THE SEARCH FOR PERFECT PERFORATIONS

Perforating creates a direct link between the wellbore and the producing formation by making
holes in the casing and the cement sheath that surrounds it. The quality and quantity of the
perforation holes (tunnels) in a given oil- or gas-bearing formation have a direct influence on
well productivity. Completion engineers need to ensure that the perforations they produce are
deep, clean, located in the right place, and correctly oriented.
In this article, Larry Behrmann and Chee Kin Khong review recent advances in key perforation
technologies and examine how dynamic underbalanced perforating is helping to deliver new
levels of performance for wells in the Middle East and Asia.

The economic value of an oil or gas well depends on the

connection between the wellbore and the formation. The
completion and production engineers, who define the form and
the function of this connection, have three key objectives: allow
fig01_perforating_m7
fig01_perforating_m7
the oil into the well,
where
it can flow naturally or be pumped
to the surface; exclude water from the overlying or underlying
units; and keep any formation rock particles out of the well.
Perforation, creating holes in the casing or the liner and the
surrounding cement sheath to allow fluid communication
between the formation and the wellbore, is a crucial part of
the completion process (Fig. 1). Perforations are the key
interfaces for fluid movement, and completion and
production engineers have realized the importance of an
effective design and execution process to ensure that each
well has the appropriate number, size, and orientation of
perforations. The characteristics of perforations and their
placement have a direct influence on well productivity.

The development of perforation

technology
Advances in perforation technology have reflected the
changing needs of the oil and gas industries (Fig. 2). Early oil
wells were shallow, simple boreholes that did not require
metal casings. These wells typically had an openhole or shothole (barefoot) completion and were sometimes treated with
explosive charges to stimulate the flow of hydrocarbons into
the borehole. As average well depths increased and the

reservoir conditions encountered became more complex, the

perforated-casing completion method became an essential
and familiar part of oilfield development. Then, as now,
engineers had to decide how best to make holes in the metal
casing that would allow hydrocarbons to flow into the well.
In the early 1900s, mechanical puncturing methods were
introduced. These included the single-knife casing ripper,
which relied on a rotating mechanical blade to make a hole in
the casing.
Projectile perforation technology was pioneered during the
mid-1920s. The first perforating mechanism to be used on a
large scale was the bullet gun, which was introduced in 1932.
In bullet perforating, a hardened-steel bullet was fired from a
very short barreled gun. The resulting perforations caused
little damage to the cement sheath or the casing, but the
penetration depths achieved were usually short. These
primitive devices were replaced in the late 1940s by the lined,
shaped-charge perforator, known to the oil industry as the jet
perforator or jet charge.

Over the decades, various perforation systems have been

developed for a wide range of applications, and research has
continued into the fundamentals of perforation physics.
Today, sophisticated perforating gun assemblies with an
appropriate configuration of specially shaped explosive
charges and the means to verify or correlate the correct
perforating depth can be deployed on wireline, tubing, or
coiled tubing. Whatever their size or method of deployment,
perforating guns are designed to create a predefined pattern
of perforations over the correct wellbore interval.

The Development of Perforation Technology

1865

Phasing

Phasing

1910

1948

1975

1980

1993

jet
High-pressureHigh-pressure
jet
penetrates
penetrates casing
and casing and
reservoir formation
reservoir formation

High
High
penetration penetration
Low clearance
Low clearance

Cement sheath
Cement sheath

At time of firing
At time of firing
Casing

Casing

Crushed zoneCrushed zone

High clearance
High clearance

Low
Low
Perforating gun
Perforating gun
penetration penetration

(A)

(A)

Figure 1: Key perforation terms (A) and a simplified view

of the perforation process from detonation to cleanup (B).

Perforating debris
Perforating debris
Immediately
after perforating
Immediately after
perforating

Figure 2: The development of perforation technology as applied in the oil field.

