03282nmc a2200277 4500 20260520005607.0 260224s2001 xxu ing Inglés Figueroa, Jorge 6214 Hibbeler, Jeffrey 6215 Duque, Luis 6216 Perdomo, Lenin 6217 Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference (7th : 2001 mar. 25-28 : Buenos Aires, Argentina) 5738 Skin Damage Removal Using Coiled-Tubing Vacuum: A Case Study in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt SPE 69532 Dallas, Texas Society of Petroleum Engineers 2001 12/09/06 ; 17/07/01 The Orinoco Belt in Venezuela contains the largest known deposits of heavy oil in the world. Estimates for proven reserves are estimated to be 1.2 trillion barrels of oil-in-place (STOOIP) and the field covers an area of 5400000 hectares (54000 km 2 ) across three states in Eastern Venezuela. Drilling in the area started in 1953 and over the years new technologies like horizontal drilling have made possible the economic exploitation of previously heavy oil plays. BITOR, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), is an operator in the Cerro Negro field located near Morichal in Monagas State, Venezuela. Recently, Cerro Negro is developed only by horizontal wells, completed with a slotted liner / open hole horizontal. Over time the horizontal section has been increased to improve production, however this has also made it more difficult achieve a clean well. Conventional methods to remove filter cake and drilling fluids were not effective and caused downhole pump problems and formation damage. Recently a new coiled tubing technique has been devised to clean wells by means of a hydraulic jet pump. The pump creates a pressure drop across the formation sandface and unwanted fluids, polymer residues and solids are transported to surface. This technique is ideally suited to horizontal heavy oil reservoirs where pressures are low and viscosity is high. The technique makes use of Concentric Coiled Tubing (CCT) and a special Vacuum Tool (VT) designed to apply a specific and controllable drawdown. Several jobs were performed on wells in the Cerro Negro with outstanding results. Post job analysis of vacuumed wells has revealed improved bottom hole flowing pressure and increased production compared to non-vacuumed wells. Moreover, analysis of fluid returns shows that significant amounts of polymer residue as well as both drilling and formation solids are being cleaned from the face of the completion. This paper illustrates the usefulness of CCT vacuum technique and several complementary technologies now being applied. A comprehensive technical review and case study of work performed in the Cerro Negro field are also presented. Hibbeler, Jeffrey 6215 Duque, Luis 6216 Perdomo, Lenin 6217 Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference (7th : 2001 mar. 25-28 : Buenos Aires, Argentina) 5738 Figueroa, Jorge 6214 CONGTP 131041 131041 https://biblioteca.iapg.org.ar/ArchivosAdjuntos/LACPEC2001/Spe69532.pdf 0 0 0 0 201963 BVIAPG BVIAPG 2026-03-03 200003100 0 200003100 2026-03-03 01:41:11 2026-03-03 ARCHIVO