SPE 81536

An Improved Method of Slickline Perforating

James King BP, Bob Beagrie Schlumberger, Mathew Billingham Schlumberger

Copyright 2003, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

Introduction
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE 13th Middle East Oil Show & Conference The BP North Sea Southern Business Unit’s (SBU) Well
to be held in Bahrain 9-12 June 2003.
Operations group has successfully completed a slickline
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
perforating campaign throughout Q1/Q2 of 2002. One of
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to the highlights of the campaign was deploying the
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at Schlumberger eFire-Slickline* electronic firing head
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
technology with conventional slickline equipment and
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is perforating guns.
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous The West Sole field was discovered in
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
September 1965. The field comprises 22 wells and lies
in Block 48/6, 70 km off the Humberside coast in the UK,
in approximately 28 m of water. The reservoir was
Abstract initially estimated to contain recoverable reserves of 1.85
The BP North Sea Southern Business Unit has trillion cubic feet of gas. Gas has to be extracted through
successfully incorporated the Schlumberger eFire* artificially induced hairline fractures.
electronic firing head system with conventional slickline A number of well work options were identified
equipment and perforating guns during a recent trial. within the asset during 2002 to increase production. It
Significant benefits were achieved with this system by was determined that the desired production increases
completing runs quickly and eliminating time-consuming could be achieved by reperforating, since many of the
and costly ‘parameter’ runs by using conventional original perforations were 1 shot per foot (spf) and in
memory tools for correlation. some cases more than 30 years old.
The conventional tools were run within an empty The SBU asset consists of 39 platforms of which
perforating gun housing. During this run the wire was 33 are Normally Unmanned Installations (NUI’s), and as
‘flagged’ at the desired depth and a pass was logged. such have largely been turned into minimum facility
When logging tools were retrieved and their structures. The limited facilities available on an NUI
measurements downloaded, a ‘Tie in Log’ was generally mean that well interventions can be extremely
produced. This was used to correlate the flag on the wire challenging. For an intervention to be cost-affective on
to the ‘Reference Log’. Then 2⅞-in. HSD* High Shot an NUI, it must be performed with slickline equipment
Density PowerJet* perforating guns were run in hole to where possible. Slickline operations can be run with a
the predetermined ‘flag’ depth, and a firing command reduced number of personnel since they have less
was sent to the eFire device. pressure control equipment (PCE) to rig up and do not
The eFire-Slickline system is an electronic firing require grease-injection systems. Therefore “crane lifts”
head developed for slickline deployment. It is operated and manual handling activities are also limited, and the
by a coded sequence of tension pulses on the slickline overall associated risk to personnel involved in the
wire, which is converted to pressure pulses by a strain operation is significantly reduced.
sensor in the tool. Following perforating, a ‘disarm’ The eFire-Slickline deployment system was
command is sent and the perforating guns are then chosen after other successful slickline reperforating
pulled out of hole. operations were performed within the asset. The
Correlation had to be proven for this newly previous operations relied on dedicated parameter runs
developed system, and this was achieved with the use of that required the use of fairly sophisticated (and
a 40-arm caliper over the newly reperforated interval. subsequently expensive) equipment, and a detonator
Results showed that the guns had been fired exactly on operated by a timer. This experience suggested that
depth. additional time saving benefits could be achieved if the
With three 40 ft [12 m] perforating runs capable parameter runs were simplified, and the time-activated
of being shot in depths greater than 10,000 ft [3048 m] in detonator eliminated. The UKI² Solutions group at