Damaged formation
Damaged formation
Clean
perforation with
Clean perforation
with
stable
arch that penetrates
stable arch that
penetrates
the cement
sheath and the
the cement sheath
and the
damaged zonedamaged zone

Following backflow
Following backflow
(B)

52

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

(B)

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

53

Shaped charges
Shaped charges have four basic
elements: primer, main explosive,
conical liner, and case. The conical
cavity with its metal liner helps to
maximize the penetration through steel
casing, cement, and rock (Fig. 3). As a
charge detonates, the liner collapses to

form a high-velocity jet of fluidized

metal particles. Perforating shock waves
and high-impact pressure shatter the
rock to break down the intergranular
cements and sever the bonds that hold
the clay particles together. This process
creates a low-permeability crushed

zone in the formation around the

perforation tunnels. Perforating
damages the in situ permeability by
crushing the formation material and
reducing the pore throats dimensions.
Shaped charges are used in the oil,
gas, and other industries to pierce metal,

Charge Detonation

Shaped Charge

Distance, cm

Detonating cord

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Case
Conical liner

Primer

Gun body
Detonating
cord

Main explosive
charge
24
Casing

concrete, and other solids. They sever the

targets by jet cutting. Shaped charges
have special housings that are designed
to create a cavity or a void between the
explosive material and the target wall.
By employing a phenomenon known as
the Monroe effect, the shock wave
produced at detonation accelerates and
deforms the shaped housing into a highCharge Detonation
velocity (7,3008,200-m/s) jet within the
void space.
These jets can cut Time,
through
steel
us
targets of varying thicknesses,
5
depending on the void shape
and the
standoff distance to the target wall.
Because the cutting efficiency of
shaped charges is much greater than
that of bulk charges, they can often
reduce the net weight of explosive
25
needed to sever similarly sized targets.

Conical-shaped charges (CSC) create

conical cavities for round holes and
deep penetration into the target.
Industrys primary use of CSCs is in
perforating guns; multiple CSC
assemblies placed down boreholes and
detonated to penetrate through casing
and into the surrounding geological
strata for the extraction of
hydrocarbons. The use of steel for
charge cases instead of zinc eliminates
the decrease in formation productivity
and the damage to completion
components associated with the
detonation by-products from zinc
charges and reduces the cost of the
completion fluids required. Shaped
charges are designed and arranged to
optimize orientation and are deployed
on a tubing-conveyed perforating

system to provide an effective solution

for perforating and increasing the
productivity in long horizontal intervals.
In other engineering applications,
shaped charges are valued for their
versatility and speed. For example, small
shaped charges are often used in steel
manufacturing to pierce taps that have
become plugged with slag, and a few
hundred kilograms of well-placed
shaped charges can demolish a building
in seconds (Fig. 4).
A linear-shaped charge (LSC) has a
chevron- or inverted-V-shaped void
along its length. It is designed to cut
linearly through the target and can
be used for decommissioning operations
in many different configurations,
depending on the cutting requirements.

Explosive Cavity Effects

Steel target
Metallic liner

40

Lined cavity
effect

Time, us

Explosive

40

50

Unlined
cavity effect

50
70

Flat-end
100

Figure 3: Shaped charges

are specially designed for
directional-cutting and
penetration applications.

70

Figure 4: Demolition engineers use shaped charges for a range of tasks.

54

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

55

fig03_perforating_m7
After completion and before perforation, the pressure in the

wellbore is usually different from the pressure in the formation

in a cased hole well. A well is underbalanced when the
downhole wellbore hydrostatic pressure is lower than the
formations internal fluid pressure, or overbalanced when the
pressure in the wellbore exceeds the formation pressure (Fig. 5).
In underbalanced conditions, formation fluids will flow into
the wellbore if the rock is sufficiently permeable.
By the 1970s, completion and production engineers had
realized the potential of creating underbalanced pressure
conditions as a method for enhancing the quality of
perforated completions. Studies during the 1980s confirmed
that the most effective perforations were usually produced
when there was a high static pressure differential between
the wellbore and the formation. These studies concluded that
the rapid fluid influx from the reservoir helped to clean the
perforation tunnels (Fig. 6). This research was based on the
assumption that the wellbore pressure remained constant
during perforating and perforation cleanup.
During the mid 1980s, Amoco conducted a study of
acidizing in 90 new wells after perforation with tubing-

