SPE

Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE 17984

Optimized Completion Significantly Reduced Cost and Time

in Gulf of Suez Fields
by S. Mansour and F. Khalaf,* Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co.
*SPE Member

Copyright 1989, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Oil Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Manama, Bahrain, 11-14 March, 1989.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper,
as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committee~ of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment
.of where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Publications Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083·3836. Telex, 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT:
is the most common method of artificial lift
This paper presents the chronological development in Gulf of Suez.
of Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co. (GUPCO) offshore
well completions. Reservoir depletion and the The original completion systems and practices
problems experienced with the initial completions used in early development wells were subject
prompted the need for basic changes. Several to continuous review and changes. Alternative
changes in completion systems were studied before designs were evaluated according to their
an optimum solution was selected. The impact on the completion time, workover plans,
development includes all the areas of original suitability to production policies, and
completions that had shown operational safety. Although historically the changes in
shortcomings: the completion-fluids design and each one of the completion areas were made
selection, down hole equipment, running and seperately, the net result is that all changes
pulling operations, wireline phase, perforating, interacted to produce significant operational
and initial flow phase. All the changes gains. As a result of the optimization
interacted and resulted in the completion efforts, the changes in completion operations
optimization which have considerably reduced effected the following major improvements: 1)
operations time and cost, significantly reduced Replacement of mudline packers by mud-line
operational problems, and increased well hangers, then by well-head tubing hangers, 2)
productivity. It worth to note that, as a result Generalization of the use of hydraulic-set
of completion optimization, now a completion job packers, 3) Elimination of dual-string
takes less than one half of the time that was completions, 4) Generalization of tubing
spenl to complete erie well ten years ago. conveyed perforating technique, 5) Utilization
of tubing retrievable sub-surface safety
I. INTRODUCTION valves, 6) Quasi-elimination of wireline
operations, 7) Standardization of tubing
Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO) is the sizes, threads, and connections, 8) Control of
largest offshore oil producer in Egypt. GUPCO corrosion and scale, and 9) Standardization of
began offshore production in late 1967 from completion fluids. All these changes were
EL-MORGAN field. Now, production in the Gulf made compatible with GUPCO basic casing
of Suez is fL·om 50 sandstone reservoirs programs and ~reduction policies. Moreover,
between 5500 fl. and 11500 ft. subsea. The the changes comply with the safety regulations
initial reservoir pressure ranged from 2600 in offshore oil fields. Definite signs pf
psi. to 5900 psi, - the current reservoir improvement were noticed after applying each
pressure ranging from 500 to '•500 psi. In of these major changes.
1988, the production rate is approximately
450,000 BOPD from 50 offshore producing This paper presents the background information
platforms containing over 300 wells. Some of for each item, explains how the current
these wells produce naturally, but the majority optimum solution for the completion problems
requires an artificial lift system. Gas lift were reached, and documents how these and
other minor changes have resulted in the
completion optimization.
* References and illustrations at end of paper
591
2 Ontimized Comnletion Reduced Cost and Time in Gnl f of R11 ~=>'7. "F'i ~=>1 r'l~ SPE 17984

II THE RESULTS OF COMPLETION passage of wireline tools. The mudline

OPTIMIZATION
A total of 320 completion runs from the
biggest five fields in the Gulf of Suez
( EL-MORGAN, BADRI , JULY, RAMADAN and OCTOBER
fields) were reviewed. The data of these runs
are collected according to the completion
date. The consecutive completion designs are
shown in Fig. (1). In this figure, the
changes are ordered according to their
introduction in Gulf of Suez operations.
These changes in completion designs are
divided into four consecutive categories:
suspension packer was to protect the casing
above the packer from well pressure; stimu-
lation pressure, and corrosive fluids. Also,
it will support the completion string if the
well bore is seriously damaged above the
seafloor.
Several problems had been experienced with the
dual-string dual mud line suspension packer
design in Gulf of Suez wells :
1. Long running and pulling time of the dual
string above the mud line suspension
packer.

