SPE-179056-MS

Deepwater Riserless Operations with Coiled Tubing in the Gulf of Mexico:

An Innovative, Safe, and Efficient Plug-and-Abandonment Technique
Renny Ottolina, Carlos Torres, and Alexander Rudnik, Travis Gortmaker - Coil Tubing Services a Schlumberger
Company

Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well Intervention Conference & Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, USA, 22–23 March
2016.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE 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 and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, 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 is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
The future of exploration and production (E&P) operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is focused on
deep water, that is, ⬎5,000 ft [1,524 m] water depth. As the industry pushes the envelope to reach deeper
reservoirs, subsea wells have become an important part of the offshore production. Although subsea
completions may offer significant economic and environmental advantages over seafloor-founded struc-
tures, they require floating drilling or well intervention vessels to enable wellbore access should a
workover operation be required to maintain production at an economic level or even to plug and abandon
(P&A) the wells once they become uneconomical to produce. Interventions and P&A operations are very
costly and may involve multiple services. The P&A of subsea wells represents no financial upside to the
operators, other than the possible recycling of the subsea trees. Consequently, reducing costs and avoiding
future environmental liability are the prerequisites for successful subsea decommissioning.
Riserless subsea P&A operations are often completed by setting the plugs with drillpipe after the
production tubing is removed with the rig. As part of the operational improvement process, a coiled tubing
(CT) service company evaluated the option of performing this task using the riserless CT technique from
a multiservice vessel (MSV) after the zonal and casing isolation packer had been successfully set and
tested. This technique would allow the operator to save time to complete these operations, thus reducing
the cost.
Between 2010 and mid-2015, the CT service company has successfully completed 18 riserless subsea
interventions at well depths ranging from 4,900 ft to 21,000 ft [1,494 m to 6,400 m] and water depths from
4,600 ft to 7,000 ft [1,402 m to 2,133 m]. Riserless wellbore access with CT has proved to be an efficient
P&A method that has helped reduce operating time by up to 40% as compared to riserless workover
rig-based operations.
Detailed engineering and planning as well as continuous improvements have allowed implementing the
CT riserless technique in accordance with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement regu-
lations.
2 SPE-179056-MS

Introduction
As of 2010 the riserless upper abandonments were being performed by workover rigs, however as the
service company seeks for differentiation and innovation it was proposed to performed the riserless upper
abandonments with coiled tubing after reviewing the following cnsiderations:
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 250.1710-250.1717
As per CFR 250.1710-250.1717, before retrieving the subsea tree and production tubing from the
wellbore, a minimum of two physical barriers must be in place. The first barrier is set against potential
source of inflow (i.e., the reservoir). The formation should be isolated by either squeezing cement into it
(preferred option) or by a mechanical bridge plug with a 50-ft [15.2-m] long cement plug on top of it (if
the cement squeeze cannot be accomplished). The second barrier will be a 300-ft [91.4-m] long cement
plug set in the production tubing and casing-tubing annulus. Both plugs must tested to qualify as valid
barriers. These two barriers in conjunction with the cement pumped in the different annuli during the
drilling operations will isolate the formation from surface. Table 1 provides a detailed reference to the
CFR.

Table 1—BSEE Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 250.1710-250.1717.

If you have . . . Then you must use . . .

(3) A perforated zone that is currently
open and not previously squeezed or
isolated,
(4) A casing stub where the stub end is
within the casing,
(6) An annular space that communicates
with open hole and extends to the
mud line,
(7) A subsea well with unsealed annulus,
(8) A well with casing,
(11) Removed the barriers required in
§250.420(b)(3) for the well to be
completed
(i) A method to squeeze cement to all perforations;
(ii) A cement plug set by the displacement method, at least 100 feet above to 100 feet below the
perforated interval, or down to casing plug, whichever is less; or
(iii) If the perforated zones are isolated from the hole below, you may use any of the plugs specified in
paragraphs (a)(3)(iii)(A) through (E) of this section instead of those specified in paragraphs (a)(3)and
(a)(3)(ii)of this section.
(A) A cement retainer with effective back-pressure control set 50 to 100 feet above the top of the
perforated interval, and a cement plug that extends at least 100 feet below the bottom of the
perforated interval with at least 50 feet of cement above the retainer
(B) A bridge plug set 50 to 100 feet above the top of the perforated interval and at least 50 feet of
cement on top of the bodge plug;
(C) Acement plug at least 200 feet in length, set by the displacement method, with the bottom of the
plug no rrcre than 100 feet above the perorated interval;
(D) A through-tubing basket plug set no more than 100 feet above the perforated interval with at least 50
feet of cement on top of the basket plug; or
(E) A tubing plug set no more than 100 feet above the perforated interval topped with a sufficient
volume of cement so as to extend at least 100 feet above the uppermost packer in the wellbore and at
least 300 feet of cement in the casing annulus immediately above the packer.
(i) Acement plug set at least 100 feet above and betow the stub end;
(ii) A cement retainer or bridge plug set at least 50 to 100 feet above the stub end with at least 50 feet
of cement on top of the retainer or bridge plug; or
(iii) A cement plug at least 200 feet long with the bottom of the plug set no more than 100 feet above
the stub end.
A cement plug at least 200 feet tong set in the annular space. For a well completed above the ocean
surface, you must pressure test each casing annulus to verify isolation.
A cutter to sever the casing, and you must set a stub plug as specified in paragraphs (a)(4) and (a)(5) of
this section.
A cement surface plug at least 150 feet long set in the smallest casing that extends to the mud line with
the top of the plug no more than 150 feet below the mud line.
Two independent barriers, one of which must be a mechanical barrier, in the center wrBwrr as described
in §250.420(b)(3) once the well is to be placed in a permanent or temporary abandonment.