conveyed guns under a range of underbalanced pressures. The

results indicated that acid stimulation was unnecessary when
sufficient underbalanced pressure had been achieved.
Research at the end of the 1980s drew on the Amoco study
and defined the minimum level of underbalance that was
required to eliminate the need for acid stimulation. Another
studyfig04_perforating_m7
indicated that flow and surging after perforation were
less critical in damage removal but might sweep perforation
debris and rock particles into the wellbore and so help to
clean the perforated zone.
Extensive laboratory tests at the Schlumberger Productivity
Enhancement Research Facility (PERF) in Rosharon, Texas,
USA, in the 1990s showed that turbulent flow was not
required to remove perforating damage. Most of the data
indicated that higher underbalanced pressures than those
previously used were required to minimize or eliminate
perforation damage (Fig. 7). Having established the basic
conditions for effective perforation, the challenge facing
completion engineers was to find ways in which the
underbalanced conditions could be optimized and controlled
to enhance the perforation process.

Formation damage

(a)

Undamaged formation
Perforation debris

Overbalance

Wellbore
pressure

Formation
pressure

Casing

Crushed and compacted

low-permeability zone

Cement
Underbalance

Formation damage

Figure 5: The pressure difference between the borehole

and the formation to be perforated plays a key role in
cleanup and the effectiveness of perforation tunnels.
Casing
Cement

(b)

Undamaged formation

Low-permeability zone and

perforation debris expelled
by the surge of formation fluid

Figure 6: Comparison of perforation quality in overbalanced (a) and

underbalanced (b) conditions.

56

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Modern perforating techniques

Perforating using static underbalance has become the most
widely accepted technique for optimizing perforated
completions. However, this method still delivers many
underperforming wells. The explosive charges used for
perforating pulverize the reservoir formation to create lowpermeability crushed zones around the perforations and leave
loose crushed rock debris inside the perforation tunnels,
which can hinder fluid movement.
Static underbalanced perforating establishes a static
wellbore pressure before perforating that is lower than the
pressure in the adjacent formation, but this static
underbalance is not enough to ensure clean perforations.
However, careful completion design and a more
appropriate perforating technology can minimize or eliminate
the damage caused by the explosive charges. The PURE*
perforating system can create an optimized dynamic
underbalance (the transient underbalance established just
after the creation of the perforation tunnel) during the
perforation job. This underbalance delivers cleaner
perforations and thus increases the ultimate productivity or
injectivity of the well.
In addition to cleaner perforations, jobs designed using the
PURE method can also improve wellsite efficiency and
may remove the need for costly postperforation cleanup
operations such as acid washes or near-wellbore skin
fracture treatments.

The PURE perforating system

creates and optimizes a
dynamic underbalance during
the perforation job. This
underbalance delivers cleaner
perforations and so increases
the ultimate productivity or
injectivity of the well.

10,000

Optimum underbalance, psi

Finding the right balance

1,000

Behrmann (1995)
King (1985)
100

100
1,000
Permeability, mD

10,000

Figure 7: Research conducted by Schlumberger showed that higher

underbalanced pressures were important when engineers wanted to
minimize or eliminate perforation damage.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

57

Pressure difference, MPa

5
Reservoir pressure

0
5
10

Wellbore pressure

15
20
25
30
-1

Tubing

Packer

Workstring
Flow entry ports

Casing

Firing head
Safety spacer

Casing gun

Through-tubing gun
Guns

4
5
Time, s

Figure 9: The PURE perforation system combines customized

perforating designs, specially shaped charges, and fit-forpurpose gun configurations to generate a large dynamic
underbalance. This can be achieved in conditions that have a
modest static underbalance, are balanced or are even
overbalanced.

