Innovative design and re-completion strategies for CO2 injection wells: a case study
T. Ahmad A * , K. Wuttke A , M. Allison B , D. Bason B and P. Barraclough BA
B
Toseef Ahmad is a Senior Completion Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He specialises in the design and execution of well completions and related services, with extensive experience across the Middle East, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia. His expertise spans onshore, offshore, and unconventional reservoirs, including shale and coal seam gas. Toseef holds a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from U.E.T, Lahore, and a MSc in Project Management from Curtin University. He has authored several SPE papers on sand control and stimulation. Currently, he serves as the Project Manager for fracture stimulation operations in shale gas development in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory. |
Kelvin Wuttke is one of the Directors at inGauge Energy. Kelvin is a Drilling and Completions Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, encompassing onshore, offshore, and conventional and CSG operations. With a wealth of leadership roles with Egis, Chevron, Santos, and inGauge, his expertise spans drilling and completions design, well integrity, stimulation, workovers, artificial lift, and pipeline operations. Kelvin has successfully managed complex projects including international offshore operations, conventional onshore projects in the Cooper Basin, and unconventional CSG and shale developments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including combined drilling, completion, and stimulation activities, fracture stimulation, remediation workovers, underbalanced drilling, and abandonments. His ability to integrate technical knowledge with project execution ensures cost-effective and efficient delivery and affirms his status as a trusted advisor to our clients. As a Chartered Professional Engineer, Kelvin holds a BEng (Mechanical) and a MBA. |
Mitch Allison graduated from the University of Guelph in 2005 with a BSc in Geology. He is an experienced geologist and project manager who has worked in oil and gas exploration and development in Canada and Australia for 18 years. In November 2022, he accepted a role with CO2CRC as a Geoscientist and in June 2023, moved into the Operations Manager role. Mitch is a current member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. |
David Bason is a Senior Reservoir Engineer with CO2CRC in Melbourne, Victoria, with a decade and a half of experience in the energy industry. David is currently leading the latest geological sequestration of CO2 research program at the Otway International Test Centre. He holds an MPhys from the University of Manchester, UK, and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Aberdeen, UK. David has previously worked as a reservoir engineer for Woodside Energy and as a consultant with EY. |
Paul Barraclough is the Chief Operating Office for CO2CRC. An oil and gas professional who has worked internationally in a career spanning 20 years with the industry’s largest oil and gas service company. Paul has worked in more than a dozen countries in various technical field and office-based roles with a continuing focus on reservoir measurements, characterisation, and construction as well as supporting roles within personnel and HSE. He joined CO2CRC in 2018 specifically for the Stage 3 Project, which facilitated the testing of efficient and economic sub-surface monitoring solutions for the CCS industry. More recently, as the COO, team management and project oversight has been a key focus of the role, covering underground H2 storage, management of the OITC, the new Stage 4 Project and oversight of various technical, regulatory, and economic studies via the management and business development of CO2Tech – the advisory services arm of CO2CRC. |
Abstract
This paper presents a case study on the innovative design and deployment of well completion for a CO2 injection well. Over 5 years, the well was completed twice to conduct various CO2 injection experiments across different formations. The paper discusses the design, technology, and procedures used to meet challenging well-completion requirements. One challenge involved external fibre optic cables installed on the casing using blast rods. To avoid damaging these cables, a wireline-oriented gun system that reads flux from the rods was used to orient the perforation charges away from the cables. Additionally, downhole formation samples were collected without requiring a well workover, achieved using Tube-in-Tube U-Tube sampler technology. To reduce costs, the well design utilised 13% rather than the 25% chromium stainless steel material typically recommended for CO2 injection wells. The recovered tubular showed a favourable corrosion profile during re-completion, supporting the design decision. The well was re-completed in 2024, incorporating design optimisations and lessons learned from the initial completion. The re-completion targeted new low-permeability zones, requiring perforation cleanup to enhance injectivity. An innovative method using inflatable packers and nitrogen to displace and flow the well inside the tubing achieved this objective, significantly reducing costs compared to a full flow-back package. The paper emphasises tailored engineering solutions for complex well construction, demonstrating the effectiveness of specific tools and materials in optimising well design and contributing to best practices for future carbon capture and storage well completion applications.
Keywords: carbon capture and storage (CCS), CO2 injection well, fibre optic monitoring, oriented perforation, U-tube sampler, wireline perforating platform (WPP).
Toseef Ahmad is a Senior Completion Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He specialises in the design and execution of well completions and related services, with extensive experience across the Middle East, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia. His expertise spans onshore, offshore, and unconventional reservoirs, including shale and coal seam gas. Toseef holds a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from U.E.T, Lahore, and a MSc in Project Management from Curtin University. He has authored several SPE papers on sand control and stimulation. Currently, he serves as the Project Manager for fracture stimulation operations in shale gas development in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory. |
Kelvin Wuttke is one of the Directors at inGauge Energy. Kelvin is a Drilling and Completions Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, encompassing onshore, offshore, and conventional and CSG operations. With a wealth of leadership roles with Egis, Chevron, Santos, and inGauge, his expertise spans drilling and completions design, well integrity, stimulation, workovers, artificial lift, and pipeline operations. Kelvin has successfully managed complex projects including international offshore operations, conventional onshore projects in the Cooper Basin, and unconventional CSG and shale developments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including combined drilling, completion, and stimulation activities, fracture stimulation, remediation workovers, underbalanced drilling, and abandonments. His ability to integrate technical knowledge with project execution ensures cost-effective and efficient delivery and affirms his status as a trusted advisor to our clients. As a Chartered Professional Engineer, Kelvin holds a BEng (Mechanical) and a MBA. |
Mitch Allison graduated from the University of Guelph in 2005 with a BSc in Geology. He is an experienced geologist and project manager who has worked in oil and gas exploration and development in Canada and Australia for 18 years. In November 2022, he accepted a role with CO2CRC as a Geoscientist and in June 2023, moved into the Operations Manager role. Mitch is a current member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. |
David Bason is a Senior Reservoir Engineer with CO2CRC in Melbourne, Victoria, with a decade and a half of experience in the energy industry. David is currently leading the latest geological sequestration of CO2 research program at the Otway International Test Centre. He holds an MPhys from the University of Manchester, UK, and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Aberdeen, UK. David has previously worked as a reservoir engineer for Woodside Energy and as a consultant with EY. |
Paul Barraclough is the Chief Operating Office for CO2CRC. An oil and gas professional who has worked internationally in a career spanning 20 years with the industry’s largest oil and gas service company. Paul has worked in more than a dozen countries in various technical field and office-based roles with a continuing focus on reservoir measurements, characterisation, and construction as well as supporting roles within personnel and HSE. He joined CO2CRC in 2018 specifically for the Stage 3 Project, which facilitated the testing of efficient and economic sub-surface monitoring solutions for the CCS industry. More recently, as the COO, team management and project oversight has been a key focus of the role, covering underground H2 storage, management of the OITC, the new Stage 4 Project and oversight of various technical, regulatory, and economic studies via the management and business development of CO2Tech – the advisory services arm of CO2CRC. |
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