Section 1 -INTRODUCTION 1-1

SECTION1: Introduction

1.1 Drilling and Completion History

SECTION2: Well Productivity – Fundamentals

2.1 Well productivity – Fundamentals of Petroleum reservoir

2.2 Formation damage – Control/Prevention
2.3 Sand Control
2.4 Pressure losses

SECTION3: Casing and Tubing

3.1 Pipe characteristics

SECTION4: Completion Equipment

4.1.Blast joint
4.2 Sliding Sleeves
4.3 Crossover connections
4.4 Double Pin Subs
4.5 Couplings
4.6 Flow Couplings
4.7 FlowTubes
4.8 Pup Joints
4.9 Seal Rings
4.10 Safety subsurface equipment
4.11 Mule Shoes
4.12 Landing Nipples
4.13 BULL PLUGS/BULL CAPS AND OTHERS
4.14 GAS LIFT EQUIPMENT
4.15 Telescopic Subs
4.16 Packers

SECTION5: Surface Equipment

5.1 XMAS tree

SECTION6: Artificial Lift

6.1 GasLift
6.2 Rod Lift System
6.3 PCP
6.4 ESP
6.5 Plunger Lift
1-2 Well Completion

SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION
Section 1 -INTRODUCTION 1-3

SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1. Why a Completion

Since the early days of the oil industry, techniques and knowledge have continuously
evolved thanks to a better reservoir understanding and a more adapted engineering.
Progressively the oil industry became a science rather a matter of feeling. In the early
days of the oil industry, reach deep reservoirs was almost impossible due to the lack
of technology, missing of harder materials, lack of knowledge about the reservoir,
Etc. But at that time, also, there was no need to do so because of low oil demand.
First oil producers were not much concerned about Safety and Environment or
reservoir damage. Wells where bored where the oil spilled by itself and the technique
used to bore and produce oil wells was similar to the one used for water wells.

Wells were made by bailing and pilling until an initial blowout, driving to fast reservoir
gas depletion. The production was gathered by spill pits around the well. Once the
reservoir pressure, dropped, below the hydrostatic pressure it was needed a
production method by the means of artificial lifting techniques (This explain partially
why most old oil wells were equipped at an early stage with beam pumps).

As the demand on the oil market growth, the development of oil industry increased,
at this moment, it was realized that preserving from a fast gas cap pressure draw
down was an efficient, cheap way of keeping a well flowing efficiently. Casing and
tubing concept were introduced for this purpose allowing then to produce wells under
pressure.

In the beginning the development of new techniques

was slow, but as scientific research provided new
concepts it was possible to develop several tools and
methods to understand what was going on down hole
and how to enhance desired or avoid undesirable
behavior on wells.

The word Completion is the term which designs the

action of equipping a well with the adapted tubular,
isolations, and flow control equipment to achieve the
most efficient way of producing it for long term.
1-4 Well Completion

1.1. DRILLING AND COMPLETION HISTORY

The following dates, sequences of progress and other numbers are approximations

1859 First open hole eruptive well driven to 24 meters (Bailing & Piling).
Fast drop of reservoir pressure
Install the first Xmas tree to allow swabbing
Possibility to divert the produced fluid into a storage tank
Install first sucker rod pumping system (Steam driven)
Found that concept of single casing is not suitable for long term.
Install first tubing string as a wear sleeve
Forced to develop wellhead and tubing hanger system
Need to develop junction threads.
Wooden derrick (Drak's yoke) handling capacity still limited the well T.D.
Around a maximum of 100 meters

1900 Beginning of rotary drilling

Draw work allowed casing and tubing handling at more than 300 meters
Mud pump and B.O.P. development allowed lifting the cuttings and
balancing the well while drilling
Cement slurry displaced between casing and hole, allowed better
sealing and decreased risk of water invasions.
A second or third casing in smaller diameter allowed reaching deeper
reservoirs below 1000 meters
Cased hole and open hole compression packers with circulation valve
allow to test a open hole section prior to run the completion. (First drill
stems testing).

1910 First open hole gravel pack in open hole unconsolidated reservoirs.
Use of slotted liner associated with liner hanger (Baker oil tools, Brown
oil tools)

1920 First electric line logging with G.R. and C.C.L. allowed to identify more
than one producing zone.
Electric line technique allowed running, correlating and firing explosive
charges to put again the reservoir in communication with production
casing.
To avoid cross flow between two o r more reservoirs, mechanical tubing
set packer were developed.

1923 Invention of the rubber seal type "O'Ring"

1924 First P.C.E; equipment was built by Bowen oil tool to allow Wire line
under pressure
Flow control equipment such as Sliding sleeves, plugs, was developed
by many service companies, so that a given zone can be isolated, or
produced commingling or independently.
Section 1 -INTRODUCTION 1-5

1925 GRC company develop the first mechanical down hole recorder

1926 First hydraulic packer tubing set

1927 First hydraulic packer dual.

1928 Improvement in the thread design and sealing capacity (Hydrill,

Buttress)

1930 Development of snubbing equipment allowing sand washing,

stimulation and well start up.

1935 First Water injector wells and dump flood injector wells
Development of permanent packer with PBR (seal bore)

1940 Development of electrical submersible Pumps. (Reda)

1950 First commercial gas wells are completed.

Camco put on the market the first side pocket valve system for gas lift
applications.

1955 First sour gas field is put in production (Pau France)

Vallourec develop the VAM thread for this purpose (First M. to M
premium thread)

1960 First offshore wells to be operated from a platform

Development of hydraulic safety valves, remote controlled
Selective and multi zone gravel pack.
Selective and multi zone oil and gas wells
First hydrostatic packer for deep wells and where it is necessary to
decrease the piston or ballonning effect

1970 Centrilift introduce the electric pumps with variable frequency

First subsea wells. (Abudhabi, Congo, North Sea)

1975 First semi permanent packer able to be retrieved with a retrieving tool

1980 Beginning of horizontal well drilling.

1985 First Sour gas injectors

1990 Beginning of multi lateral well drilling

1992 First multi zone Sour gas injectors

1995 First cemented mono bore well where the tubing is also the production
casing. (Mainly suitable when the reservoirs to produce are marginal)
1-6 Well Completion

1997 well head splitter with partition plates

1998 Development of the intelligent type completion. (Only suitable for wells
with a production that justifies it).

2000 Development of many other types of equipment is in progress.

Figure N° 1-1
Downhole completion examples
Section 1 -INTRODUCTION 1-7

Notes
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-1

SECTION 2

WELL PRODUCTIVITY

FUNDAMENTALS
2-2 Well Completion

SECTION2 – WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS

2.1. WELL PRODUCTIVITY, FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM

RESERVOIR
The well productivity is determined by several factors that affect the reservoir first of
all are the reservoir characteristics, rock permeability, GLR, fluid properties, type of
formation, different oil layers. Then are the well characteristics, the type of
completion, damage made to the reservoir during drilling, undesired effects on the
tubing or casing, skin factor, perforation depth, and several others.