Through-tubing perforation

Tubing-conveyed perforation

Figure 8: Conveyance methods for perforating guns.

Dynamic improvements
Until recently, models of the perforation process focused on
the initial pressure differential between the well and the
reservoir as the key to effective perforating. However, the
research at PERF showed that the fluctuations in wellbore
pressure that occurred immediately after the detonation of
shaped charges played a crucial role in perforation cleanup.
These fluctuations, which had been ignored by previous
studies, were found to be vital for the removal of debris from
perforation tunnels.
The PERF research project helped to focus completion
engineers interest on perforation cleanup. Today, perforating
jobs that apply the PURE process take into account
parameters such as reservoir characteristics, completion type,
gun string, and conveyance method (Fig. 8). The process uses
customized perforating designs, specially shaped charges, and
fit-for-purpose gun configurations to generate a large
dynamic underbalance in a modest static underbalanced,
balanced, or even overbalanced environment (Fig. 9).

The PURE technique has been shown to minimize or

eliminate perforation damage and maximize productivity or
injectivity when applied to wells in many areas around the
world, including the North Sea, Ecuador, Algeria, Canada, the
USA, the Middle East, and Asia. It has been applied in hard
and soft rock formations, high- and low-permeability
reservoirs, sandstones, carbonates, oil and gas reservoirs, and
producing and injection wells.

Testing transient pressures

During studies into postperforation, transient pressure
variations, Schlumberger researchers collected data under
simulated downhole conditions. In one set of tests, the
research team perforated four standard Berea sandstone
cores using identically shaped charges and an initial
underbalance of 6.9 MPa (Fig. 10). A second set used similar
Berea cores but perforated them with a 3.4-MPa
overbalanced static pressure (Fig. 11). The results confirmed
significant wellbore pressure variations immediately after
charge detonation and that the quality of perforation
cleanup is directly related to these variations.

Test 4
0
Test 3
Test 1
Test 2
14
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0 1.2
Time, s

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

The PURE process uses

customized perforating designs,
specially shaped charges and fitfor-purpose gun configurations
to generate a large dynamic
underbalance in a modest static
underbalanced, balanced, or
even overbalanced environment.

Figure 10: The results from four tests on Berea sandstone. The
pressure differential between the simulated wellbore pressure
and the pore pressure shows that the maximum dynamic
underbalance varied from 2.8 to 9.0 MPa.

18

Differential pressure, MPa

Through-casing perforation

Differential pressure, MPa

14

In each test, the wellbore pressure initially increased as a

result of extremely rapid pressure transients associated with
shock-wave propagation. The pressure then fluctuated over a
period of several tenths of seconds because of the
interaction between the wellbore and reservoir pressures.
Tests that had been designed using PURE principles showed
large and rapid drops in wellbore pressure that were
associated with highly productive perforations.
A large and rapid underbalance could be achieved whether
10
the initial pressure state was under- or overbalanced. The
tests confirmed that the initial state was not the controlling
factor for future productivity. For example, initial
underbalance could result in poorly producing perforations
and initial overbalance could result in highly productive
perforations, depending on the job design.
The amount of debris left behind in the perforations was
found to be related to the variation in surge flow immediately
following perforation. The effectiveness of the cleanup of
perforation damage appeared to be directly related to the
maximum dynamic underbalance that was achieved and the
rate of instantaneous surge flow. This model explained why
some underbalanced perforating jobs gave poor results and
the unexpectedly good results sometimes achieved from
balanced and overbalanced perforating operations.

