Well Dynamic Behaviour 241

cased hole DST may be considered. Only the interval of interest is perforated and
allowed to flow. All other intervals remain isolated behind casing. Each interval is
sealed off prior to testing another. In both types of DST it is possible to run a
downhole pressure gauge, and therefore to perform a drawdown and build-up survey.

10.5. Tubing Performance

The previous sections have considered the flow of fluid into the wellbore. This
is commonly referred to as the ‘inflow performance’. The PI indicates that as the
flowing wellbore pressure (Pwf) reduces, so the drawdown increases and the rate of
fluid flow to the well increases. Recall for an oil well (Figure 10.13)
Drawdown pressure DP DD ¼ P  P wf ðpsiÞ or ðbarÞ

Q
Productivity index ðPIÞ ¼ ðbbl=d=psiÞ or ðm3 =d=barÞ
DP DD
Having reached the wellbore, the fluid must now flow up the tubing to the
wellhead, through the choke, flowline, separator facilities and then to the export or
storage point; each step involves overcoming some pressure drop.
The pressure drops can be split into three parts; the reservoir or inflow, the
tubing and the surface facilities, with the linking pressures being the flowing
wellbore pressure (Pwf) and the tubing head pressure (Pth). To overcome the choke
and facilities pressure drops a certain tubing head pressure is required. To overcome

ΔPch ΔPfacs

Psep stock
Pth tank
flowline 1 atm

Pressu redrop in :
ΔPtbg
ΔPDD reservoir

ΔPtbg tubing
ΔPch choke
reservoir P
Pwf ΔPfacs facilities

ΔPDD

Figure 10.13 Pressure drops in the production process.

242 Tubing Performance

the vertical pressure drop in the tubing due to the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid
in the tubing and friction pressure drops, a certain flowing wellbore pressure is
required. For a single phase fluid (e.g. just water or just gas), this combination of
hydrostatic and friction is relatively straightforward to calculate even accounting for
the variation of gas density with pressure. For most production wells however, the
complication is that there is more than one phase present and each phase has a
different density and viscosity. This is multiphase flow. At high velocities the phases
are chaotically mixed and essentially travel at the same velocity. The density and
viscosities are then averages, and the friction and hydrostatic pressures can
be calculated. Under these circumstances, the hydrostatic pressure does not change
with rate, but the frictional pressure drop will be dependent on velocity or rate
squared. At lower velocities, the phases tend to travel at different velocities. This
effect is called slippage. As the lighter fluids (such as gas) travel faster than the denser
phases such as water, the gas will spend less time in the tubing compared to the
liquids. The gas will therefore occupy less space and have correspondingly less effect
on the overall density. As the rate reduces, the overall density will therefore increase.
The combined effect of friction and density is shown in Figure 10.14 where the
overall pressure required (Pwf) to lift the fluids to a given surface pressure (Pth) is
shown as it overcomes both the hydrostatic and friction pressure drops.
The calculation of the precise slippage and hence the friction and density is
complex with no precise solution. A number of empirical correlations are normally
used. The choice of correlation will depend on the fluid and rates of gas and liquid.
The correct correlation can be confirmed by comparing the correlation’s prediction
with flowing data from downhole gauges or production logs. The overall tubing
performance relationship (TPR) will also be significantly influenced by changes in
water cuts, gas–oil ratios and the tubing size as well as the effects of artificial lift. As
can be observed there is a minima in the overall TPR. This minima represents the
lowest pressure required to the lift the fluids to surface; it is therefore the most
efficient condition. As a rule of thumb, flow performance to the right hand side of

tubing performance
= density + friction friction
Bottom Hole Pressure

dominated
density
(slippage)
dominated

friction

density

liquid

Figure 10.14 Tubing performance.

