COURSE NAME :- COMPLETION AND WELL REPAIR

DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM
LECTURER: - DANA M. KHIDHIR
ACADEMIC YEAR 2 019-2020
Well completion
The term completion, when applied to oil wells, is used to
define all post-drilling operations that are necessary to
hydrocarbon production. Completion has, on the whole, a
permanent nature, which means that planning parameters
must be carefully evaluated, and possible solutions must
undergo technical and economical optimization.
Types of completion

Oil and gas well completions can be divided into two main categories:
1. open hole well completions
2. and the case-hole completions
Open Hole Completion
In open hole completions the pay rock is kept as it is, and no
cemented casing columns are needed. This type of completion is
realized when the formation is self-supporting or when, on the
contrary, it is too severely fractured to guarantee successful
cementation. It is the optimal solution since the entire drainage
surface is available for production, and pressure drops are
limited.
Open Hole Completion
Moreover, the absence of casing columns makes it easier to
proceed to well stimulation. On the other hand, in open hole
completions it is impossible to control the entrance of sand
and water in the hole, and it is therefore very difficult to
isolate the levels and proceed to their stabilization.
Case-hole completions
Case-hole completions are more widely used due to technical
reasons relating to the stability of the hole. In this case the well
to be completed is one that has been lined and cemented
throughout its entire development. In order to make production
possible, it is necessary to re-establish hydraulic communication
between the pay rock and the hole
There are four possible solutions to establish communication
between the productive formation and the surface:
a) tubingless completion
b) packerless completion (with a tubing string and without
isolation between casing and tubing)
c) single string with hydraulic isolation completion;
d) multiple string completion
•The tubingless completion method is used in wells where the
pay rock pressure is low and high flow rates are required
•Packerless completion is a more financially advantageous
system. Here, only the production tubing is placed in the well,
and it is possible to produce both through it and through the
annulus
•The production tubing can be used for injecting inhibitors or
killing fluid. This method is somewhat limited in terms of flow
conditions and the protection of the tubing materials
The single string completion using hydraulic isolation and just
one string is convenient when the production layer appears to
be homogeneous and a selective-zone production is not
necessary. It consists in the use of a single tubing string that is
lowered into the well together with an isolation device for the
formation section to be produced, called the packer
•The multiple tubing string completion uses, at the most, two or
three tubings, isolated by packers and producing on different
levels at the same time
•This solution is useful when the reservoir presents different
layers of mineralization, for example gas and oil
Casing Types
1. Conductor pipe (casing)
2. Surface casing
3. Intermediate casing
4. Production casing
Conductor pipe
The first casing is usually called the conductor. It may be driven
into the ground with a pile driver or it may be cemented inside
a drilled hole. The conductor is not set deep into the ground,
so there is no strength to hold formation pressures in the
event of a kick has two benefits :-
1. Protect unconsolidated surface formations from being
eroded away by the drilling fluid.
2. Sometimes to support the weight of the wellhead and BOP
Surface casing
The surface casing is the first casing that is set deep enough for the
formations at the shoe to withstand pressure from a kicking formation
lower down. The purposes of the surface casing are to accomplish the
following:
1. Allow a BOP to be connected so that the well can be drilled deeper
2. Protect freshwater sources close to the surface from pollution by
the drilling fluids
3. Isolate loose or weak formations that might fall into the wellbore
and cause problems
Intermediate casing
A shallow well may not need an intermediate casing; a deep well may need
several. The intermediate casings serve as staging posts between the surface
casing and the production casing. Intermediate casings are usually
between 20" and 13⅜" outside diameter. The primary purposes of the
intermediate casings are to accomplish the following:
1. Increase the pressure integrity of the well so that it can be safely
deepened
2. Protect any directional work done (e.g., kicking off a directional well
is often done under surface casing and is then protected by the fi rst
intermediate casing).
Production casing
The production casing houses the completion tubing, through
which hydrocarbons will flow from the reservoir to the surface.
If the completion tubing were to leak, the production casing
must be able to hold the resulting pressure. Sometimes the
production casing is cemented in place with the casing shoe
above the reservoir and another hole section drilled. This may
then be protected with a liner rather than a string of casing. A
liner is effectively a casing that does not extend to the surface
but ends somewhere inside the production casing. There are
pros and cons to liners.
Types of Flow
1. Casing Flow: Large flowrate. No tubing is required
2. Tubing and Annulus Flow: Large flowrate. Flow segregation
3. Tubing Flow:-
 Perforation
i. Since the pay zone is sealed off by the production casing and cement,
perforations must be made in order for oil or gas to flow into the wellbore.
ii. Hole made in the casing, cement, and formation, through which
formation fluids enter a wellbore. Usually several perforation are
made at a time.
iii. Perforating incorporates shaped-charge explosives which creating
a jet of high-pressure, high-velocity liquid – jet perforation
iv. It can be overbalance or underbalance perforation, and wireline
conveyed perforation (WCP) or tubing conveyed perforation (TCP)
1. Perforating gun (WCP type) is lowered into the hole at the
depth where the oil or gas formation is found (A).
2. After the gun is lined up properly, powerful explosive charges
are fired (B) from the control panel at the surface. These
explosives blast a hole in the steel casing and cement, up to
several feet out into the rock.
3. Finally, the oil and gas fluids flow into the holes and up the
well to the surface (C).
Perforating Fluid
Is a fluid that placed against the producing formation during perforation.
Ideally, fluid with no solids
Salt water: Clean water poses no problem. When overbalanced, may push charge debris into
formation.
Acetic acid: Excellent perforating fluid under most conditions. The presence of H2S may
magnify corrosion problems.
Nitrogen: Useful in low pressure formations, or when associated with high rig time or
swabbing costs, or when a special test requires formation to be free from contamination.
Well Design – Spring 2013