The drilling and completion process must be carefully designed to fit the needs of a
given reservoir, taking into count all the characteristics that will determine the life of
your well, all along the time you expect to produce, there are several types of
completion, but those are just guidelines, because each well requires personalizing
according to its own characteristics. Also when selecting down-hole equipment, it’s
very important to do it following a brainstorming process involving all the team.
Thinking ahead in time its very important because as the well produces all those
parameters will change and a good completion must be able to be adapted to new
flow conditions with as few as possible modifications, the completion design must
take into count the different services that a well will require in time, and must ensure
that those services can be done in the best way, and that will be possible to install,
service or retrieve with a suitable mean all down-hole equipment (ex: well deviations
with more than 70 degrees will create potential wire line operation difficulties, so a
well with this deviation must be designed for coiled tubing service),

Modern tools, monobore technology and geochemical fingerprint, now allow better
measurement and control of multiple zones in the same wellbore (Commingled flow)
Also, directional drilling technology allows to obtain a larger drainage than classical
vertical wells (at the same time it makes the well more expensive and risky to drill
and complete)
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-3

2.1.1. NATURAL FORCE OF THE RESERVOIR

During the first stages of operation,
the natural force in the reservoir is
used to lift the oil to surface; there
are three basic types of drive
mechanism, depending of the type of
reservoir this force comes from:

Water driven reservoir:

In water drive reservoirs oil is
pushed up, and being replaced by
encroaching water, declination on
pressure is comparatively small as
the productive reservoir volume is
decreased.

Gas in reservoir:
Solution Gas driven Reservoir:
Those are constant volume
reservoir. The production is the
result of the volumetric expansion of
solution gas. Pressure declines are
characteristics of this type of
reservoir, since drive is not achieved
by water encroachment or gas cap
expansion. In addition excessive
drawdown can actually decrease oil
production under some given
conditions.

Gas Cap expansion driven

reservoir:
In this type of reservoir, the oil
zone is overlaid by a gas cap. The
Figure N° 2-1
drive mechanism is a function of the
Reservoir examples
expansion in the gas as oil is
produced.
2-4 Well Completion

2.1.2. RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTS

The characteristics of reservoir rock determined by core analysis and well logging
play a key role in the selection of completion type and equipment:

Figure N° 2-2
Porosity

• Porosity: is the percentual relation, between the number of pores in a rock

sample and the total amount of rock in the sample, it usually decreases as
depth increases.

Figure N° 2-3
Darcy’s law

• Permeability: is the capacity of a reservoir rock to transmit fluids, it is

expressed in millidarcy, because darcy’s law is used to make the calculations,
it takes in account the cross section, the length, fluid’s dynamic viscosity,
upstream pressure, and downstream pressure, and finally the permeability
coefficient to calculate the flow rate through the rock.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-5

• Saturations: basically is the percentual amount of each phase of a multiphase

fluid that is present in a given pore volume

• Oil properties: several characteristics that can modify the behavior of flow
o Specific Gravity: is a comparison of fluid density to that of water.
o Viscosity: Is the resistance to flow of a fluid
o Bubble point: The temperature and pressure at which gas, held in
solution in crude oil, breaks out as free gas from the solution.
o Oil formation volume factor: this is the ratio of the liquid volume at stock
tank (standard conditions), this ratio is used to convert reservoir barrels
to stock barrels

Figure N° 2-4
Hydrocarbon composition

• Water properties
o Viscosity: in water the viscosity is primarily a function of temperature,
however salinity has a slight influence on it.
o Water formation volume factor: it’s a function of temperature, and
slightly influenced by pressure, the calculation is done by using a
correlation
o Water Compressibility: its an estimated value calculated through
Meehan correlation.

• Gas properties
o Gas formation
Volume Factor:
Z, under typical
conditions
hydrocarbon
gases will
deviate from
the ideal gas
law, thus
requiring a correction factor, this is determined from laboratory
measurement, but it’s a common use to determine it using the Camco
chart
o Gas Viscosity: in natural gas is a proportional function of pressure, as it
decreases, gas viscosity decreases, natural gas viscosity varies from a
range between 0.01 and 0.04 cp
2-6 Well Completion

2.1.3. RESERVOIR CONSIDERATIONS

There are some reservoir considerations that must be taken in count at the moment
of completion, because they affect the ability of your well to produce:

• Partial penetration effect: this is when only a fractional percentage of the total
productive section is open to the wellbore, this can impact in the following
ways the well production:
• Conning effect: Excessive drawdown when producing a well can create water
or gas cone around the pay zone. This cone eventually will reach the
perforations and affect the oil production by giving priority to water or gas
production.
• Reduced producing rate effect: this refers to the relation between the potential
length of the payzone and the actually perforated interval.
• Reduced bottom hole pressure effect: the bottomhole pressure on a partially
penetrated well is less than would be available under totally penetrating
conditions.
• Skin damage effect: this is defined as a thin layer of impaired permeability
occurring immediately around the well bore and extending vertically over the
entire productive interval penetrated by the well.
• The selection of tubing size is given by the required flowing bottomhole
pressure at various flow rates, depending on the depth of the well. Also there
are certain reservoir variables which must be at least closely approximated in
order to accurately perform tubing sizing calculation:
o Gas Liquid ratio (GLR): the higher the GLR is, the lower the density of
the produced fluid is, thus lower will be the required flowing bottom-hole
pressure.
o Liquid Density: the fluid density has the same effect as GLR, only this
refers to the density on the liquid phase of the fluid.
o Liquid Viscosity: the higher the viscosity the higher that the required
bottomhole flowing pressure will be.
o Liquid surface tension increased the bottomhole required flowing
pressure will be higher.
o Kinetic energy effect will become important in small diameter tubing
with high GLR and low pressure levels
• Surface equipment, the influence of surface equipment in the production
capacity of a well, is given by the pressure losses created by the surface
equipment in order to deliver the production to the separation and storage
facilities, production choke size, Flowline size, production header pressure,
separator pressure, interaction of the network in the header.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-7

