An operator in East Africa set a double barrier in 5” tubing during well integrity repairs in a vertical gas well. The upper isolation plug failed during inflow testing and was blown up the hole. Attempted to fish the 3.182” plug with braided fishing line, but the shallow depth made it impractical to use significant pulling force.

Coiled tubing was not cost effective and slickline “hand jarring” was not enough to pull the plug free. The client chose Welltec’s Well Stroker with the Well Miller® as a contingency as were considered safer/faster than conventional solutions.

On the first run, the Well Stroker latched onto the prong and pulled it free with over 50,000 lbs of upward force as indicated on the surface panel. During the second run, the Well Stroker initially latched onto the plug body and stroked up multiple times without moving it. A decision, therefore, was made to stroke down. The plug finally moved downward after 23,000 lbs of force. After multiple downhole strokes, the Well Stroker pushed the plug below the wellhead where it fell back to the TRSSSV profile.

After the Well Stroker successfully freed the plug and pushed it back to the TRSSSV profile, conventional slickline latched onto the plug and pulled it out of the hole

Welltec’s e-line fishing solution provided the client with access to the well so the scheduled slickline interventions could continue. The whole operation—the runs with the Well Stroker and slickline—took two days to successfully retrieve the prong and plug whereas the alternative solutions were unsuccessful after months of multiple attempts. The Well Stroker’s ability to anchor and provide maximum pull directly at the plug was key to the success of this operation.

The client saw great value in using Welltec’s solutions and now is working to set up a direct contract for future interventions after the success of this e-line fishing solution.