The Conventional Approach: Workover Rigs

The need to P&A wells comes from either expiring leases or recompletion jobs where drilling operations
are required. The wells need to be abandoned either permanently or temporarily. If considerable reserves
SPE-179056-MS 3

remain in the reservoir and the cost to repair the well problem is greater than the projected income from
the potential production, a well may be temporary abandoned in anticipation of future utilization, such as
in an enhanced oil recovery project. The temporary abandonment must be carried out such that the well
can be re-entered safely, and the well must be secured using pressure control equipment without
compromising the barriers in place. Permanent abandonment, on the other hand, means that the well or
part of the well will be plugged and abandoned permanently, and with the intention of never being used
or re-entered again. For permanent abandonments, the production tubing is removed as part of the Bureau
of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) requirements. For temporary abandonments, the
operator company retrieves the production tubing to reduce the rig operational time required to recon-
figure the well. Both permanent and temporary abandonments may consist of lower and upper abandon-
ment stages. The section of the well below the packer is referred to as the lower completion. The process
of plugging and abandonment of the lower completion is, therefore, called the lower abandonment. On the
other hand, the term upper abandonment stage refers to abandonment of the part of wellbore from the
bottom of the production tubing upwards. Upper abandonments are completed once the production tubing
and subsea wellhead are cut and removed from the wellbore.
Production tubing and subsea wellhead retrieval operations are conventionally performed with a
workover rig (WOR). Specific to subsea P&A operations, the rig will unlatch the subsea tree and retrieve
it to surface. Then, drillpipe is run to latch the completion tubing and pull it out of the well. After the
production tubing is removed from the well, two more barriers are required to complete the upper
abandonment, one on top of the tubing stub and one close to the mudline.
E-line is run to set the lower bridge plug. Then, drillpipe is run through the rig to the target depth to
set the first upper completion cement plug. The average drillpipe running speed is 15 ft/min [4.6 m/min],
including running in hole (RIH) and making up the pipe connections, which translates into 22 hours of
total trip time down to 20,000 ft [6,096 m], the lowermost upper abandonment cement plug setting depth.
Once the plug is set, the drillpipe is pulled up to the uppermost cement plug depth which is 500 ft below
the mud line. After the uppermost cement plug is placed close to the mudline depth, the drillpipe is pulled
back to surface.
The total operational time for the upper abandonment is approximately 48 hours with a workover rig.
This includes drillpipe tripping in and out of the hole and cement slurry pumping. Fig. 1 presents a
detailed well schematic
4 SPE-179056-MS

Figure 1—Well schematic.

SPE-179056-MS 5

A WOR has major advantages over an MSV in the following scenarios:

● For the wells to be recompleted by sidetrack drilling operations, WORs are capable of completing
the entire abandonment and recompletion work scope.
● WORs have the high pulling capabilities needed to retrieve well equipment such as casing stubs,
subsea tree, and completion tubing.
The main WOR disadvantages are
● Mobilization and project completion can be delayed due to limited availability of the WOR.
● Tripping in and out of the well is slower because pipe joints must be set up. This increases the time
on location and, consequently, increases the cost. In addition, personnel exposure to the opera-
tional associated risks also increases.
● WOR daily costs are considerably higher than those of an MSV with CT services on board.
● With a WOR, there is no continuous pumping capability during tripping in and out of the well
because circulation must stopped while making/breaking drillpipe connections
● With the latest revisions of the CFR, the P&A operational time with workover rigs increased
considerably to meet the regulatory requirements.

