TYPICAL MARINE ABANDONMENT PROCEDURE

ROTATING SPEAR SYSTEM

7" Casing

1. Make up the following assembly:-

5 9/16” OD Pipe Cutter - Dressed 8 1/2" Opening Knives

3 1/2" Drill pipe - (Spaced out from Wellhead to required cut depth)
Marine Swivel
6 1/2" OD Bumper Sub
3 x 6 1/2" OD Drill collars
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface

2. Run this assembly in the hole, land the Swivel in the 7" casing hanger. This must be done with
the compensator open.

3. Cut the casing. The cutting parameters are:- 80-100 Rpm, 500-1000 Psi surface pressure.
When the casing is severed, a significant pressure drop will be observed.

4. The spear is then run to recover the casing, a casing pack-off tool may be used to circulate the
annulus if required.

7” Pack Off Tool

7” Casing Spear
Spear Stop sub
Crossover
6 1/2" OD Bumper Sub
3 x 6 1/2" OD Drill collars
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 TYPICAL MARINE ABANDONMENT PROCEDURE
ROTATING SPEAR SYSTEM

9 5/8" Casing

1. Make up the following assembly:-

8 1/4" OD Pipe Cutter - Dressed 10 3/4" Opening Knives

5" Drill pipe - (Spaced out from Wellhead to required cut depth)
6 1/2" OD Bumper Sub
Series 9 Rotating Spear - Dressed with grapple to suit Casing Hanger
(Or we utilise a Marine Swivel – Safety dictates most companies do not
want to strip pipe out of casing at surface.)
6 1/2" OD Bumper Sub or X-Over & 8" Bumper Sub
3 x 6 1/2" OD Drill collars 3 x 8" Drill Collars
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface X-Over, 5" Drill Pipe

2. Run this assembly in the hole, land the spear grapple in the 9 5/8" casing hanger. This must be
done with the compensator open.
Take a test overpull of at least 25,000 lbs, then slack off to a working overpull of between 10
to 15,000 lbs.

3. Cut the casing. The cutting parameters are:- 80-100 Rpm, 500-1000 Psi surface pressure.
When the casing is severed, a significant pressure drop will be observed.

4. Depending on which of the following conditions apply, use either option a) or b) below:

a) If a long section of casing has been cut, pull the hanger and casing free to confirm
that the pipe is loose. If successful, land casing back in the wellhead, release the spear
and pull out of the hole. Rack back the spear and lay out the cutter.
The spear is then run to recover the casing, a casing pack-off tool may be used to
circulate the annulus if required.

b) If the total length of the cut casing is less than 300 meters and the water is deep enough that
trip is a consideration, then it may be easier and more economical to pull the casing and
cutting string in one trip.

Once the spear and casing hanger are at the rotary table, the cutting string is then stripped
out of the casing. This can be accomplished by using double elevators and a keyhole plate.

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 TYPICAL MARINE ABANDONMENT PROCEDURE
ROTATING SPEAR SYSTEM

13 3/8" Casing

1. Make up the following assembly:-

11 3/4" OD Pipe Cutter - Dressed 14 3/4" Opening Knives

X-over Sub
5" Drill pipe - (Spaced out from Wellhead to required cut depth)
6 1/2" OD Bumper Sub
X-over Sub
Series 13 Rotating Spear - Dressed with grapple to suit Casing Hanger
(Or we utilise a Marine Swivel – Safety dictates most companies do not
want to strip pipe out of casing at surface.)
8" OD Bumper Sub
3 x 8" OD Drill collars
X-over Sub
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface

2. Run this assembly in the hole, land the spear grapple in the 13 3/8" casing hanger. This must
be done with the compensator open. Take a test overpull of at least 25,000 lbs, then slack off
to a working overpull of between 10- 15,000 lbs.

3. Cut the casing. The cutting parameters are:- 80-100 Rpm, 500-1000 Psi surface pressure.
When the casing is severed, a significant pressure drop will be observed.

4. Depending on which of the following conditions apply, use either option a) or b) below:

a) If a long section of casing has been cut, pull the hanger and casing free to confirm that the
pipe is loose. If successful, land casing back in the wellhead, release the spear and pull out
of the hole. Rack back the spear and lay out the cutter.

