WELL WORKOVER

INTRODUCTION
What is Workover ?

• Well Killing
• Recompletion
WORK-OVER • Re-perforation
OPERATIONS • Stimulation,
• Squeeze Cementing,
• Retrieval/Running Of Tubing

WHY
WORKOVER Reasons for Workover

CONCLUSIO
N
What is Work-Over
• After drilling a well, the formation is evaluated to know if it contains Oil
in commercial quantity. If it does, the well is completed and placed on
stream.

• At a point in the producing life of the well, the initial conditions of the
well may change leading to a decline in the performance of the well.

• If the reservoir still contains a reasonable amount of hydrocarbon

something has to be done to improve the performance of the well or
reservoir.
• The term Work-over, is used to refer to a kind of well intervention that is
aimed at enhancing the performance of a well.

• It involves recompleting already completed well for improved performance.

• The process of performing major maintenance or remedial treatments on

an oil or gas well after initial completion .

• In many cases, work-over implies the removal and replacement of the

production tubing string after the well has been killed and a work-over rig
has been placed on location.
Procedure
• Wellkilling involves circulating a fluid (called workover fluid e.g.
Barine) into the well whose weight is appropriate to control the
formation pressure.

• The workover begins by removing the well head and possibly the
flowline, then lifting the tubing head from the casing hanger thus
beginning to pull out the tubing from the completion.

• Workover Operations involves Involves well kill operation,

retrieval of tubing and completion hardware, re-perforating,
stimulating, running of completion and wellhead hardware
equipment and tubing.
 Steps in Work-over Operation

• Rig-up
• Well killing
• Rig down of X-mass tree & Rig up of BOP
• Circulation
• Tripping of Tubing
• Specified jobs
• Final Running in of Tubing
• Rig down BOP
Reasons

Workover operations are carried out for mainly two reasons such
as:
• Mechanical Reasons
• Reservoir Related Reasons
 a) Repair/Replace of damaged equipment

b) Replace artificial lift equipments

Mechanical Reasons

c) Cement and Casing Problems

Reservoir Related Reasons

 a) Repair natural damage within the well

b) Zone Transfer
Mechanical Reasons

c) Stimulation

Reservoir Related Reasons d) Convert well from production to injection

• Repair/ replacement of damaged equipment

• Downhole environments damage equipment during the life of a well.

(Like Erosion, Chemical reactions, Temperature extremes etc…)

• These equipment may require repair ;

o Production tubing
o Tubing packers
o Subsurface safety valves
o Gravel Pack equipment's etc.
 Zone Transfer
• One of the most common reason for a Workover is to
recomplete a well from one zone to another.

• Many wells are drilled to intentionally penetrate many zones,

but only one zone at a time is produced. In some wells, lower
zones are produced first.

• When reservoir depleted, they are recompleted (isolated) so

that another zone farther up can be produced.

Akhilome Christian - Well Workover

Re-Completion
 Replace Artificial Lift Equipment

• When a reservoir does not have, or cannot maintain, sufficient drive

energy to produce at an economical rate, assistance through artificial
lift is required. There are four basic types of artificial lift:

• Sucker rod pump

• Hydraulic pump
• Gas lift
• Electric submersible pump (ESP)
 Stimulation
• Stimulation is general term describing variety of operations performed
on a well to improve its productivity.

• It plays a vital role in production operations.

• Production in a damaged or low-producing zone can be increased by

some techniques as follow:

(i) Acid Stimulation

(ii) Hydraulic Fracturing
 Convert well from Production to Injection

• Workovers are carried out to convert

Producing wells into Injection wells.
In this type of workover water,
Gas, Chemicals etc. can be injected
into the reservoir.

• For example, such a workover

might involve converting a
producing well configured for
continuous or intermittent gas lift as
shown in the figure to a water
injection well.
Conclusion
• The profitability of a well as an investment venture depends on how
long it is on stream and on how much it produces.

• Its lifetime and output are naturally due to the reservoir's initial
characteristics. However, they are also dependent on keeping the well
maintained in good working order.

• Although proper drilling, cementing, and completion practices

minimize the need, virtually every well may need several workovers
during its lifetime to satisfactorily fulfil its purpose.