rig-
based operations.

Introduction
Using coiled tubing cementing for rigless plug and abandonment provides several advantages, such as
keeping completion string in place, and requiring smaller equipment and people footprint. This approach
can yield significant time and cost savings, especially when applied to exploratory and remote wells. The
sensitivity of treatment pressures to fluid properties, and operational limitations, coiled tubing cementing
operations necessitate a high level of quality control. During the execution phase, numerous crucial coiled
tubing cementing practices should be implemented to ensure success. This paper discusses various practices
associated with rigless coiled tubing cementing campaigns that have been consistently successful. It also
presents case studies of the abandonment of wells that have recently been abandoned, with specific details
provided. This paper will discuss the recent practices to lower the dependance on drilling rigs to perform
various wells services with an emphasis on cost effective solutions while balance the environmental impact
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and financial objectives, as well as how these practices contributed to the reduction of carbon emission
through eliminate the need for drilling rig and extra equipment. Rigless well services campaign also offer
improved safety compared to traditional methods by controlling risks to workers and use of smaller crew
members, more specialized equipment that is easier to operate and safer for workers. Typically, save of
417 days over previous abandonment with drilling rigs. This constituted a total saving of over 21 million
US dollars. This methodology offers several benefits for P&A operations over traditional methods using
drilling rigs, such as the cost savings it offers and the ability to perform the work with a smaller crew and

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equipment and access to remote and hard-to-reach locations.

Methodology
The use of rigless coiled tubing in cementing operations requires a specialized cement recipe that differs
from the standard cement recipe due to the relatively small diameter of the coiled tubing. It is crucial to
ensure proper mixing and quality control. To ensure that the job design and placement meet the necessary
standards, it is important to choose appropriate criteria for evaluating job acceptance. Evaluation can be
summarized into two parts:
1. The first method involves using coiled tubing to locate the plug and applying weight to it to ensure
its physical placement.
2. Ensure that the plug provides the required hydraulic seal. To confirm this, a positive and negative
pressure test can be conducted.
Rigless coiled tubing cementing is a superior alternative to conventional plug placement for well
abandonment. By using rigless coiled tubing cementing, there is no need to mobilize drilling rigs and extra
equipment to retrieve the completion string from the wellbore, reducing the equipment footprint and reported
hazardous greenhouse gases emissions which is vital in today's petroleum industry, and reduce the fluid
volume requirements for well operations, such as kill fluid, wellbore fluids, spacers, and cement. To ensure
successful placement of cement plugs using coiled tubing, several design steps should be followed. These
include:

• Collection of wellbore and completion data.

• Identifying objectives for each barrier.

• Determining the required fluids and slurry volume.

• Designing appropriate cement slurry properties and spacer.

• Design the placement technique and pumping schedule.

• Identifying acceptance criteria.

Completion Data Gathering, to ensure proper slurry design and placement in rigless coiled tubing
cementing operations, it is important to collect wellbore data, such as directional surveys, bottom hole
temperature, and pore and fracture data. Reservoir injectivity and fluid leak-off / losses also play a key role
in slurry design. The tubular data and minimum restriction are critical for selecting the proper coiled tubing
size also provides information about the maximum allowable pressures during cement operations.
Cement Slurry Selection and Volume, choosing the right cement slurry and determining the appropriate
volume are crucial in rigless coiled tubing cementing. The cement slurry design should align with its
primary goal, but it should also take into account its placement through coiled tubing. The slurry must
be stable to prevent blockages, provide low friction pressures, and possess proper fluid loss control to
avoid any problems during placement. Depending on the job requirements, the slurry properties can be
SPE/IADC-214579-MS 3

heavy weight for interval isolation purposes, low density for depleted reservoirs or micro-fines for cement
squeezing operation. The appropriate slurry volume is determined by several factors, including the interval
to be abandoned and expected contamination during placement. Slurry contamination can be minimized by
designing proper slurry properties, such as density, and using proper placement techniques (Khalifeh and
Saasen, 2020).
Laboratory Testing, compared to regular cementing operations, cementing through coiled tubing requires
more detailed planning and therefore should not be underestimated otherwise, disastrous consequences can

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occur, including the loss of the coiled tubing, and the entire well. Consequently, extensive laboratory testing
has to be performed, considering all the reservoir and well conditions. The most crucial properties of a
cement slurry are rheology, thickening time and stability. Relatively low viscosity and long thickening time
of cement are required to minimize frictional pressures inside the coiled tubing and ensure cement placement
successfully. The stability and rheology of a cement slurry are crucial factors that must be tested to ensure
a thin and stable mixture. Hydraulic simulations must be performed using both sets of rheologies to ensure
the cement slurry can be pumped through the coiled tubing at the appropriate rate (typically between 0.5to
1 BPM). The optimum plastic viscosity and yield point for coiled tubing cementing are between 5 and 12
lbf/100 ft2 for yield point and μ lower than 120 CP for viscosity. The recommended minimum thickening
time for coiled tubing cementing is either 6 hrs or 1.5 times the slurry pumping time, whichever is greater.
Cement compressive strength test to be conducted under simulated circulating temperature.
Spacer design, the purpose of cement spacers is to create a barrier between the cement slurry and any
wellbore fluids that could contaminate it, such as chemicals that accelerate or retard its setting. The volume
of spacer should provide enough buffer ahead and behind the cement slurry (Khalifeh and Saasen, 2020).
Typically, 30 barrels of spacer are pumped ahead of the cement slurry, and 20 barrels are pumped behind
it. Spacer should be compatible with both wellbore fluids and cement. If the fluids are incompatible, they
can result in a high friction pressure or unstable mixtures.

