Case History: Relief Well, Successful Kill of a Blowout
Vector
Magnetics successfully guided a relief well, intersecting a deep well
that had blown out 9 months earlier.
A vertical replacement well in the same field was redirected as the
relief well, giving a displacement of 3,900 feet. It was decided to find
the target well as quickly as possible then follow the trajectory to a
kill depth of 15,500' TVD, 16,500' MD. The target well was detected at a
well separation greater than 100'. Wellspot successfully guided drilling
operations from 14,400' to 16,500' MD.
The Wellspot tool operated under extreme borehole conditions, including
bottom hole temperatures of 260° Fahrenheit and bottom hole pressures
exceeding 12,100 psi.
The target was bypassed at 14,100' TVD with a separation distance of 12
feet. The location of the target was consistently verified for 1,000'
TVD. Direct distance measurements allowed the relief well to intersect
the target well just below the casing shoe at 15,500' TVD. Communication
was established between the two wells, allowing the blowout to be killed
and successfully cemented.