PET 325

PERFORATION

Omega 2013
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
 Introduction

 Shaped Charged Perforation

 Explosives

 Perforating Guns

 Perforation Efficiency & Gun Performance

 Well/Reservoir Characteristics

 Calculations

 References
 INTRODUCTION

 Objective of perforation is to establish

communication between the wellbore & the
formation.

 This is achieved by making holes through the casing,

cement & into formation.

 The inflow capacity of the reservoir must not be

inhibited.
 Well productivity & injectivity depend primarily on near-wellbore
pressure drop called Skin.

 The skin factor accounts for the additional pressure drop due to
damage or stimulation around the wellbore in an oil and gas formation.

 The factors contributing to skin fall into three broad categories: These
are the perforation geometry, perforation environment, and formation
characteristics

1. perforation geometry: typically characterized by the four parameters

below.
 Shot density- number of perforations per foot
 Perforation length- Depth of perforation penetration into the reservoir
 Shot phasing—angular pattern, it is the angle between the charges
 Diameter of perforated hole in the casing and reservoir
This factors are largely controllable by the operator and
if well optimized, skin resulting from these factors can
be zero or become negative,

Discuss: Explain how the above perforation parameters

affect well productivity
2. Perforation environment
 The invasion of filtrate into the reservoir leaving fines of mud cakes thereby
impairing permeability.
 Cementing operations can also plug the formation thereby creating zone of
reduced permeability around the wellbore,
 Penetration process can also damage the environment of perforation thereby
reducing the permeability around the perforated zones.
3. Formation characteristics
Formation physical characteristics and in-situ stress
conditions can influence perforator penetration and the
degree of crushing around the perforation.

Formation characteristics and fluid characteristics largely

determine the differential pressure required to clean the
perforations effectively by flowing fluid through them.

DISCUSS: Skin is high & productivity reduced when:

 Formation damage is severe (drilling & completion
fluids invasion ranges from several inches to a few feet)
 Perforations do not extend beyond the invaded zone
 Shaped charged perforation
 The shaped charge evolved from the WW2 military bazooka.
The shaped charge perforator is an explosively powered device
that evolves form military applications and introduced into
petroleum industry.

The shaped charged perforator in its impressive nature,

provides deeper penetration than the bullet gun. This is due to
its shaped charge, high –order explosives instead of propellant
powders. Concentrates on enormous amount of energy in a very
small volume.

 Perforating charges consist of a primer, Outer case. High

explosive, and Conical liner connected to a detonating cord.
 The detonating cord initiates the primer & detonates the main explosive

 The liner collapses to form the high-velocity jet of fluidized metal particles
that are propelled along the charge axis through the well casing & cement &
into the formation.
 The detonator is triggered by:
 Electrical heating when deployed on wireline systems or,
 A firing pin in mechanically or hydraulically operated firing head systems employed
on tubing conveyed perforating (TCP) systems
 The jet penetrating mechanism is one of “punching” rather than blasting,
burning, drilling or abrasive wearing.

 This punching effect is achieved by extremely high impact pressures –

 3 x 106 psi on casing
 3 x 105 psi on formation.

 These jet impact pressures cause steel, cement, rock, & pore fluids to flow
plastically outward.
0 μsec

4 μsec
 9.4 μsec

16.6 μsec
 Elastic rebound leaves shock-damaged rock, pulverized formation grains &
debris in the newly created perforation tunnels.

 Hence, perforating damage can consist of three elements:

 A crushed zone
 Migration of fine formation particles
 Debris inside perforation tunnels.
 The crushed zone can limit both productivity & injectivity.

 Fines and debris restrict injectivity & increase pump pressure, which:
 Decreases injection volumes
 Impairs placement or distribution of gravel & proppants for sand control or hydraulic
fracture treatments.
 The extent of perforation damage is a function of:
 Lithology
 Rock strength
 Porosity
 Pore fluid compressibility
 Clay content
 Formation grain size
 Shaped-charge designs

Explain how the following factors affect the extent of perforation damage
 EXPLOSIVES
 Explosives used in perforation are called Secondary high explosives.
 Reaction rate = 22,966 – 30,000 ft/s.
 Volume of gas produced = 750 – 1,000 times original volume of explosive.

 These explosives are generally organic compounds of nitrogen & oxygen.

