Basrah Oil Training Institute

Introduction To Oil Industry

Completion / Workover
Artificial Lift
Oil Recovery

Ahmed Hasan Alshaheen

MAIN TOPICS
1. INTRODUCTION

2. WELL OPERATION

3. PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION

4. OIL RECOVERY
INTRODUCTION
Completion planning involves:

• Choosing and organizing the equipment to be used

• Selecting materials

• Establishing production line tubing dimensions

• Stipulating production intervals

• Defining the mode of formation fluid production.

WELL OPERATION
The phases in well construc on can be subdivided into:

• Drilling Phase

• Completion Phase

• Optional Stimulation Phase

TYPE OF COMPLETION
Open Hole

Absence of cemented casing column

Realized when:
 Formation is self-supporting
 Formation is too severely fractured to guarantee
cementation.

Disadvantages:
 Hard stabilization of the hole
TYPE OF COMPLETION
Case Hole

Casing hole cemented throughout its

entire development

ADVANTAGES:
 Stability of the hole

It is necessary to re-establish hydraulic

communication between the pay rock and
the hole
TYPE OF COMPLETION
Four possible solutions to establish communication between the
Productive Formation and the Surface:

 Tubingless completion

 Packerless completion

 Single string with hydraulic isolation

completion

 Multiple string completion

TYPE OF COMPLETION
Tubingless Production

 Production must take place directly through the final

lining of the well, without production strings or isolation
systems

Packerless Production

 Only the production tubing is placed in the well, and it is

possible to produce both through it and through the
annulus

Packerless Comple on
TYPE OF COMPLETION
Single String Completion
 It consists in the use of a Single Tubing String that is lowered into the well together
with an Isolation Device (PACKER)

 It is useful when the production layer

appears to be homogeneous
TYPE OF COMPLETION
Multiple String Completion

 Two or three tubing, isolated by packers and producing on different levels at the
same time
 When the reservoir presents different layers of mineralization or different types of
oil
COMPLETION EQUIPMENT – TUBULAR
EQUIPMENT
Tubing are made of non-welded stainless steel and are classified:
 According to geometric and mechanic characteristics

 According to type of thread and joints.

Circulation devices are used to put in communication the production string with
the annulus tubing-casing by:
 Sliding sleeves

 Side pocket mandrels

COMPLETION EQUIPMENT – WELLHEAD

The production string is connected to the wellhead by means of a series of

elements:

 Tubing Spool

 Tubing Hanger

 Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree
ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS
The main types of arti cial lift are:

 Gas Lift

 Sucker Rod Pumps

 Electrical Submersible Pumps

 Hydraulic Lift

 Progressive Cavity Pumps

ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS – GAS LIFT

GAS LIFT

 The gas is injected (Continuous or Intermittent way) into

the production tubing to reduce the hydrostatic pressure
of the fluid column reducing the density of the fluid and
bring the well to deliver.

 They are reliable and of easy maintenance, but allow a

limited production ow (2 m3/h at 3,000 m)
SUCKER ROD PUMP
 The pump (Piston Pump) is designed to be inserted inside the tubing of a well and its
purpose is to gather fluids from beneath it and lift them to the surface

 It used on reduced flows (about 6 m3/h)

ELECTRICAL SUBMERSIBLE PUMP SYSTEM

 ESP consists of a downhole pumping system

(Series of Centrifugal Pumps) that is electrically
driven (Electric Motor)

 They can handle a very wide range of flow rates

and its use is limited to depths above 3,000 m
 HYDRAULIC PUMP

 A Surface Hydraulic Pump pressurizes crude oil called

power oil, which drives the bottom pump

 Hydraulic pumping systems are also suitable for

deviated wells where conventional pumps such as
the rod pumps are not feasible
PROGRESSIVE CAVITY PUMPS

 The PCP consists of a Stator and a Rotor

 The motion of the liquid is speeded up by the

rotation, and then slowed down by the vanes in
the stator.

 The PCP is a flexible system with a wide range of

applications in terms of rate but they are restricted
to setting depths and temperatures.
PRODUCTION TEST
A Production Test supplies the answers:

 Over a limited period of a few days teams produce gas or oil from a test well.

 A burning flare at the well site indicates a successful well.

 To prevent any gas from escaping into the environment it is burnt off harmlessly
in such a flare.