The Way Forward: CT Riserless Upper Abandonment Interventions

Since 2004, the CT service company has worked as part of an MSV-based integrated P&A service. CT
has been used to achieve the successful abandonment of wells as part of this service as well conditions
dictated. In 2010, CT riserless upper well abandonment operations were evaluated as part of the
continuous efforts to improve efficiency, reduce operational time, and ultimately reduce costs to the
operators, while maintaining safety standards and reducing personnel risk exposure.
During the initial feasibility assessment, the following conditions were identified as the minimum
requirements to enable a CT riserless upper abandonment to comply with United States of America CFR:
● A minimum of two physical barriers must be in place to seal the formation before retrieving the
production tubing.
● No communication can be present between the reservoir and the outer annuli.
● Cement must be placed in the casing after the production tubing has been recovered to surface.
● Placement of small cement slurry volumes is to be simplified and slurry contamination is to be
minimized by using small outside diameter (OD) pipe, such as CT.
Fig. 2 shows a breakdown of the activities and the time required to abandon a well. The activities show
a comparison between the workover/drilling rig and the MSV with onboard CT. The comparison is based
on a 25,000 ft [7,620 m] deep well with 400 ft [122 m] of fill inside the production string. Table 2 gives
a detailed breakdown of the activities.
6 SPE-179056-MS

Figure 2—P&A activities breakdown.

Table 2—P&A activities.

Workover Rig MSV with CT

Task Method Time [hr] Method Time [hr]

Cleanout well Cleanout with rig with wash pipe 56 Cleanout with CT, reduced string trip 36
time and continuous pumping
capability
Squeeze cement into the formation Cement bullheaded from surface, 15 Cement slurry pumped through CT, 16
fluid in the wellbore is injected to wellbore fluid njected to the
formation, cement contamination formation and cement
may occur contamination minimized
Tubing punch E-line, E-line Rig up performed in 10 E-line, E-line rig up performed inside 9
the rotary table the CTLF on top of the CT BOP
Tubing and Annulus fluid circulation Rig pumps 9 Rig pumps 9
Cement balanced plug Cement slurry pumped from cement 4 Cement slurry pumped through the 16
pump on the rig, cement CT string, minimizing the slurry
contamination may occur contamination
Production tubing cut E-line, E-line Rig up performed in 10 E-line, E-line rig up performed inside 9
the rotary table the CTLF on top of the CT BOP
Tubing and Annulus fluid circulation Rig pumps 9 Rig pumps 9
Subsea tree and tubing retrieval Rig operations 120 Rig operations 120
Set bridge plue E-line, E-line Rig up performed in 8 E-line, E-line Rig up performed in 8
the rotary table the rotary table
Intermediate and surface cement RIH drill pipe to 20,000ft, pump 48 RIH with CT to 20,000 ft, pump 28
plugs intermediate cement plug, POOH intermediate cement plug, POOH
to 3,500 ft and pump surface to 3,500 ft and pump surface
cement plug cement plug
Total Time 289 Total Time 260

As seen from the Fig. 2, CT riserless operation could potentially save 29 hours per well. On a typical
campaign that includes 5 to 6 well abandonments, the total savings could be 145 to 174 hours (6 to 7 days).
SPE-179056-MS 7

Therefore, the initial technical/efficiency evaluation concluded that performing riserless upper aban-
donments from MSVs with CT could offer a more efficient solution for temporary and permanent
abandonments, as compared to WOR, for the following reasons:
● Reduced day rate. The average USD 800,000/day day rate for a WOR is significantly higher than
the USD 600,000/day average day rate for an MSV.
● Additional savings. Riserless upper abandonment with CT from the MSV will further reduce the
P&A operation by 1 day/per well, which translates into USD 600,000 per well additional savings.
● Reduced amount of personnel for operations. MSV and CT unit (CTU) crews require less
personnel than rigs to be operated, which translates into less personnel exposed to risks and
reduced associated costs with personnel on location.
● Simplified CT rig up for riserless operations. Much simpler rig-up configuration and pressure
testing are required for riserless operations. See Fig. 3 for an illustration of the CT stack. The CT
injector head is lifted and held by the MSV multipurpose tower block. Pressure testing is limited
to the treating iron, CT pipe, and CT bottomhole assembly (BHA) tests. Since the riserless
operations are performed in the open water and the CT is run through the MSV’s moon pool, there
is no need to pressure test blowout preventers (BOPs).

Figure 3—Surface stack.

