A leading operator required a safety barrier solution to enable workover operations in a water disposal well located in Western Australia. The application objective was to temporarily plug the well to enable safe inspection of a well head and tubing hanger as part of preparations required to commence a plug and abandonment (P&A) campaign.
The challenges and requirements associated with the job were as follows:
IPI supplied a 5-1/2” OD Retrievable Inflatable Bridge Plug (RIBP) mounted on a 3-1/2” OD tool chassis. The RIBP was conveyed to the required setting depth from a capillary tubing unit configured with a ¼” OD coiled tubing reel. This enabled rigless deployment of the RIBP utilizing a crane for rig up. Prior to job execution, product qualification testing activities included:
The RIBP’s inflation mechanism utilizes the same type of valve featured in IPI’s Inflatable Casing Packer product line. It features a check valve and a shut-in mechanism providing primary and backup sealing to effectively lock in inflation pressure within the bridge plug element to ensure that the RIBP would remain set in place throughout the duration of workover activities.
The RIBP was successfully set and pressure tested inside the fiberglass lined casing. It sealed the well pressure during wellhead removal, allowing the operator to safely carry out inspection and measurement activities. After approximately five months, a workover rig was brought in and the RIBP was retrieved on joined tubing by latching onto its fishing neck and applying overpull. The bridge plug element retracted to its original run-in-hole diameter allowing trouble-free retrieval. The job was successfully executed in a safe and timely manner without any operational issues.
Rigless RIBP conveyance enabled the wellhead inspection to be carried out within the sufficient time frame to allow the operator to organize mobilization of all necessary equipment to location prior to the arrival of the workover rig. This benefit generated substantial savings in operational time as it mitigated nonproductive rig time that would have been otherwise spent waiting on last minute equipment call outs.
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Stuart recently joined IPI as the Director of Oil and Gas, bringing with him 15 years of diverse experience in the industry, with a strong focus on inflatable packers. His extensive background encompasses a variety of roles, including field engineering, operations management, sales, and business development. This breadth of expertise, coupled with his international experience in markets across North America, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East, positions Stuart to effectively lead and expand IPI’s oil and gas operations on a global scale. Stuart holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Aberdeen and a Master’s degree in Finance from City University of London. His robust technical foundation and financial acumen uniquely empower him to drive strategic initiatives and foster growth within the company.
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