The Use of Along String Annular Pressure Measurements to Monitor Solids Transport and Hole Cleaning

Abstract

Abstract For many years the oil industry has been limited by the fact that measurements are only taken at the BHA and at surface during well construction operations. This has led to a reliance on modeling to help understand the measurements made and to understand the conditions in regions of the wellbore that are not being directly monitored. The advent of sensors that can be deployed along the drill string has created an opportunity, for the first time, for operators to observe the downhole environment not just at the BHA but throughout the entire wellbore. In order to realise the value of these measurements it is necessary to expand existing analysis techniques and develop new methods specifically designed to make use of this expanded sensor capability. BP was the first operator to commercially deploy the along-string measurement sensors in a development well (2008) and has been making use of the technology ever since. This paper presents some of the analysis methods used in these deployments as well as some of the lessons learned. It is shown that, while the addition of along-string sensors can increase the complexity of analysis, the information that can be gleaned from this data can be very valuable.