ABANDONMENT

INTRODUCTION
Offshore exploration and many appraisal type wells are normally plugged and abandoned
following a formation evaluation program. The abandonment is necessary to permanently
isolate all hydrocarbon and permeable abnormally pressured water zones to prevent
communication between zones. The abandonment also prevents potential migration of wellbore
fluids to the seafloor and escaping into the ocean. All abandonments should be conducted
under the assumption that ExxonMobil will remain responsible for the well’s condition long after
the abandonment and terms of the lease expire. Methods to either temporarily or permanently
abandon a wellbore will be dictated by local governmental regulatory agencies, but in general
terms, ExxonMobil’s goal is to ensure that the wellbore is securely plugged and isolated.
GOVERNMENTAL ABANDONMENT REGULATIONS
Successfully plugging any well involves following all applicable government regulations. This will
often include:
• Isolation of any open hole.
• Isolation of perforated intervals and liner tops.
• Cutting all casing strings some distance below the mud line.
• Setting plugs atop casing stubs.
• Pressure testing annuli.
• Clearing all equipment from the seafloor.
• Confirming a clean seafloor.
Some of the more stringent and specific regulations on well abandonment are required in the
United States, Australia, and countries bordering the North Sea.
In the United States, and in most foreign countries, abandonment cannot commence without
prior approval of the appropriate government agency. Before an abandonment procedure is
finalized and approved by ExxonMobil management, the plan is typically submitted to the
appropriate government agencies for approval. For example, in the U.S., this plan is called
Notice of Intent to Abandon Well and is submitted for approval to the MMS District Supervisor in
whose district the well is being drilled. Exceptions to regulations are typically included in the
plan to abandon a well that is submitted to the government agency.
In ultra-deepwater, plug and abandonment plans have been approved that allow the subsea
wellheads to remain in place on the seafloor since they do not provide a danger to marine and
fishing operations.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Many options exist to properly plug and abandon a wellbore. Planning should consider
regulatory and company requirements, availability of equipment tools and service personnel and
efficiency. Abandonment procedures should be researched and reviewed while planning the
well to ensure, where possible, that drilling plans coincide with requirements for abandonment.
As an example, the primary cement may be adjusted to seal the annulus between two casing
strings thereby meeting the requirements for a permanent abandonment and allow the casing
and wellheads to remain in place.
Items to consider during P&A planning:
18-3/4” 10K or 15K Wellhead
• Will the well be permanently or temporarily
30” Low Pressure Wellhead
abandoned? Housing

• If the well is in deepwater, can the

wellheads be left in place? In nearly all Structural Casing
cases, leaving the wellhead in place will be
less costly for the initial P&A, but the
Company may be responsible to remove the 20” Casing
wellhead at a later date.
• Are mechanical plugs to be used, or will the
wellbore be isolated with cement only?
Plugging the well with cement may allow 13-3/8” Casing
several plugs to be set on one-trip out of the
hole, but will require waiting on cement
time. Setting a mechanical plug will require
an additional trip or wireline to set the plug.
Other options to consider when deciding
whether to use a cement plug or a
mechanical plug are, whether the
mechanical plug sets high or if the cement 9-5/8” Casing

cannot be squeezed through the plug, will

additional regulatory approval be required to
leave the plug at the premature setting
7”
depth or whether the mechanical plug can Liner
Liner
be left with any cement below the plug?
Hydrocarbon Zone
• How will the reduction in mud weight be
handled (i.e., dilute back the weight or
replace the mud)? In deepwater, volumes
can be in excess of 3000+ bbls. If the mud
Figure 15.1
weight is reduced, will it still maintain
Pre-Abandonment Wellbore Sketch
hydrate suppression?
• Is specialized equipment available to cut and recover the wellheads?
Figure 15.1 is an example of an exploration wellbore that is to be abandoned. All further
discussions on abandonment will refer to this example as each type of plug is set and tested,
and the casing is recovered.

