International oilfield services company, Expro, has successfully deployed its newly developed ExACT (Expro Annulus-Operated Circulating and Test Tool) in its first live offshore well.
The successful trial, a tubing conveyed perforating “shoot and pull”, took place in the US Gulf of Mexico block 39 Vermillion field following trial work onshore in Brazil last year.
Part of Expro’s new generation of drill stem testing tools and developed in-house, the ExACT system is primarily aimed at the exploration and appraisal and deep-water markets.
The tool, said to one of the most advanced of its kind, was developed in-house with design-work carried out at Expro’s Stirling offices and marries down-hole shut-in and circulating functionality.
Rated at 15,000psi and temperatures of up to 400°F, ExACT features minimal fast-cycling to position the ball and ports in the required position shortening times between cycles and therefore reducing cost.
A key aspect of the tool is its flexible application to fit with a range of downhole operational conditions and objectives.
During the Vermillion deployment, TCP (tubing-conveyed perforating) guns were fired using a pressure-activated firing system set to detonate with 2,400psi applied annulus pressure.
Using a bespoke in-house software programme, the ExACT tool was set up at surface to fully function downhole with applied annulus pressure in the range 1,100-1,400psi, leaving the desired firing head safety margin of 1,000psi. Post-job analysis of gauge data verified that ExACT was operating within 50psi of calculated values in all tool positions.
David Grant, Expro’s DST/TCP director, told Energy: “This deployment is a positive step forward towards an operational launch of our Advanced DST tool offering later this year.
“The ExACT system can be deployed in any well type, however it is ideally suited for gas wells and deepwater markets. 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.”
He said that ExACT was part of a wider $50million programme of tool upgrades and new tools development.
The system tested in Vermillion, which was first drilled back in 1948, ExACT is the starter pack for what Grant sees as a compact tool string family where the accent will be on functionality rather than size and weight.
“This test is one of the first steps towards that compact string,” Grant said. “The next stage will be an hydraulic set packer system for deepwater. This won’t require rotation or weight to set.”
The first trials are expected to take place this month with a prototype ready around September. Grant said a number of clients were willing to provide guinea-pig wells.
By the time the packer and other tools currently planned for the ExACT family are ready, the string will have swallowed about £15million of investment.
The plan is to have the string complete around April next year and then to build a stable of about 25 sets for land and shallow/medium depth deployment. A further six sets (for now) is planned for the deepwater market.