What is HPHT?
In the oil and gas industry, High Pressure High
Temperature (HPHT) conditions are generally defined as pressures greater than
10,000 psi and/or temperatures greater than 3000F (1500C). The
application of the “and” or “or” in the above definition can be dependent on
the geographical region. In Norway for example, only one of the conditions of
high pressure or temperature needs to be met for a well to be classified as
HPHT while in the UK, both conditions have to be met (Shadravan and Amani
2012).
Some HPHT Fields
The following are examples of some HPHT fields
around the world
- Thunder Horse, Gulf of Mexico (GoM)
- Kristin Field, Norway
- Jade Field, North Sea
- Erskine
- Tahiti, GoM
- Elgin
- Morvin, Norwegian Continental Shelf
- Jade Field, North Sea
HPHT Tier Classifications
Different companies have come up with tier
classifications for categorising HPHT conditions. Whereas the pressure and
temperature boundaries adopted may differ, three (3) Tiers are generally
employed.
- Tier I – HPHT
- Tier 2 – Ultra-HPHT
- Tier 3 – Extreme HPHT
HPHT Tier Classifications (Baker Hughes & Schlumberger) |
HPHT Challenges
The challenges in HPHT development can range
from technological to regulatory, HSE and so on. The focus here will be on the technological
aspects. In identifying some of these challenges, they will be grouped into
drilling, cementing and completions challenges.
HPHT Drilling Challenges
- Well Control:
- Typically narrow drilling window increases the risks of kicks, blowouts or formation fracture
- Drilling Fluid
- Mud rheology properties are affected by the high pressures and temperatures. This can impact the equivalent circulating density (ECD) and hole cleaning ability.
- Static and Dynamic barite sag
- Fluid loss
- Solubility of methane and H2S in oil based mud (OBM)
- High density muds causing formation damage
Barite Sagging of drilling mud (Shadravan 2012) |
- Typically 10% of the ROP in normal drilling conditions
- Breakdown of crystal structures in PDC bits
- Roller-cone bits unsuitable
- Reliability of MWD/LWD tools reduce at temperatures above 2750F
HPHT Cementing Challenges
- Physical and Chemical changes in cement due to the high temperatures and pressure
- Gas migration
- Strength retrogression at high temperatures
- Loss of zonal isolation caused by cement shrinking and stress changes due to downhole variations in temperature and pressure.
- Casing and formation expansion and contraction can cause cracking of already set cement
HPHT Completion Challenges
- Mechanical integrity of completions components due to hot produced fluids
- Limitations in density of completion fluids
- Corrosion of completion components at high temperatures and typically high flow rates
- Pressure and temperature limits of flow control equipment and electronics
- High compression loads and pipe movements at packers
- Thermal cycling and tubing stress
- Failure of packers and seal materials at high temperatures and pressures
- Performance of elastomers is reduced by the high temperatures
- Ignition and detonation of explosive charge for perforation becomes problematic at high temperature. Charges become unstable and may detonate prematurely.
- Battery temperature limits in intelligent wells
- Depletion-related sand failure
Suggested Reading
SPE-163376-MS - HPHT 101: What Every Engineer
or Geoscientist Should Know about High Pressure HighTemperature Wells. Available on OnePetro
References
SHADRAVAN, A. and AMANI, M.,
2012. HPHT 101: What Every Engineer or Geoscientist Should Know about High
Pressure HighTemperature Wells. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
DEBRUIJN, G. et al., 2008.
Hiph-pressure, High-Temperature Tecnologies. Oilfield Review ed. Schlumberger.
CUENCA, N., 2015. Challenges in
HPHT Wells Available from:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/challenges-hpht-wells-nicolas-cuenca [Accessed
29 June 2016]