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An Expanded Horizon
Authors: Jim Brock and Scott Costa, Grant
Prideco; Lev Ring, Enventure Global Technology; Andrei Filippov,
Shell Exploration & Production Technology Company.
Published in the February 2000 issue of "Hart's E&P", pp. 115-118.
ABSTRACT: "Revolutionary expandable tubulars
and connectors will change the basic design and construction of oil
and gas wells. With these innovations, operators can reach reservoirs
that are economically inaccessible with conventional technology. Traditional
drilling operations use progressively smaller casing diameters that
telescope down to the reservoir objective. This limits the number
of casing strings that can be deployed and restricts the wellbore
cross-sectional area available for fluid flow.
With expandable tubular technology, the operator runs casing into
the wellbore normally, then expands it in situ by hydraulically
pushing or pulling a specially designed mandrel, or pig, through
the pipe. The result is a minimal reduction in internal casing diameter
from the previous string to the newly expanded string. Thus, expandable
tubular technology greatly increases the number of casing diameters
available. This conservation of wellbore size allows operators to
drill deeper wells, extend the length of deviated wells and reach
deepwater objectives previously thought impractical or impossible.
A critical factor in the success of expandable
tubular technology was the development of connection technology
that could maintain mechanical and hydraulic integrity before, during
and after expansion. This article traces the development of the
expandable connection and provides information about finite-element
analysis and initial field tests of the specially manufactured expandable
connection."
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