Cement slurries for sealing casing in boreholes with increased risk of gas migration

Abstract

A cement job is one of the most important operations carried out during the drilling of wells. Further functioning of the well depends on the correct execution of the cement job (for instance, in case of a failed cement job, further hydrocarbon deposit production may turn to be difficult or simply impossible). The article presents the issues of the cement slurry technology deployed for sealing shallow boreholes with an increased risk of shallow gas migration. Oil and Gas Institute – National Research Institute has developed a number of cement slurry formulations characterized by properly adjusted density, gelling and bonding time, which will allow the creation of a tight barrier in the borehole annulus that prevents the production fluid from leaking to the surface. Properly modified (with the aid of natural rubber latex or nanosilica) cement slurries based on Portland cement CEM I 42.5 are suitable for use in cement jobs carried out in shallow drilling wells. Particularly advantageous technological parameters have been obtained for cement slurries containing about 0.5–1% nano-SiO2. The optimal water-cement ratio for these formulas was at the level of about 0.50–0.52. Both latex-containing and nano-SiO2-containing samples were characterized by a very advantageous course of the gelation plot (static build-up of gel strength). Their TT transition times amounted to several tens of minutes (which is a proof of high ability to prevent gas migration from shallow gas accumulations). Bonding times of the tested slurries can be successfully controlled using acceleration agents commonly used in the industry. Slurries that had been tested using the Vicat apparatus were characterized by a bonding time in the range from approximately 100 up to 280 minutes. As a result, depending on the anticipated length of the cementing job, the required bonding time can be appropriately adjusted. Compressive strength after 7 days of hydration was high (for samples with the addition of latex, they were about 22–23 MPa, for nano-SiO2 slurries around 29–31 MPa). Due to their good technological parameters, the cement slurries developed at Oil and Gas Institute – NRI could be used in the process of cementing casing strings, e.g. in the Carpathian Foreland, where there is a shallow gas accumulation hazard.