Well Dynamic Behaviour 243

Pressure (psi)

31/2 " TPC

ΔPDD

5" TPC
Pwf

IPR2

IPR1

Q Flow Rate (b/d)

Figure 10.15 Reservoir performance and tubing performance.

the minima in the TPR is stable, whilst conditions to the left hand side of the
minima, as well as being inefficient, can suffer flow instability effects such as severe
slugging and are best avoided.
We now have predictions for the pressure drops in the tubing and in the
reservoir. They share a common point or node. The inflow performance relation-
ship (IPR) predicts the wellbore flowing pressure for a given reservoir and reservoir
completion, whilst the TPR predicts the wellbore flowing pressure required to lift
these fluids to surface through the tubing. At the (wellbore) node, the pressure and
the rate must be the same and therefore the point of intersection of the IPR and the
TPR is the predicted well rate and the wellbore flowing pressure. This technique
is commonly called NODALt1 analysis. The same technique can be used for the
intersection of the TPR with the surface facilities pressure drops where the node is
now the surface pressure.
Ignoring the surface facilities pressure drop, the following diagram shows an example
of the equilibrium between the IPR and the TPR for two tubing sizes (Figure 10.15).
For the reservoir with IPR1, the larger tubing does not achieve an equilibrium,
and the well would not flow if the 512 in. tubing was installed. However, a different
reservoir with IPR2 would benefit from a larger tubing size which would allow
greater production, and the correct selection of tubing size would be the 512 in. tubing
if one wanted to maximise the early production from the well. An understanding
of the tubing performance and the reservoir performance (which requires reservoir
data gathering) is important for the correct selection of tubing size. Note that most
of the variables (e.g. water cut, reservoir pressure) change substantially with time so
designing for the life of the well will require some compromises.
Returning to the surface pressure drops across the choke and the facilities, these
will also vary over the producing lifetime of the field. The choke is used to isolate the

1
NODAL analysis is a trademark of Flopetrol Johnston, a division of Schlumberger Technology Corporation.
244 Well Completions

surface facilities from the variations in tubing head pressure, and the choke size is
selected to create critical flow which maintains a constant downstream pressure.
Initially, a small orifice will be required to control production when the reservoir
pressure is high. As the reservoir pressure drops during the producing lifetime of the
field, the choke size will be adjusted to reduce the pressure drop across the choke,
thus helping to sustain production. The operating pressure of the separators may also
be reduced over the lifetime of the field for the same reason. In fact, the linkage from
the reservoir to the facilities continues down the pipeline – especially for gas fields.
A high separator pressure will put a backpressure on the tubing and hence restrict
production. However it will also make it easier to pump or flow the fluids through
the pipeline. There will be an optimum separator pressure that balances these issues
and this balance will change as the field matures.
The end of field life is often determined by the lowest reservoir pressure which
can still overcome all the pressure drops described and provide production to the
stock tank. As the reservoir pressure approaches this level, the abandonment
conditions may be postponed by reducing some of the pressure drops, either by
changing the choke and separator pressure drops as mentioned, or by introducing
some form of artificial lift mechanism, as discussed in Section 10.8.
In a gas field development, the recovery factor is largely determined by how low
a reservoir pressure can be achieved before finally reaching the abandonment
pressure. As the reservoir pressure declines, it is therefore common to install
compression facilities at the surface to pump the gas from the wellhead through the
surface facilities to the delivery point. This compression may be installed in stages
through the field lifetime. As gas rates decline, it might also be necessary to alter the
tubing size to avoid unstable flow and liquid loading problems – the consequence
of operating with too large a tubing size for the gas rates, that is essentially operating
to the left hand side of the TPR minima.

10.6. Well Completions

The conduit for production or injection between the reservoir and the surface
is the completion. This is commonly split into the ‘lower completion’ or ‘reservoir
completion’ for the section across the reservoir interval and the ‘upper completion’
or ‘tubing completion’ for the section above the reservoir through to the wellhead.
There are a number of options for both the lower and upper completion.
Options for the lower completion are shown in Figure 10.16, whilst upper
completion options are shown in Figure 10.20.
Each of these five main reservoir completion options has its advantages and
disadvantages, but all are in common use in various locations around the world. The
barefoot completion is the simplest and cheapest. The drilled reservoir section is left
as openhole and nothing is installed across the reservoir. Although cheap and simple,
future reservoir access – for logging or for shutting off unwelcome fluids will be
tricky. Care must therefore be taken to ensure that the drill bit does not enter into
a water interval. In addition any weak intervals present might collapse and either