Canadian Natural Resources Dewatering Procedure

Using High Pressure Methane

Prepared by Sam Hajar, Production Technologist– Canadian Natural, St. Albert District

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) has taken a common industry
practice and adapted it to meet its’ current business needs. The company has modified the
established process of dewatering gas wells utilizing nitrogen gas. In order to reduce
servicing costs Canadian Natural has decided to use methane gas to dewater wellbores
that have a history of hydrostatically loading with produced liquids.

The theory of using compressed gas to enhance gas well production has been in place for
many years. Traditionally the gas used has been nitrogen which is transported to the well
site in pressurized gas cylinders. Canadian Natural has modified the procedure, utilizing
methane gas instead.

The process simply uses methane gas, which is transported in pressurized gas cylinders to
the well site, where the gas is then injected into and circulated down the wellbore
displacing any existing wellbore fluids out of the well. Alternative uses have also been
identified, which include the cleaning of pipelines and chemical treatments on flowing
gas wells.

The idea of using methane gas was originated by a collaboration of both contract and
company employees in an effort to minimize operating costs, while endeavoring to meet
or exceed gas production targets.

Liquid Loading of Gas Wells

A common problem with low pressure, low producing gas wells is liquid loading. The
rate at which a well starts to load up depends on downhole pressure and tubing diameter.
Theoretically wells require a critical gas lift rate of approximately 7-10 e3m3/day if
tubing size is 60.3 mm. If rates drop below these rates a gas well can begin to experience
liquid loading, to the point where the hydrostatic head of the fluid is greater than the
bottomhole pressure. The typical end result being that the well is unable to lift gas to
surface.
Gas Lift Procedure Using Kickaround Trailer (Gas Unit)

A practice still used today by many producers to solve the problem of liquid loading is to
purge the wellbore clean of any fluid by circulating nitrogen gas down the wellbore and
catching any fluid at surface in a container or tank. In an effort to reduce costs and
eliminate the need to subsequently purge nitrogen from the system, Canadian Natural has
replaced the nitrogen gas with methane gas. In order to use the gas lift methodology, the
tubing string and the casing must be in communication with each other. The gas is then
injected into and circulated down the tubing, causing the fluid to circulate up the casing
to surface. This same procedure can be reversed to circulate the methane gas down the
casing and up the tubing. Either circulating procedure will work. By eliminating the fluid
out of the tubing string, the well will have a better chance to produce gas. The methane
gas is transported to the well site in cylinders connected to support equipment; all
mounted on a trailer towed by a truck (referred to as a “Kickaround trailer”) or
alternatively on a flat bed four-wheel drive truck (referred to as a “Kickaround unit”). As
the job function of both is identical, the terms may be interchanged throughout this
discussion. Canadian Natural continues to look for new uses for the kickaround unit, as it
has become a significant part of Canadian Natural’s daily operations.

Evolution of the Kickaround Unit

The original idea to build a Canadian Natural operated kickaround unit for dewatering
gas wells, rather than using a third party, was initially proposed by a Canadian Natural
contract operator in order to reduce well cleanout costs and improve efficiency. The idea
was further developed with the collaboration of other Canadian Natural employees from
various disciplines. The process has evolved to the point of the unit be used in other
applications in addition to dewatering low pressure gas wells. Further applications
identified to date include performing chemical squeezes on wells and displacing and
pigging stagnant pipelines, and are discussed below.

The first prototype, although effective, had issues with mobility and capacity. A second
generation unit was then built, which took into consideration weather conditions and
typical lease road conditions in Northern Alberta. The second generation kickaround
trailer was designed to accommodate more gas bottles and was housed in a livestock
trailer, however there continued to be limitations related to the unit’s inability to access
leases with poor ground conditions . In the current unit the trailer/truck combination has
been replaced with a flatbed four wheel-drive truck carrying the gas cylinders and all
necessary support equipment (see Figure 1).
The gas cylinders mounted on the Kickaround unit are refilled and charged by a small fill
station which utilizes a 95 HP compressor (see Figure 3). The fill time with the first and
second generation kickaround trailers was upwards to eight hours. With the 3rd
generation unit, the fill station compressor was also upgraded and now the fill times are
less than 30 minutes.

The idea and evolution of these Kickaround units are the direct result of collaboration
between Canadian Natural’s field and operations staff.

Operational Benefits of Using Kickaround Unit.

