Unmillable Obstruction

Background

An operator acquired acreage that included a well that had been drilled and fractured but was still full of composite frac plugs. Documentation on the well was limited.

When the operator began milling out frac plugs to bring the well online, they reached an obstruction that they couldn’t mill through. The obstruction could have several different causes — a fish, a restriction, a breach — and it was necessary to identify which one before proceeding, since each would require a different solution to restore wellbore access.

Findings

High downhole temperatures and pressures, combined with the depth of the obstruction, eliminated multiple cooling and diagnostic options. Multiple camera attempts failed due to heat, and the obstruction was too deep to cool by surface pumping. After multiple interventions, the operator was left without a clear picture of what they were dealing with or a viable path forward. DarkVision was called in to scan the obstruction with HADES-F. The results were unambiguous: the drill-out assembly had exited the casing.

Outcome

The scan provided something that weeks of intervention attempts had not: a definitive answer. With the wellbore condition confirmed, the operator was able to make an informed decision and get the well on production rather than continuing to spend against an unknown problem.