What's new in production: Be a SWIFTie!

LEONARD KALFAYAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 

I know what you might be thinking. But before jumping to any conclusions, let me clarify. There are those who are proud to proclaim that they are part of the large community of Swifties (search that with Google if you are fortunate enough to not recognize the term). But I am not referring to them. However, I can say that that I am proud to have recently become a SWIFTie. There aren’t many of us yet, but hopefully, soon, there will be many in our industry, and specifically in the production enhancement community.   

But first, on a related note, one of my favorite companies in the production enhancement world has been Comitt Well Solutions. The company cofounders (Roger Antonsen and Eivind Moen) have a history of creative innovations in the well stimulation world, in particular, including prior to the establishment of Comitt. What first got me “excited” about Comitt was their development and marketing of the novel EXCITE System. The EXCITE System addressed a big gap in oil and gas well production enhancement—pinpoint stimulation, or actually pinpoint restimulation, especially in very long horizontal wells completed in the unconventional oil and gas space.   

The EXCITE System has a very successful track record in restimulation applications, with reportedly over 1,300 treatments conducted and a 98% success rate. As mentioned, its application has found success, primarily with acid restimulation treatments in unconventional wells with long horizontal intervals.  

The EXCITE System is a fully hydraulic, module-based system conveyed via coiled tubing or tubing (e.g., stick pipe), used to restimulate, above or below fracturing pressure, existing completions. The system can isolate specific sections within a long production or injection interval. It uses packers, with stimulation fluids injected precisely, or in a “pinpoint” manner, into those sections.  

It is advertised that up to 68 zones can be stimulated with the system and up to 10,000-psi injection pressure. The EXCITE System includes hydraulic activation and deactivation features, multiple ports for fluid injection and circulation, and downhole gauges for pressure and temperature measurement.  

The SWIFT System. While the EXCITE System is certainly still a viable tool for restimulation applications, now from Comitt, is the SWIFT System. So, why be a SWIFTie? Because the SWIFT System is an even more exciting advancement in restimulation technology, and a very welcome one, given its cost-effective features.  

Per Comitt: The SWIFT System is a revolutionary wellbore cleanout and selective treatment solution that combines efficiency and performance in a single trip. It is engineered to boost well productivity by selectively stimulating every stage/cluster during the wellbore cleanout process—all without added time or significant cost. This innovative solution maximizes efficiency, eliminates the need for multiple trips, and minimizes downtime, while also delivering superior well performance in a cost-effective manner. 

The SWIFT System is quite unique in its functionality but easy to understand. The tool system’s capability in enabling complete wellbore cleanout and selective restimulation in a single trip is a huge benefit. The single trip aspect reduces rig time and operation costs considerably, when compared to cleanout runs and restimulation treatments (e.g., bullhead treatments or selective zone treatments) having to be conducted as completely separate operations.  

Use of “restrictors.” In addition, the SWIFT System does not rely on packers and thus multiple packer resets in long horizontal intervals. There are no rubber elements that can lose efficiency as a restimulation treatment progresses, or that can become damaged and completely ineffective in sealing and isolating zones before completion of the job. Instead, the SWIFT System utilizes metal-to-metal “restrictors” (metal-to-metal contact), providing greater assurance of isolation efficiency and repeatability in treating multiple sections. A greater number of interval sections can, therefore, be treated, with section lengths and locations set as desired. Smaller volumes of stimulation fluids can potentially be used per section and per well too, given the increased fluid injection and interval coverage efficiency. And all of that can be completed in faster time than has been previously possible with other, multi-step, intervention options.   

With the SWIFT System, the treatment port is hydraulically activated and can withstand high differential pressures, beyond those realistically required for restimulation treatments. Downhole measurements are made with pressure and temperature memory gauges above, below, and between the metal-to-metal restrictors.   

Better restimulation. There is considerable lip service paid to restimulation of long horizontal completions in unconventional formations. Actual application has not caught up with it, though. The need for restimulation in such wells and fields is only increasing, as wells mature and decline, including below economic viability. It is well known that the vast majority of oil in place is left behind by initial completions and hydraulic fracture stimulation. But with a restimulation methodology provided by the SWIFT System, enabling greater efficiency and certainty in operation with lower restimulation costs, the opportunity to enhance well and field productivity can be realized more realistically.  

Both matrix stimulation—with acids and/or other specialty fluids and production enhancement additives—and fracture acidizing treatments, are favorable in high carbonate content formations, typical in unconventionals. Matrix restimulation treatments with hydrofluoric (HF) acid in siliceous formations with low carbonate contents (under 20%, for example) are also conceivable. With the ability to isolate zones as desired and effectively, existing fractures can be restimulated, and new production (or injection) pathways can be created, too. Restimulation in this manner, utilizing a tool such as the SWIFT System, can enable periodic treatments as needed, to extend well economic life beyond what would otherwise be imagined. Of course, not all wells are restimulation candidates, but many more are than have been considered.  

The reader is encouraged to explore Comitt Well Solutions and their technologies, especially the new SWIFT System, as awareness increases, and its eventual use for single-step cleanout and pinpoint restimulation begins to proliferate.