| Abstract |
In 2012, Chevron Geothermal Services Company set out to abandon a remote 30 year old non-commercial well located in a government forest reserve in Laguna, Philippines. The location of the well brought about several challenges that included the type of P&A equipment to be used, the handling and disposal of waste and return fluids, and local community exposure. Rigless P&A equipment was selected due to its limited footprint. Site specific waste management, security, and emergency response plans were tailored for the specific needs of this well abandonment. The forest reserve rules and regulations limited the use of traditional P&A methods by not allowing any return fluids to touch the ground and for all wastes generated to be hauled away. In addition, a small equipment footprint was necessary to minimize the removal of vegetation and environmental impact to the forest reserve, and to lessen the cost of rehabilitating the roads leading to the site. Rigless equipment was selected and mobilized from the United States to meet the requirements. The type of equipment selected included the ability to run a thru-tubing bridge plug, mix and pump cement, and accommodate auxiliary equipment for perforation and surveys. Utilizing an in-house risk management process, several opportunities were identified in order to make the P&A work safely and successfully. All stakeholders were invited to identify risks related from pre-mobilization of equipment to the suspension operations. The information was captured and risk management tools were used to track safeguards and eventual lessons learned from each activity related to the P&A work. Using the rigless P&A equipment to abandon the well in the forest reserve represented substantial savings in rig time and operational costs which resulted in recognition from the forest reserve and local community for ensuring success of the project while also addressing its environmental implications. The project was a success in isolating the reservoir and with achieving zero environmental incidents and injuries – demonstrating that incident free operations can be achieved in remote locations with proper planning and operational discipline. |