8 SPE-179056-MS

● CT running and pulling speeds. The recommended CT running speed for riserless operations is 40
ft/min [12.19 m/min], which enables completing the upper abandonment within 20 to 28 hours,
depending on the depth of the lower cement plug and the cement slurry volumes required.
● Same-field multiwell P&A operations. When multiwell P&A are conducted in the same field, with
wells within short distance, all the lower abandonments are finalized before moving to the riserless
upper abandonments. Once the lower abandonments are completed, the CT pressure control stack
and the CT lift frame (CTLF) are rigged down because they are no longer needed during the upper
abandonment operations. This translates into even better operational efficiency improvement. Not
having to rig-up/rig-down CT pressure control equipment and CTLF between wells not only saves
10 additional hours per well but also reduces CT personnel exposure to health, safety, and
environment (HSE) risks due to lifting operations and working at heights. The additional time
savings include equipment rig down upon the upper abandonment completion and the simplified
surface stack rig up prior to lower abandonment commencement on the following well.
In the following sections we describe the challenges of performing CT riserless cementing operations
in terms of candidate selection, operational safety, CT engineering, running-in-hole/pulling-out-of-hole
(RIH/POOH) considerations, and pipe management. We then describe the solutions that have been
implemented in the Gulf of Mexico.

Candidate Selection Criteria for Riserless P&A Method

Riserless CT operations can be planned as a part of the conventional well P&A program to improve
efficiency and reduce costs. The potential efficiency gains must be assessed during the P&A campaign
preparation stage in terms of valuable cost and time savings. The assessment of efficiency gains must
include the specific additional steps that are necessary to ensure integrity of pressure barriers.
The following are the key factors to determine if a well is a candidate for a riserless upper abandonment
with CT.
Tested Pressure Barriers and Regulatory Approval
The first criterion for selection relates to the presence of tested pressure barriers in the wellbore and
regulatory approval. Riserless well intervention assumes no pressure control equipment is installed on top
of the wellbore since the wellhead is removed and recovered to surface prior to the upper abandonment
stage. Therefore, a riserless solution is only available for dead wells, and pressure control must be focused
on prevention. The reservoir must be isolated and cemented, and the barrier must be tested and monitored
(both tubing and tubing/casing annulus) for a period of time prior to pulling tubing. Should there be any
evidence of the barriers’ inadequate integrity, the lower abandonment must be repeated before tubing is
recovered and the wellhead is removed. To further ensure the barriers’ reliability, it is a common practice
to exceed the minimum regulatory requirements by increasing the number of plugs and cement plug
lengths. The upper wellbore must have good cement bond behind the casing as annular cement squeeze
job may necessitate pressure control and, therefore, render riserless option unacceptable. In the Gulf of
Mexico, all abandonments must comply with 30CFR250 requirements. Therefore, each step must be
clearly noted in the BSEE Application for Permit to Modify (APM), and the APM must be approved by
BSEE prior to conducting the work. That includes the exact procedures for the interruption to allow for
barriers monitoring.
Vessel Capabilities
Because the operations are conducted without a marine riser attached to the subsea wellhead, a
dynamically positioned vessel (DP3 system with full redundancy) with remotely operated vehicle (ROV)
support capability is necessary to enable CT deployment through the water column into the wellbore.
Since P&A operations may involve pulling the completion, vessels classified as category B1 (dedicated
SPE-179056-MS 9

fit-for-purpose boat) and B2 (dedicated fit-for-purpose semisubmersible), according to Det Norske Veritas
(DNV), equipped with moon pool area, can be used. In addition to having sufficient deck space to contain
CT equipment, the vessel must have satisfactory characteristics regarding heave, roll, and pitch for
operations in the area.
Single Well Versus Clustered Well P&A Campaign
Since the precautionary monitoring period may result in moving onto the well twice during the P&A
to allow for a monitoring period, operational efficiency gains are maximized when multiple wells located
within the same seafloor cluster site are included in the P&A campaign so that the vessel can access all
those wells at all times. This could allow the work to alternate between lower and upper abandonments
so the vessel could perform lower abandonment on the next well while monitoring barrier integrity on the
previous well. The vessel must be equipped with a CT support structure to access the open water and to
deploy the CT string through the moon pool. The structure must be capable of supporting the CT injector
head and additional CT string weights.
Scope of Work
The scope of work plays a significant role in candidate selection for riserless openwater well
intervention because this operation is out of the normal scope of work for CT. The following criteria can
be used to assess suitability of riserless CT work.
Depth Control Requirements Because the CT is run through a column of water, the pipe cannot be
deployed into the wellbore completely vertically due to residual bend of the CT string and vessel offset
(both nominal and operational) relative to wellbore. Nominal standoff represents target vessel position
relative to the wellbore on the seabed. Operational offset represents vessel static and dynamic motions
within a defined watch circle centered at the nominal target position. Additionally, sea conditions such as
heave and currents affect the shape of CT string curvature between the injector head and BHA. Even
though these effects can be reduced by allowing the intervention riser system (IRS) to extend into the open
water as deeply as possible, depth control remains a very challenging task. Therefore, the feasibility of CT
operation depends on depth tolerance.
Circulation Path Due to absence of a fluid conduit between the wellbore and vessel, the complete return
circulation path cannot be established because any fluid pumped through CT will rise up the wellbore and
discharge into the sea. Therefore, the operations must be planned to eliminate the risk of environmental
pollution as a result of fluids being used, or debris being lifted from the wellbore. Everything discharged
to the sea must be environmentally acceptable.
CT Working Envelope Software models must be used to determine the CT working limits based on the
worst-case loading scenario. In this scenario, the entire CT string is filled with cement slurry with the
maximum circulating pressure and overpulls applied, and additional clump weight is added to the BHA
to keep the CT string as straight as possible to ease wellbore access. Openwater CT operations introduce
additional factors that affect CT fatigue life, such as high-cycle/low-strain fatigue and the corrosive effects
of long-term exposure to seawater. Accurate tracking of these additional factors has proved difficult, and
the research is ongoing. Ocean currents add load to the CT string, such as hangoff moment that varies with
current speed. Studies performed by the service company revealed that surface current speeds up to about
2.6 ft/s [0.8 m/s] appear feasible with respect to CT bending. Use of bend stiffeners can increase CT
tolerance to bending moment and can prevent excessive bending deformations at the entry into the
wellbore and at the support where the CT leaves the vessel.

