US 9,518,443 B2Granted

Cable compatible rig-less operable annuli engagable system for using and abandoning a subterranean well

OwnerBruce A. Tungetinventor

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Abstract

Methods and systems for providing or enabling cap rock restoration of at least a portion of a producible zone of a subterranean well include placing and supporting at least one cement equivalent well barrier member within an operable usable space. This cement equivalent well barrier is formed by at least one cable operable and rig-less string operable, annulus engagable member, comprising cable and rig-less string conveyable components that are conveyed through an innermost passageway and downward from a wellhead. Energy, conductible through said rig-less string or through movable fluid of a circulatable fluid column, is used to operate or access at least one annulus from said innermost passageway and displace at least one portion of a wall of at least one conduit about said innermost passageway, to provide at least one cement equivalent well barrier.

Claims48

Dependent claims

A method (1A-1BU) of providing (220) or enabling (211-219) restoration of cap rock of at least a portion (4A-4BU) of a producible zone of a subterranean well, the method comprising the steps of:

placing and supporting at least one cement equivalent well barrier member (3A-3BU, 20, 216) within an operable usable space formed by at least one cable operable and rig-less string operable, annulus engagable member (2A-2BU) comprising components that are cable and rig-less string conveyable through an innermost passageway (25, 25E, 25AE) surrounded by at least one annulus of a plurality of annuli formed by installed conduits (11, 12, 14, 15, 15A, 19) extending downward from a wellhead (7) within subterranean strata (17) for forming a plurality of passageways (24, 24A, 24B, 24C, 25, 25E, 25AE) in fluid communication with said producible zones through said cap rock;
using energy conductible through said rig-less string or through movable fluid of a circulatable fluid column (31C) within said plurality of passageways to operate said at least one annulus engageable member;
and
using said at least one annulus engagable member to access said at least one annulus from said innermost passageway, displace at least one portion of a wall of at least one conduit about said innermost passageway to provide an operable space, bridge across said operable space, and place said at least one cement equivalent well barrier member through said operable space adjacent to said cap rock to form at least one geologic time-frame space usable to fluidly isolate said at least one portion of said subterranean well without removing said installed conduits and associated debris from below one or more subterranean depths (218) of associated capping rock to provide or enable said restoration of said cap rock above said producible zone.

1 more element

A system for providing (220) or enabling (211-219) restoration of cap rock of at least a portion (4A-4BU) of a producible zone of a subterranean well, comprising:

at least one cable compatible apparatus member (2A-2BU) that is cable and rig-less string operable and annulus engagable for forming an operable space and an assembly of placeable, disposable and retrievable components that are cable and rig-less string conveyable through an innermost passageway (25, 25E, 25AE) surrounded by at least one annulus of a plurality of annuli that are formed by installed conduits (11, 12, 14, 15, 15A, 19) extending downward from a wellhead (7) within subterranean strata (17) for forming a plurality of passageways (24, 24A, 24B, 24C, 25, 25E, 25AE) in fluid communication with said producible zones through said cap rock, and
at least one cement equivalent well barrier member (3A-3BU, 20, 216) placed in said operable space formed by operating said at least one cable compatible and annulus engagable apparatus member within the operable space using energy conductible through said rig-less string or through movable fluid of a circulatable fluid column (31C) within said plurality of passageways to operate said at least one cable compatible apparatus member to provide said operable space by accessing said at least one annulus from said innermost passageway, displacing at least one portion of a wall of at least one conduit about said innermost passageway to provide an operable space adjacent to said cap rock, bridging across said operable space, to form at least one said geologic time-frame space usable for placing said well barrier member to fluidly isolate said at least one portion of said subterranean well without removing said plurality of installed conduits and associated debris from below one or more subterranean depths (218) of associated capping rock to provide or enable said restoration of said cap rock above said producible zone.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/131,168Filed 5 Jul 2012
Priority: GB 1111482.45 Jul 2011
Published: US 2014/0311741 A123 Oct 2014
Granted: 13 Dec 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

E21B 33/13
In the borehole: methods or devices for cementing, for plugging holes, crevices or the like
E21B 23/14
Apparatus for displacing, setting, locking, releasing or removing tools, packers or the like in boreholes or wells: for displacing a cable or a…
E21B 29/005
Cutting, e.g. milling, a pipe with a cutter rotating along the circumference of the pipe: with a radially-expansible cutter rotating inside the…
E21B 29/06
Cutting or destroying pipes, packers, plugs or wire lines, located in boreholes or wells, e.g. cutting of damaged pipes, of windows; Deforming…

Family

US 2014/0311741 A1Pre-grant publication · published 23 Oct 2014
US 9,518,443 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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