Figure N° 2-5
Temperature Gradient

Figure N° 2-6
Fluid changes from Downhole to surface
2-8 Well Completion

2.1.4. RESERVOIR STAGES & RECOVERY STRATEGICS

Although during the first stages the natural force of the reservoir is used to deliver the
production to surface, this is not always possible (extra heavy oil, very low GLR) and
also as time passes the force in the reservoir starts to decrease until it finally
depletes, this doesn’t mean that also the reservoir is depleted of oil. To overcome
this several techniques have been developed, including artificial lift systems, Gas lift,
ESP, beam pumps, which are covered later on this document. Also techniques to
maintain the reservoir in shape are now of common use, not only to keep natural lift
longer, but also to avoid reservoir collapse, for late production stages there are three
levels of recovery:

Primary stage: This is mainly made by producing an eruptive well, in natural

conditions through a choke.

Secondary stage: producing a depleted well by using a wide range of technologies

meant to replace the natural force in the reservoir by generating and artificial lifting
force, for this porpose several methods; such as beam pumping, gas lifting, ESP,
screw pumps have become standards in the industry. (The most common of them
are covered later in this document)

Tertiary stage: Its purpose is to recreate the natural force in the reservoir by
modifying its natural conditions, doing so eruptive production can be achieved again.
For this several techniques have been developed some of them are:

• Injecting water in the reservoir to repressurize it. For this water injection wells
are drilled and compressed water is forced inside the reservoir.
• Injecting gas, air, nitrogen, steam in the reservoir (is different from gas lift) for
this several injection wells are drilled and the fluids ares forced inside the
formation.
• Creating a water drive from several water injection wells around the producing
well, by this is intended to displace the oil in the reservoir to the payzone in the
producing well.

Its important to note that this is only a classification, that varies from company to
company following certain guidelines, and according to internal policies of the
operating companies those stages are applied some times combining two or more of
the thecniques the enhance the production, and the common denominator here is
that no management will wait to reach full depletion before starting an alternate
recovering plan.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-9

2.2. FORMATION DAMAGE CONTROL / PREVENTION

2.2.1. RESERVOIR DAMAGE

The most common causes of formation damage are:
• Drilling mud solids or mud invasion into the formation
• Cement filtrate invasion
• Incompatibility between drilling, completion, perforation and packer fluid
• Inadequate perforations, in size, number or penetration
• Solids from completion or workover fluids into the formation or plugging
perforations
• Plugging of formation with native clays (clays swelling)
• Asphalthene, paraffin or scale precipitation in the formation or perforations
• Sand fill in the wellbore
• Excessive drawdown which may cause fines movement, compatation of weak
formation or influx of water production

This kind of damage can be the result of inappropriate procedures during the process
of drilling, completion and even during normal operation, to avoid this at each stage
the team must develop procedures that are adequate to the type of formation /
completion in question

2.2.1.1. DRILLING RELATED DAMAGE

During drilling, some preventive procedures can be applied to minimize the risk of
formation damage, like using wide particle size in mud, high bit weight and low rpm,
minimizing barite, mud conditioning, use of low invasion fluids, minimizing drilling
time, low overbalance, matching salinity of formation, among others.
2-10 Well Completion

2.2.1.2. PERFORATION RELATED DAMAGE

Perforation related damage: While perforating;
usually around the perforation a small
damaged zone is found, where the
permeability and the porosity of the rock have
been modified by the shoot, the goal is to
minimize those changes, by selecting
appropriate shape of charge, level of
differential pressure when shooting, and
optimum clean up process. Also the
penetration and density of perforations are
very important factors to take in account, in the
early days perforation guns were able to
penetrate up to 1 feet in the formation, while
today’s guns can reach up to 2,5 feet whit the
same amount of charge, the penetration is very
important when there is already formation
damage previous to the perforation, because
there the goal must be to penetrate deeper
than the maximum area of damaged zone
around the wellbore, this is a common
approach to overcome formation damage due
to drilling. Also in completions with drilling and
perforation damage, a few deeply penetrating
perforations are more effective than many
shallow perforations. A common used
thecnique is to start with medium penetrations,
so given the case later on formation damage
get deeper, then reperforation can be done
with more penetration to overcome it.
Figure N° 2-8
Perforating gun assembly
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-11

2.2.1.2.1. Importance of positioning the Perforating Guns

Perforating guns have evolved as well as the quality of explosives and firing
techniques, but this evolution its been around the same old principle of a metal gun
with the explosives distributed along it, connected with prima cord, a firing head and
a remote mean of firing, that can be radio or, electrical signal, which is ran downhole
to the selected firing depth by wireline. There are some important things to remember
about perforation guns, Some times there are liquids in the completion, since liquids
are not compressible, if the charges are fired while a part of the gun is submersed,
the force generated by the
gas expansion of the
explosion, could deform
the gun and it could stuck
downhole, creating a
problem which is quite
expensive to solve. The
firing head shall be put in
the bottom of the gun, as
the firing head will not
work while in liquid, this
will prevent the charges to
fire and corrective actions
can be taken.

Reperforation technique is
found to be useful as a
remedy to blocked
perforations because the
detonation of the gun has
a loosening effect on the
blocking materials in the
Figure N° 2-9
formation adjacent to the
Sequence of firing a perforation gun
well and in the previous
perforations.

Figure N° 2-10
2-12 Well Completion

2.2.1.3. COMPLETION RELATED DAMAGE

Completion fluids related damage: The completion fluids must be selected according
to the type of formation; those fluids are used for weight control and for prevention of
clay problems, in the case of salts. There are several types of salt but the most used
are: Sodium chloride (NaCl), which can reach a maximum density of 1.26 SI, the
problem with NaCl is that it has some effects on clay that reduces its permeability,
the other type of salt is Potassium Chloride (KCl) reaching a maximum density of
1.16, KCl doesn’t affects permeability on clays so its use is preferable in clay
reservoirs. When higher density is required then is mandatory to use other type of
salt, because NaCL and KCl when mixed at higher density form crystals.
While surfactant agents are meant to change the surface tension of fluids and to
affect the wettability of rock, there are two types of surfactant agents used: Cationic
and Anionic and should not be used together because they are not compatible with
each other.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-13

2.3. SAND CONTROL

Most Oil and gas wells produce through sandstone formations, this is not a problem
unless the sand is not consolidated or partially consolidated with soft clay or silt,
Miocene and younger sands are usually weak formations that may not restrain grain
movement, when producing at high flow rates.