Safety Considerations
As in any other CT operation, the service company follows its operating and safety standards, as well as
those of the operator and BSEE, whichever preceded to be the highest requirement, to ensure that the
10 SPE-179056-MS

operation is performed safely and to prevent any incidents, spills, or injuries. Since 2010, the service
company have performed 18 upper abandonment operations in the GoM. This translates into 396
work-hours operating ⬙riserless⬙ on site without incidents and without any pipe integrity problems.
Although in a typical CT operation the main concern is well control during live well interventions,
riserless upper abandonment is an unusual scenario, in which the well control has already been established
and does not rely on the CT operation. Instead, the main safety concern for openwater operation is the pipe
integrity. In the first years of using this technique, the service company had a dedicated ⬙openwater⬙ string
on site, which, once the operations were completed, was sent to a shore facility for an integrity inspection
to determine if the CT string had suffered any damage and whether or not it could be used on the next
well. In 2013, the service company developed a real-time pipe integrity system that enabled monitoring
the pipe for damage. Real-time CT integrity evaluation allowed the operation to become even more
efficient by saving the cost of the swapping and shipping of the ⬙openwater⬙ string for inspection to the
operator.

CT Engineering
CT engineering design includes BHA selection, design of tubing forces, determination of the working
limits envelope of the CT string and the set-down weight to tag the lower bridge plug, RIH/POOH and
rig-up/rig-down procedures, and pipe management.

BHA Selection
The ultimate purpose of the BHA used on this operation is to allow pumping cement; hence, the BHA
should be kept very basic and simple (Fig. 4). One important factor to consider for the openwater BHA
design is that, given the absence of riser conduit, the BHA must be heavy and long enough to straighten
the CT while running in the open water and to improve the detection of weight changes while tagging the
lower bridge plug once in the wellbore. To achieve this, several washpipe joints are used. When this
technique was introduced in 2010, heavier and longer BHA were utilized (up to 96 ft [29 m] long with
weight of 1,500 lbm [591 kg]). After several riserless operations were performed, it was determined that
one single washpipe joint (each washpipe joint is 33 ft [10 m] long and weighs 566 lbm [223 kg]) was
sufficient to keep the CT straight while RIH to tag the bridge plug safely and to further improve the job
efficiency and safety.
SPE-179056-MS 11

Figure 4 —Upper abandonment BHA schematic.

Tubing Forces Design

For riserless operations, the tubing forces simulation is done considering that from surface to the mudline
there is no conduit. The simulations are processed by a computer-assisted design engineering (CADE)
software, and a large completion inside diameter (ID) is considered to allow the software to complete the
mathematical simulations.
Because there is no conduit for CT, the buckling cannot be defined or simulated; instead, an overlay
is done after each operation to understand the behavior and compare the simulation to the actual job
parameters. See Fig. 5, which depicts the pre- and post-job overlays for one of the wells performed. This
has enables understanding and defining two critical parameters for the operation: depth correlation and
maximum weight available at the BHA.
12 SPE-179056-MS

Figure 5—Tubing forces simulation with post-job overlay.