Test 7
Test 6

Test 5
Initial overbalance = 3.4 MPa
18
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Time, s

Figure 11: This set of tests used Berea cores similar to those in
the previous figure, but in this case they were perforated under
a 3.4-MPa overbalanced static pressure.
58

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

59

A dynamic underbalance eliminates the need for large static

underbalance pressure differentials and makes the preparation
work before perforation more straightforward. In addition,
controlling the surge flow helps to limit the produced fluid
volumes during perforation cleanup. This, in turn, reduces the
risk of sand influx and the possibility of gun sticking. The
method also saves the time and the costs associated with
postperforation acid washes to remediate perforation damage.
Dynamic underbalanced perforating increases the effective
shot density or the number of open perforations, thus
improving the productivity and the effectiveness of any
associated acid and fracturing treatments. Additionally, a
reduction in perforation shock, a by-product of the PURE
method, may minimize the damage to the cement-sandface
fig11_perforating_m7
hydraulic bond close to the perforation interval and so help
to ensure zonal isolation after perforating (Fig. 12).

Design is the key

Potential applications

In the past, the design of a perforation job was largely

determined by the engineers personal experience and was
based on very limited information about downhole conditions.
Successful perforation requires careful preplanning and
integration of all available reservoir and formation data.
Perforation design and modeling software helps engineers
by integrating all the available data (reservoir properties,
completion parameters, and gun configurations) in a single
design for achieving productive perforations.
The PURE perforation technique creates the optimum
dynamic underbalance for the particular downhole
environment. This approach greatly reduces errors and
eliminates many of the operational issues that can arise when
engineers rely on estimates of downhole pressures when
creating a large static underbalance in the wellbore.

Many producing wells and injectors are potential candidates

for the PURE perforation method. Completion and production
engineers select candidates by examining rock types, fluid
types, and formation porosities and permeabilities in
conjunction with performing simulations using the PURE job
design software. Other factors, including pore pressure and
permeability, are also considered.
Successful PURE perforations have been achieved in
reservoirs with pressures as low as 6.9 MPa and permeabilities
as low as 0.1 mD. The lower permeability wells were usually
characterized by higher pressures, and the lower pressure
candidates tended to have higher permeabilities.
The PURE perforating method is very suitable for injection
wells because clean perforations are a prerequisite for
injectivity. The method can ensure sufficient surge flow to
remove loose materials from the perforation tunnels before
injection and prevent debris and fine particles from being
injected into and sealing off the pore throats. The method
has also proved particularly effective in low-permeability
formations that may require extremely high static
underbalanced pressures for perforation cleanup.

Perforation quality, offshore China

Cement

Oil

Water

Water

Oil

Water

The CACT operators group (Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Agip

China, China National Offshore Oil Group, and Texaco China)
has evaluated the PURE perforation method in one of its new
offshore fields where it was used to perforate four layers
with permeabilities from 9.4 to 1,605 mD.
Multiple PURE wireline runs at an overbalance of about
1.3 MPa resulted in skin factors from 0 to 0.97 over the

Figure 12: The PURE method reduces perforation shock. This may help to
minimize damage to the cement-sandface hydraulic bond close to the
perforation interval and ensure zonal isolation after perforating.
0

0
40,000

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

25

23

80,000
1.2E+5
Time, s

1.2E+5
1.6E+5

1.6E+5

25

23
400

40,000
80,000

Time, s

60

In one CACT well, four zones had been perforated using the
PURE method at overbalance and then produced commingled.
A PLT* Production Logging Tool was run in this well to
determine the flow rates of all the layers when water cut was
close to zero (Fig. 13).
When engineers want to use pressure-transient data to
evaluate the individual layers within a commingled system,
they require a selective testing method. A test that measures
the composite behavior of all of the layers can give misleading
information about the overall system properties, and typically
produces underestimates for skin factor and permeability.
The traditional approach isolated and tested each zone
individually using techniques such as straddle testing.
However, a multilayer test (MLT) enables engineers to
measure the flow rate of each layer using a spinner
flowmeter during a pressure transient test. Variable rate
superposition analysis can then be applied in turn to the data
from each layer to identify the appropriate reservoir model
and obtain an estimate of permeability, skin factor, and other
model parameters.

400

Dynamic underbalanced perforating increases the effective shot

density or the number of open perforations, thus improving
productivity and the effectiveness of any associated acid and
fracturing treatments.