Sand production can produce erosion on both surface and downhole equipment,
flowline deposits can create undesired chokes, and deposits in tanks or separators
can render them to un-operational

The objective of all sand exclusion techniques is to avoid the migration of the
formation sand into the production stream trough the well to the surface.

2.3.1. FLOW RESTRICTION:

By restraining production rate of the well, drag forces on the sand grains are
reduced. This is not a efficient approach and its usually used when there’s no sand
control technique on the completion design, but while simple this approach is
uneconomical. Using this technique at the moment of starting the well, by opening
slowly the production choke, and letting the flow stabilize for long periods, contributes
to decrease the initial drawdown of the wellbore and thus Natural sand consolidation
is achieved. This is very important to remember because doing so increases the
chances of long term clean producing wells.

2.3.2. CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL CONTROL

A widely used method is to control the sand through gravel, this can be done by
chemical treatments to consolidate the gravel around the perforations or a physical
screen installed down hole, or in some types of gravel pack the screen is installed
along with resin coated gravel, there are several types but basically can be divided
as follows:

Resine coated Gravel Pack Expandable screen

RESINE + GRAVEL SCREEN + GRAVEL The screen is the casing
tubular, that is expanded
(bursted) to come in contact
with formation creating a
consolidation around the
perforations.
Short term Medium to long term Long term

Each method has its own advantages and applications, as they have inconvenients
too, resine coated for example, tends to become unefficient under high water
conditions, because it gets washed from the gravel, losing its controlling properties.
2-14 Well Completion

2.3.2.1. GRAVEL PACKING:

As this is perhaps the oldest, simplest, and widely used sand control technique, it has
been applied onshore and offshore for several years and its efficacy it’s proven, it
becomes important to explain. Gravel packs have the avantage that can be used
both in vertical or horizontal wells. It’s important to state that it is not a filter, filter
screens trend to get clogged after a while decreasing the production of the well.

The ideal gravel pack will consist of:

• Replacing formation sand by gravel to a distance of 1ft or more radial from

wellbore
• Sharp gravel to sand interface and prevent invasion of formation sand into the
gravel
• Gravel being thightly packed in the annulus, perforations and cavities behind
the casing
• A screen stopping the gravel with all slots or wire spacing open to flow
• Not polluted gravel. Fluid and pumping system must be clean.

Figure N° 2-11
Different methods of sand control
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-15

Also the design must be made a way that all the fluid going through the perforations
is in laminar flow.

Some reservoir characteristics play and important role at the moment of selecting the
sand control method:

• Interval length
• Sand Quality
• Reservoir Temperature
• Reservoir pressure
• Reservoir fluid
2-16 Well Completion

2.3.2.1.1. SCREENS:
Other important part of the gravel packing method
is the screen. Its function is to retain the gravel in
an annular region within the wellbore. There are
three types of screen available.

a) Slotted liners: usually have vertical slots

spaced uniformly about the casing. The
width od the slots can vary from 0.002”
(0.5mm) to as large as desired, depending
on the gravel size and the particular
situation, their use is typically confined to
long completion intervals or low productivity
wells
b) Wire screens: available in three basic
constructions
a. Welded 1: the wire is resistance
welded to longitudinal rods and a
lathe-type machine. The screen is
manufactured separately, then
placed over a drilled pipe base and
welded into position.
Welded 2: it’s a variation or the
previous, in this case the screen is
wrapped and the resistance welded
directly on the pipe base, with the Figure N° 2-13
longitudinal rods as the only
separation.
b. Wire wrapped: (also known as Pipe base) the wire is wrapped directly
on the pipe base which maybe drilled slotted and grooved. This type is
highly recommended because it can be rerun in the hole, as it is less
fragile than the welded or rod base, and its cost is not much higher than
the others.
c. Rod base: these screens are similar to the jackets on welded
construction screens but contain no pipe base.
c) Prepacked screens: These screens are made by filling the annulus between
two concentric wire screens with properly sized resin coated gravel. The
gravel pack is actually installed and consolidated at surface and then is
lowered into the well.

The sand control technique must be designed according to the geometric factors and
completion requirements of a particular well.

Gravel packing offers an economical method of controlling sand, interval of 6 to 200

mts are common, and treatment covering more than 150 mts have been successfully
performed. But they offer some disadvantages; if the screen fails it will require
remedial treatment, involving expensive fishing job.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-17

Overpressurized reservoirs cannot be controlled with calcium chloride brine; a

special gravel pack fluid is required. Productivity can be impaired by perforation
tunnels being filled with sand or invasion of the gravel pack by formation fines. (This
problem is especially severe in small casing where small screen must be used)

Figure N° 2-14
Gravel packing process
2-18 Well Completion

2.3.2.2. CONSOLIDATION THROUGH CHEMICAL TREATMENTS

The objective is to treat the formation in the immediate vicinity of the wellbore with a
material that will bond the sand grains together at their points of contact, the
treatment must be made outside all perforations, and the consolidated sand mass
must remain permeable to well fluids.
With this technique future workovers are simplified because there’s no mechanical
equipment left in the wellbore, production decline associated with the migration of
fine particles toward the wellbore does not occur because the flow velocities are
reduced at a treatment radius of 0.9 to 1.2 mt from the well. Along all this
advantages, problems will arise from injecting insufficient resin into low permeability
zones of highly stratified reservoirs. Also consolidation success is reduced in long
perforated intervals (more than 5mt) and the cost is really high (around 5000 $ per
foot of perforated interval)

Resin coated Gravel: this consists in consolidating the gravel placed inside and
immediately surrounding the perforation. The gravel is coated with a resin at the
surface and then pumped into the well as slurry. This slurry is then squeezed through
the perforations to fill a region behind the casing. After hardening, the consolidated
gravel prevents formation sand from entering the wellbore. All excess are removed
from inside the casing either drilling or washing. This method is 25% to 50% cheaper
than conventional consolidation treatments or gravel pack, but in despite it has a
relative short lifetime.
Section 2 –WELL PRODUCTIVITY FUNDAMENTALS 2-19

2.4. PRESSURE LOSSES

Any fluid flowing in a pipe loses part of its energy, which is absorbed by dissipation in
friction process. This friction can be the result either internal (the fluid viscosity) or
external (the pipe roughness) and even both, also changes in diameter create
pressure losses, and when the change is a restriction to avoid the creation of
turbulences a specially polished piece shall be used immediately after the restriction,
those pieces are called “Flow Coupling” and come in sizes from 2 feet up to 6 feet,
FC has a extremely low roughness 1/1000mm. Pressure losses are expressed by the
difference in the pressure of the fluid between two points of the pipe. And are
modified according to the type of flow laminar or turbulent.

