Reliable, continuously available, annulus pressure data is critical for well integrity assurance, which is a top priority for all OPCOs, in order to avoid the uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons or H2S to the atmosphere.
Historically, the way annulus pressure has been measured has resulted in data unreliability. In the absence of associated temperature data, annulus pressure data can also be difficult to interpret. The acquisition process has also been very labour intensive, and therefore the data has usually been infrequently gathered. In sour wells (especially those with enclosed wellbays or cellars) the manual data acquisition process is also very risky.
The recent trend towards fully instrumented ’fields of the future’, has addressed the data frequency and the labour intensity and risk issues, but not the data unreliability or the ease of interpretation issues. Ironically, the approach has also resulted in a degradataion in the integrity of the wells where it is implemented.
All of these factors contribute to an increased risk of a well integrity incident, which can be very costly to the OPCO financially, and in the event of an environmental incident, costly to their reputation.
This white paper provides a detailled explaination of how these factors contribute to well integrity risk. It also describes the industry best practices that are now being implemented or retrofitted, in order to reduce well integrity risks in both new (including ‘field of the future’) and existing wells.
