Expro deploys new-generation well test string in GoM

June 4, 2014
Expro has deployed its new design ExACT tool (Expro Annulus-Operated Circulating and Test Tool) in its first live offshore well.

Offshore staff

HOUSTONExpro has deployed its new design ExACT tool (Expro Annulus-Operated Circulating and Test Tool) in its first live offshore well.

The successful operation – a tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP) “shoot and pull” – took place on the Vermillion field offshore in theGulf of Mexico following trial work onshore in Brazil last year. 

The tool combines downhole shut-in and circulating functionality. Rated at 15,000 psi (103 MPa) and temperatures of up to 400˚F (204˚C), ExACT features fast-cycling to position the ball and ports where required, thus shortening times between cycles to reduce cost, said Expro. A key to the tool is its flexiblity to fit a range of downhole operational conditions and objectives.

During the deployment, TCP guns were fired using a pressure-activated firing system set to detonate with 2,400-psi (16.5-MPa) applied annulus pressure.

Using a bespoke in-house software program, the ExACT tool was set up at surface to fully function downhole with applied annulus pressure between 1,100 psi (7.58 MPa) and 1,400 psi (9.65 MPa), leaving the desired firing head safety margin of 1,000 psi. Post-job analysis of gauge data verified that the ExACT tool was operating within 50 psi of calculated values in all tool positions.

Part of Expro’s new generation of drillstem testing tools and developed in-house, the ExACT tool is primarily aimed at the E&A and deepwater markets, said Expro.

The ExACT system can be deployed in any well type; however, it is ideally suited for gas wells and deepwater. The fast-cycling tool can also provide a very high circulating rate, which is paramount in high-cost operations such as those in deepwater applications.

06/04/2014