Multilayer reservoir testing

650

650

Pressure, MPa

Cement

range of permeabilities. An analysis of the pressure transient

data showed stimulated completion skin factor values for
each of the perforated layers.
The CACT group used the PURE system to maximize the
productivity of cased perforated wells in their new offshore
development. The productivities of the PURE perforated wells
were above average and above expectations. However, the
group wanted to evaluate the completion efficiency to
quantify the benefits of the PURE perforation method.

Pressure, MPa

The benefits of dynamic underbalance

0
40,000

40,000
80,000

Time, s

80,000 1.6E+5
1.2E+5
1.2E+5
Time, s

1.6E+5

Figure 13: Multirate, multilayer PLT reservoir testing of flow rates and pressure matches.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

61

The MLT method derived from PLT testing involves

sequential measurement of flow rates and pressure transients
from an individual layer or group of layers after a rate
change, preferably starting with the bottom layer and
working up. This process is referred to as a transient
multilayer test or simply an MLT.
Such MLTs can be performed on a producing well without
pulling the completion and are therefore more cost effective
than straddle tests. In addition, the total production from all the
layers is measured, whereas a series of straddle tests may be
testing the same zone if the layers are not hydraulically isolated.
MLT data are crucial for reservoir management in
commingled systems where more than one layer is producing
and crossflow may be occurring between them. A good
understanding of the reservoir is crucial, particularly for
reservoir simulation, voidage control, pressure maintenance,
and workover decisions.
The MLTs confirmed CACTs observations of the
productivities of PURE perforated wells and that PUREperforated zones were likely to have undamaged completion
skin factor values (Fig. 14). CACT has since extended the use
of the PURE system to selectively reperforate zones during
well workovers to increase productivity. The PURE method

reduces drawdown pressure, which lowers the risk of sanding

and water coning, reduces water cut, and increases recovery
from worked over wells.

A dynamic combination
Having established the value of dynamic underbalance during
perforating, many engineers are applying the PURE method
with the use of the PowerJet Omega* deep-penetrating
shaped charge. This combination cleans the perforations and
improves the well performance.
Combining the PURE process with PowerJet Omega charges
provides clean perforations, increases the depth of
penetration, and facilitates optimal production. In one job, the
PowerJet Omega charge shot at 6 shots per foot provided the
same productivity in less rig time as another deep-penetrating
charge shot at 12 shots per foot. There was less casing
damage, less debris, and, ultimately, a lower risk of problems.
The PowerJet Omega charge can also be used alone to
improve productivity in wells where the PURE technique is not
an option, such as very low pressure reservoirs or where gas
must be in the wellbore at the time of perforating.
Field results show that using a combination design, tight
gas wells can be brought on-stream without near-wellbore

acid washes. In addition to wells with significant potential for

productivity improvement, candidates include those requiring
expensive operations to establish underbalance, those
requiring near-wellbore acid washes after perforating, and
those requiring high underbalanced pressures for cleanup.
Deeper penetration provides increased well production and
injectivity coupled with improved well efficiency, which
directly help to reduce recovery costs. The PowerJet Omega
charge is available for 2-in to 7-in high-shot-density (HSD)
gun systems, which can be conveyed by wireline, slickline,
tubing, coiled tubing, tractors, and permanent completions.

communicate with the firing head (Fig. 15). Controlled from

the surface, the system head does not require prerecorded
downhole parameters. Engineers can arm, fire, or abort the
operation at any time and thus conduct perforation tasks
under less rigidly defined conditions.

Flexible solutions
Engineers want to penetrate past formation damage to
increase well productivity or injectivity. Another challenge is
to maintain penetration depths at high shot densities. A
greater depth of penetration means that more natural
fractures are intersected, which boosts hydrocarbon flow
toward the wellbore.
Deeper penetrating charges are particularly important
when dealing with damaged formations or tight and hard
rocks. The PowerJet Omega charge can be applied in all types
of reservoir and all fluids and is particularly useful for
reperforating older wells.

