Challenge

An Operator in the Permian Basin was drilling directional wells with plans to complete with 5-1/2 in. production casing in the lateral section. Due to previous experience with wells drilled in this field, the customer planned to have ESET® solid expandable liners on site as a contingency should the primary intermediate 9-5/8” casing prove unable to reach the planned shoe depth.

The Operator set the 9-5/8 in. casing 1,300 ft off bottom in 12-1/4 in. hole as it became stuck (water influx area). The drilled hole (water influx interval) had to be isolated with another casing other than conventional 7-5/8 in. in order to continue drilling the curve and 5,000 ft lateral and complete well with 5-1/2 in. production casing. If conventional 7-5/8 in. casing was to be used, the hole size below through curve and lateral would be 6-3/4 in. which would result in downsized production casing from 5-1/2 in. to 4-1/2 in.

Solution and Results

The Operator decided to install a 7-5/8 x 9-5/8 in. ESET® Openhole Liner in 12-1/4 in. drilled hole through the trouble zone. The ESET expandable liner’s robust design enables the system to withstand harsh drilling conditions, which was required during this installation. The ESET liner was run to bottom through the trouble zone, cemented and successfully expanded. The shoe was then drilled out and a successful LOT was obtained. The curve section and the lateral was drilled with 7-7/8 in. bit and the 5-1/2 in. production casing was successfully run and cemented as per initial plan.

By setting and expanding the 7-5/8 in. ESET liner, the water influx zone is sealed off and the post-expanded 7-7/8 in. drift ID allows for the Operator to complete the well with the planned 5-1/2 in. production casing.

The ESET Openhole Liner is the ultimate solution to mitigate risk, keep the casing program as per plan, reduce NPT caused by unstable formations often encountered by Operators drilling in Permian Basin.

‍