Operation Challenges
Several challenges have been encountered and effective solutions were developed. We will examine some
of these challenges and best practices.
Cement Premature Setting, the premature setting of a cement plug can become problematic if it sets too
early. The duration of time that cement remains in a fluid state and can be plumbable is called the thickening
time (Source: API RP 10B-2). The thickening time of cement is significantly affected by temperature. To
ensure that there is enough time for the cement to thicken and be circulated out of the hole, the job design
should consider the wellbore temperature and typically
allow for 6 to 8 hours of thickening time (Portman, 2004). Premature setting can also occur due to
contaminants in the well, such as brines. To prevent this, spacer fluids should be used to protect the cement
from such fluids (Carney, 1973).
Failure to circulate-out excess cement, failing to get excess cement out from the wellbore can result in
cement nodes remaining in the well, which may require milling operations to remove. Typically, cementing
operations involve placing cement followed by spacer or a fluid stage to contaminate the excess cement
and circulate it back to the surface (Portman, 2004). However, there have been instances where this stage
of the operation has failed. Circulating the cement back to the surface can be challenging, as fine cement
particles can develop partially contaminated beds on the low side of deviated wells (BP & Chevron Texaco,
2002). Therefore, it is not generally valid to assume that transporting the fine cement particles out of the well
would be easy, and proper cleanout methods should be used to prevent the development of contaminated
beds. To circulate out the excess cement from the wellbore, the recommended approach involves using
a displacement fluid with a dispersant, pulling the coiled tubing upwards along with jetting to sweep the
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cement out of the wellbore (Portman, 2004). However, It is important to avoid using cleanout fluid that has
high retardation properties since it can delay the setting of remaining cement.
Fluid Swapping, fluid swapping is a potential reason for cement plug failure where the denser slurry
can fall through or mix with a lighter fluid below, which can make it challenging to locate or verify the
cement barrier created during abandonment, especially if the cement needs to be tested or tagged by weight.
To avoid fluid swapping, it is recommended to place the slurry on a solid base. Because coiled tubing
abandonment plugs are usually placed inside cased holes or tubing, a mechanical base such as a bridge plug

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or retainer is commonly used for this purpose. The use of viscous pills required special considerations due
to the high friction pressure in the coiled tubing limiting their viscosity. Moreover, a pill that is viscous
enough to support a cement plug would likely be too thick to be pumped through coiled tubing.
Cement Free Fall, performing coiled tubing cementing operations where the wells being worked on are
depleted possess a challenge where cement slurries are very dense, creates a risk of liquid freefall. This
occurs when the weight of the liquid causes it to move down coiled tubing faster than it is being pumped
from the surface (Portman, 2004). Thus, cement slurry reaches the end of CT earlier than expected causing
forming of voids along the coiled tubing. The following are some measures that can be followed to address
the problematic liquid freefall:

• Increase the pumping rate or use a smaller coiled tubing diameter to prevent freefall (Table-1).

• Employ a backpressure to increase the bottom hole pressure to resist fluid free fall.

• Support the liquid column using cement darts.

Table 1—Typical free fall rates

Cement Water
Coiled Tubing Size, in
Free Fall Rate (BPM) Free Fall Rate (BPM)

1 ¼" 0.9 1.2

1 ½" 1.5 2

1 ¾" 2.2 3

2" 3.1 4.2

2 3/8" 5.1 6.8

2 7/8" 9 12

Discussion
There was significant interest, calls/requests for Rigless solution services by the various assets were
received, more than 200 wells were planned for Rigless intervention, including 10 wells for Plug and
Abandonment. This result encouraged a closer look on the subject matter, it was noticed that 40% of the
Drilling Workover Schedule wells are planned for workover, this showed a significant candidate for saving,
via the use of the Rigless Package services. Which encourage management to support this initiative.
SPE/IADC-214579-MS 5

