Fas Drill® SVB packer pumps more than 2,500 barrels of cement

Overview

A customer in New Mexico was performing a two-stage, cement job for a 9 5/8-in. casing string, but, during the first cement stage all returns were lost. Whether due to a natural fracture in the formation or just a high-permeability, low-pressure zone, the operator was now faced with a difficult cement squeeze job to shut off the thief zone and allow cement to reach the surface as per local regulatory requirements. To successfully place the large volume of cement, a cement at the pump rates that were necessary, the operator was anticipating having to utilize multiple cast iron cement retainers.

Solution

As an alternative solution, Halliburton proposed a 9 5/8-in. Fas Drill® SVB (Sliding Valve Brass) squeeze packer with a mechanical setting tool because of its ability to withstand large volumes of cement with minimal erosion wear to the valve. In addition, these tools offer faster drillout times and cause less casing damage associated during the drillout than cast iron retainers. Halliburton Cementing designed the slurries to squeeze off the thief zone.

Result

The Fas Drill SVB packer was successfully run and set at depth, 50 feet above the perforations. More than 2,500 barrels of various types of cement slurry were pumped through the Fas Drill SVB packer at up to six barrels per minute to squeeze off the thief zone. The packer performed as designed during the pumping operations. After the cement cured, a bond log was run to determine the top of cement and a second set of perforations was made. Using the Fas Drill SVB packer helped the operator save costs associated with valuable rig time, squeeze-packer runs, and drillout operations.