The type of flow is determined by the Reynolds number Re, which is them compared
to a critical value ReC

Reynolds number is a function of:

(Velocity of fluid (m/s) * inner diameter of pipe (inches) * density of fluid (kg/m3))
Dynamic viscosity (pa.s)

Laminar flow is the ideal condition for production, and to determine if this condition is
met, the velocity of flow must be less of equal to critical velocity, which is the flow
velocity at the critical Reynolds number.

So, pressure losses, are determined by several factors, but they can be calculated,
from: critical velocity, critical flow rate, length of the pipe, inner diameter, circulation
velocity, flow rate, dynamic viscosity and the density of fluid.
2-20 Well Completion

Notes
Section 3 –CASING & TUBING 3-1

SECTION 3

CASING AND TUBING

3-2 Well Completion

SECTION3 - CASING AND TUBING (PRESSURE LOSSES, BURST,

COLLAPSE, TENSILE STRENGTH, METALURGY)

Casing and Tubing are key elements on a completion, carefully selection of pipe
properties, according to the characteristic of the well must be done, the basic need of
a casing is to keep the drilled hole in shape, so erosion due to flow doesn’t collapse
the well, in the early days there was only the conductor, that acted as casing,
production casing, tubing, all I one, later when the importance of reservoir gas was
realized, the need to put a production tubing aroused, to act as a velocity string, as a
solution to gas slugging, and also to protect the production casing from erosion due
to flow, the actual process of drilling a well and completion, includes a wide range of
carefully engineering and products to optimize the live of wells in time and efficiency.

Please refer to Well Production Practical handbook for tables (on this section only)

3.1. PIPE CHARACTERISTICS

API and ISO, normalized standards for oil/gas tubing and casing, tubing there is
defined as pipe with nominal diameters from 1.050 to 7.0 inches (ISO 11 960), while
casing sizes range from 4 ½ to 20 inches.

Geometrical characteristic of casings: are the dimensions, masses and capacities

commonly used in completions

Dimensions and masses of tubing: are the set of geometrical characteristics in

relation with grade and nominal weight of tubing from 1.050 to 7 inches according to
ISO 11 960 standard

Casing and tubing are classified according to 5 properties

• Steel Grade
• Length range
• Wall thickness
• Manner of manufacture
• Type of joints
Section 3 –CASING & TUBING 3-3

3.1.1. STEEL GRADE AND TENSILE STRENGHT

In a well the materials are exposed to extreme conditions, it could lead to: Burst in
the pipe if it is not capable of withstanding the pressures applied from the inside or to
Collapse, given the annulus pressure is higher that the pressure inside the pipe, or
the weight of the string is excessive high.

Basically what is taken in account for preventing those problems are the tensile
requirements and Steel grade:

The grade refers to the yield minimal strength of the steel, is expressed in thousands
of PSI, this means, the amount of tensile stress required to produce extension under
load, so, the higher the grade the higher the force coming from the weight of the
tubing string that the tubing can withstand.

And the Tensile strength: which is the maximun amount of tensile stress required to
produce breakdown of a pipe under load.

3.1.1.1. ELONGATION AND BALLOONING EFFECTS

The effect of elongation or ballooning in a pipe due to
load or pressure is very important to take in account,
because if the elongation is too much in the tubing string,
it could deform and create mayor problems. Also the
ballooning effect could create mayor problems, because
it not only shortens the pipe string, but also makes it
wider, which in the case of cementing casings could
create a small space in between the pipe and the cement
which is know as microannulus that in the future will
create leak problems in between the casings and/or
packers, there are several techniques to face those
problems, as using centralizing adaptors between tubing Figure N°3-1
and casing. Ballooning effect
Ballooning is more common in big diameter pipe, while elongation tends to appear in
small diameter ones. In the drilling world tubing of 3 ½ “ is know as magic pipe,
because it seems not to suffer elongation neither ballooning, unfortunately not all
wells could be fit with this diameter of tubing.

The type of steel used plays a big role in a completion, it could be: Carbon steel,
stainless steel, titanium, iconel. Each type of steel has a specific application and
special tolerance to certain effects coming from the well or reservoir characteristics.
3-4 Well Completion

3.1.1.2. Hardness
The hardness of a pipe its measured either using the; Rockwell hardness testing
which is an indentation testing method. An indenter is impressed into the test sample
at a prescribed load to measure the material's resistance to deformation. A Rockwell
hardness number is calculated from the depth of permanent deformation of the
sample after application and removal of the test load. Various indenter shapes and
sizes combined with a range of test loads form a matrix of Rockwell hardness scales
that are applicable to a wide variety of materials. Also there is the Brinell Hardness
Test this common standard method of measuring the hardness of materials is done
by subjecting to indentation by a hardened steel ball under pressure the smooth
surface of the metal. The diameter of the indentation, in the material surface, is then
measured by a microscope and the hardness value is read from a chart or
determined by a prescribed formula.

3.1.1.3. HOW FLUID COMPOSITION CAN AFFECT THE SELECTION

OF PIPE
There is a range of problems associated to the presence of H2S in the reservoir that
affect directly on the selection of materials to be used, there’s the galling effect which
affects Stainless steel in the presence of H2S, the sulfide stress cracking caused by
the small atom of sulfur entering the composition of carbon steel and weakening it,
creating small crevices. Also CO2 presence carries out some problems in the
presence of water and low-pressure conditions. To overcome those effects now are
available in the market different types of pipe, with specific coatings, which minimize
problems, but coatings tend to be worn out in the presence of high temperature and
high gas velocity, so it isn’t a definitive solution.

3.1.2. PIPE RANGES

The Length range of pipe, API normalized 3 length ranges:
R1 are pipes from 7 mt up to 8.5 mt
R2 are pipes from 8.5 mt up to 9.5 mt
R3 are pipes from 9.5 mt up to 12.5 mt

It’s important to try to keep subassemblies within the range of pipe used normally, to
fit the derrick size and the length of the stand of pipe been used.

