NEWLY DESIGNED ESEAL™ REFRAC LINER WITHSTANDS EXTREME PRESSURES; RESTORING WELLBORE INTEGRITY

CHALLENGE

An Operator in the South Texas, EagleFord Basin had a well that needed a new, more efficiently designed frac applied to extend the production life of the well. The previously fracked well had over 2,900 feet of existing perforations that needed to be covered up. The perforations were located near the heel of the lateral section of the wellbore and contained frac sand and other material that was falling back into the well.

The Operator needed a solution that would isolate the previously fracked interval while providing the maximum internal diameter possible in order to recomplete the well as planned. The conventional solution would be to run a long 3-1/2 in. liner however this solution would require thousands more feet of liner and isolation between the perforations and the rest of the liner would have been difficult. Conventional 3-1/2 in. liner would also result in a smaller ID.

SOLUTION AND RESULTS

The Operator had previous experience with Solid Expandable Technology and wanted a solution that would restore wellbore integrity while achieving the largest ID possible and were confident that choosing to run the newly designed ESeal ReFrac Liner would meet their objective.

The 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 in. ESeal RF Liner’s expansion assembly is designed with enhanced connections that can withstand the extreme high pressures seen during hydraulic fracturing. The 2,964-foot ESeal RF Liner was run to depth and expanded to cover the perforations. During expansion, forces up to 10,000 psi were encountered as well as 113,000 lbs of overpull were applied due to sand falling in behind the liner. The newly designed expansion assembly withstood these forces with no issues and the liner was completely expanded, covering the entire interval, and enabling the Operator to continue with the frac program.