Group (1) For the early wells completed 2. Long time needed for redressing the packer
before 1978 (9-5/8"0.0.) before rerunning again due to
Group (2) For the wells completed during 1979 problems encountered when releasing the
through 1982 packer. These packers had frequent leaks
Group (3) For the wells completed during 1983 due to the deterioration of the seal
through 1986, where most of the rubber while running in hole.
optimization efforts were done
Group (4) For the wells completed during 3. Packing off the completion string downhole
1987-1988. They show the full while attempting to back out the landing
results of completion optimization joint from the slick sub.
and the remarkable improvements
over other categor~es. 4. Misalignment of the packer in the hole due
to the weight of the long string.
Optimizing the completion designs and practices
has significantly reduced operations time and 5. Exposure of the casing below the dual
cost, reduced operational problems, and packer was subject to both pressure and
increased well productivity. As a result of corrosion in the wells producing with
these optimization, now a completion job takes annular flow completion.
less than one half of the time that was spent
to complete one of the early development wells In order to reduce the running and pulling
in the Gulf of Suez (Fig. 12). times of the dual strings above the mud line
suspension packer and to eliminate the possi-
III IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPLETION bility of missalignment of the packer,
OPERATIONS the completion procedures was modified to run
the short string with a stinger (Fig. 4).
The changes and improvements in all of the However, leaks were recorded due to damage of
completion operation areas were interacted to the packing element during installing and
produce significant operational gains and spacing out of the short string. ·
·optimization of GUPCO' s well completions. The
following are the major changes that led to The persistant problems with the dual-string
these results. dual-packer mud line suspension system had
necessitated an alternative completion design.
(1) Replacement of mudline packers by mud-line
hangers, th~n QI_well-head tubing hangers In 1981 a single string completion with a
simple mud line hanger (Fig. 5) was introduced
In the ·early stages of completion design for to replace the dual packer-mud line suspension
Gulf of Suez wells, the dual-packer, single- system. Gas for gas lifting was injected
string annular flow completion and the dual- directly down the annulus with a check valve
packer, dual-string tubing flow completion at surface. With the presence of the bottom
concepts were developed (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). hole packer above the pay zone, this method
Lift gas had been injected through the injec- was accepted as a safe completion design.
tion string (above the dual packer) down the
annulas below the mudline packer with a check In some fields (BADRI, MORGAN, GS 376 and
valve placed in the injection string. OCTOBER) a· tubing hanger nipple was installed
as an integral part of the 9-5/8" casing
The dual-packer is a retrievable type, string, about two hundred feet below the sea
hydraulic set and straight pull-release bed. The completion was to be run and the
packer. It had been used as a shallow-set hanger was to be landed in the profile of the
mud-line suspension packer, primary for the nipple, (Fig. 6). In a few occasions,
desired well safety and to hang-off the failures in either the hanger or the nipple
completion string in tension to enhance the caused the completion to drop down the hole.