less than 12 hours, the system proved to be extremely Schlumberger developed the eFire-Slickline perforating
efficient. system to meet these objectives.
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The West Sole field was the specific area Fig. 1 – The correlation and perforating tool strings.
selected as a trial for the new system. Five wells were
Rope Socket
chosen, three on West Sole Charlie and two on Bravo.
Significant benefits were achieved using the system,
most notably elimination of lengthy “parameter” runs by Stem Bar
using conventional memory tools for correlation, and the
capability to achieve real-time gun detonation.
This paper describes the operation of the eFire-
Slickline system, the correlation technique used, and the Spang Jars
results of the campaign.
Common Reference
Depth Control
It is generally accepted that slickline depth systems,
although adequate for conventional operations, are
unsuitable for positioning perforating guns. The quoted
accuracy for standard depth systems is ±1 foot per 1000
feet. (±300 cm per 300 m ). However, although this eFire-Slickline Firing
accuracy is poor in absolute terms of depth, it is perfectly Head
acceptable for an incremental measurement from a
“known point,” when that distance is less than 1000 feet.
That “known point” could involve tagging completion
jewellery or, as in this case, a correlated flag on the wire. High Shot
The concept of correlating a flag is not new, Density Gun Top Shot High
Shot
although there are specific concerns when it is done with Housing
complete with a Density
slickline, in particular the variation in wire stretch
Memory Gamma
because of differences in tool-string weights and
dimensions between runs. The two ways to mitigate this
problem are to use tension-modeling software to predict Correlation Perforating
Tool String Tool String
the stretch variation and to eliminate the differences
between tool strings.
The first option of tension modeling was An initial run is made with the memory gamma ray/CCL
considered. However, the algorithms within these types tool contained within the dummy perforating gun
of software require key data input. One of the most housing. In addition, the eFire-Slickline system is run
significant inputs is the tool-string friction coefficient. with a dummy detonator. This is done first to replicate
Since this coefficient varies from well to well and with the perforation tool string and second to verify command
each the tool-string run, it cannot be easily calculated recognition. This verification is optional and not an
and therefore usually represents only an educated essential part of the operation. During this run, the wire
guess. For this reason, tension modeling was dismissed is “flagged” at the desired interval logged. Prior to pulling
as a means of accurately positioning guns. out of hole, a sample command can then be sent to the
The second option, eliminating differences eFire-Slickline firing head. The memory tool is then
between tool strings, was the method chosen. Although retrieved, its data downloaded, and a “Tie in Log”
it requires some advance planning, this option is produced. This log is then used to correlate the “flag” on
relatively straightforward to perform. First, the maximum the wire to the reference log. The sample command can
perforating tool string must be selected, with careful then be verified by viewing the eFire-Slickline firing-head
consideration given to the available rig-up height job log. Perforating guns are then run in hole to the “flag”
available. Once this has been established, the on the wire, during which time the “arming” command is
correlation tool string can be prepared (Fig. 1). The sent. After the depth counter is reset to the flag depth
correlation tool string is identical to the perforating tool determined from the correlation run, the “firing”
string, from the rope socket to the eFire-Slickline firing command is sent. The perforating guns can then be
head. However, in place of the loaded perforating gun is accurately positioned at the desired shooting depth and
a dummy gun that houses a conventional memory the well perforated. Prior to pulling out of the hole the
gamma ray/casing-collar locator (CCL) tool, weighted to “disarm” command is sent.
match the loaded perforating gun. The correlation had to be proven for this newly
developed system, and this was achieved with the use of
a 40-arm caliper over the newly reperforated interval.
The results showed that the guns had been fired exactly
on depth (Fig. 2).