As it can be observed in Fig. 5, the assumptions used to complete the simulations are correct, since the
overlay is accurate when the simulation results are compared to the operational parameters. On the graph,
a few low-weight minima are shown, which are related to heave movement. The initial pickup when CT
is at bottom is high related to the injector head force required to start the CT movement; after few feet,
the weight normalizes. However, it is important to constantly monitor the CT weight during the operation
to identify any possible operational problem.

CT String Working Limits Envelope

Due to absence of the outer tubular to contain the CT string, the CT may fail in compression, even when
a minimal compressive force is applied, as shown by the working envelope in Fig. 6. The left-hand side
of the envelope, however, does not represent the actual conditions. Should the end of the CT string hit an
obstruction in the sea or in the wellbore, it would be allowed to form a very large-radius arch before
buckling becomes critical, and this may cause the pipe failure. Since compression loading will cause
instantaneous CT bucking, conventional weight monitoring practice at surface becomes limited. An ROV,
in addition to the surface weight indicator, needs to monitor pipe curvature between the wellbore and the
vessel to keep the pipe as straight as possible.
SPE-179056-MS 13

Figure 6 —CT riserless working limits.

Set-Down Weight to Tag Lower bridge Plug

As required by BSEE on the CFR, a physical barrier is required to hold the lower cement plug in place;
for this reason, CT must be RIH until the bridge plug is tagged. To accomplish this safely, the depth
correlation and the awareness of the CT operator are critical to avoid CT string failures. The BHA
selection is critical, because the weight of the BHA must be enough to minimize the residual bend of the
CT, which will help the CT operator to detect weight changes faster. For this type of operation, it is
required to have a backup safety measure; therefore, the utilization of an automated system designed to
shut down based on change in weight (delta weight shutdown) is required to minimize the possibility of
a CT string failure due to buckling. As shown by the CT string working limits envelope (Fig. 6), the
available effective force during a set-down is minimal. CT shape monitoring by an ROV provides an
additional measure to ensure the tag is detected without exposing the CT to excessive bending.
RIH/POOH Considerations
Because the production tubing has been removed from the wellbore and no riser is used to contain the
lateral movement of the CT, a heavy BHA is used to keep the CT as straight as possible. However, it is
required to have the ROV monitoring the CT while it is run in ⬙open water⬙ to ensure it will not bend
excessively. When CT is 100 ft [30.5 m] above the wellbore, the CT is stopped, and the ROV grabs it to
guide the CT into the wellbore. While CT is being run riserless, a plug valve in the treating line before
the CT reel is closed to minimize the ⬙fall out⬙ of the fluid that is in the CT.
After the CT is 100 ft in the wellbore, the CT is stopped, and the valve before the reel is opened to
allow circulation. Then, the CT is resumed to RIH at normal cruise speed until CT is 100 ft [30.5 m] above
14 SPE-179056-MS

the bridge plug. At that point, the CT speed is reduced to 5 ft/min [1.5 m/min] to tag the plug slightly and
avoid catastrophic buckling of the CT.
After the job has been completed and the cement plugs have been set, the CT is POOH while being
monitored by the ROV to ensure no undesired bending occurs on the CT.
Rig-up/Rig-down Considerations
Once the lower abandonment operations are complete, the CT well control stack and CTLF are rigged
down prior the riserless upper abandonment operations. With the CT well control stack and CTLF rigged
down, the MSV proceeds to retrieve the subsea tree and the completion tubing with the multipurpose
tower (MPT). Then, the CT injector head with a stripper and a single-ram BOP are picked up with the
MPT block.
Because the MPT is used to hold the injector head, the need for the CTLF is eliminated. This improves
the rig-up efficiency (and, hence, the upper abandonment preparation efficiency) and allows simultaneous
e-line/slick operations by rigging them up on one side of the vessel.
After the upper abandonment is completed, the injector head is set down on one side of the moon pool
while the MSV is mobilized to the next well.
BOP configuration As mentioned, pressure control using CT BOP is not necessary for riserless
operations. The stripper assembly is still included as part of the rig up to provide guidance for the pipe
below the injector head chains. In addition, it is required to make up the connection to a single blind-shear,
which is used to provide emergency shearing capability. A typical example of the BOP configuration for
the openwater operation is provided in Fig. 3.
BHA Rig-Up Considering the weight and length of the BHA, a self-aligning quick connector is used to
aid the makeup. The upper sub is made up to the CT connector that is made up in the CT string. The lower
sub is made to the top washpipe joint, and the mule shoe is made to the lowest washpipe joint. Then the
BHA section is lowered with the rig winch to make the upper washpipe joint, and the process is repeated
until the uppermost joint. Finally, the quick connector is made to secure the lower section of the BHA to
the CT connector.
If one wash pipe joint is used, the BHA rig-up is simplified, and the time required to make it up is
significantly reduced. However, the length of the BHA is dictated by the weight required to ensure safe
operations.

