When it comes to single trip multizone completions, Weatherford is ‘looking at four specific types of completions’ in its current offering, says Keith Parry, the service company’s global director of business development. These are: the Advanced Reservoir Management System (ARMS); Reservoir Management System (RMS); Advanced Deployment System (ADS) and Keystone.
One of the enablers, Weatherford believes, is RFID technology (OE January). In July 2008, Weatherford paired up with UK engineering firm Petrowell to offer RFID technology in downhole completions. Petrowell handled engineering and prototypes while Weatherford came in on the marketing and manufacturing side. The RFID method had been used offshore for about five years by Marathon, Parry notes, but it was not being actively marketed.
‘They’ve come up with an RFID methodology where basically you can set packers, maintain well control, and operate sliding sleeves,’ Parry says. ‘There’s nothing that RFID cannot operate. As long as you’ve got a function downhole, it will work.’ At the very least, he says, RFID is the company’s differentiator, and it makes up a component of what Weatherford refers to as its Advanced Completion Technology.
‘Noise doesn’t affect it, fluids don’t affect it, distance doesn’t affect it, which can make this technology virtually infallible,’ he says. ‘The actual [RFID] tag itself is about the size of a headache capsule. It costs about a dollar.’ It is pumped in past an antenna, and when the antenna picks up a signal, a motor is then available to open a sleeve and if required another motor to close a different valve.
Weatherford is looking at additional technologies that may be able to take advantage of RFID.
ZoneSelect applications cover single trip multizone work. The ZoneSelect system is a modular open hole completion suite of isolation and frac selection components that are mixed and matched according to well conditions and objectives. With a tool kit full of frac selection and isolation devices, as well as several exclusive and patented innovations, this system offers unique flexibility Parry says.
‘In North America, what we’re focused on – and we’re doing well on – is our Zone Select Model system’ to isolate zones and frac in a single trip, Parry says. Weatherford has been using the system in the North Sea, and is deploying it globally. OE