Improved operational safety

Safe and effective detonation at the appropriate time and
place define good perforating practice. The eFire* electronic
firing head system developed by Schlumberger provides safer
and more efficient and economical methods for a range of
downhole explosive operations.
These systems can be used for tubing-conveyed
perforating, coiled tubing, slickline, and wireline operations.
Designed for flexibility, they give engineers total control of
the perforating operation. eFire technology creates pressure
pulses that are converted into a special signature to

70

A (Layer 1): k=1,322 mD

skin factor=0.97

Pore pressure
eFire pressure

eFire command

Pressure, MPa

B (Layer 3): k=9.4mD

skin factor=0.22

Open tester valve

Pressure buildup

Trap pressure below tester valve

C (Layer 5): k=1,605mD

skin factor=0.48

D (Layer 7): k=38.9mD

skin factor=0.04
Figure 14: MLT results indicated stimulated completion skin values for each of the layers
perforated using PURE system.

62

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

28
-1

-0.75

-0.5

-0.25

0
Time, s

0.25

0.5

0.75

Figure 15: The sequence of events in initiating the eFire firing head system: trap
pressure below the tester valve, wait for the guns to fire, and open the tester. There
are two pressure buildups: one following the dynamic underbalance and a second
when the tester valve is opened.

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

63

fig10_perforating_m7

Oriented perforatingfinding the right direction

Reservoir
rocks
are
usually
heterogeneoustheir properties vary
with direction. In reservoir units that
display large stress contrasts, properly
aligned perforations help to maximize
the stability of the perforation tunnels.
In weakly consolidated reservoirs,
selecting the best orientation helps to
minimize the risk of sand production.
Effective techniques for orienting
perforations also help to reduce flow
restrictions and friction pressures during

Wireline swivel

fracturing. The resulting wider fractures

permit the use of larger sizes and higher
concentrations of proppant along with
lower-viscosity, less-damaging fluids to
improve fracture conductivity.
The Schlumberger Wireline Oriented
Perforating Tool (WOPT) system can be
used to orient wireline guns in vertical or
deviated wells (Fig. 16). Initially
developed for use in oriented fracturing,
the WOPT system can also be used to
perforate for sand prevention. The WOPT

system orients standard high shot

density guns with 0, 180, or other
optimal phasing in a predetermined
direction. Engineers can select the charge
type and the shot density to suit
completion requirements such as sand
control or sand prevention, and on
fracture-design criteria such as proppant
size, pump rate, treating pressure, and
required production flow.
Experience has shown that wireline
tools will assume a preferred

(a)

Wireline perforating
inclinometer tool and
casing-collar locator
Gyroscope carrier

Upper weighted
spring-positioning device

orientation in the wellbore at a given

depth when the string parameters
length, weight, mass distribution, cable
speed, and directionare constant and
a swivel is used to minimize the
detrimental steering effects of torque.
The swivel decouples torsion between
the wireline cable and the gun string,
which enables the tool to assume its
natural position. The repeated adoption
of this natural position was crucial to
the development of the WOPT system.
For vertical wells with inclinations of
less than 8, the tool requires two trips.
The first trip, or mapping run, is made
with unarmed perforating guns and a
true-north seeking gyroscope to
determine the natural orientation
(toolface azimuth or direction) of the
toolstring. Upper and lower weighted
spring-positioning devices help to
rotate the toolstring toward the relative
low side of the wellbore.

Making several passes in each

direction provides accurate orientation
data that engineers can use to
determine the required gun rotation.
The system can map single or multiple
zones during this initial trip.
The wireline perforating inclinometer
tool, an integral WOPT component,
provides independent, continuous, and
real-time measurements of tool
deviation and toolface orientation
(relative bearing) with respect to the
high side of a wellbore. If reliable
directional survey data are available
and the target zones are in well
sections with inclinations greater than
8, oriented perforating can be
completed without a gyroscopic run. In
this case, inclination measurements are
extremely accurate and correlate to
wellbore azimuth.