Pipe Management
One of the most critical aspects for the coiled tubing riserless operations is the integrity of the CT string,
for that reason the Pipe Management has to be addressed in the most possible details. The Pipe
management considerations are the following:
CT-Life Considerations
CT fatigue life and corrosion due to seawater exposure assessment are considered critical factors in
riserless operations. Because of the uncertainty of the CT fatigue due to the vessel heave movement and
the sea currents, a dedicated CT string was used for the first several riserless upper abandonment
operations [SLD: in the Gulf of Mexico?]. The fatigue affecting conditions to be considered are
● Fatigue due to vessel heave motions and currents induced by sea condition: Considering that the
CT string is RIH in ⬙open water⬙, it was suspected that the sea current could induce high-cycle
low-strain fatigue to the CT. However, the severity of the fatigue was uncertain.
● Low-cycle high-strain fatigue can occur due to bend/straighten cycles of the CT over the reel and
the gooseneck/injector. In riserless CT operations, the low-cycle high-strain fatigue due to CT
bend/straighten cycles is no different from that in standard CT operations. The tube is plastically
deformed as it is straightened coming off the reel, as shown in Fig. 7, point 1. It is then bent at
SPE-179056-MS 15

point 2 as it moves onto the guide arch, and is straightened again at point 3 as it travels to the
injector and enters the wellbore. The CT string is then plastically deformed at the same three points
during retrieval from the well.

Figure 7—CT plastic deformation points.

With reference to the CT corrosion due to seawater, even though pumping seawater through the CT is
a common process, some chemical products are added to the seawater that minimize the corrosion effect
during standard CT operations. Whereas the exposure to seawater does not increase during riserless
operations in comparison to standard operations, the CT is exposed to untreated seawater, which increases
the corrosion effect increases.
Safety Measures
Due to the uncertainty of the high-cycle low-strain fatigue, two CT strings were used in the beginning of
the CT riserless operations: one string for the lower abandonment and one string for the upper riserless
abandonment. To avoid CT string failures due to catastrophic buckling, several measures were taken: the
CT delta weight shutdown was activated, the CT operator was fully alert to operational parameter changes,
and the CT was monitored by the ROV while RIH.
For the first three projects in the Gulf of Mexico, after the completion of the operations, the CT was
sent in for service and an integrity inspection using a combination eddy current and magnetic flux leakage
(MFL). The results showed no significant variance to the results expected when CT is RIH in a completed
well. For this reason, currently one CT string is being used in the Gulf of Mexico operations to complete
the interventions including the upper abandonments, which improves the job efficiency. However, the
same safety measures mentioned above are still in place to avoid CT string failures.
Best Practice: Real-Time Integrity Monitoring Survey
Real-time data of tubing integrity should be gathered as often as possible. Various devices have been used
by the service company for this purpose. The first device is an eddy current sensor that monitors the
diameter and calculates ovality of the tubing. Recent work has included measurements using an inspection
device based on a combination of eddy currents and magnetic flux leakage. It enables real-time
measurement of diameter and wall thickness, calculates tubing ovality, and detects defects in the CT
16 SPE-179056-MS

resulting from corrosion and mechanical damage, both inside and outside the tubing. The real-time CT
integrity device generates valuable data to validate the models for corrosion and deformation of the CT
over its lifetime. The data can also be used to update the working envelope of the CT in real time in
response to the wall thickness measurements, ensuring that the safety factors for CT operation are never
exceeded.
Riserless Upper Abandonment Wells History
As shown in Table 3, until November 2015, a total of 18 riserless cement plugs were successfully
performed in 10 wells, with no operational issues or CT string failures, saving the operator over USD 6
million total (one operational day less per well at USD600,000/day). For the initial three projects, a second
CT string was sent to the location to perform the riserless jobs due to the uncertainty of the effect of
running the CT riserless. The strings’ integrity was evaluated after the operations, and the CT string
condition after the riserless operation was no different from that expected in a riser-based operation
performed in a completed well. Therefore, the operations have since been performed with the same string
for all the operational stages.