 When a detonator initiates the breaking of the molecules' atomic bonds, the
atoms of nitrogen lock together with much stronger bonds, releasing
tremendous amounts of energy.
 Typical explosives are:
 RDX (Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine)
 HMX (Cyclotrimethylene tetranitramine)
 HNS (Hexanitrostilbene)
 PYX Bis(Picrylamino)-3,5-dinitropyridine
 PS (Picryl sulfone)
 Composition B (60% RDX, 40% trinitrotoluene)
 Detonation Detonation
Chemical Density
Explosive Velocity Pressure
Formula (g/cc)
(ft/sec) (psi)

RDX Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine

C3H6N6O6 1.80 28,700 5,000,000

HMX Cyclotrimethylene
tetranitramine C4H8N8O8 1.90 30,000 5,700,000

HNS Hexanitrostilbene
C14H6N6O12 1.74 24,300 3,500,000

PYX Bis(picrylamino)-3,5-
dinitropyridine C17H7N11O16 1.77 24,900 3,700,000
 RDX is the most commonly used explosives for shaped charges (up to 300 oF).

 In deep wells when extreme temperature is required & where the guns are
exposed to well temperatures for longer periods of time, the HMX, PS, HNS or
PYX is used.
 It is important to respect the explosives used in perforating operations.
 They are hazardous.
 Accidents can occur if they are not handled carefully or if proper procedures
are not followed.

 List factors required in the choice for explosives in formations

 Perforating guns

 Most of the commonly used perforating gun punch holes from 0.23” to 0.72” in
diameter, penetration length of 6” to 48”, shot density of 4 to 12 shots per
foot

 There are four main types of perforating guns:

 Wireline conveyed casing guns
 Through-tubing hollow carrier guns
 Through-tubing strip guns
 Tubing conveyed perforating guns
 Wireline Conveyed Casing
Guns

Generally run in the well before

installing the tubing.
 The advantages of casing guns over the other wireline guns are:
 High charge performance
 Low cost
 Highest temperature & pressure rating
 High mechanical & electrical reliability
 Minimal debris & minimal casing damage
 Instant shot detection
 Multi-phasing
 Variable shot densities of 1 – 12 spf
 Speed & accurate positioning using CCL/Gamma Ray
 Through-tubing Hollow
Carrier Guns

Smaller versions of casing guns

which can be run through tubing.
 They have lower charge sizes &, therefore lower performance, than all other
guns.
 They only offer 0o or 180o phasing
 Maximum shot density of 4 spf on the 2-1/8” OD gun & 6 spf on the 2-7/8” OD
gun.
 Due to the stand-off from the casing which these guns may have, they are
usually fitted with decentralizing/orientation devices.
Casing standoff is the smallest distance between the casing OD and the
wellbore.
 Through-tubing Strip Guns

Semi-expendable type guns

consisting of a metal strip into
which the charges are mounted.
 Charges have higher performance.
 They also cause more debris, casing damage & have less mechanical &
electrical reliability.
 They also provide 0o or 180o phasing.
 By being able to be run through the tubing, underbalance perforating can
possibly be adopted but only for the first shot.
 A new version called the Pivot Gun has even larger charges for deep
penetration.
A Pivot gun
system
 Tubing Conveyed
Perforating Guns (TCP)

TCP guns are a variant of the

casing gun which can be run on
tubing.
 Longer lengths can be installed.
 Lengths of over 1,000 ft are possible (especially useful for horizontal wells).
 The main problems associated with TCP are:
 Gun positioning is more difficult.
 The sump needs to be drilled deeper to accommodate the gun length if it is dropped
after firing.
 A misfire is extremely expensive.
 Shot detection is more unreliable.
 PERFORATION EFFICIENCY &
GUN PERFORMANCE
 Optimizing perforating efficiency relies extensively on the planning &
execution of the well completion which includes:
 Selection of the perforated interval
 Fluid selection
 Gun selection
 Applied pressure differential
 Well clean-up
 Perforating orientation
 API RP 19B, 1st Edition (Recommended Practices for Evaluation of Well
Perforators) provide means for evaluating perforating systems (multiple shot)
in four ways:
 Performance under ambient temperature & atmospheric pressure test conditions.
 Performance in stressed Berea sandstone targets (simulated wellbore pressure test
conditions).
 How performance may be changed after exposure to elevated temperature
conditions.
 Flow performance of a perforation under specific stressed test conditions
 Factors affecting gun performance include:
 Compressive strengths & porosities of formations.
 Type of charges used (size, shape).
 Charge alignment.
 Moisture contamination.
 Gun stand-off.
 Thickness of casing & cement.
 Multiple casings.
 It is necessary for engineers to obtain as much accurate data from the
suppliers & use the company’s historic data in order to be able to make the
best choice of gun.