The spear is then run to recover the casing, a casing pack-off tool may be used to circulate
the annulus if required.

b) If the total length of the cut casing is less than 300 meters and the water is deep enough that
trip is a consideration, then it may be easier and more economical to pull the casing
and cutting string in one trip.

Once the spear and casing hanger are at the rotary table, the cutting string is then
stripped out of the casing. This can be accomplished by using double elevators and a keyhole
plate.

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 TYPICAL MARINE ABANDONMENT PROCEDURE
ROTATING SPEAR SYSTEM

20 and 30" Casing

1. Make up the following assembly:-

17 1/2" OD Non-Rotating Stabilizer

11 3/4" OD Pipe Cutter - Dressed 44" Opening Knives
17 1/2" OD Non-Rotating Stabilizer
X-over Sub (Spacer Subs as required)
Series 18 Rotating Spear - Dressed with grapple to suit Wellhead upset
8" OD Bumper Sub
3 x 8" OD Drill collars
X-over Sub
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface

2. Run this assembly in the hole, land the spear grapple in the 17 5/8" upset at the base of the
wellhead. This must be done with the compensator open.
Take a test overpull of at least 50,000 lbs, then slack off to a working overpull of between
15 to 20,000 lbs.

3. Cut the casing. The cutting parameters are:- 60-100 Rpm, 500-1000 Psi surface pressure.
The torque limiter should be adjusted to a setting for normal cutting torque (500 amps) but low
enough not to damage the pipe cutter should the knives jam in the cut.
A close watch should be kept at all times in the moon-pool area, to ensure the guide wires do
not tangle as the guide base may spin when the casing comes free.
Cutting times may be as low as 2 1/2 hours, but with some casing and wellhead housing
configurations may be in excess of 8 hours.

4. Once the casings are cut, stop rotation and take an overpull to free the casing from the seabed.
It may be necessary to work the wellhead for some time to break the suction of the casing to the
cement/formation.
In some cases the working overpull of 20,000 lbs is enough to free the casing once severed. The
compensator will close as the overpull reduces indicating that the casing is free.

Should it appear that the casing is not completely severed cutting may continue as above.

5. Pull out of the hole with the cutting string and wellhead/guide base reeling in the guide wires.
Once the guide base is landed on the spider beams release the spear assembly and lay out.

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 TYPICAL MARINE ABANDONMENT PROCEDURE
ROTATING SPEAR SYSTEM

30" Casing

With some wellhead types, the 18 3/4" Housing come free from the 30" Housing. This can happen
even though they are locked together. Once the 18 3/4" Housing has been recovered change the
assembly as follows. The space out will have to be checked to ensure that the assembly will not hang
up on the 20" cut in the hole.

1. Assembly:-

26" OD Non-Rotating Stabilizer

11 3/4" OD Pipe Cutter - Dressed 44" Opening Knives
26" OD Non-Rotating Stabilizer
X-over Sub (Spacer Subs as required)
Series 18 Rotating Spear - Dressed with grapple to suit Wellhead upset
8" OD Bumper Sub
3 x 8" OD Drill collars
X-over Sub
5" Drill pipe or HWDP to Surface

2. Run this assembly in the hole, land the spear grapple in the wellhead. This must be done with
the compensator open. Take a test overpull of at least 50,000 lbs, then s
overpull of between 15 to 20,000 lbs.

3. Cut the casing. The cutting parameters are:- 60-100 Rpm, 500-1000 Psi surface pressure.
The torque limiter should be adjusted to a setting for normal cutting torque (500 amps) but low
enough not to damage the pipe cutter should the knives jam in the cut.
A close watch should be kept at all times in the moon-pool area, to ensure the guide wires do
not tangle as the guide base may spin when the casing comes free.
Cutting time should 1 1/2 - 3 hours dependant on the housing wall thickness.

4. Once the casing is cut, stop rotation and take an overpull to free the casing from the seabed. It
may be necessary to work the wellhead for some time to break the suction of the casing to the
cement/formation. In some cases the working overpull of 20,000 lb
once severed.

