News Items...
Success for Red Spider's Hydraulic Red on Paladin's Montrose Platform
September 2005
Red Spider Technology's Hydraulic Red equalisation device has successfully completed an operation on Paladin Resources' Montrose platform in the UK North Sea, allowing a well to be brought on stream in the face of a challenging recovery situation.
A problem encountered during the running-in phase of a new completion, meant a communication path between the tubing and annulus had been introduced. The Hydraulic RED was mobilised to enable the operation to continue.
Helix RDS (HRDS), who are the Montrose well operators, sourced a straddle assembly to set across the communication path, but the through bore of the straddle meant that no wireline plug or retrievable bridge plug could be installed and then retrieved through the straddle assembly.
Red Spider was contacted at this stage and the decision was made to utilise a Hydraulic RED device below a conventional wireline set lock. The straddle was then set across the communication path. Tubing pressure was applied to first hydraulically set the production packer and then to perform various tubing integrity tests.
Andy Skinner, Red Spider's Business Development Manager, said: "The Hydraulic RED device allows the operator to perform unlimited pressure tests up to 10,000psi but can be opened in minutes remotely from the surface when required. The applied pressure application window typically takes place between 2000psi and 2500psi. Once opened, the flow area through the tool exceeds the anchoring device making it possible to produce through an open tool without intervention to retrieve. This operation for Paladin is another example of the value that Red Spider delivers to its clients; in this case saving rig time and enabling production to be brought on stream quickly."
All tests were successfully completed and the Hydraulic RED was remotely opened from the surface in 8 minutes. Finally the TCP (tubing-conveyed perforating) guns at the bottom of the completion were hydraulically fired remotely from the surface. Without the need for further intervention the well was brought on stream, with production passing through the open Hydraulic RED and the straddle assembly.
Being able to leave the plug downhole meant that downtime was a matter of hours and a potentially high cost and high risk fishing/milling operation was averted.
Phil Stratford, HRDS Drilling Superintendent said: The Hydraulic RED allowed us to solve a tricky down-hole problem with minimum cost impact, and bring a new well on stream without delay. Red Spider was able to respond well to our short notice requirements, and the product performed exactly as specified."
Red Spider Technology was formed in 2003 to develop innovative tools to meet the new challenges in the oil and gas industry. Based in Westhill, near Aberdeen, the company supplies products and services to the global oil industry, aimed at adding value by reducing client operating time, production costs and environmental risks. Red Spider's other products include its Hydrostatic Support Valve which has been developed for a major oil company to address fluid loss issues in its sub-hydrostatic wells and a range of water injection valves which are widely used in the North Sea.
Red Spider was recognised as one of the UK's top 10 new businesses in the final of last year's HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards and was one of three finalists for the Best New Business Award in the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise 2004.
In May 2005 Red Spider secured £400,000 of funding from the Nova Technology Fund to grow the business by 500% in the next four years.
More information about Red Spider can be found at www.redspiders.com or by calling 01224 330537.
Injection Valve Delivers in Norway
July 2nd 2005
Offshore Engineer Magazine
Aberdeen based downhole tool innovator Red Spider Technology reports that its High-Lift Injection Valve has successfully completed seven months in operation in Well A-25 on BP Norge’s Valhall platform in the Norwegian North Sea. The debris-tolerant valve, employed below a retrievable packer, has reportedly allowed the operator to dispose of excess drill cuttings safely and efficiently on the Valhall platform at an average injection rate through the device of 6to 8 bbl/min with a wellhead pressure of 4400 to 4500psi.
The total injected through the device during its first month in service was about 37,000bbl. Eirik Malmin, BP Norge Well Intervention Engineer, noted: "Waste injection is crucial for being able to commence continuous operation of the Valhall field. A-25B is our backup waste injector, but its importance is nevertheless very high. "After the well failed its integrity test twice within five months costing us five days wireline operation each time it was decided to start looking for something new and different," explained Malmin. "The High-Lift Injection Valve from Red Spider was presented to us and we immediately found its design very interesting.
The valve was successfully installed in September 2004 and has since then proven its reliability." In the A-25 application, said Irvine Brown, Red Spider’s Head of Engineering, the valve "has been proven in conditions where a considerable amount of debris is present by successful inflow testing. Features such as the high-lift mechanism, large flow area and a self-cleaning seat have provided the operators with a fit-for-purpose design which functions correctly under the most hostile of conditions."
The 'High-Lift' Injection Valve was Red Spider’s response to an oil industry requirement to inject large volumes of water into reservoirs to maintain the pressures required to optimise production levels. Its simple design is said to offer improved reliability and performance, and lower maintenance costs.
"The valve’s operating mechanism is not flow rate or depth sensitive which makes the tool extremely versatile, allowing it to be installed anywhere in the well bore without the need for adjustment, a feature which greatly simplifies clients' operational planning and logistics," said Red Spider. "The new valve is also debris friendly, eliminating debris ingress - one of the main reasons for failure of injection valves, especially in older completions. The flow exit area of the valve has been greatly enhanced to ensure a very smooth flow path while providing a negligible flowing pressure drop through the valve."
In May this year, Red Spider secured £400,000 of funding from the Nova Technology Fund to grow the business by 500% in the next four years. The company's flagship product, the Hydraulic Remote Equalising Device (Hydraulic RED) is currently operating in the North Sea on a number of wells and has been adopted by the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) for field trials with their oil company members. Another of its patented products, the Hydrostatic Support Valve, is being evaluated operators.
Success for Red Spider's Protection Sleeve in World First Norsk Hydro Operation
May 2005
Red Spider Technology's TTRD (Through Tubing Rotary Drilling) Protection Sleeve successfully completed its first run on Norsk Hydro's Njord A platform, in the world's first TTRD well to be drilled from a floating installation.
Targeting new pockets of oil in Hydro's Njord field , the challenge was to provide a simple and reliable tubing retrievable safety valve (TRSV) protection system.
Red Spider's TRSV system was successfully deployed and round tripped seven times during drilling operations. Inspection proved that wear of the tools was minimal after 235,000 pipe revolutions through the sleeve. Accuracy and repeatability of the shear out values was exactly as predicted and there was negligible pressure drop across the sleeve during circulating out of drilling mud.
Irvine Brown, Red Spider's Head of Engineering, said: "Historically protection systems for TRSVs have consistently failed to provide the reliability necessary to ensure the valve escaped damage. Losing the integrity in the TRSV prevents it acting as a primary safety barrier and in many cases wells have been lost, even after a successful downhole drilling campaign."