592
SPE 17984 SAY.l:!:D MANSOUR
Evaluation of the single string completion
with the mudline hanger used instead of the
dual string , mud line suspension system
provided the following benefits:
1. Full ID to surface when the tubing
retrievable SSSV is used, this yields
higher flow efficiency and production
rates.
2. No wireline plugs to be set in the bottom
packer or mud line hanger (after one ball
is dropped and landed in a collet catcher
sub, pressure is applied to set both the
packer and the mud line hanger).
3. Less expensive equipment.
4. Faster running and pulling than the dual
string, with less wireline runs.
5. Compatible with other standardized
completion equipment.
Then a single string completion with a
two-trip tubing hanger was used on all tubing
flow completions (Fig. 5). The lower part of
the completion string and the hanger is run
and set below the mud line on the running tool
using drill pipe. The latch assembly is made
up in the lowest part of the top section of
the completion string. It is lowered and
sealed into a pre-set hanger or receptacle.
Several miss runs, due to leaks latching
assembly and other operational problems with
the two-trip tubing hanger, resulted in
modifying this configuration to the current
one-trip tubing hanger, where both the hanger
and latching system or running tool are part
of the production string and run in the hole
in one-trip. This modification simplifies the
completion, minimizes the space out problems,
and reduces the rig time. In addition to
these benefits, the design of the one-trip
hanger allows to release and to reset the
hanger up or down hole after setting.
Replacement of mudline tubing hangers (MLTH)
by well-head tubing hangers (WHTH) is one of
the last - but not. the least - of the major
improvements in Gupco' s completion opera-
tions. Based on the safety statistics of
accidents in G.o.s., the philosophy of the
MLTH and its applications in Gupco's
operations has been reevaluated, and the
single string completions was changed from
mudline tubing hangers to wellhead tubing
hangers. Differ~nt wellhead tubing hanger
configurations were evaluated and a final
design was selected based on both safety and
practicality (only minor modification for the
existing X-mass trees was required). In
summary, the primary reasons of switching from
MLTii system to the WHTH system are to reduce
completion costs without reducing safety or
efficiency; to avoid the mechanical problems
when setting or releasing mud line hangers;
and to eliminate the time required to prepare
593
FOUAD KHALAF 3
the tubing stub for the X-mass tree (set
hanger and cut the tubing string).
(2) Generalization of the use of hydraulic -
set packers
The first tubing flow completion design in
GOS, involved the running of a permanent
packer and setting it above the productive
zone with wireline. The tubing seal is then
run on the bottom of the tubing string, stung
into and spaced in the bore of the permanent
packer (Fig. 3). The objective of setting the
permanent packer above the pay is to maximize
the production rate while optimizing gas lift
injection, to protect the pay zone from kill
and packer fluids, and to protect casing above
the pay zone from high pressures (including
both well and stimulation pressures) and
corrosion fluids. We have experienced several
problems with permanent packer completions.
Tubing seal failures and communication of
pressure above and below the packer were
caused by the movement of the working seals in
and out of the packer sealing bore, the
damaging effects of the down hole environ-
ments, and the improper spacing of the seal
assembly in the packer sealing bore.
In high temperature wells (such as those of
the October field), improper space-out of the
locator assembly resulted in tubing buckling
and the subsequent wireline tool running
problems. To protect the tubing seal units
from damage, a tail pipe with seal bore
extension was attached to the bottom of the
permanent packer which is set on drill pipe.
Then a high temperature seal is run on tapered
tubing and spaced out in the seal bore
extension. The mud line hanger is landed into
the integral hanger nipple profile of the
9-5/8" casing (Fig. 7).
Hydraulic set retrievable packers with high
temperature seals were utilized to replace the
permanent packers. Expansion joints are used
to adjust for expansion and contraction of the
completion tubing (Fig. 8). The objective of
this change was to avoid leaks of the seal
assembly, to save rig time required to set the
permanent packer with the tail assembly on
drill pipe (or the permenant packer only on
wireline), and to save the additional rig time
required to mill and retrieve the permanent
packer.
Another area where the hydraulic set packers
were used is in the isolation packer · comple-
tions. In the isolation packer completion,
two 7" x 3-1/2" hydraulic retrievable packers
had been used to isolate a zone from pro-
duction (Fig. 9). Recently, GUPCO encoun-
tered several problems with the bottom
retrievable packers. In old wells which had
previously been produced with annular flow
completion, we experienced problems with the
new hydraulic isolation-packer not holding
adequately inside casing (casing has been
degraded by age and produced fluids). Also,
the problems of the isolation-packer unseating
4 Optimized Completion Reduced Cost and Time in Gulf of Suez Fields SPE 17984

after gun detonat-ion had occurred in some
cases. While the exact reasons for this
failure have not been identified, the
following are, , in our opinion, the causing
factors:
1) depth of the packer, 2) length and size of
the guns, 3) excessive underbalance used for
perforating, 4) absence of perforations below
the packer to absorb the detonation .. shock .. ,
and 5) the condition of the casing.
As nearly all of the problems have occurred
below 8000', modification of the isolation
packer completion resulted in an alternative
design utilizing a permanent lower packer in
depths below 8000' . The permanent packer is
positioned very accurately and set on wire-
line. This design eliminates the expansion
joint between the two packers, and insures the
proper setting of the bottom packer which can
withstand the high bottom hole pressure and
temperature.
(3) Eliminatation of dual-string completion
An optimum completion design has to assure
maximum production, to optimize gas lift
injection when reservoir performance changes,
to minimize completion and workover problems,
and to enhance safety and longevity of the
well.
Some persistant mechanical and operational
problems had been encountered with the dual
string completions with respect to the
changes of reservoir performance and
nessecitated the need to optimize and
simplify the completion design. The dual
string completion was replaced by the single-
string mud line hanger completion in order to
shorten running and pulling time of the dual
strings above 'the dual packer, to eliminate
the possibility of running in blind with the
dual packer, and to avoid damage of the
packing element during installion and space
out of the short string.
The evaluation of the flow performance for
dual string completions has shown in all
cases that the single string completion
outperforms the dual string.
The following table presents the out flow
performance of dual-string completion (2-3/8 ..
long string, 2-7/8.. short string) versus
single string completion (Fig. 10).
ANNULAR FLOW(1) TUBULAR FLOW(2)
(dual string) (single string)
Casing O.D. 7" + 7"
Tubing O.D. 2-7/8 .. & 2-3/8 .. 3-1/2"
w. c. ,7. 50 50
GLR SCF/bbl 750-1000 750-1000
PRODUCTIVITY DAILY PRODUCTION DAILY PRODUCTION
INDEX (BBL) (1) (BBL) (2)
10.5 1400
1.0 2250 2250
2.0 4200 4700
2.5 5050 5600
3.25 5700 6650
4.0 6625 7700
(4) Generalization of tubing conveyed perforating
technique
Underbalanced perforating is generally consi-
dered the most successful! method of perfora-
tion. In 1984, GUPCO introduced the
technique of perforating underbalance with
tubing conveyed gun in the GOS (Ref 1).
Since then, tubing conveyed perforation has
become Gupco' s standard practice for nearly
all new completions, workovers, and drill
stem tests in both land and offshore wells.
A total of 280 TCP jobs have been performed
in the Gulf of Suez since the introduction of
the tubing conveyed perforation technique
(Fig.11). With the tubing conveyed perfora-
ting technique, we have been able to maximize
the productivity, reduce completion time and
cost, and eliminate most of the problems
associated with conventional wire line
methods. Even though minor problems have
been experienced with the tubing conveyed
perforating technique, the success of using
TCP guns has been more than satisfactory with
the success rate increasing from 80. 27. for
1985 to 977. for 1987.
(5) Generalization of tubing retrievable
sub-surface safety valves (TRS valves)
Prior to 1983, GUPCO was using the wireline
self-equalizing retrievable sub-surface
safety valves (WLRSSV) in all oil wells
completions. These valves are installed in a
seating nipple +-150' below the mud line.
Gupco has experienced several equipment and
operational problems with the WLRSSV, The
following are some of these problems:
1. The restricted I.D. of the valves causes
significant pressure drop and production
restrictions which become substantial in
wells where scale or paraffin builds up
inside the tubing. Scale and paraffin
accumulation on top of the valve results
in a dangerous situation when the valve is
stuck in the open position.
2. In addition to the extra rig time, and the
potential risks involved with WL work, the
wireline work associated with the WLRSSV
results in deferred production.