3.1.3. PIPE THICKNESS

The wall thickness is the schedule of the pipe, it determines the internal diameter,
and is also inherently related to the strength of the pipe.
Section 3 –CASING & TUBING 3-5

3.1.4. PIPE METALLURGICS

Metallurgic plays a very important role in oil industry; actual techniques allow the
creation of Seamless pipe: which is a pipe that does not contain any line junctures
(metallurgical welds) resulting from the method of manufacture. This product may be
produced by extruding or by drawing, using either die-and-mandrel or hot-piercer
processes. (Typically used for fluid-carrying applications under pressure.)
Pipe, Drawn: Pipe brought to the final dimensions by drawing through a die.
Pipe, Extruded: Pipe formed by hot extruding.
Piercer: A fixed mandrel, attached to the press stem, used on either cored or hollow
billets to produce seamless tubular product.
This techniques relay on the principle of Plastic Deformation, which is a distortion
that remains after removal of the load that caused it. And depends of the ability of a
material to be deformed extensively without rupture.

3.1.5. CONNECTIONS
As new completion techniques demanded stronger steel to reach deeper wells
several types of thread connections were developed to meet the higher
requirements. Now the most common types of tread used for completions are:

3.1.5.1. STANDARD API COUPLING CONNECTIONS:

API couplings were the very fisrt type of trhead used in oil industry; nowadays upset
connections are still widely used because they are unexpensive and still relailable.

UE: API non upset connection is a 10 round thread form cut on the body of the pipe,
it’s not recommended because the joint has less strength than the body.

EUE: API External upset connection, it’s an 8 round thread and the thread area is
wider in the outside to make the joint as stronger as the pipe body is. Also is found
for high pressure service a special long thread form which is 50% longer than the
standard effective thread
3-6 Well Completion

3.1.5.2. OTHER TYPES OF CONNECTIONS:

Vam:

Buttress

Buttress threads are square-cut, a screw thread having

one flank that is vertical while the other is inclined, and a
flat top and bottom. This creates a hydraulic seal
through the interference fit of the mating threads; this
type of thread is designed to withstand heavy thrust in
one direction.
The shape of the thread, requires no effort at the
beginning, but as the thread go together it will require
more force to continue screwing until at a given point the
torque required will be so high that the metal will deform
creating a seal of the two pieces. (Plastic effect). Figure N°3-2
Section 3 –CASING & TUBING 3-7

Figure N°3-3

Non Upset, Upset & Vam Threads

3-8 Well Completion

Premium Thread (hydrill)

A class of high-performance thread type that is commonly used in modern oil well
and gas well completions. Premium threads are available in a number of
configurations and are typically designed to provide superior hydraulic sealing,
improved tensile capacity and ease of make-up. Unlike conventional threads, the
sealing areas in premium thread connections are independent of the thread profile
and are included as two or three areas within the tool joint, thereby providing some
redundancy. Premium thread. Premium threads provide high mechanical and
hydraulic performance. The multiple sealing areas are particularly efficient in
moderate- to high-pressure gas well applications.

Althought it seems to be very reliable, the use of

this type of thread is not common, because there
is no way to determine for sure that all the junction
points are togheter.

Figure N°3-4

Hydrill thread
Section 3 –CASING & TUBING 3-9

Notes
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-1

SECTION 4

COMPLETION EQUIPMENT
4-2 Well Completion

SECTION4 – WELL COMPLETION EQUIPMENT

There is a wide variety of equipment that is used in completions
in order to achieve long-term results or to allow future
intervention of the well, among several, here we list the most
important of them and therefore the most common used:

4.1. BLAST JOINT:

Designed to be installed in the tubing, in front of the perforations,
to absorb the jetting impact of fluids under pressure, it is a piece
of very hard and resistant steel that protects the tubing from
erosion in front of the jetting fluid.

Figure N° 4-1
4.2. SLIDING SLEEVES:
They are completion devices that can
be operated to provide a flow path
between the production conductor and
the annulus. Sliding sleeves incorporate
a system of ports that can be opened or
closed by a sliding component that is
generally controlled and operated by
slickline tool string.

Figure N° 4-2
Sliding sleeve
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-3

4.3. CROSSOVER CONNECTIONS:

Are short lengths of casing or tubing used to change the size,

weight or connection type at a certain point in a string, the
selection must be done carefully specialy when working on
deviated wells, because of the angle on the reduction, if it is
narrow, ex: 45º reduction angle on a deviation of 45º will become
a 90º which will make impossible to run tools

Figure N° 4-4

4.4. DOUBLE PIN 4.5. COUPLINGS:

SUBS:
Are used to connect
Are furnished in a pin- two joints of pipe
by-pin configuration. together. The
These subs are short couplings are short
lengths of casing or lengths of heavy wall
tubing used to pipe with identical
connect downhole box threads at each
tools. The subs can end which mate with
be manufactured to the pin ends of the
any length with OD joint. Combo Figure N° 4-5
Figure N° 4-4
and ID defined by Couplings are
string criteria. couplings with non-matching ends,
thereby changing thread types, weights
or sizes. Both types of couplings are
available with API or proprietary
connections

4.6. FLOW COUPLINGS:

Are heavy-wall connectors made up in tubing strings

above or below subs where turbulent flow problems
are apt to occur. These couplings resist erosion
caused by production fluids and gases. The ID size is
usually the same at the pin ID. As mentioned above
at the beginning of this manual, flow coupling are
used to overcome the turbulences caused by
changes in diameter along the tubing. The internal
surface of the coupling is highly polished and this is
what makes them suitable to reduce the turbulences.
Figure N° 4-6
4-4 Well Completion

4.7. FLOWTUBES:

Are an alternative to conventional Flow Couplings and

pup joints. When compared to standard, FlowTubes
can save from additional components, as shown in
accompanying illustration. Moreover, FlowTubes
require fewer connection make-ups. Like Flow
Couplings, FlowTubes are used above and below a
control device to minimize turbulence in the tubing
bore.

