Casing Magnetization

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Significantly reduce the time to locate and intersect an uncontrolled well

The magnetic field generated by steel is used to locate the casing in an uncontained well and facilitate intersection with a relief well.

Pre-magnetization is a cost-effective method for increasing the detectable range of your casing when using passive magnetic ranging (PMR) techniques, with zero risk to your wellbore.

Pre-magnetizing casing facilitates PMR (also known as measuring-while-drilling (MWD) ranging). If this is not done, you may face the following issues:

  • Increased risk to safety, environment and production by compromising the ability to locate an uncontained well efficiently
  • Reduced ability to locate a well due to reliance on random and unpredictable remnant magnetic field of the casing from when it was manufactured
  • No guarantee that the steel will be detectable using PMR at an acceptable distance.

Proven benefits of pre-magnetization:

  • Increase the detectable range of casing and significantly improve ranging distance
  • Eliminate uncertainties associated with passive ranging techniques assuring that the wellbore can be located and intersected
  • Significantly reduce the relief well drilling time by reducing the number of ranging runs with active magnetic ranging (AMR) on wireline and the number of relief well sidetracks when using a direct approach without paralleling the wellbore
  • A low-cost solution delivering increased safety assurance without affecting the drilling operations

Casing is magnetized prior to being run in hole and Passive Magnetic Ranging may be used as the primary ranging method or in combination with Active Magnetic Ranging for the well situations listed:

  • Shallow reservoir and challenging relief well design
  • High resistivity zones e.g. salt formations limiting ranging techniques
  • Well avoidance when drilling from centralized locations

How long does pre-magnetization usually take?

Typically, pre-magnetization takes:

  • 1 week of planning, assessment and scheme development
  • 1 week of transport of equipment and personnel
  • 2 days to magnetize casing at any casing yard anywhere in the world

What are the requirements that apply to a pre-magnetization project?

  • A roof covered workspace with suitable casing rack.
  • Power supply: 32 A outlet (220-440 V)
  • Crane and or forklifts to move the casing
  • One assistant to help handling the coil

What makes us different?

Add Energy offers casing pre-magnetization in close cooperation with the pioneers of underground borehole location and placement - Vector Magnetics LLC.

Our methodology has been fine-tuned over the last 10 years, through the pre-magnetization of over 35 wells.

Completed Projects

Some of our completed pre-magnetization projects includes:

  • 20", 13 ⅝, 13 ⅜", 9 ⅝" and 7" for shallow set casing, Norway
  • 13 ⅜", 9 ⅝" for shallow set casing, Ghana
  • 9 ⅞" casing for salt formation Gabon
  • 13 ⅜" for shallow set casing, Las Palmas, Spain
"Field testing of magnetized casing joints at surface has demonstrated that the effect is long lasting. The magnetized casing from testing in 2009 have been stored and after 10 years the effect is still high."