Standard Oil Company (indiana)

Amoco Corporation

The Standard Oil Company

Robert C Smith

George B Holman

Charles A Powers

Robert M Beirute

A method and apparatus for indicating the position of a cement wiper plug in a wellbore during liner or casing cementing operations. The arrival of the cement wiper plug at a shearable, temporary restriction means in a pipe string is sensed by an increase in pipe string pressure at the surface. Using the knowledge of the location of this shearable, temporary restriction means, a determination of whether or not it is desirable to displace the cement wiper plug to a landing assembly at the bottom of the pipe string can be made. A predetermined amount of displacing fluid, sufficient to either completely or partially displace the cement wiper plug to the landing assembly, can then be introduced into the pipe string. The apparatus includes a section of pipe string with an interior shearable, temporary restricting means to restrict the motion of the cement wiper plug through the section of pipe string, and a casing string wiper plug, for those casing string cementing operations where at least one casing string wiper plug may be required, designed to pass the interior shearable, temporary restricting means without shearing it from the interior of the section of pipe string.

Method for indicating the position of a cement wiper plug prior to its

A method of completing a wellbore is disclosed wherein a low density spacer fluid is introduced into a wellbore and then a completion fluid, such as a cement slurry, to displace the spacer fluid. The spacer fluid comprises a nonagglomerating carrier fluid, such as water or the like, and discrete dispersible density reducing bodies, such as hollow spheres. The density reducing bodies aid in reducing the hydrostatic head of the spacer fluid, completion fluid, and existing wellbore fluids to prevent the hydrostatic head of such fluids from exceeding the fracture gradient of a highly porous, easily fractured formation.

Low density spacer fluid

A 9 to 12 ppg (1.08 to 1.4 kg/liter) cement slurry for use in oil well type completions which comprises hydraulic cement about 10 to about 30 weight percent hollow glass microspheres based on the weight of the cement and sufficient water to form a pumpable slurry with an API free water content of no more than about 2 volume percent. This slurry is preferably mixed with an amount of water required to produce a slurry with the hydraulic cement having at least an API minimum water content and an API free water content of no more than about 2 volume percent and an additional amount of water equal to about 1.3 to about 1.8 weight percent water based on the weight of the hydraulic cement for each weight percent of the microspheres. The microspheres have true particle densities of at least 0.2 gm/cm.sup.3, hydrostatic collapse strengths of at least 500 psi (3447 kPa) and average particle diameters of less than about 500 microns.

Low density cement slurry and its use

A 9 to 12 ppg (1.08 to 1.4 kg/liter) cement slurry for use in oil well type completions which comprises hydraulic cement about 10 to about 30 weight percent hollow glass microspheres based on the weight of the cement and sufficient water to form a pumpable slurry with an API free water content of no more than about 2 volume percent. This slurry is preferably mixed with an amount of water required to produce a slurry with the hydraulic cement having at least an API minimum water content and an API free water content of no more than about 2 volume percent and an additional amount of water equal to about 1.3 to about 1.8 weight percent water based on the weight of the hydraulic cement for each weight percent of the microspheres. The microspheres have true particle densities of about 0.2 to about 0.5 gm/cm.sup.3, hydrostatic collapse strengths of at least 500 psi (3447 kPa) and average particle diameters of less than about 500 microns.

A process for reducing the waiting-on-cement (WOC) time associated with the cementing of a casing string in an oil well involving the specific improvement of pumping into the well a highly retarded cement slurry containing a dispersed encapsulated accelerator, such as calcium chloride or anhydrous sodium metasilicate, wherein the encapsulating material is specifically selected such that it will melt at a temperature above the bottom-hole circulating temperature but below the bottomhole static temperature of the well to be cemented. Petroleum-derived waxes and petroleum-derived waxes in combination with vinyl resins, such as wax-compatible copolymers of ethylene and vinyl acetate, are particularly suitable as the meltable encapsulating material exhibiting excellent strength and abrasion resistance as well as serving as a moisture barrier. The improved process is particularly useful in cementing deep hot wells.

Growing community of inventors

Inola, OK, United States of America

Robert C Smith