594
SPE 17984 SAYED MANSOUR, FOUAD KHALAF
3. For most of the workover operations involv-
ing the removal of the tree. The WLRSSV's
need lo be pulled and a positive plug set
In some cases, after finishing the jobs and
setting the valve back in place, the valve
was left unlocked and subsequently blown up
the hole.
4. When the valve is stuck or malfunctions, a
secondary valve can not be set in order to
allow the well to produce safely. Consequ-
ently a flow tube can not be set across the
stuck valve to allow wireline work neces-
sary to circulate or kill the well prior to
workover.
5. When the valve is pulled, the control line
is · exposed to the well bore. This could
cause control line plugging problems.
In order to increase both the performance of
downhole safety valves and their life time and
to optimize the operations, the TRSSV' s have
been lried as a replacement for the WLRSSV' s.
TRSSV's are of the flapper type, are run as a
parl of the ~ubing string, and provide signifi-
cant advantages over the WLRSSV's. These
valves are nearly full I.D, and conventional
wire tools can be run through them. In the
event of a valve failure, a W/L retrievable
valve can be set inside the valve to secure
the well until a rig becomes available for the
workover. Also, during workover operations,
this valve has been successfully used to plug
the tubing during nippling up without using
wire line plugs.
The current type of tubing retrievable safety
valves are not self-equalizing. Equalization
of the pressure above the flapper is required
before opening. On complex platforms, liquid
booster pumps are used to apply pressure and
to equalize the valves. To equalize the valve
on satellite platforms, it is possible to use
gas lift pressure or the pressure of an offset
well. Occasionally there have been instances
where there was no source of pressure to
equalize and to open the valve. A simple
portable pump can be used for this purpose.
When scale builds-up across the TRSSV and
prevents it from closing, a simple chemical
job is needed to free the valve from paraffin
or scale deposits. If this fails, a rig is
used to workover the well.
A self equalizing TRSSV valve has also been
used. It has all the advantages of being
tubing retrievable plus it is self-
equalizing. Upon applying pressure on the
control line, ports above the flapper are
opened allowing pressure to equalize across
the valve. Once WHP is observed to stabilize,
additional pressure is applied to the control
line and the flapper opens.
Based on GUPCO' s experimentation of sub-
surface safety valves in GOS operations,
guidelines were established to use TRSSV' s in
595
5
all of the wells and continue to replace W/L
retrievable type with the tubing retrieval:?le
valves. At least one self equilizing TRSSV
is being used on one well per platform which
does not have a readily available source of
equilizing pressure.
Furthermore, in order to reduce the problems
related to the failure of sub-surface safety
valves, a function testing procedure and tear
down and inspection procedure has been
established and standardized to evaluate and
isolate the problem area within the SSSV
system.
Many SSSV control line failures have been
experienced when they were run in the hole or
pulled from the well. The most susceptible
area of control line damage is the span
across the tubing upset. A modified clamp is
being evaluated for better mechanical protec-
tion. The clamp offers more resistance to
control line slippage. Moreover, many
control line problems will be eliminated by
converting the present pack-off system of
X-mass trees. These trees are complicated
and difficult to install.
(6) Quasi-elimination of wireline operations
Continuous optimization of completion designs
and procedure has resulted in reduced
completion .time and wireline work. A study
of early completions found that 33"1o of all
down time was due to wireline work. The
break down of this time was as follows:
Waiting on equipment S"fo
Running/pulling plugs 18"1o
Handling SSSV' s 4"fo
Handling G.L.V.'s 2"fo
Handling down hole- 4"fo
circulating devices
The standardization of the well-head tubing
hanger and hydraulic-set packers cancelled
the plugs and W/L work required to set the
mud line hangers and to set permenant
packers. The generalization of the tubing
conveyed perforating cancelled the wireline
work associated with the through tubing
perforation. Also, the use of TRS valves
have eliminated the setting of wireline plugs
before N/U or N/D BOP.
Operating the down hole circulating devices
have resulted in a multitude of other WL
problems. Now, Gupco is eliminating these
devices if they are not required during the
initial completion. In shallow wells with
deep gas lift valves, the gas lift mandrels l
are used to circulate between the tubing and
the annulus. To kill deeper wells, the
tubing is punched above the circulating
device to circulate the well.
6 Optimized Completion Reduced Cost and Time in Gulf _nf RnA7. li'i Al
As a result of all these savings, the opera-
tions time related lo wireline work dropped
