Hydraulic fracking has led to a boom in oil and gas production. But developing the drilling technology to drill horizontally across rock formations was only half the challenge. Wellbore cleaning of deeper horizontal wells has required new technology and techniques to disperse and remove restrictive material.
If you want to maintain production levels in your directional drilling operations, the efficiency of inner wall casing scrapers, brushes, and other cleaning tools is critical.
Oil Well Casing Cleaning Challenges
Now more than ever, time is money. The price of oil has soared during the fracking boom. In prolific regions like the Permian Basin, magnitudes more wells are being drilled. In this oil rush environment, E&P companies are under more pressure to more rapidly conduct well and formation tests. Contaminated inner casing walls and tubing, however, can slow and even stop formation tests and production.
Well Casing Scrapers and Brushes
When reservoir fluids are contaminated with drilling fluids and particles, the integrity of well and formation tests is compromised. Wellbore debris including milling waste and fluid can stir up a brew of troublesome solids for oil and gas wells. Inner wall functioning is further compromised by mud and scale. Equipment, the wellbore, and formations can be damaged by this lethal brew. Worse still, when particles migrate from the formation into the wellbore, they can clog porous spaces and slow production levels.
Well casing cleaning is critical to ensuring minimally contaminated reservoir fluids. Horizontal wellbores, though, are increasing the complexity of wellbore casing cleaning. Oil well casing scrapers must do a thorough job of removing debris without damaging the casing walls. Packers or other sealers can then be put in place to protect the well casing and support the tubing.
Inner Wall Casing Scrapers and Brushers
Casing cleaning gear makers have risen to the challenge with oil well casing scrapers and brushes that can operate in deviant wellbores. The need to orient inner wall casing scrapers and brushes to the horizontal direction requires new features.
When buying casing scrapers and brushers, features to consider include:
- rotational design to minimize damage to wellbore casings
- high rotational speed to improve efficiency
- 360-degree coverage
- spring-loaded scraper blades for flexibility
- self-centralizing to protect casing walls
- accommodation of different casing sizes, weights, and orientations
Efficiently meeting all these demands for your specific applications may be difficult from a generic inner wall casing cleaning tool. One solution is multi-functional cleaners combining scrapers, brushes, and other tools to flexibly adapt to the casing. Optionally, customizable solutions are available.
For more information, visit a website like bilcotools.com.