BioSqueeze Inc. was recently contracted to eliminate annular gas on an orphan well in Cleveland, OH as part of the ODNR's orphan well plugging program. The well was drilled prior to WWII and stripped of casing for the war effort. In order to plug the well new strings of 13-3/8” and 7” casing was set and cemented in place. Plugging was completed shortly thereafter, but the annular space between casing continued to leak gas to surface at which point BioSqueeze Inc. was brought in to address the issue.

A Deep Penetrating Annular Surface (DPAS™) BioSqueeze® was used to treat the leak as it allowed remediation without drilling out the existing cement plugs and could heal the entire length of the 13-3/8” x 7” cemented annulus (1,000+ ft). Prior to treatment the top of cement was identified at surface and an annular access tool was utilized to spot fluids directly down the backside. Fresh water and surfactant were then circulated to clean the annular space and leakage pathways in preparation for treatment.

Treatment consisted of 12 stages of our low-viscosity, biomineralizing fluids being injected directly into the annulus from surface over a 48-hour period. Initial injection was established at 900 psi at a rate of 0.145 gpm. Pressure was subsequently stepped up to a maximum of 1,460 psi in later stages to ensure all potential leakage pathways were accessed but was held constant throughout each stage during which a steady reduction in the injection rate was observed (indicating sealing of leakage pathways). The injection rate continued to fall and upon reaching 0.006 gpm (a 96% reduction) with just over 51 gal of fluids injected, treatment concluded.

Prior to treatment the well was bubbling gas at a rate of 450+ bubbles per minute and at the conclusion of treatment no bubbles were observed over the course of 10 minutes. The well was then monitored for a period by the ODNR, during which no gas was detected, and was subsequently cut and capped for permanent abandonment.