Byron resolves Gulf of Mexico well issue, prepares for production

Byron Energy has removed damaged completion assembly from its F3 well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company is now preparing to put the well into production, which is expected by the end of the week.

Byron’s problems with the SM71 F3 well in the South Marsh Island Block 71 (SM 71) lease started in March during completion operations. After what appeared to be a successful job based on all surface pressure readings, the drill-pipe became mechanically stuck across the packer, leaving drill pipe and other completion equipment in the wellbore.

In the meantime, Byron started production from the other two wells on the lease, F1 and F2. By the end of March, two of the three stuck components were removed from the F3 wellbore and work to remove the last portion started.

On Tuesday, April 2 Byron said it had removed the damaged completion assembly from the F3 well with production from the well expected by the end of the week.

According to the company, on March 29 at approximately 11 PM US Central Daylight Time (USCDT), the final 290-foot-long portion of the collapsed completion assembly was successfully and completely removed from the SM71 F3 wellbore during fishing operations. Since then, operations have focused on finalizing the F3 well for production from the D5 Sand reservoir where over 200 feet of measured depth oil pay (174 feet true vertical depth thickness) was logged during drilling in January 2018.

The Haliburton Stim Star IV returned to SM71 on March 31 and a high rate water pack was performed to place sand on the backside of the completion screens. The operation was successful and the well responded positively to the process. As of 2 PM USCDT Monday, April 2 2 7/8” production tubing has been run and landed into a completion packer inside the wellbore.

The F3 well is expected to be opened to flowback equipment on the Ensco 68 rig for an initial clean-up on Tuesday, April 3. No production rates will be established from the F3 well at that time, due to limited oil tankage on the rig. Once the flowback is accomplished, the Ensco 68 will begin the process of de-rigging and jacking down before it is released later this week.

The company will then make the final flowline tie-ins to the F3 well and install instrumentation equipment so that production can start by the end of the week.

SM71 oil pipeline maintenance

Byron also said on Tuesday that it had been advised by Crimson Gulf, the operator of the oil pipeline that carries SM71 oil to market, that due to maintenance on other sections of the oil pipeline, a pipeline shut in will occur next week. Currently, the shut in is scheduled to begin on April 10 and last two or three days. Byron’s SM71 wells will be offline during that time and will resume as soon as possible when the shut in is over.

Byron is the operator of SM71 and has a 50% working interest and a 40.625% net revenue interest in SM71. Otto Energy holds the remaining interest in SM71.

Maynard V. Smith, Byron’s CEO, said: “The successful removal of the damaged completion assembly from the F3 well is a great accomplishment that required a coordinated effort between many industry specialists. The crews offshore have worked swiftly since late last Thursday night to finalize the F3 for production. The data acquired during the high rate water pack indicates we have established very good communication between the wellbore and the D5 Sand reservoir which should result in good production rates.”

“We are very pleased that production from all three of our wells on the SM71 F platform will commence late this week and will fully update the market when the wells are producing at reservoir appropriate flow rates.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff