In an open hole completion (without cement in the annulus) the...

In an open hole completion (without cement in the annulus) the only way to test zones is to have external packers in the annulus which need to be run in when running the casing itself - the same as with the alameda section in A3, which caused much delay and fishing. How effective these types of packers are in a highly fractured / cavernous reservoir to seal off against cement bypass is also highly questionable. I suspect this is how cement got behind the casing in the first place. After all it’s hard to tell how much cement in excess of the annulus volume has been lost to caves/fractures and therefore difficult to know when to stop cementing. I suspect the cement behind the casing issue was not actually incompetence or negligence but rather chance. If you want to test zones practically you might have to use internal packers and cement the lot, however, this results in ‘mortaring the brick wall’ which we don’t want, therefore, Perf the lot, acid frack, open the choke, and hope…. A2 1B successful remediation is the catalyst so I hope they ‘belts and braces’ all things design, planning, peer review, and execution when the do this in October