DST Toolstring Deployed in Gulf of Mexico

By Michelle Howard June 4, 2014

The ExACT tool in the workshop at Expro’s Broussard facility

International oilfield services company, Expro, has deployed its new design ExACT (Expro Annulus-Operated Circulating and Test Tool) in its first live offshore well.

The successful operation, a tubing conveyed perforating ‘shoot and pull’, took place on the Vermillion field offshore in the Gulf of Mexico following trial work onshore in Brazil last year.

The tool, one of the most advanced of its kind, combines downhole shut-in and circulating functionality. Rated at 15,000 psi and temperatures of up to 400˚F, ExACT features minimal fast-cycling to position the ball and ports in the required position shortening times between cycles and therefore reducing cost.

A key aspect of the tool is its flexible application to fit with a range of downhole operational conditions and objectives. During the deployment, TCP guns were fired using a pressure-activated firing system set to detonate with 2400psi applied annulus pressure.

Using a bespoke in-house software program, the ExACT tool was set up at surface to fully function downhole with applied annulus pressure between 1100psi-1400psi, leaving the desired firing head safety margin of 1000psi. Post-job analysis of gauge data verified that ExACT was operating within 50psi of calculated values in all tool positions.

Part of Expro’s new generation of drill stem testing tools and developed in-house, the ExACT tool is primarily aimed at the E&A and deepwater markets. It’s unique ‘SmartCollet’ and interlocking system makes the tool operationally flexible and efficient, ultimately saving rig time.

David Grant, Expro’s DST/TCP Director, comments: “This deployment is a positive step forward towards an operational launch of our Advanced DST tool offering later this year.

“The ExACT system can be deployed in any well type, however it is ideally suited for gas wells and deepwater markets. The fast-cycling tool can also provide a very high circulating rate, which is paramount in high cost operations such as those in deepwater applications.”