 Due to the problem of flow restriction, the important factors to be considered

include:
 Hole diameter to achieve adequate flow area.
 Shot density to achieve adequate flow area.
 Shot phasing, Penetration, Debris removal.
Hole Size

 The hole size obtained is a function of the casing grade

& should be as follows:
 Between 6 mm & 12 mm for natural completions.
 Between 15 mm & 25 mm in gravel packed completions.
 Between 8 mm & 12 mm if fracturing is to be carried out &
where ball sealers are to be used.
 Shot Density
 Shot density is the number of holes specified in shots per foot (spf).
 An adequate shot density can reduce perforation skin & produce wells at lower
pressure differentials.
 Shot density in homogeneous, isotropic formations should be a minimum of 8
spf but must exceed the frequency of shale laminations.

 A shot density greater than this is required where:

 Vertical permeability is low.
 There is a risk of sand production.
 There is a risk of high velocities & hence turbulence.
 A gravel pack is to be conducted.

 Note: Too many holes can weaken the casing strength.

Shot Phasing

 Phasing is the radial distribution of successive

perforating charges around the gun axis.
 Simply put, phasing is perforation orientation or the
angle between holes.
 Perforating gun assemblies are commonly available in
0o, 180o, 120o, 90o & 60o phasing.
Carrier gun
arrangement
 The 0o phasing (all shots are along the same side of the casing) is generally
used only in small outside-diameter guns.
 60o, 90o & 120o degree phase guns are generally larger & provide more
efficient flow characteristics near the wellbore.
 Optimized phasing reduces pressure drop near the wellbore by providing flow
conduits on all sides of the casing.

 Assignment
 Write a short note on the different phasing angles of 0o,60o, 90o & 120o
 Providing the stand-off is less than 50mm, 180o or less,
120o, 90o, 60o is preferable.
 If the smallest charges are being used then the stand-
off should not be more than 25mm.
 If fracturing is to be carried out then 90o and lower will
help initiate fractures.
 Effect of
centralization
Penetration

 In general, the deeper the shot the better, but at the

least it should exceed the drilling damage area by
75mm.
 However, to obtain high shot density, the guns may be
limited to the charge size which can physically be
installed which will impact penetration.
 WELL/RESERVOIR
CHARACTERISTICS
 Pressure differential between a wellbore and reservoir
before perforating can be described by:
 Underbalanced
 Overbalanced
 Extreme overbalanced (EOB)
 Underbalanced Perforating
 Reservoir pressure is substantially higher than the wellbore pressure.
 Adequate reservoir pressure must exist to displace the fluids from within the
production tubing if the well is to flow unaided.
 If the reservoir pressure is insufficient to achieve this, measures must be taken
to lighten the fluid column typically by gas lifting or circulating a less dense
fluid.
 The flow rates & pressures used to exercise control during the clean up period
are intended to maximize the return of drilling or completion fluids & debris.
 This controlled backflush of perforating debris or filtrate also enables surface
production facilities to reach stable conditions gradually.
 Standard differential pressure ≈ 200 – 400 psi.
 Differential pressures up to 5,000 psi in low permeability gas wells.
 A low level underbalance will lead to in adequate
clean up.

