Technology Focus: High-Pressure/High-Temperature Challenges (April 2014)
Authors: Payne Mike 
Published: February 2015

Technology Focus

High-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) challenges are being addressed in a variety of locations around the world. These include the very challenging HP/HT wells in Malaysia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the South China Sea, the US Gulf Coast (both onshore and in shallow water), and the US deep water. The deepwater challenges are somewhat different because they involve high pressures but somewhat milder temperatures than seen in other regions. The deepwater challenges also require high-pressure equipment in large-bore configurations adapted for subsea use.

In response to these various HP/HT challenges, industry standards organizations have been working to develop foundational technical standards to provide design and qualification guidance for new equipment and systems. One of these key standards, American Petroleum Institute (API) Technical Report PER15K, details the verification and validation protocols for HP/HT equipment rated for working pressures above 15,000 psi or temperatures above 350°F.

PER15K was published as a first-edition industry standard in March 2013. It provides a holistic approach to the development and qualification challenges for the new HP/HT equipment and systems. Functional specification guidance is provided, covering environmental conditions, specified loads and loading characteristics, and lifecycle considerations. Guidance on technical specifications is supplied so the specifications are developed effectively to address the detailed functional requirements. Best practices and guidance are provided on materials, design verification, failure mode and effects analysis, validation testing, manufacturing processes, and quality systems.

Following PER15K, parties will be able successfully and consistently to develop the industry’s next generation of HP/HT equipment and systems. The new PER15K was developed by use of overarching principles and is not specific to any single type of equipment. Therefore, the various API subcommittees that govern specific equipment class standards are developing and codifying the HP/HT protocols for their respective drilling, completion, subsea, well-control, interventions, and production equipment. This work is already well under way, so interested parties who would like more information are encouraged to contact these standards work groups.

As the industry takes on new challenges, including those in HP/HT, consensus industry standardization plays an important role. It provides the approaches and the methods for developing and qualifying new equipment and systems that are robust, fit for purpose, effective, and efficient. This new industry standard has been developed to enable those outcomes for all who properly apply it. Lessons learned from current HP/HT equipment development and qualification will be used to feed back continuous improvements and enhancements to these standards. Key industry standards such as PER15K form the basis of safe, reliable well operations in all phases of our upstream industry and are especially important in challenging areas such as HP/HT. JPT

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

SPE 166574 Shearwater—Securing the Chalk—Effects of Depletion of an HP/HT Reservoir on Chalk Overburden by P.F. van Bergen, Shell UK, et al.

SPE 167067 First Reverse-Circulation Cement Job in Australia Executed in HP/HT Geothermal Well in Cooper Basin by Daniel L. Bour, Geodynamics Limited, et al.

SPE 166179 Thermally Stable Explosive System for Ultrahigh-Temperature Perforating by James M. Barker, Halliburton