quote:
Suppose they had determined that the cement was faulty (either by running the extra test or from deciding they didn't like the previous results), what would they do about it?

If there are indications of bad cement they can perform a remedial cement job.

quote:
Is there a method for fixing the cement?

Yes, many, depending on what the problem is. The simplest solution is just to pump more cement.

quote:
Or do they have to drill it out and do it over?

Ideally, most of it would be in the annular region between casing and open hole with the losses being in the formation, so you can't take that out, but if it never makes it out of the shoe, then yeah you could drill that. It may not be clear without some troubleshooting.

quote:
Or do they just plug the hole and dig an all new one?

In extreme cases, yes, but probably not a whole new one, just pull back a bit and sidetrack.

quote:
How long would all that take? Is it common?

Sidetracks are fairly common mostly for other reasons.. abandoning the well entirely is not.
Because of the geology of the gulf and the depths involved, cement jobs can be very tough.

quote:
Why not just leave the pipe they used to drill the hole in place? Is the pipe that expensive?

Mostly because it's too small. Wells are a series of smaller pipes inside bigger pipes. It's difficult or impossible to design a well with a single pipe. There is some work on drilling with casing and expandable liners, but it's not quite what you're thinking.

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Posted by redstick13

Lower Saxony

Member since Feb 2007

38712 posts

Posted on 1/13/17 at 1:15 am to Engineer

quote:
If there are indications of bad cement they can perform a remedial cement job.

What this guys says. In the oilfield terms it's called a "squeeze job". You run in the well with a cement stinger assembly or a RTTS tool and you force more cement around the casing and the formation.

If they had a suspicion the cement job was not good (which they did) they should have run a CBL (Cement Bong Log) on wireline which should have shown them whether or not the cement job was good or bad. They had the equipment on the rig to run the CBL but skipped it because it consumes time and money.

1 ...

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Posted by ByteMe

Member since Sep 2003

22348 posts

Posted on 1/13/17 at 1:32 am to Engineer

quote:
Suppose they had determined that the cement was faulty (either by running the extra test or from deciding they didn't like the previous results), what would they do about it?

If there are indications of bad cement they can perform a remedial cement job.

quote:
Is there a method for fixing the cement?

Yes, many, depending on what the problem is. The simplest solution is just to pump more cement.

quote:
Or do they have to drill it out and do it over?

Ideally, most of it would be in the annular region between casing and open hole with the losses being in the formation, so you can't take that out, but if it never makes it out of the shoe, then yeah you could drill that. It may not be clear without some troubleshooting.

quote:
Or do they just plug the hole and dig an all new one?

In extreme cases, yes, but probably not a whole new one, just pull back a bit and sidetrack.

quote:
How long would all that take? Is it common?

Sidetracks are fairly common mostly for other reasons.. abandoning the well entirely is not.
Because of the geology of the gulf and the depths involved, cement jobs can be very tough.

quote:
Why not just leave the pipe they used to drill the hole in place? Is the pipe that expensive?

Mostly because it's too small. Wells are a series of smaller pipes inside bigger pipes. It's difficult or impossible to design a well with a single pipe. There is some work on drilling with casing and expandable liners, but it's not quite what you're thinking.