RapidStart® Initiator CT sleeve delivers time and money savings

Overview

A major operator in Argentina needed to reduce the cost and time associated with its plug and perforate (PnP) completion operations in the Vaca Muerta shale play. The goal was to improve project returns so that the operator could continue developing its acreage. One way to do so is to streamline the toe preparation for PnP operations in the operator’s horizontal wells by the use of a reliable pressure-operated toe sleeve.

Halliburton recommended the RapidStart® Initiator CT sleeve to provide them with a true casing integrity test, without the need for intervention. The sleeve completed the casing integrity test and opened in the predicted time range. This cost-effective solution provided the operator a total saving of 200,000 USD in well toe preparation and saw a flow path at the toe of the well 48 hours faster compared to the traditional tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP) method.

Challenges

The operator needed a casing pressure integrity test to be performed before opening the toe sleeve for fracturing operations. The selected toe sleeve would need to withstand the cementing job operation and be able to withstand wellbore conditions for several months before being utilized.

Solution

Halliburton recommended that the RapidStart Initiator CT (casing-test) sleeve be run as part of the casing string and then cemented in place. The RapidStart Initiator CT sleeve is a pressure-operated fracturing sleeve designed to enable a casing pressure integrity test prior to opening and without exceeding the testing pressure. It can establish a fluid flow path to the target formation to enable PnP operations without the need for intervention.

The RapidStart Initiator CT sleeve was the industry’s first toe sleeve that allowed for a true casing pressure test, provided industry-leading reliability, reduced completion costs, and increased operational efficiency. By enabling positive verification of casing pressure integrity prior to fracturing operations, operators have confidence that they can safely perform stimulation operations. Additionally, the sleeve helps eliminate the need for a wellbore intervention trip by coiled tubing to perform toe preparation operations and create access to the formation by perforating with TCP guns or a hydra-jetting process so that multistage stimulation operations can be conducted.

The RapidStart Initiator CT sleeve was run-in-hole as part of the casing string and cemented in place. The liner hanger was then set and the well was closed. A casing test was conducted 129 days after the sleeve was installed, and the sleeve opened within the predicted time range of 35 minutes after the test started.