Case Study: West Africa Operating Company achieves improved zonal isolation in horizontal wells with SLB CemFIT Shield

West Africa Operator Boosts Zonal Isolation in Horizontal Well

West Africa Operating Company worked with SLB to address poor cement bond logs and zonal isolation in long horizontal offshore wells drilled with nonaqueous fluid. Conventional cementing was leaving channels of oil-based drilling fluid in the wellbore, which created risks for later perforating and multistage stimulation operations. SLB’s CemFIT Shield mud-sealing cement system, along with earlier use of CemPRIME engineered chemistry spacer, was evaluated to improve mud removal and water-wetting in the challenging horizontal sections.

SLB recommended CemFIT Shield for the long horizontal well where limited casing standoff and restricted casing movement had made complete mud removal difficult. After laboratory testing and blend characterization, Well A was cemented with CemFIT Shield and achieved much better cement bond logs across all production zones than a nearby conventionally cemented well. The improved zonal isolation allowed perforation to proceed as planned, without changes needed to compensate for channeling during subsequent stimulation operations.