from 16 hours per well (39~ of total comple-
tion running time) in 1975 to 5 hours per
well in 1988 (25~ of total completion running
time)-Fig. 12.
( 7) Standardization of tubing sizes, threads and
connections
Two basic reservoir drive mechanisms exist in
Gupco's GOS fields: a strong water drive and
a dissolved gas drive. Water flooding and
gas lifting operations have been installed to
compensate for the reservoir pressure decline.
The standard casing program for the majority
of the GOS wells involves running of a 9-5/8"
intermediate casing through Miocene evapo-
rites salts down to the top of the pay zone.
A 7" liner is set at total depth and suspend-
ed +-400' above the lower end of the 9 5/8"
casing. A 5" liner is being used in some
wells in G. 0. S. To prevent casing collapse
opposite the deep plastic salts, the casing
program was modified to extend the 7" liner
above the salt section. Extension of the 7"
liner above the salt section or running a 5"
liner at the total depth presents some innate
limitations to completion and workover opera-
tions. This results in completion string
restriction, tapered tubing design, and gas
lift limitation (gas lift mandrels are not
utilized inside 5" liner). In G.O.S,, the
largest practical casing is set on bottom to
permit completion of the well in such a
manner as to allow maximum production rates
and the ability to workover the well. The
production packer is set above the productive
zone and above the 5" liner, if any, to iso-
late the majority of casing from well pres-
sures and the corrosive formation fluids.
Continued field development results in both
reservoir depletion and the overall produc-
tion rate decline. The persistance of water
flooding, gas lifting, and the gradual
increase of the water cut necessitates the
re-evaluation of our existing completion in
order to achieve the maximum productivity and
to improve the gas lift efficiency.
Recently, Gupco analyzed the outflow perform-
ance under varying reservoir characteristics,
varying water cut and tubing sizes (Fig.13).
The objective of this study was to plan for
the future completion requirements to mini-
mize production deferral, and to increase gas
lift efficiency (calculations show that smal-
ler tubing requires 50~ less gas lift gas for
the same production fluid than larger
tubing). Therefore, three standard gas-lift,
tappered tubing completion designs for G.O.S.
wells have been developed as follows:
GREATER THAN 5000 BFPD. 5-1/2" X 4-1/2" TUBING
>2500 PSI
<.59~ w.c.
LESS THAN 5000 BFPD. 4-1/2" X 3-1/2" TUBING
~ 2000 PSI
<. 80~ w.c.
596
rl~=: RPF. 17~&1_
LESS THAN 1500 BFPD. 3-1/2" X 2-7/8" TUBING
L... 1600 PSI
< 90'1o W.C.
The tubing strings used for G.O.S. completions
are of four sizes and weights: 5-1/2", 17 1b/
ft, N80, 8rd; 4-1/2", 12.75 1b/ft, N80, 8rd;
3-1/2", 9. 3 1b/ft, N80, 8rd; and 2-7 /8", 6. 5
1b/ft, N80, 8rd tubing. This combination
permits sufficient clearance between the
tubing and the casing to fish the tubing when
required. Also, the specifications of the
tubing string, with a moderate tension design
factor (0.8), allow for adequate overpull
requirements.
Standarization of Gupco's completion equipment
and tubulars has resulted in both better quali-
ty control and potential cost savings. Proper
handling of the tubing, proper cleaning of
pipe threads, application of thread compounds,
torque requirements and rig supervision have
all contributed to less completion failures.
(8)Corrosion and scale control
The main problems associated with Gulf of Suez
production operations are corrosion caused by
H2S, C02, and 02; down hole scale
deposition; paraffin and asphaltene deposi-
tion; and emulsion in wells producing wet
crude oil. Scaling problems are experienced
in many wells, oil and water flowlines and
surface production equipment. Some wells may
scale up in a matter of months, requ1r1ng
frequent rig workovers. Down hole scale depo-
sition results in perforation plugging and
production declines. A dangerous production
operation may result by having the sub-sea
safety valv~ stuck in the open position due to
scale deposition. Some of the scale that
forms at shallow depths is calcium carbonate
(CaC03) which can be dissolved by pumping
hydrochloric acid (HCl). However, deeper in
the tubing string non-soluble barium (BaS04)
and strontium sulphate scale (SrS04) are
deposited. These hard types of scale need to
be removed mechanically through workovers.
An inhibition program has been used to prevent
the scale deposition by injecting scale
inhibitors as phosponate or polyphosphonate
types. Various alternatives to prevent down
hole scale build-up have been evaluated.
A chemical injection line (1/4 inch) will be
used above the packer and the scale inhibitor
is injected continuously down hole to allow
treating the string. Scale build-up inside
the tubing below the packer is mechanically
removed using wireline tools.
An extremely corrosive condition is caused by
the presence of H2s, co 2 , 02, and free
water ·in the producing wells. Corrosion
inhibitors are injected down hole with the
lift-gas and produced into the flowlines and