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Replacing the use of a conventional rig by intervention of a rigless smart rigless solution was a challenge
in itself. The biggest hurdle faced was to challenge and convince the reservoir, Integrity, and drilling teams,
in the idea to replace the prototypical used way of dealing with difficult wells, with an alternative rigless
smart solution method. Rather than utilizing conventional rig which is the safer and more proven solution
with a new unconventional solution, proved difficult. A lot of data were presented to support the initiative
objective, the support and trust of the stake holders was given which was a huge part of the success of this
initiative.
During the calculation phase for the number of wells that qualify for the initiative. Another challenge
was faced, which was securing the required resources in term of rigless packages (including Coiled Tubing
units, slickline units, wireline units and batch treatment units) and manpower.
After long discussion and optimization of the yearly Rigless intervention plan, with all stakeholders, one
coiled tubing package and a second batch treatment package were secured. The basis of the solution was
depending on two options (short term and long term)
1. The short-term immediate solution was to take the advantage of the long moves for well testing
assigned jobs which reflected in the business plan. The rigless initiative received approval, to plan to
conduct some of the proposed jobs. This solution depended on specific type of assigned jobs, which
means not all packages were being put to use.
2. The long-term solution was to raise VO in order, to secure two more additional packages. However,
this option was expected to take at least 4 months before it can come into fruition.
3. The final conclusion resulted in 58 wells being identified and planned for the initiative in 2022.
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Table 2—Rig Days Savings plan

Asset No. of wells Rig Days Savings

BAB 12 94

NEB-SQM 11 48

BUH-SE 21 200

ASR-UC-ASAB 23 129

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Total 67 471

Results
Successful commissioning of the initiative was achieved mid-March 2022. This showed saving on well
duration for more than 80 rig days and around 3 million USD. This smart solution initiative also helped in
completing minor jobs that could spear conventional Rig intervention. Such as, deploying coiled tubing,
E-line, batch treatment and slickline. Which contributed to more savings. This diminished the need for
workover rigs for these types of small jobs. Freeing them to be used in more complex activities elsewhere
(re-entry of wells, completion change and etc.). as shown in Fig. 2 the Rigless intervention solution achieved:

• 58 wells

• 564 rig saving days.

• 21.3 million USD was saved.

Figure 2—Rig saving days per month.

In addition to cost saving, below results were attained from this initiative:
– Reducing the manpower footprint on site, and subsequently minimizing risk/harm that might result
from human interaction.
SPE/IADC-214579-MS 7

– Minimizing utilizing rigs for minor re-entry jobs.

– Using available rigless technologies to overcome inactive wells (e.g. SSSV problems, fish in
hole..etc).
– Minimizing rig days duration.
– Drilling more wells.
– Preparing wells for re-entry (killing and securing).
– Rigless Plug and abandonment.

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Major Oil and gas companies across the world have established decarbonization targets, and even
though the upstream activities contribute the largest percentage of emissions in the industry. Moving
plug and abandonment operations from rig-based to rigless not only offers significant cost reduction, but
also reducing carbon emissions footprint, which is critical in current oil and gas industry. These light
interventions use less fuel to operate along with less equipment, leave a smaller greenhouse gas emission
footprint at each site which helps reducing emissions of hazardous greenhouse gases into the environment
compared with regular rig-based operations (Koishymanova et al., 2021).

Conclusions
The paper discusses various important factors for successful rigless plug and abandonment using coiled
tubing cementing. By following best practices in job design, laboratory testing, and cement slurry placement,
abandonment cement plugs can be placed with high success rates, saving significant time and costs
compared to conventional rig-based plug and abandonment techniques. In addition to, reducing the amount
of hazardous gases emission footprints. It is critical to minimize the risk to the well by making careful
choices regarding cement base, controlling the cement top, circulating out excess cement, selecting the
bottom hole assembly (BHA), and managing potential liquid freefall. To avoid blockages in the coiled
tubing BHA, excess cement in the well bore, cement placement at the wrong depth, or the BHA becoming
stuck, it is recommended to use a minimum upset on the BHA, avoid small restrictions in the BHA, ensure
the coiled tubing is clean, use a stable cement base, manage liquid freefall, use a radial nozzle, and design
a careful cleanout operation. It is also important to design the cement and its spacers correctly to ensure
smooth pumping through the coiled tubing and to prevent any potential issues with accelerating or retarding
elements. The future is promising for rigless plug and abandonment operation, but sustainable development
is necessary to make the final solution cost, time, and HSE effective.
Although it is unclear how many years it will take for this method to become widely accepted, temporary
solutions should be tried out. Gathering knowledge and sharing lessons learned is essential for achieving
better results, and operator companies should share successful job outcomes. As new technology keeps
improving and rigless plug and abandonment operations get more attention, and companies need to remain
open to new methods.

Acknowledgments
The Authors would like to thank ADNOC management for their permission to publish and present this
paper. We also want to thank the personnel involved on-site who contributed to this success.

References
API RP 10B-2, Recommended Practice for Testing Well Cements, First Edition, July 2005.
BP and Chevron Texaco (2002) Cement Manual. Rotterdam: BP & Chevron Texaco.
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doi.org/10.2118/4784-PA
Koishymanova, S., Kayashev, D., Schwanitz, B., Sadvakassov, T., and Ponomarenko, Y. (2021) Minimization of
Greenhouse Emissions in Russia and Kazakhstan Upstream Sector Through Optimized Well Construction Designs and
8 SPE/IADC-214579-MS

Lightweight Mechanical E-Line Operations. The SPE Russian Petroleum Technology Conference, Virtual, October
2021. 10.2118/206609-MS
Khalifeh, M., Saasen, A. (2020). Fundamentals of Plug Placement. In: Introduction to Permanent Plug and Abandonment
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