First remote well completion

The world’s first successful remotely-operated recompletion of a subsea well from a mobile rig has been carried out by Statoil.

Deepsea Trym performed the work with I-3 H, an oil producer on the Rimfaks satellite to Statoil’s Gullfaks field in the North Sea.

The job was done using the surface-controlled reservoir analysis and management system (Scrams). This has been developed by the Welldynamics company belonging to Halliburton and Shell.

Statoil has previously applied Scrams for remote operation of wells from platforms on its Gullfaks and Sleipner fields.

The system makes it possible to monitor and control well operations without expensive interventions, reports Hermod Johansen, reservoir development manager for the Gullfaks satellites.

That contributes to improving the recovery factor without adding heavily to costs.

Evaluation of the recently completed job will help to determine whether Statoil should continue with remotely-operated well completion.

“The advantage of Scrams is that valves on the seabed can be operated from Gullfaks A,” explains Mr Johansen.

“In a reservoir containing oil, water and gas, we can shut off a zone producing water and choke back production from zones which primarily produce gas.”

I-3 H, which lies in 135 metres of water, was cleaned and brought back on stream, but has now been temporarily shut down because of a turnaround.

Statoil has 140 subsea wells, making it the world’s second-largest operator of such installations after Brazil’s Petrobras. By 31 December, the number is due to have risen to about 200.