surface equipment. Continuous injection of
the inhibitors down hole provides the maximum
scale and corrosion protection. However, due
SPE 17984 SAYED MANSOUR, FOUAD KHALAF
to production restrictions, Gupco does not
favor the running of a chemical injection
string with a dual packer arrangment. A over balanced when worked over. The Diesel
preventive monitoring technique has been
designed to predict failures before taking
place, to adjust and evaluate the chemical
injection rates and concentration, and to
establish and optimize the maintenance
program. GUPCO's offshore corrosion
monitoring elements are
A) Coupons (weight loss- changed every month),
B) Corrosometer (electrical resistance
checked every two weeks), and
C) Corrator (polarization checked every
week).
This continuous evaluation and optimization of
the chemical treatment program has resulted in
the best corrosion protection with m1n1mum
chemical consumption and operational cost.
Paraffin and asphaltene deposition are
dissolved and removed by pumping and spotting
paraffin solvents.
Crude oil emulsions are formed in some Gupco
offshore fields (JULY, MORGAN and RAMADAN).
The emulsions are treated in an onshore
process plant by electrical dehydration and
desaliniation supplemented by a thermochemical
brine washing process. Due to field develop-
ment, and improved production technology,
total production of some fields has increas-
ed. Accordingly, the desaliniation capacity
of the process plant has been overloaded.
Several field tests were made to inject chemi-
cals into the oil at the major production
platforms and to separate this water either
offshore or onshore. As a result of these
tests, an effective treatment was found: the
emulsion between the oil and water is broken
by using specific surfactants which act as
de-emulsifiers and anti-sludge agents.
(9)Standardization of completion fluids
The primary function of the completion and
workover fluid is to maintain control of the
formation and to minimize formation damage.
Completion and workover fluids should be non-
damaging, solids-free or low-solid fluids, and
non-corrosive at down-hole temperatures.
The selection of the weight of the kill fluid
is based on a minimum of 200 PSI overbalance.
Diesel is used as the workover fluid for wells
which require a kill weight of 7. 0 PPG or
less. For wells which required a kill weight
of 7.0 to 8.3 PPG, an invert emulsion of
diesel with calcium chloride brine (or with
water) or oil base mud is used. Diesel brine
emulsion (or diesel water emulsion) and oil
597
7
base mud have the ability to vary the fluid
density such that the formation is not highly
emulsion system has no solids and has a low
concentration of emulsifiers. On the oil
base muds the high concentration of emulsi-
fiers requires the addition of some oil
wetting agents which may affect the formation
wettability. This problem can be partially
overcome by reperforating the well with TCP
guns. However, in some cases such as in
double casing strings or with a deeply
invaded zone, reperforating would not bring
the well back to the original productivity.
For wells requiring a kill weight of 8. 4 to
8. 6 PPG, sea water is used as the workover
fluid. Calcium chloride brine is used for
the higher pressure reservoirs.
During 1985 and 1986 a comprehensive study
was done on five completion fluids used in
the Gulf of Suez. The fluids tested were
seawater, calcium chloride brine, diesel-
seawater emulsion, diesel, and oil-based
mud. Distilled water was also tested as a
base for measuring the sensitivity of the
clay and the finessenstivity of the
formations. Core plugs from four different
sandstone formations from Gulf of Suez fields
were used to measure the effects of the
different fluids on the initial permeability
of the cores.
Formation permeabilities were greatly reduced
by all the completion fluids. The most
damaging fluid was calcium chloride brine and
diesel. The least damaging were the clean
fluids of seawater and distilled water and.
diesel (Fig. 16). In all cases, flushing the
cores with 15% hydrochloric acid improved
permeability, showing that some of the
permeability damage is repairable. As a
result of this study, sea...,..water is currently
used as the completion fluid in all G.O.S.
wells whenever possible. Potassium chlorid
(KCL) brine is used for high pressure
reservoirs as it was found to be less
damaging to formation clays. For oil-based
fluids, a less damaging fluid of lease crude
and/or solar diesel is used. Excessive losses
of non damaging fluid over a period of time
caused by an overbalanced condition can lead
to formation damage and could change wetta-
bility and /or relative permeability. To
minimize fluid invasion in overbalanced
conditions when circulation is not required,
it is recommended to operate without fluid
level to surface. Because of the response to
acid, acidizing should almost become routine
after working over a well where calcium
carbonate pills or where damaging fluids have
been used.
 Ootimized Comoletion Reduced Cost and Time in Gulf of Suez Fields SPE 17qR4