Table 3—Riserless upper abandonment job history

Best Practices, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations

The use of riserless operations itself has led to efficiency improvement. However, several best practices
have been developed over the course of operations that have allowed the riserless upper abandonments to
become more streamlined.
SPE-179056-MS 17

Best Practices
The best practices involved with riserless coiled tubing intervention closely mirror those for riser-based
work. These are summarized below.
● Re-establishing the learning curve for each operation or campaign can lead to loss of efficiency
and wastes resources. Consistent use of the same competent crews to perform the work leads to
consistently higher level of performance.
● The use of an injector head stand or jacking stand to stabilize the injector head during the operation
can make it easier to make up BHA components and avoids issues with personnel working under
suspended loads.
● Consistent communication with other service providers and rig personnel is essential. Communi-
cation between CT crews, rig operators, and ROV personnel is required to make the operation run
smoothly. Verbal confirmations of the ⬙call and respond⬙ type over radio for each step of the
operation ensure that each service provider is aware of its role during each phase.
● The use of a self-aligning quick connector allows makeup of CT BHA components with heavy drill
collars with a minimum of effort.

Lessons Learned
● Originally, the injector head and CT surface stack were rigged up over the moon pool using a
jacking stand. However, the time required for the rig-up was a concern. To reduce the rig-up time,
the CT injector head and surface stack are currently being lifted and held by the MSV multipurpose
tower.
● The original rig-up involving hanging off several joints of subsea riser from the slips to guide the
CT into the water increased the speed of operations relative to rigging up the CTLF and associated
equipment. Recent operations have foregone the riser joints when the diameter of the toolstring
exceeds the riser ID, creating an opportunity for more time savings.
● Efficiency and safety can be improved using a shorter BHA with fewer washpipe joints. The shape
of CT curvature was found to be satisfactory with a single joint of washpipe. This reduces the
number of joints that need to be made up on the rig floor, reducing exposure of personnel to
unnecessary risks while reducing the time necessary to make up the BHA.
● Efficiency can be gained by executing the abandonments in ⬙batch mode.⬙ For example, multiple
wells in the same field can be targeted for abandonment, reducing the time necessary to mobilize
from well to well, and in some cases, allowing ⬙hopping⬙ from one well to the other, without
rigging down the CT injector head or other equipment between upper abandonments.

Recommendations
● Real-time monitoring of tubing integrity is crucial for evaluating the effects of high-cycle/low-
strain fatigue and corrosion in a seawater environment.
● Use of ⬙mini tongs⬙ to make up CT tool crossovers can make tool makeup safer and more efficient.

Technology gaps
Although real-time integrity monitoring of the CT is possible, the long-term effects of high-cycle/low
strain fatigue have yet to be fully quantified. The short-term deployment of the CT in open water limits
the risk due to these effects, but further data are needed to build and validate a comprehensive fatigue
model that takes into account low-cycle/high-strain fatigue at surface as well as high-cycle/low-strain
fatigue incurred from operating riserless operations.
18 SPE-179056-MS

Conclusions
● Riserless subsea CT upper abandonments are feasible alternatives to rig-based operations that meet
the requirements of CFR 250.1710-1717. More than 18 successful riserless cement plug operations
have been performed in the Gulf of Mexico to date.
● Riserless well openwater operations from MSV using CT improve the upper abandonment
efficiency and reduce the operational times of workover rigs by 40%, which represents 1 day of
workover rig time at USD 800,000/day, or USD 600,000/day on an MSV.
● The cost savings, efficiency, and safety gains are achieved through use of less expensive vessel,
faster CT tripping in and out of the well, reduced surface rig-up, and elimination of Intervension
Riser System (IRS). and pressure control equipment (and associated pressure testing).
● Cost savings and efficiency gains are multiplied on multiwell abandonment campaigns in the same
field. The operational efficiency improves progressively from one well to the next when lower and
upper abandonments are staged.
● Performing subsea upper abandonments with CT helps improve efficiency by faster CT tripping
in and out of the well, reducing the risk of personnel exposure by minimizing the amount of
personnel required as compared to rig operations.
● The BHA selection is critical. The weight of the BHA must be enough to minimize the residual
bend of the CT, which will help the CT operator to detect weight changes faster.
● After inspecting and performing an integrity inspection using a combination of eddy current and
magnetic flux leakage, it was determined that there is no significant variance to the string condition
expected when CT is RIH in a completed well. Further research is necessary to quantify
high-cycle/low-strain fatigue effect on CT strings.

References
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 250.1710-250.1717.
Liu, Z., Rivas Diaz, O., and Hauglund, L. 2015. A Novel Fatigue Assessment of CT with Defects Based on Magnetic Flux
Leakage. Presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well Intervention Conference & Exhibition, The Woodlands,
Texas, USA, 24 –25 March. SPE-173664-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/173664-MS.
Torregrossa, M., Zsolt, L., and Zwanenburg, M. 2014. Optimizing Pipe Management with a New Approach of Coiled
Tubing Integrity Monitoring. Presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well Intervention Conference &
Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 25–26 March. SPE-168303-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/168303-MS.