World’s First Tractoring PLT through LEM with Diverter Installed

May 2005

A triple lateral water injector was discovered to have a breakthrough event in an adjacent water producer. Previous runs with injection profile had shown that the majority of injection was occurring in the “B” lateral. The necessary step was to log the “B” lateral in order to ascertain the best plan forward for controlling the breakthrough event. To do this, a diverter would have been installed in the LEM (Lateral Entry Model) in order to provide access to the lateral.

Previous logging runs had established that it was not possible to tractor through the LEM with a single 218 Well Tractor due to the large ID changes of the LEM. Instead, two 218 Well Tractors run in tandem with a 6.5 ft spacer were chosen for the operation.

The two Well Tractors and the logging tools were rigged up and run into the well to 6,130 ft MD, where the tools hung up due to the deviation. The upper Well Tractor was started and run in to a depth of 6,140 ft MD where the “B” lateral LEM was located. At this point, tension was lost and the Well Tractor surface readouts indicated it had stopped. It was then powered down and the lower Well Tractor (that had already passed the LEM) was powered up and continued to tractor down the “B” lateral.

After a total of 3 passes through the LEM, the necessary logging runs were made to gather enough data for the injection profile.

Well Data

Equipment used:             2 x 218 Well Tractors
Total distance tractored:  7,054 ft
Maximum depth:             8,300 ft MD

Welltec has an excellent track record of performance.

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