CONCLUSION 9. Standardization of compeltion fluids to

reduce formation damage.
Optimizing the completion designs and practices
bas significantly reduced operations time and As a result of all these improvements • now a
cost • reduced operational problems and increased completion job takes less than one half of the
well productivity. As the changes and time that was spent to complete one well ten
improvements in each of the completion operation years ago. Also. the operations time related to
areas were made seperately, signs of improvement wireline work dropped from 16 hours (39~ of total
were noticed after applying each of these major completion running time) in 1975 to 5 hours per
changes, and all changes were engineered to well in 1988 (25~ of total completion running
produce significant production gains and time). All changes were designed to be compati-
optimization of Gupco's completion operations. ble with individual reservoir characteristics,
Gupco basic casing programs and production
The following is a summary of these major changes: policies. Moreover, the changes comply with the
safety regulations while at the same time opti-
1. Replacement of mudline packers by mud line mize production efficiency and longevity of the
hangers, then by well-head tubing hangers. wells.
2. Generalization of the use of hydraulic set
packers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
3. Elimination of dual-string completions.
4. Generalization of tubing conveyed perforating The authors wisbe to thank the management of the
techniques. Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company for permission to
5. Generalization of tubing retrievable present this paper • and their Colleagues on the
sub-surface Safety valves. Drilling and Operations Departments who assisted
6. Reduced dependence on wireline operations. in the processing of this manuscript.
7. Standardization of tubing sizes. threads and
connections. REFERENCES
8. Corrosion and scale control.
1)S . . Mansour, F. Khalaf: Evaluation of Tubing
Conveyed Perforators in Gulf of Suez Fields, SPE
15770, Bahrain, March 7-10, 1987.

0047H
SM/gm

598
~ ., '

SPE 179 8 4

GULF OF SUEZ
FIELDS

u• zgo
oo' + 00

u•
oo' +

SCALE I :"1000000

b• oo'

(1967-1978)
63
• TOTAL HRS
(1979-1982)
~ W/L HRS
50 47

Cl) 40 (1983-1986}
a: 33
::> 30 (1987-1988)
0 3o 28
:1: 25
22
20
20

10

Fig. 1-Developmant of Gupco's wall completion.

