Control Line-Less Casing Valve Installations and Reduction of Drilling Operations Risks in Challenging Well Environments

Abstract The pursuit of continuous improvement in overall Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) performance represents a key driver in drilling and completion activities, even more in critical well environments. To minimize risks in subsea well operations, Eni and Weatherford developed an innovative Cable-Less Casing Valve (will be referenced as "Valve" in this paper), with the primary objective of blowout risk reduction, isolating downhole environment from surface when the bottomhole assembly (BHA) is out of the well, enhancing operational efficiency through contactless technologies easier to deploy at greater depths. This technology is the result of a joint R&D project in which a pre-existing technology (i.e., a surface cable activated casing valve) has been upgraded by introducing a contactless activation, thus unlocking the application in subsea wells, the main candidates for this technology. Once the technological needs have been identified, the Valve has been engineered, built and pilot tested in land environment in 2018 - 2019, prior to its commercial deployment occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea area for three subsea wells between 2022 and 2024, achieving the expected objectives with no major interference or disruption added to the normal operations. The Valve has been developed in sizes for 13 3/8″ – 13 5/8″ and for 9 5/8″ – 9 7/8″ casings.