One good turn

Once the toolface azimuth has been
determined, the guns are rotated
manually at the surface in 5
increments using indexing adapters
above and below the guns to orient the
charges. Engineers then remove the
gyroscope before perforating to
prevent shock damage. The carrier,
including a dummy gyroscope and the
wireline perforating inclinometer tool,
remains in the WOPT system to
maintain toolstring length and mass.
The wellsite team then run the WOPT
gun string back into the well and use
the relative-bearing data from the
wireline perforating inclinometer tool
to confirm that the previously
established tool orientation repeats.
Then, once the gun orientation and
depth are verified by the repeat
analysis log, the well is perforated. The
WOPT system can align perforations to
within 5 of the required azimuth.

Upper indexing adapter

(b) Initial gyroscope run

HSD gun,
180 phasing

Relative bearing, 0
Casing
Charges
HSD gun

Lower indexing adapter

Lower weighted
spring-positioning device

(c) Perforating run

Relative bearing, 0

Charges

64

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

In weakly consolidated reservoirs, selecting the best orientation

helps to minimize the risk of sand production. Effective techniques
for orienting perforations also help to reduce flow restrictions and
friction pressures during fracturing.

Figure 16: A typical WOPT system has a weighted spring-positioning device and indexing
adapter above and below standard guns (a). The toolstring includes a gyroscope and its
carrier, an integral wireline perforating inclinometer tool with casing-collar locator, and a
wireline swivel to decouple cable torque from the tool. The gyroscope measures well
inclination, wellbore azimuth, and toolface relative bearingthe orientation of the
toolstringwith respect to true north during an initial run with unarmed guns (b).
Perforating is performed on subsequent trips without the gyroscope and after rotating the
guns at surface (c).
Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

65

Every millisecond counts

The future
The PURE system optimizes the well
dynamic underbalance, the transient
underbalance just after creation of the
perforation cavity. The software it uses
specifies a unique perforating system
and an optimum completion process.
This controls the optimum dynamic
underbalance rather than relying on
fig19_perforating_m7
estimated reservoir pressure. This
technique has been successfully
applied in hard- and soft-rock
formations, oil and gas reservoirs,
sandstones, and carbonates.

The perforation process, from initial

detonation to damage removal from the
perforation tunnels, is completed in
around 100 to 500 ms (Fig. 17).
The PURE system creates pressure
transients in the wellbore immediately
after perforating. The underbalance
effect starts within a few milliseconds
of the guns firing and lasts for 100 to
500 ms.

The challenge facing completion engineers is to find ways

to control the power of their perforating techniques so
that they combine maximum reservoir penetration with
the creation of clean and effective perforations.
Perforation technology and methods have changed
dramatically over the past 20 years. In comparison with
the 1980s, there are now many more perforating systems
and methods for conveyance. Over the same period, there
has been a large increase in shots per 30 cm that can
be achieved.
Having established reliable and effective tools and
techniques for making holes in casing, cement sheath,
and formation, completion engineers turned their
attention to reducing the damage associated with
perforation jobs and to the detailed planning of jobs so
that each perforation task is optimized for the specific
needs of the completion design and to the condition of
the reservoir. It seems likely that this high degree of
customization will continue in future efforts to optimize
perforation operations in increasingly demanding
reservoir conditions.

Reference
Roscoe, B and Lenn, C.: Oil and Water Flow Rate
Logging in Horizontal Wells Using Chemical Markers
and a Pulsed-Neutron Tool, paper SPE 36230
presented at the 7th Abu Dhabi International
Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi,
UAE (October 1316, 1996).

Figure 17: The perforation process, from initiation of the jet from the shaped charge to
damage removal and initial reservoir response, is completed in a fraction of a second.

66

Number 7, 2006

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Middle East & Asia Reservoir Review

Number 7, 2006

67