599
 21fa'' CSH SLICk SUB--+-H-+--n
I(~ 11 CONTROL LINE
CONTROL L I H E - - - H I
W' TUIIHc----f
4't11 FLOW COUPLING
~~" SSSV NIPPLE
IO==!!L--+-4't11 FLOW COUPLING
X.OVER 4it11 x Jit" CSH
v5t8"X3i"X2",18•:._
-9%"X3I"X2"fa"
DUAL PACKER
DUAL PACKER

2lfa" CHECK VALVE HIPPLE

BLAST JOINT

3~" GAS
LIFT
HAHDlELS

PERFORATED JOINT
1:1·----H-HIPPLE - 7" PERMANENT
PACKER
g!i'a"
CASING

HULE SHOE--_.._-L-1

711 LINER
711 LIH!It

Fig. 2-Dual string-annuluar flow completion. Fig. 3-Dual string-tubing flow completion.

2lfa" CSH SLICK SUB--+H--+-0

COHUOL L I H E - - - H I 4~" CONtROL LIN!
4"'' TUI!HG - - - - t - + 1
4~" SSSV

o~8"x4l"x278•• ·DJ8"xd" HANGER

DUAL PACKER

4~" GAS Lin KAHDRALS.

4~" GAS LIFT
HAIIDRELS

3"'' CAS Lln

HAHDULS 3~" GAS Lin KAHDRALS.

1:11::::1 ........--CIRC. DEVICE

lmi:::I ........--EXPANSlON JOINt
- 7 " RETRIEVABLE
' PACKER

Fig. 4-Dual string-tubing flow completion with Fig. 5-Single string-tubing flow completion.
stinger.

600
 lt4" CONTROL LINE

4l,<z" sssv

41t2" sssv
PROFILE TYPE -DUAL PACKER
-TUBING HANGER
llr:::3---""+-- NIPPLE

4;" GAS Lin

HAIIDRELS

J;" GAS Lin SLIDING SLEEYE---IH-IrmTII

HANDRELS NlPPL£-----t-.:.

4" HIGH TEMP. SEAL

ASSEMBLY
......_PERMANENT PACKER
1" RETRlEVABLE PACKER-

Fig. 6-Single string-tubing flow completion. Fig. 7-Tubing flow completion (modified big bore).

41t" CONTROL LINE

4;" CONTROL LINE
~, .. sssv. 41t" sssv

9!\'a"xs;" HANGU
Bo/iX4l" TUBING HANGER

~;" GAS Lin HAIIDRALS,

4;" GAS Lin HAIIDIIAL

t¥e"
CAll NO
t~i"CAS!NG

lit" GAS LIFt HANDL\1.5

'I"X3i" PACKER-

"'d--4--TUBING END

7" LINU

Fig. a-Standard tubing flow completion. Fig. 9-lsolation packer completion.

601
 Ifill succ~ )~~roo:}IISANnPiion]ID oTURS}

Ia
Iii
(2) (1)

000 I I I I I I l I l I I I I 1 1 p
1
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 1984 1985 L936 1937
BFPD YEAR
Fig. 10-Comparison of the flow performance of the Fig. 11-Success ratio of top jobs 1984-1987.
completion.
en
=
N

41 .Jf/LHRS
E] TOTA£ HRS
34

.....,
25 til

-
~ 2000
r.t
t?;
~ 1000
~
rn
00 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000
...
~
FLOW RA'rE (BFPD) .,1:)
(1976-1978) (1979-1982} (1983-1986.1 (1987-1988)
OC)
Fig. 12-Average running time and W/L time. Fig. 13-0utflow performance-tapered tubing com- 1::-
pletion.
 O~a"Xd" HANGER

,,X3l" RETRIVABLE
PACKER

Fig. 14-Standard tubing flow completion (TCP per- Fig. 15-Standard tubing flow completion (wellhead
foration). tubing hanger).

SEA JATER OIL BA.C:E MUD DIE'S!'L DIESEL EMliL. CaCL 2

Im:J BASE PERJI. , . FLUID FLUSH I0 HCL FLUSH I

Fig. 16--Completion fluid comp•rison.

603
 ·.·.
, 1,"",
c:o
eo
H~HM
)IS:ICI 30YnS
1\SSS~.l.
HiiDNYH·,·n (
ONIY..LS 3,0NIS~
Y3E»NI~S I M)
ONII:I~S ~HOHS S co
r-
~
CLI
::.
0
a:
CJ
Y::l)l:lYd·,·w ,Yna (
ONI&n~ ,vna~. -----~------~-----:--------·-·
0 0 0 ·~ 0 0
~ l.l.l ~ M C'-.1 ~
SYnOH - 3NIJ. DNINNnY NOIJ.31dWO~
604