 A production test enables pressures and rates to be observed, recorded and

processed
PRODUCTION TEST
 Well Head

 Safety Valve

 Choke

 Flowlines

 Heater

 Test Separator

 Measuring Systems

 Oil and Water Tanks

 Oil Burner / Gas Flare

COMPLETION FLUIDS

The Completion Fluid can be used:

 To help to prepare the well for production

 To drill the pay zone

 For the completion operations

 For work over operations

 For an abandoned well

PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION –
INTRODUCTION
 The objectives of production optimization may be to enhance reservoir inflow
performance or to reduce outflow performance

 The results could be more production with less pressure drawdown

PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION PROJECT
Production Optimization often refer to activities related to:

 Well profile management

 Near wellbore damage removal via acidizing or fracturing

 Near wellbore and pipeline solid deposition prevention

 Well integrity (casing and cement failure prevention and remediation)

 Field and well level artificial lift optimization

 Hydrocarbon (oil and gas) and other fluids transport efficiency

 Surface facilities design and total fluid handling capacity

 Surface de-bottlenecking and continuous field-optimization

CONTINUOUS OIL FIELD OPTIMIZATION
Continuous Field Optimization (CFO) requires computer
Integration of field hardware:

 Downhole sensors
 Remotely activated completion
 Surface facilities

 Data Acquisition
Feedback Decision  Data Processing
 Actuation
RESERVOIR STIMULATION
General common objective of well stimulation is to reduce pressure restrictions
around well-bore and the increase ow rate via:

Acid (HCl or HF) is used to remove

 Matrix Acidizing damage from carbonate and
sandstone formations and to
stimulate production.

It is used to create high permeability flow

conduit in tight rocks, increasing the area
 Hydraulic Fracturing of flow to wellbore by the injection of fluid.
SAND CONTROL
 It is important that the potential of sand production is identified before completing
the well and steps are taken to prevent it

Production of formation particles (sand) can cause:

 Reduce oil and/or gas production from the well

 Severe pipe erosion and havoc surface equipment

 Premature failure of downhole equipment

 Failure of subsurface safety valves

ASPHALTENES AND CORROSION
CONTROL
Asphaltenes Control

 Asphaltenes are one of the common causes

of arterial blockage in the petroleum production
system due to precipitation and high polarity
Corrosion Control

 The production of gas and oil is often accompanied

by water and the presence of acid gas (H2S, CO2)
increase the corrosivity of the waters to steel.

 Corrosion-inhibitors formulations have been development

WORKOVER
Well workover is the process of performing major maintenance on an oil or gas
well. It might include:

 Replacement or removal of the tubing

 Cleanup
 New completions or perforations

Before any workover, the well must first be KILLED

WORKOVER – COILED TUBING
 Well workover equipment including coiled tubing is often mounted on well
workover rigs
OIL RECOVERY
 Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) depends both on natural energies and on
external energies supplied to the reservoir and aquifer system.

Field exploitation is controlled by:

 The geometry and spacing (producers & injectors) ;

 The rate allocated to each well (producers & injectors);

 The nature of non-miscible fluid injected (natural gas or water).

EOR/IOR DEFINITIONS
Improved oil recovery (IOR)
EOR/IOR DEFINITIONS
 Primary and secondary recovery targets mobile oil in the reservoir

 Tertiary recovery (EOR) targets immobile oil (due to capillary and viscous forces)

Secondary recovery- water injection

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR)

The EOD methods are grouped according to those which rely on:

 A reduction of oil viscosity

 The extraction of the oil with a solvent

 The alteration of capillary and viscous forces between the oil, injected fluid, and the

rock surface
EOR Methods – Thermal EOR
 Generally applicable to heavy and viscous crudes

 Introduction of thermal energy or heat into the reservoir to raise the

temperature of the oil and reduce its viscosity.

Stream injec on
EOR METHODS – MISCIBLE GAS EOR
 The Gas (especially CO2) is injected into a reservoir where it mixes with the
remaining oil and pushes a bank of additional oil towards production wells.

Produc on well
CO2 Injec on
EOR METHODS – CHEMICAL INJECTION

 In chemical EOR or chemical

ooding, the primary goal is to
recover more oil by either one or a
combination of the following
processes:

 Mobility control by adding polymers to

reduce the mobility of the injected
water,

 Interfacial tension (IFT) reduction by

using surfactants, and/or alkalis.