ISOLATING ZONES IN OPEN HOLE

In uncased portions of the hole, cement plugs shall be spaced to extend from 150 ft below the
bottom to 150 ft above the top of any oil, gas, or freshwater zone(s) to be isolated Figure 15.2.
Cement pilot tests should be performed for all cement plugs with actual temperature data
obtained from the well.
OPEN HOLE BALANCED CEMENT PLUG(S)
Open hole cement plugs are typically set 18-3/4” 10K/15K Wellhead
using a stinger run on the bottom of drill 30” Low Press Wellhead
pipe. Typical sizes for cement stingers
are 2-7/8 in. for 6-1/2 in. hole sizes and
smaller, 3-1/2 in. tubing for 8-1/2 in.
holes, and 5 in. of 12-1/4 in. hole sizes Structural Casing
and larger. In cases where adequate
space between the internal diameter of
the hole and drill pipe tool joint OD is 20” Casing
sufficient to allow cement to fall around
the connection, drill pipe is commonly
used as the cement stinger.
In operations where the wellbore fluid 13-3/8” Casing
lacks adequate viscosity to suspend the
cement, the stinger is run below the
setting depth of the cement plug and a hi-
vis pill set that will help support the
cement slurry once it is in place. This may
be especially important if the top of the
cement plug must be tagged to verify the
9-5/8” Casing
depth above a required
zone for isolation.
When more than one plug is required to
7” Liner
isolate a zone, it is typical to set multiple
TOC 150’ above Hydrocarbons
plugs on top of each other with only the
top plug tagged to confirm the depth.
Since floating rigs are always subject to
movement (heave, offset), the cement
head or pump-in sub is typically spaced- Hydrocarbon Zone
out above the rig floor to provide
adequate clearance for rig heave. BOC 150’ below Hydrocarbons

During cementing operations, the pipe

should be suspended from the block Figure 15.2
instead of setting in the slips so that Isolating Open Hole Zones
tension created by the rig heave can be
measured by the weight indicator. For balanced plugs, the use of the motion compensator is
generally
not required.
When operating from a dynamically positioned rig, it is important to determine the location of the
tool joint prior to the cementing operation to confirm that the tool joint is positioned above the
hang-off ram and adequate pipe stick-up above the rig floor is available to allow the Driller to
slack-off and hang-off the drill pipe prior to an Emergency Disconnect (EDS). Information on
EDS can be found in Section 11.
Testing of open hole plugs is usually confirmed by tagging the plug with the drill string to confirm
the top of cement depth. When tagging cement with open-ended tubing or drill pipe, the cement
will usually require considerable set time due to the small cross sectional area of the tube that is
used to tag the plug. On waiting a sufficient time for the cement to reach adequate compressive
strength, open hole plugs are typically tagged with 10K lb. to 15K b. weight with slow circulation
against the plug (ExxonMobil guideline) to reduce the possibility of plugging the tubing.
ISOLATION OF OPEN HOLE AT CASING SHOE
Where there is open hole below the casing, the casing shoe shall be plugged off from the open
hole Figure 15.3. Three methods are generally acceptable:
1. Placing a balanced cement plug across the casing shoe;
2. Setting a bridge plug in the casing near the shoe and spotting no less than 50 ft
of cement above it; or
3. Setting a cement retainer near the shoe, squeezing cement below it, and spotting
50 ft of cement above it.
BALANCED CEMENT PLUG 18-3/4” 10K or 15K Wellhead
To isolate the shoe with a balanced cement plug, the 30” Low Pressure
Wellhead
stinger is placed at depth in the open hole, and
drilling fluid is circulated to ensure that mud densities
within the wellbore are balanced prior to cementing. If
Structural Casing
required, a high viscosity mud spacer may be spotted
in the open hole to support the cement plug.
MECHANICAL PLUG 20” Casing

If the shoe is to be isolated with a bridge plug or a

cement retainer, the plug can be run on drill pipe with
a mechanical setting tool, or on electric wireline with a
wireline setting tool. Placement of the cement retainer 13-3/8” Casing
or bridge plug is typically set between 50 and 100 ft
above the casing shoe. This plug should not be run
below the landing collar or float collar unless a casing
scraper run is made through the shoe track.
When the cement retainer is run on drill pipe, surges
caused from rig heave have caused retainers to set
prematurely. If the retainer is run on drill pipe, trip 9-5/8” Casing
speeds should take into account the additional surges
caused by the rig heave.
TOC minimum of 50’
Caution should also be taken to prevent setting the above cement retainer

bridge plug or cement retainer in a casing collar. 7” Liner

Hydrocarbon Zone

Figure 15.3
Isolating Casing Shoe