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SPE 81536 3

Fig. 2 – Caliper output Fig. 3 – Arming Command

The firing command (Fig. 4) is denoted by the following

sequence of pulses. The 5-min. delay enables the
toolstring to return to depth, after being pulled up to send
the pulses. During the last 2-min. there is an abort
window where the tool must remain stationary. This is a
final safety barrier. During this period, if the tool receives
a pulse it will abort the firing command. To reinitiate
firing, the firing command must be resent.

Fig. 4 - Firing Command

Description of Electronic Firing-Head Slickline
System
The eFire-Slickline system is an electronic firing head for
slickline explosive services. In addition to perforating, it
has previously been used to activate cutters and tubing
punchers, and to set packers and plugs. Two field-
proven technologies were brought together to form the
backbone of this tool: the electronic section of the IRIS*
Intelligent Remote Implementation System dual-valve
drillstem test tool and the S.A.F.E. Slapper-Actuated
Firing Equipment detonation system extensively used for
electric-line perforation. It is operated by a coded
sequence of tension pulses on the slickline wire, which is
converted to pressure pulses by the strain head in the
tool. These pressure pulses are then detected by the The disarming command (Fig. 5) can be sent at any time
pressure sensor. during the operation. It is normally sent after the firing
The unique combination of these pulses creates the command to deactivate the tool before pulling out of the
special signatures required to communicate with the tool. hole. If the disarm command is sent before the firing
The arming command (Fig. 3) is denoted by the command, the arming command must be resent.
following sequence of pulses. The arming delay is
selected at surface while setting up the tool. This is an
additional safety mechanism that prevents the tool from
looking for a firing command when running in the hole.
After the delay has elapsed, the circuits begin to look for
the firing command. Only after the arming command has
been received and the arming delay time elapsed can
the firing command be accepted by the tool.

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Fig. 5 - Disarming Command Fig. 6 – Perforating analysis cross-sectional plot

Two separate processors in the controller module are

required to independently verify the unique command.
The initiator module then converts battery power to the
high voltage level required to initiate the Exploding Foil
Initiator (EFI). EFI’s have been used extensively world
wide and are reliable as well as fail-safe. The system is
radio-frequency safe, and has been approved by
Thomson-Thorn Missile Electronics Ltd for operation
during radio communication, welding, and cathodic Features and Benefits of eFire System
protection. A tool set-up and function test is always • No ‘parameter’ run is required.
performed through a computer interface before the EFI • The firing head is controlled from surface.
is connected. • The S.A.F.E. detonator allows radio
communication while perforating
Perforating Gun Selection • Risk is reduced because no primary high
The SPAN* Schlumberger Perforating Analysis program explosives are used.
was used for well modeling on West Sole. The SPAN • Multiple safety barriers and the ability to abort
perforation design program consists of three modules: the operation provide a high level of safety.
Penetration, Underbalance, and Productivity. Modeling • Independent operation of two tools allows
output determined the best gun/charge combination, the performance of dual tasks.
optimum underbalance and the impact of using less than • There are reduced logistics requirements
optimum, the sensitivity on damaged zone, porosity and (personnel and equipment) by comparison with
permeability. The SPAN analysis can also be used to conventional electric-line perforating operations.
examine the efficiency of gravel-pack completions and
non-Darcy flow. Conclusions
The guns selected, 2 7/8-in. HSD* High Shot There were significant benefits gained from performing
Density PowerJet guns, were chosen as the main guns such work with this method. By using conventional
for the West Sole area, where access permitted. These slickline equipment, one unit and crew can perform all
guns are primarily intended for slimhole ( 4 ½ to 5 ½- required well-intervention work.
in.)casing, but can be used in any completion where With as many as three 40 ft [12 m] perforating runs
downhole restrictions limit gun size, including through- being shot at depths in excess of 10,000 ft [3048 m]
tubing, dual-completion, monobore and extended-reach being completed in less than 12 hours, the system
applications. The standard 2 7/8-in. gun has a 60° spiral proved to be extremely efficient. This led to an overall
hole pattern and can be loaded with a choice of big-hole cost saving of more than 15% by comparison with
or deep-penetrating charges up to 6 spf. electric-line perforating. An overall production increase
of approx. 10% was observed following the project. This
alone represents a significant achievement in a field that
has now been in production for more than 35 years.

References
1. Taylor, Guevara and Sabine: “A New Electronic
Firing Head for Slickline Explosive Services”
paper SPE 72325 presented at the 2001
IADC/SPE Middle East Drilling Technology
Conference, Bahrain, 22-24 October.
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