Session 3: Well Integrity and Production
Pushing the boundaries of oil and gas exploration and development wells to more challenging locations and harsher environments leads to exposure to greater uncertainties and necessitates robust risk mitigation strategies and techniques. Accordingly Well integrity (WI) is a growing concern related to both old and new producing fields, especially with many assets reaching or exceeding their operational life expectancy. A worldwide study of more than 380,000 wells from Canada, China, Netherlands, Offshore Norway, UK, and US revealed that approximately 7% of the wells had wellbore integrity failure (Davies et al., 2014). Well integrity issues are most commonly associated with cement quality, casing corrosion, dynamic drilling and production pressures, and completion and abandonment complexities. The failure to prioritise the integrity of assets leads not only to negative financial consequences but has the potential to cause serious damage to both humans and the wider environment. This session will discuss well integrity from different perspectives, including material selection, wear detection and diagnosis, cementing, and well completion.