Granted Patent B2

US 12,509,965 · App. 18/672,627 · Granted Dec 30, 2025

Inventor: Jamie Cochran (Aberdeenshire, GB)

Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY

E21B37/10E21B34/02

Abstract

Claims (53)

1 . A bottom hole assembly (BHA) deployable in a production tubing, the BHA comprising:

a foam assembly, the foam assembly comprising:

the foaming assembly is configured to release a foaming chemical to form a foam;

at least one chemical canister; and

a check valve unit coupled to the at least one chemical canister, wherein the check valve unit comprises a plurality of foam nozzles; and

a swab assembly coupled to the foam assembly, wherein the swab assembly comprises a swab mandrel and a plurality of swab cups; wherein the at least one chemical canister comprises a second chemical canister coupled between a first chemical canister and the swab assembly; and

wherein the BHA is configured to displace a workover fluid and reduce hydrostatic pressure in the production tubing with a combined generation of the foam from the foam assembly and well swabbing with the swab assembly.

2 . The BHA of claim 1 , further comprising a rope socket coupled to a slickline unit.

3 . The BHA of claim 2 , further comprising one or more selected from spang jar, a stem weight bar, an anti-blowout sub, a safety bypass sub, a memory sensor package, a release joint, or combinations thereof.

4 . The BHA of claim 1 , wherein the foaming chemical selected from the group consisting of a gas, a surfactant, oil, water, and combinations thereof to form the foam.

5 . The BHA of claim 1 , wherein the swab assembly is configured to swab the production tubing after the foam is formed.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the foam assembly is configured to promote the formation of the foam downhole when the BHA is placed in fluid, and wherein the foam is configured to lift a target volume of a static fluid that occupies the product tubing.

7 . A system for initiating natural flow in a well, the system comprising:

a bottom hole assembly (BHA) disposed in a production tubing of the well, the BHA comprising:

a rope socket coupled to a foam assembly, the foam assembly comprising:

the foaming assembly is configured to release a foaming chemical to form a foam;

at least one chemical canister; and

a check valve unit coupled to the at least one chemical canister, wherein the check valve unit comprises a plurality of foam nozzles; and

a swab assembly coupled to the foam assembly, wherein the swab assembly comprises a swab mandrel and a plurality of swab cups; wherein the at least one chemical canister comprises a second chemical canister coupled between a first chemical canister and the swab assembly;

wherein the BHA is configured to displace a workover fluid and reduce hydrostatic pressure in the production tubing with a combined generation of the foam from the foam assembly and well swabbing with the swab assembly; and

a slickline unit coupled to the rope socket of the BHA.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the BHA further comprises one or more selected from a spang jar, a stem weight bar, an anti-blowout sub, a safety bypass sub, a memory sensor package, a release joint, or combinations thereof.

9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the foaming chemical selected from the group consisting of a gas, a surfactant, oil, water, and combinations thereof to form the foam.

10 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the foam assembly is configured to release the foaming chemical in an amount sufficient to form a column of foam in the production tubing, wherein the column of foam has a length from a target depth to a wellhead and flowline.

11 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the swab assembly is configured to swab the production tubing after the foam is formed.

12 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the foam is capable of producing a lift effect to reduce tension on the slickline cable.

13 . A method for initiating natural flow in a well, the method comprising:

conveying a bottom hole assembly (BHA) on a slickline to a first depth into a production tubing, wherein the production tubing comprises a static fluid, the BHA comprising:

a foam assembly comprising a check valve unit coupled to a chemical canister, wherein the check valve unit comprises a plurality of nozzles; and

a swab assembly coupled after the foam assembly, wherein the swab assembly comprises a swab mandrel and a plurality of swab cups,

holding the BHA stationary in the static fluid;

releasing a foaming chemical from the chemical canister to the production tubing via the check valve unit;

activating the foaming chemical to form a foam;

opening a well flowline; and

swabbing at least a portion of the production tubing with the swab assembly of the BHA by at least partially removing the BHA from the production tubing.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising;

collecting data from one or more sensors of the BHA;

determining a second depth of the production tubing; and

conveying the BHA to the second depth of the production tubing.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein swabbing at least a portion of the production tubing comprises swabbing the production tubing to a surface of the well to retrieve the BHA at the surface.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

closing the well; and

monitoring the well to determine if the well is naturally flowing.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

if the well is not naturally flowing, opening pressure control equipment disposed at a wellhead of the well;

accessing the BHA;

downloading, by a computer, data from a memory sensor package;

adjusting a plan for an additional run in the production tubing with the BHA based on the data;

reloading a foaming chemical in the chemical canister of the BHA;

reloading the BHA in the pressure control equipment of the wellhead;

and repeating the method for initiating natural flow in a well.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

if the well is naturally flowing, initiating production processes for the well.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (20)