4.8. PUP JOINTS:

Are short lengths of casing and tubing that are used to

adjust the depths of strings or downhole tools. These
pups can be manufactured to any length, described in
Table 26 of API 5CT as 2,3,4,6,8,10 or 12 feet, with
OD and ID as defined by string criteria. Having sets at
the well site is an added precaution in the event the
depth of strings or
downhole tools needs to be
adjusted. Threads may be
specified for either API or
proprietary connections.
During the completion
period, the derrick uses
standard range predefined
pipe, to adjust various
equipment in the tubing to
this pipe size, a
subassembly is created,
this is not more than the
equipment, lets say a
subsurface valve, perhaps
a flow coupling and then
two pieces of pipe to
complete the full length of
Figure N° 4-8 the range been used. Figure N° 4-7
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-5

4.9. SEAL RINGS:

Are used to prevent leakage due

to internal or external pressures.
These rings are manufactured of
a non-metallic material, usually
Teflon®. The ring fits in a groove
cut into the box end of a
connection and is compressed to
form a seal when the connection
is made up power tight. Seal
Rings are available for API and
proprietary connections
Figure N° 4-9

Figure N° 4-9Bis

4.10. SAFETY SUBSURFACE EQUIPMENT:

There are several types of valves, developed

to act under significative flow variations, to
avoid environmental damage from broken
pipes or personnel risks, usually those valves
act with a flapper which is held in position by
hydraulic pressure and this pressure is
released to let the flapper close in case of a
pressure build up or decrease in sensors
installed in the flow line, even there are some
that are subsurface actuated and those what
senses is the changes in bottom hole pressure. Figure N°4-10
Safety valve
4-6 Well Completion

4.11. MULE SHOES:

They are used to facilitate the passage of tools or instruments into

the bore of another tool, such as a packer. The shoe is run on the
bottom of a tubing string and lands inside the bore after the shoe
insures the centralizing of the string.
A Re-entry Guide is used to facilitate the return of wire line tools
back into the tubing when being brought back up the well bore. Its
purpose is to keep the wire line tool lined up to the center so as not
to hang up when entering the tubing.

Figure N°4-11
4.12. LANDING NIPPLES:

Along with Lock Mandrels are run into the well on

completion tubing to provide a specific landing location
for subsurface flow control equipment. Landing nipples
are universal due to their common internal profile.
Landing Nipples are used on standard weight tubing;
and under special specification are used for heavy
weight tubing.
NO-GO Landing Nipples are designed for use in single
nipple installations or as the bottom nipple in a series of
landing nipples, from manufacturer to manufacturer it
varies and you find models with top NO-GO or bottom
NO-GO.
Applications:
Figure N°4-12
• Plugging under pressure Landing Nipple
• Unlimited locations for setting and locking
subsurface flow controls
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-7

4.13. BULL PLUGS/BULL CAPS AND OTHERS:

Are used to cap off pipe or parts to provide pressure

integrity. These plugs and caps are short solid pieces with
the closed end rounded and the other end threaded with
either pin or box threads. Available in API or proprietary
connections.
Single Joint Handling Plugs provide a
positive grip by elevators when lifting
a single joint of drill pipe, drill collar,
casing or tubing
Lift Plugs are used to handle multiple
joints during the running of tubulars.
The plug provides a positive grip for
the elevators. These plugs support Figure N°4-13.1
the weight of an entire string.
Consequently, it is important that the lift plug be designed by
the same company that designed the connection it is made up
to.
Stabbing Guides are used to protect pin and box threads (as
well as seals and internal coating if present) when tubulars are
Figure N°4-13.2 being run into or out of a well. The guides are constructed of
lightweight, rigid aluminum outer frames with durable
polyethylene inserts. Latches and hinge pins are stainless steel ensuring long-lasting
service. Maintenance is simple and inserts can be changed to accommodate different
size connections.
4-8 Well Completion

4.14. GAS LIFT EQUIPMENT

4.14.1. SIDE POCKET MANDREL:

Those are adaptors to place gas lift valves, the spacing between each SPM, is very
important and it is defined by calculations done determined by the static and dynamic
gradient of the well, and the characteristics of fluids. Gas lift valves are set in place
using wireline, with a Sidekick Tool.

Figure N°4-14.1.1
Kick off tool

Figure N°4-14.1.2
Side Pocket Mandrel
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-9

4.14.2. UNLOADING VALVES:

Those are live (opening / closing) valves

used at the moment of starting up a gas lift
well to displace the liquids accumulated in
the annulus (completion fluids, packer
fluids…) they can be injection operated
valves and production operated, later here is
a section dedicated to GL where its
explicated in more detail.

4.14.3. OPERATING POINT:

This is an orifice installed usually in the last

(deepest SPM) which is the one that must
inject the gas in a gas lift well functioning
ideally.

4.15. TELESCOPIC SUBS:

The swivel features makes it possible to
connect both long and short string tailpipe to
the lower end of the packer even if the
tailpipes are strapped together; it also
makes it possible to leave the weight of the
tubing hanging in the slips while making up
the connection between tubing and packer.
The Telescoping Swivel Sub may also be
used to make up tailpipe between two dual
packers or between a dual and a triple
packer, since it telescopes to compensate Figure N°4-14.3
for inaccuracies in measurement and to Unloading valve
relieve the strain on the threads as they are
made up.

Figure N° 4-15
4-10 Well Completion

4.16. PACKERS:
There are several types of packer developed to fit different needs, but essentially
them all serve the same basic purpose, create isolation between the tubing and the
production casing so production fluids arrive to surface through the tubing to avoid
gas slugging and don’t loose pressure and velocity because of casing wider
diameters. The rubber in a packer is the real sealing element, and it should be
selected according to the fluid, well and completion characteristics. Rubber comes in
different Although the rubber is what makes the seal, packers are classified
according to the installation method and own characteristics, and today they are so
technified that you could thing that the rubber seal is not important at all. Initially
packers had one single rubber element, now it
is usually three of them stacked, the one in the
center usually the softer one is the actual seal,
the ones on the extremes are made of a harder
rubber and act as backups of the center one
and also help keeping this in place and
untouched by fluids (this makes it last longer)
setting packers is a job that must be carefully
carried out, and after the setting, a test must be
made to ensure there is no leaks, basically a
packer is held in place by a metal cone which
compresses the rubber seal and a set of slips
acting against the cone and the casing, this
principle applies for almost all kind of packers
and comes from the compression packer
design, almost all the other types of packer vary
in the way of setting and the internal equipment
used to hold them in place and made possible
retrieving. The selection of the type of packer to
be installed, is done according to the well
characteristics, the depth, the deviation, the
fluids, ETC. the following are the most
commonly used packers in completions:

4.16.1. COMPRESSION PACKER

They are set slacking off the string (applying

weight on it) so the cone displaces the slips and
create a hold to compress the rubber. Now they
are rarely used.
Tension packers heve exactly the same desing
but upside down and intead of slacking are set Figure N°4-16.1.1
by pulling; to set them, the tubing string is pulled Compression / Tension
to create tension and hold the slips in place,
Packer
normally those packers are used in steam
injection wells
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-11

4.16.2. HYDRAULIC & HYDROSTATIC

Both types uses the same principle, to set

them, a force is applied from a fluid, they
have the advantage that don’t require
rotation to be set, but in the other hand,
they are not very reliable, because is
difficult to determine if were set correctly,
also both are subjected to ballooning and
piston effects. They also are not meant to
be used in gas wells, because the hold
down pins contains Orings, which suffer a
lot under gas presence. Hydraulic packers
do not have good performance in deep
wells, while hydrostatic are better for that
application.

