Case study: Eagleford Shale, North America

Versa-Drive plug milling service
drilled, cleaned out two unique
unconventional wells, each in one run,saved $150k USD
Drilling longer horizontal wells has
become common among operatorsfor maximizing production from thereservoir. However, tight leaseboundaries can limit the feasibility ofthis strategy in some acreages
mitigating access to parts of thereservoir.
A customer in the Eagleford Shale
Basin had two unique wells where asecond lateral had been createdparallel to the first one in the sameformation. Standard unconventional
shale wells are generally L-shaped inlayman’s terms. However, one of theirwells resembled a “w”-shaped lateral,
while the other resembled a “u”-shape.
These extraordinarily shaped laterals
were created with the objective ofobtaining equivalent treatable lateral
lengths in a lease with short widths.
The customer required a thru-tubing
service that would drill out 32 fracplugs in the w-shaped well with ameasured depth (MD) of 17,846 ft, anddrill out 38 frac plugs in the u-shaped
well with an MD of 21,064 ft
respectively.
The major concern, however, wasgetting to bottom to drill and clean out
all frac plugs to ensure production
from all stages.
Baker Hughes recommended a holistic
solution that factored in multiple
components. CIRCA™ simulation
software was utilized to provide tubing
force analysis and modeling for
wellbore hydraulics, solids transport,
and optimal well cleaning. The
software confirmed that the string

selection used by the coiled-tubing
provider would successfully reach total
depth (TD). A hole cleaning/solids
transport analysis, also performed by
the CIRCA software, allowed engineers
to plan for flow rates, run-in-hole
speed, and wiper trip speed toeffectively remove sand and plugdebris during operation.
To mill through composite frac plugs
and dissolvable frac plugs, Baker
Hughes recommended the VersaDrive™ plug milling service, whichleverages a full kit of fit-for-purpose
tools backed by accurate modeling toreach TD in a single trip, reliable andcost effectively.
The bottomhole assembly (BHA)
consisted of a 4 ½-in. sealed bearing
tricone bit, a 3 1/8-in. ULTRAMAX™ ADL
workover motor, flex joint, aHydropull™ extended reach tool andscreen sub, a high strength hydraulicdisconnect, a quad-flapper backpressure valve, and an external coiled
tubing connector for 2 5/8-in. coiled
tubing. The wells had 5 ½-in., 23 lb/ft
long string.

Challenges• Remove 32 frac plugs in a w-shaped
well with one BHA in one trip without
NPT• Remove 38 frac plugs in a u-shaped
well with one BHA in one trip without
NPT• Maximize hole cleaning and solids
transport• Drive operational efficiencyResults• Saved $150,000 USD by eliminating
an additional thru-tubing fishing BHA
run to reach TD• Experienced no health, safety, andenvironmental (HSE) issues or
nonproductive time (NPT)

By selecting Baker Hughes Versa-Drive
plug milling service, the operator wasable to overcome challenges whereconventional technology had
previously proved insufficient.
Customer expectations weresurpassed in all areas—reachingdesired depths, going through allstages in each well in one trip, andreducing rig time and associatedcosts, all with zero health, safety or
environmental (HSE) issues.
bakerhughes.com

CIRCA software was used to analyze trajectory and tubing force analysis in both u-shaped and w-shaped wells.

Plug drill out and Clean Out Parameters
Parameters‘W’ Well‘U’ Well# of plugs

32

38

Wellhead Pressures (avg.)

2,600 psi

4,500 psi

Circulating Pressures

6,500 psi

7,500 psi

Single BHA/Well?

Yes, One Trip

Yes, One Trip

Total Time in Hole

34.9 hrs.

80.2 hrs.

Max Flow Rate

4.5 bpm

5.0 bpm# of motor stalls

10

USD 60,000

USD 90,000

Total savings

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