Workover Well Control

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 Perforation and well control
Perforation can be performed into two methods:
• Underbalanced perforation
• Overbalance Perforation

• Underbalanced perforation
• The well is perforated – typically with tubing conveyed guns. For
maximum productivity, the well can be perforated underbalance and
flowed to surface.
• This requires a full well test spread for a subsea well (burners, test tree
and downhole circulation valves).
• The perforations are killed with a non-damaging, ideally solids
free fluid such as a gel.
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 (Re)Gaining Control
• Regaining control or killing a well after a kick requires
reestablishing an outward pressure differential at the face
of the formation. Several variables control the kill
procedures available for workover operations.
• These include the fluid density needed for control
(magnitude of the formation pressure/ wellbore pressure
differential), casing burst strength and formation fracture
pressure.
• The method of fluid placement is also important.

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• There are two types of fluid circulation: down the tubing and
up the annulus, or reverse circulating down the annulus and
up the tubing. This assumes, of course, that circulation is
possible.
• Problems such as bridges in the tubing or annulus, plugged
nozzles, stuck sleeves or ports, holes high in the tubing,
float valve stuck closed in the tubing string, permanent
packer or other problem may prevent circulation.
• When circulation is not possible under the conditions in the
well, fluid may be lubricated or bullheaded into the well, or
circulation may be restored by a repair or bypass operation.

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• Lubrication of fluid into the well involves alternate stages of
pumping fluid into a well and then allowing the lighter weight
fluid, usually gas, to escape while the heavier fluid falls to
bottom.
• The process is repeated until the tubing is full of kill fluid and
it is produced through the choke. The cycle is then restarted
with a heavier kill fluid and so on until the well is dead.
• The lubrication method is used on high pressure wells
that do not have the extra wellhead pressure rating on
the well pressure (bull heading would exceed surface
pressure limits).
• It is also used where the bull heading is not possible.
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 Example
Plan a lubrication kill.
Wellhead pressure rating = 5,000 psi
SITP = 4,800 psi
Tubing - 2-3/8",N -80, 4.7 Ib/ft
Perfs = 13,795 ft
Solution:
1. Estimate the expected pressure reduction for each bbl of
9.0 Ib/gal brine pumped into the well
tbg capacity = 0.003870 bbl/ft = 258.8 ft/bbl (121 psi/bbl).
Press reduction = 258.8 ft/bbl x (9 lb/gal/42 gal/bbl) x 0.052
= 121 psi/bbl.
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2. Rig up all surface equip. including pumps and gas line flare.
3. Open choke to allow gas to escape and temporarily reduce
the SITP.
4. Close choke. Pump in 9 Ib/gal brine until tubing pressure =
4800 psi.
5. Wait for brine to fall in the tubing. This may take 1/4 to 1 hr
depending on gas density, pressure and tubing size.
6. Open choke and bleed gas until 9 Ib/gal brine begins to
escape.
7. Close choke and pump in 9 Ib/gal brine.
8. Continue steps 4-7 until a low wellhead pressure is
achieved.
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• The shut-in time in Step 5 is for the gas to migrate upward
at about 17 to 35 ft per min (gas migration is a function of
liquid density and viscosity).
• The necessary shut-in time is determined by how soon the
gas cap over the brine is exhausted during the bleed off
step. In deep wells, gas migration time is quite long.

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• Operators cannot always solve critical well control
problems with conventional circulation. Often, the tubing will
be parted or plugged and unconventional techniques are
needed. The technique of bull heading is one in which the
fluid in the well is pumped down the well ahead of a full
column of fluid and the entire contents of the well is forced
under pressure into a formation.
• The formation that takes the fluid will almost always be the
weakest opened (fractured) formation. Normal bull heading
is accomplished either below the fracturing pressure for
routine operations (with clean fluid and sufficient
permeability) or above the fracture pressure for operations
in which well control must be quickly reestablished.
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• Using bull heading operations is useful under several well
control conditions. Among these are:
1. The material in the well contains more H2S than can be
handled with surface facilities.
2. Plugged or parted drill pipe cannot be used to circulate the
mud to the bottom of the well.
3. Excessive surface pressure would be created (usually on a
gas well).
4. Bull heading may be used to gain time when materials or
other equipment are in short supply.

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• Bull heading has several crucial disadvantages and should be used only
when necessary. Some of the problems which make bull heading difficult
in well completion operation are.
1. Crews do not fully understand the technique.
2. Fluid will go to the weakest interval and may not followed the preferred
path. This might include a shallow formation breaking down and
accepting fluid without being able to remove gas-cut fluid in the deeper
part of the well.

3. Potential is created for an underground blowout or surface eruption

if the pressure is raised above the formation fracturing pressure.
4. Even a successful bullhead may not kill the well if the entire
wellbore cannot be displaced and replaced with the correct kill fluid.

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• A normal workover operation may use several bull head
kills and pills may be bull headed down the well to serve as
fluid loss agents.
• Bull heading may also be used in combination with
circulation on various special operations.
• Bull heading in drilling is considerably different than in the
workover because during drilling, the formation is usually
exposed to a mud that contains solids and will develop wall
building on fluid leakoff.
• When bull heading with mud, fracturing is often the only
resort, whereas in workovers, injection below the fracturing
pressure is possible.

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• There are three methods of workovers that may be used,
provided the proper well conditions are satisfied:
underbalance, neutral and overbalanced.
• Underbalanced workovers do not totally control the
formation pressure, thus some inflow is expected. This
technique is only used in those wells (almost always under
pressured) that will not flow to the surface, or where a
minimum of surface equipment (lubricator) will withstand
the pressure during the operation.
• The technique .has enormous advantages since none of
the workover fluid enters the zone. In very low pressure
zones, mechanical isolation is often required in combination
with a very light weight fluid to prevent excessive fluid entry
and formation damage. 14
• In balanced workovers, the workover fluid weight is
matched as closely as possible to the formation pore
pressure.
• Advantages are minimum fluid entry and potential damage.
To use the technique requires a very accurate knowledge of
the pressure in the zone.
• Tripping must be done very carefully to avoid swabbing the
well.
• Overbalanced workovers use a fluid that exerts a higher
pressure than the pore fluid.
• Although this is the most common method, it can be the
most damaging since it permits the entry of the workover
fluids into the formation.
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• Significantly higher weights of fluids should be avoided for
two reasons: a high loss of fluid through the matrix and the
possibility of fracturing the formation.
• Formation fracturing may occur any time the pressure
exerted by the fluid exceeds the fracture initiation pressure
of an exposed zone.

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