Fracture Formation Pressure

Definition and Mechanism

Fracture pressure is the pressure in the wellbore at which a formation will crack

The stress within a rock can be resolved into three principal stresses. A
formation will fracture when the pressure in the borehole exceeds the least of
the stresses within the rock structure. Normally, these fractures will propagate in
a direction perpendicular to the least principal stress.

Prepared by: Tan Nguyen

Designing the Casing String
The solid lines in the chart are not accounted for safety factor; therefore, for the first step of
casing seat design, safety margin must be applied. For this example, we will add 0.3 ppg for
safety for both pore pressure and fracture gradient (Figure 2). You need to add the safety factor
into formation pressure and subtract it from the fracture gradient. What’s more, the safety
factor value may depends on where you work and how much confident in your data.
Bottom Up Casing Design
This design will start from the bottom of the well up to surface and the setting depths are
designed within the safety factor limits (dotted lines). Starting at the bottom (formation pressure
dashed line – Point A), draw a vertical line upward to fracture pressure dashed line – Point B
(Figure 3). Casing should be set from 4,500’ TVD to 12,000’ TVD because you can reach TD
(12,000’ TVD) with highest equivalent mud weight and you will not break the formation at
shallow depth (4,500 TVD). We will apply this same concept to another string.
The next casing string is determined by drawing a horizontal line from Point B to intersect the
pore pressure dashed line at Point C. Then draw a vertical line from Point C to the fracture
gradient dashed line at Point D (Figure 4). The Casing must be set from 1,800’ TVD to 4,500’
TVD.
Top Down Casing Design
This design will start from the surface of the well down to the bottom and the setting depths are
designed within the safety factor limits (dotted lines). We start by drawing the vertical line from
the facture gradient dashed line (point A) down to pore pressure dashed line (point B). See
Figure 7. The first casing should be set from surface to 3,000’ TVD.
Introduction to cementing
Cement is used to secure casing strings and to isolate zones for production purposes as well as
to solve various hole problems. A properly planned cement program is essential to a
successfully drilled well. Cement planning consists of several features, including the following:

.assessment of hole conditions such as temperature, size, etc.

·evaluation of mud properties ·slurry design

.placement techniques

·equipment selection, such as centralizers, scratchers, and float equipment

Purposes of Oil Well Cementing

Oil well cementing falls into three categories:

I. primary cement job on a casing string
2. squeeze cementing
3. plugs
Purposes of Oil Well Cementing
Oil well cementing falls into three categories:
I. primary cement job on a casing string
2. squeeze cementing
3. plugs
Primary Casing Job
Casing strings are usually cemented in the hole
I) to isolate troublesome zones behind the casing from deeper
formations to be drilled,
2) to isolate high pressure formations below the casing from
the weaker, shallow zones behind the casing, and
3) to isolate producing zones from water bearing sands. In
some wells, the primary cement job serves several purposes