 A high level underbalance will result to

• mechanical failure of the formation
• Movement of fines
• Blowing of the gun string up the hole
• Casing collapse
• Packer unseating
 Overbalanced Perforating
 Perforating when the wellbore pressure is higher than the reservoir pressure.
 This is normally used as a method of well control during perforating.
 The problem with this method is it introduces wellbore fluid into the formation
causing formation damage.
 Use clean fluid to prevent perforation plugging.
 Use of acid in carbonates.
Extreme Overbalanced
Perforating
 The wellbore is pressured up to very high pressures with
gas (usually nitrogen).
 When the perforating guns are detonated the inflow of
high pressure gas into the formation results in a mini-
frac, opening up the formation to increase inflow.
 calculations

 A mechanism to account for the effects of perforations

on well performance is through the introduction of the
perforation skin effect, sp in the well production
equation.
 For example, under steady-state conditions:

kh  Pe  Pwf 
q
  re  
141.2 B  ln    s p 
  rw  
 Karakas and Tariq (1988) have presented a semi-analytical solution for the
calculation of the perforation skin effect, which they divide into components:
 The plane-flow effect, sH
 The vertical converging effect, sV
 The wellbore effect, swb

 The total perforation skin effect is then:

s p  sH  sV  swb
 The Plane-flow Effect
 rw 
sH  ln  
 rw   

 l perf
 for   0
rw     4
a  r  l  for   0
 o w perf
 rw = wellbore radius (ft).
 r’w(θ) = effective wellbore radius (ft). It is a function of the phasing angle θ.
 lperf = length of perforation (ft)
bca1
21

 The constant ao depends on the perforation phasing.

 The Vertical Converging
Effect a b 1 b
sV  10 hD rD

a  a1 log  rD   a2 b  b1rD  b2

rperf  kV  1 hperf kH
rD  1   hperf  hD 
2hperf  kH  shot density l perf kV
 a1, a2, b1 & b2 are obtained from the table above.
 kH = horizontal permeability
 kV = vertical permeability
 rperf = radius of perforation (ft)
 hD = perforation spacing, dimensionless
 hperf = perforation spacing, ft
 rd =perforation radius, dimensionless

 sV is potentially the largest contributor to sp.

The Wellbore Effect
swb  c1 exp  c2  rwD 

rw
rwD 
l perf  rw 

 c1 & c2 are obtained from the table above.

 A more comprehensive skin equation resulting from perforations is as
follows:
 Sp=SH + SV + Swb + Spd
The difference between the above perforation skin equation and that of
Karakas and Tariq (1988) is the skin due to perforation damaged zone
(Spd)
=ln

Drilling damaged zone effect

Sp must be modified to account for the effect of drilling damaged zone
surrounding the wellbore. For perforation that do not extend beyond the
drilling damage zone,

is the modified perforation skin, dimensionless and is given in the table

dc

re/(rw +Lp) sx
18.0 0.000
10.0 -0.001
2.0 -0.002
1.5 -0.024
1.2 -0.085
 For perforations extending beyond the damaged zone, well radius and
perforation length need to be modified, this values can be substituted
into the skin equation for drilling and perforation damage zone effect
to account for cases when extend beyond the damage zone

= modified perforation length, ft, and

= modified wellbore radius, ft
Use and in place of lp and rw to determine SH, Swb, and Spd
 References
 Gatlin, C.: “Drilling Well Completion,” Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1960.
 ENI S.p.A. Agip Division: “Completion Design Manual,” 1999.
 Halliburton: “Petroleum Well Construction,” 1997.
 Ott, W. K. and Woods, J. D.: “Modern Sandface Completion Practices
Handbook,” 1st Ed., World Oil Magazine, 2003.
 Economides, M., “Petroleum production System” New Jersey, 1993.
 Schlumberger: “Completions Primer,” 2001.
 Golan, M. and Whitson, C. H.: “Well Performance,” 2nd Ed., Tapir, 1995.
 Karakas, M. and Tariq, S.: “Semi-Analytical Productivity Models for Perforated
Completions,” paper SPE 18271, 1988.
 Clegg, J. D.: “Production Operations Engineering,” Petroleum Engineering
Handbook, Vol. IV, SPE, 2007.
 Bellarby, J.: “Well Completion Design,” 1st Ed., Elsevier B.V., 2009.
Assignment
 Use the semianalytical approach in predicting total skin due to
perforation.
 hperf=perforation spacing 0.25ft
 Hf=formation thickness 100.0ft
 𝚹d=well deviation 90.0ft
 𝚹p=shot phasing 90.0˚
 Kdd=formation drilling damaged zone permeability 40.0md
 Kh=formation horizontal permeability 200.0md
 Kv=formation vertical permeability 20.0md
 Kpd=perforation damage zone permeability 20.0md
 Ldd=length of drilling damage zone permeability 0.5ft
 rw= well radius 0.328 ft
 lp= Length of perforation 1.0ft