Should it appear that the casing is not completely severed cutting may continue as above.

5. Pull out of the hole with the cutting string and wellhead/guide base reeling in the guide wires.
Once the guide base is landed on the spider beams release the spear assembly and lay out.

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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ROTATING SPEARS

DIMENSIONS AND SIZES

TOOL SPEAR SPEAR GRAPPLES TO CATCH CONNECTIONS TOOL WT

SERIES OD ID CASING SIZES (LBS)

TOP SUB BOTTOM INNER

SUB MANDREL

9 7 1/4" 2 1/4" 9 5/8" - 11 3/4" 4 1/2" If 4 1/2" If 4 1/2" If 520

13 11 3/4" 3" 13 3/8" - 21 1/4" 6 5/8" Reg 6 5/8" Reg 5 1/2" Reg 1560

18 16" 3" 18 5/8" - 36" 6 5/8" or 6 5/8" or 7 5/8" Reg 2200

7 5/8"Reg 7 5/8" Reg

PERFORMANCE DATA

TOOL MAX SPEAR BEARING TYPE MAX SPEAR CONNECTIONS TOOL WT

SERIES ROTATING LOAD STATIC LOAD (LBS)

9 25,000 lbs Phosphor-Bronze 650,000 lbs 4 1/2" If 520

13 40,000 lbs Phosphor-Bronze 860,000 lbs 6 5/6" Reg 1560

18 75,000 lbs Phosphor-Bronze 1,100,000 lbs 6 5/8 or 7 5/8" 2200

Reg

18 800,000 lbs Roller 1,100,000 lbs 6 5/8" or 7 5/8" 2600

Reg

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 Changing Grapples on 2M Rotating Spears

If a grapple requires to be changes on a 2M Rotating spear, the following procedures require to be

followed:-

1 Fishing engineer will have a Tool Box Talk with minimum, Toolpusher, Driller & Rig Floor
Crew
2 With Drill Collar made up above and Cutter Assembly below Rotating Spear place rig tongs
on top and bottom sub of spear to break either one of two internal service connections.
3 If Top Service break is unscrewed - Space Out to set the slips onto the Lower Sub of the
Spear. Unscrew the service break

3a Lift Top Sub clear

3b Fishing Engineer will remove the Dog Nut
3c Lift the Grapple clear from the Mandrel
3d Place new Grapple onto the Mandrel
3e Fishing Engineer will replace Dog Nut
3f Replace Top Sub
3g Space Out to allow tongs to be placed on top and bottom subs to torque connection

4 If Bottom Service break is unscrewed - Space Out to set the slips onto the Cutter below the
Spear. Unscrew the service break

4a Carefully lift Mandrel out of the Slip Mandrel – Being aware that the Slip Mandrel and the
Grapple can potentially both fall over since they are no longer supported.
4b Pull the Mandrel clear from the Slip Mandrel
4c Fishing Engineer will remove the Dog Nut
4d Lift the Grapple clear from the Mandrel
4e Place new Grapple onto the Mandrel
4f Fishing Engineer will replace Dog Nut
4g Ensure the Slip Mandrel is centralised onto the Bottom Sub
4h Carefully lower the Mandrel through the Slip Mandrel and screw into the Bottom Sub
4j Space Out to allow tongs to be placed on top and bottom subs to torque connection

Safety Points:-

1 The Brass Bearing can stick (due to grease etc.) and thus leave a gap between the the
Bearing and the Lower Sub. This creates a potential PINCH POINT - The bearing can
consequently fall due to the tool being knocked etc.
2 Whilst Lifting the Mandrel out of the Slip Mandrel crew need to be aware that the Slip
Mandrel c/w Grapple can fall over since they are no longer supported.

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M

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 ABANDONMENT SERVICES

• TENSION CUTTING SYSTEM

• REMOVES CASINGS AND COMPLETE WELLHEAD IN ONE TRIP
• AVERAGE CUTTING TIME 20” X 30” - 1.5 Hrs
• MAXIMUM TENSION 800,000 LBS

© Smith Services - Red Baron Group Operations-Master Procedures-Abandonment SS 2M