1) Using methane gas to dewater low pressure gas wells allows the methane gas to be
recovered down the pipeline. Previously nitrogen would have to be purged from
the well, as nitrogen gas is not combustible.
2) Canadian Natural has many compressor stations in Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan
making replenishing the gas cylinders simple.
3) Dewatering with the Kickaround unit reduces swabbing costs significantly.
4) Pipeline pigging operations take less manpower and time because of the high
pressure gas on the Kickaround unit can physically move a pig a long distance in a
relatively short period of time. This ultimately reduces labour costs and downtime.
5) Low producing gas wells, which previously could not pay out swabbing or
reactivation costs can be put back on production for a fraction of the cost.
6) Chemical treatments on low producing wells now have a more attractive payout
due to eliminating the high cost of a third party pressure unit.

Downhole Views

Below are two examples downhole configurations required in order to utilize the
Kickaround unit for dewatering. It is important to note that the flow direction, although
shown as uni-directional in the examples, the methane gas can go either down the casing
or up the tubing (as depicted below) or reverse circulated down the tubing and up the
casing.
 Wellbore Scenarios Where Unit Works

Equipment

In addition to the two prototype Kickaround units constructed in 2007, Canadian Natural
has formed an alliance with Flo Solutions who has built and operates two units featuring
the four wheel-drive / flatbed design. These units are each equipped with 26 gas
cylinders capable of holding a total of 900 m3 of gas at approximately 18300 kpa. The
bottles are filled with a compressor located at a Canadian Natural compressor station. The
compressor is capable of filling the gas bottles in approximately 30 minutes. The ability
to fill the bottles in short period of time allows for the units to be used in multiple
applications in one day. The units are hooked up to the compressor with a high pressure
hose rated for 30000 kpa. At the well, the unit is connected to the wellhead, once again
using a high pressure hose. The bottles are connected in series to allow for gas to flow
freely through a manifold from any or all the bottles. Typically each shallow well will use
approximately 6-8 bottles to unload a gas well of any wellbore fluid. It should be noted
the bottles can be filled at any compressor station however the fill pressure is limited to
the discharge pressure of existing compressor on site.
Figure 1 – Kick Around Unit Figure 2 – Kick Around Unit Cylinder
Manifold
 Figure 3 – Unit Hooked Up To Kick Figure 4 – Kick Around Unit At Fill
Down Casing Station

Manpower

Canadian Natural currently has an alliance with Flo Solutions who initially participated in
the design and development of the technology. The Flo Solution staff own and operate the
Kickaround units exclusively. Canadian Natural operators will tie the Kickaround unit
into the gas well and circulate gas to dewater the well. As the Kickaround unit is a flat
bed truck with the gas bottles on the back, it only requires one operator.

Additional Uses

The Kickaround unit is also capable of assisting in pipeline maintenance. Canadian

Natural has used the unit to clean fluid from gas pipelines of fluid. A pig is placed in the
pipeline and the Kickaround unit is hooked up to push the pig down the line. As many of
the gas pipelines operate at low pressure and are connected to low pressure gas wells, the
time it takes to pig a line without the Kickaround unit, often exceeds 3-5 hrs. Conversely,
on suspended gas lines, no producing gas wells may be available making it impossible to
pig the line without an external pressure source. By utilizing the Kickaround unit,
Canadian Natural has reduced the time it takes to clean a low pressure gas line as well as
clean out lines which previously were unable to be cleaned out. This has had a positive
impact our Canadian Natural’s pipeline integrity program. Further it has reduced
Canadian Natural’s operating costs by reducing labour costs.

Chemical treating of gas wells is another use for the Kickaround unit. Occasionally, some
gas wells will develop a buildup of heavy tar-like material called asphaltenes. This build
up can occur at the sandface of the wellbore perforations, which in turn impedes the gas
production. Canadian Natural is using the Kickaround unit to help treat these wells with
chemical or condensate. The procedure involves circulating the chemical or condensate
down the wellbore and spotting it near the well perforations. The Kickaround unit is then
hooked up to the well and using the high pressure gas, the chemical or condensate is
squeezed into the formation with the intention of breaking down the asphaltene buildup.
By performing the chemical squeeze using the Kickaround unit, Canadian Natural is able
to enhance production at a reduced cost compared to standard chemical squeezes.

Summary

The evolution of the Kickaround unit has made a significant impact in how Canadian
Natural has optimized, restarted, dewatered and stimulated low pressure gas wells. The
innovative thinking by the field staff at Canadian Natural has helped lower operating
costs while maintaining production forecasts.