Figure N°4-16.2
Hydrolic Packer
4-12 Well Completion

4.16.3. PERMANENT PACKER

Really simple and reliable, they have

breakable slips, which under
compression break apart holding the
rubber in place; the inconvenient is that
to retrieve you must mill the packer and
washout. The permanent packers can
have a combination of technologies to
be set, can be hydrolics, compression,
mechanical, but they are not retrivables.

Figure N°4-16.3
Permanent Packer
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-13

4.16.4. MECHANICAL PACKER

They have rings between the rubber elements, and are set applying torque on the
string, the rotation screws the center piece, which compresses the rubber and makes
it fill the gaps in the rings, this type of packer is suitable for DST, but while you avoid
putting weight on the string to set, you put a lot of torque in the string which is not
good for deviated wells because is very difficult to drive the torque through the
deviations without creating damage to the string.

Figure N°4-16.4
Mechanical Packer
4-14 Well Completion

Figure N°4-16.5
Retrivable packer setup / retrieve
Section 4 –COMPLETION EQUIPMENT 4-15

Notes
Section 5 –SURFACE EQUIPMENT 5-1

SECTION 5

SURFACE EQUIPMENT
5-2 Well Completion

SECTION5 - SURFACE EQUIPMENT

5.1. XMAS TREE

For Xmas tree is known the arrange of surface valves and equipment found at
surface level in a well, this name comes from its shape similarity to the decorated
pine what is usually found in most places during December. This arrangement is very
important in the completion, because here is the surcafe control of a well, normally a
Xmas tree is conformed of:

Figure N° 5-1
Wellhead

5.1.1. TUBING HEAD ADAPTER:

It holds the tubing hanger inside and provides a flanged connection for the master
valves and so on the rest of wellhead equipment.

5.1.2. TUBING HANGER:

this piece of equipment has the function of support the tubing at surface level, it holds
all the weigth of the tubing string.
Section 5 –SURFACE EQUIPMENT 5-3

5.1.3. MASTER VALVE:

can be one single or two of them, their function is to provide a mean of isolating the
well, at surface level, in modern completions, one of them is manual and the other is
pneumatic pressure operated.

5.1.4. TEE SECTION

Then just above the master valves, the tee
section is found, which provides a three way
pass, the upper one to accommodate the
swabbing valve, and the two laterals for the
wing valves.

5.1.5. SWABBING VALVE:

just on top of the well, provides a mean to
isolate the top connector section.
Figure N° 5-2
Hanger
5.1.6. TOP CONNECTOR SECTION:
this is the very last part of the wellhead, provides a threaded connection for wireline
or coil tubing adapters, so is a sort of service port for the well, normally the thread
wears a plug where is a gauge port or measuring the WHP.

5.1.7. WING VALVES, FLOWLINE VALVES & EQUIPMENT

On the lateral side of the tee, two wings valves are found, those valves allow to
isolate the well to the production facilities, and still be able to run tools bottomhole, in
not too high production wells, normally one od the valves ends in plugged, and the
other holds the production choke, and so the flowline.

5.1.7.1. PRODUCTION CHOKE:

it is a surface flow control device which enables to restrict the flow of the well, at
startup and during production, to avoid overcoming the production facilities pressure
or flow handling limitations. There are two types of production chokes, the adjustable
choke, which is a sort of valve with a special design which has a graduated, hand
actuator, that indicates how much open or closed it is. And the positive or fixed
choke, which is a housing were a calibrated choke bean is inserted and creates a
fixed diameter restriction to the flow.
5-4 Well Completion

After the choke comes the flowline, which is the pipe that delivers the production of
the well to the separation facilities. Also has a flow line valve normally. All the
equipment after the choke, usually has a lower pressure specifications than the
Xmas tree equipment.

All along the Xmas tree, are measuring points and sampling points, for taking
pressure, temperature and samples of the production.
Section 5 –SURFACE EQUIPMENT 5-5

Notes
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-1

SECTION 6

ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS &

EQUIPMENT
6-2 Well Completion

SECTION6 - ARTIFICIAL LIFT

When the natural force of the reservoir is depleted, there is still oil downhole, just that
the bottomhole pressure is less than the weight created by the hydrostatic column
and there is not impulse to lift the oil to surface, to overcome this several methods
has been developed along the history of oil industry, basically all those techniques,
look after recreating by artificial means a force to lighten the hydrostatic column so
the fluids could change from static to flowing status. This change is achieved by
careful calculations done by specialized teams, and based on the results of the
calculations and analisys a method is selected, in all this is taken into account the
suitability of the actual completion, the status of the reservoir, characteristics of the
well during its normal production period, the productivity declination curves among
several others.

There is not artificial method better than the other, all the ones menctioned here,
have been used in the industry since what we could call the early days, and have
suffered modifications and optimizations, sometime to make them more efficient,
some times to reduce costs associated to them. We can say each well has its own
personality and what suit the needs in one case is not necessary the solution for a
well just aside. Normally given the oil characteristics and the reservoir, a method is
selected and applied for several wells in the same field/reservoir, but in this case
each well need that the detailed conditions are selected and adapted to fits its
behaivor and achieves the best benefits.

In this manual the more common methods are summarized and briefly explained, but
to get into the real thing a single book or a whole encyclopaedia will be required, here
is explained the principle of how those methods work, and Gas Lift receives certain
preffrence, because perhaps is the oldest and more common thecnique, and also the
less understood of them all.
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-3

6.1. GAS LIFT

This is one of the oldest techniques of artificial lift, which has proven its efficiency and
fidelity during many years, has many advantages of them the main ones are its cost
efficiency (it is relatively cheap given the completion was designed to fit it, and there
is compressed gas available) and the other is that it always works, perhaps not in the
most efficient or optimal way, but always products benefits. Gas is injected through
the casing and enters the tubing in to lift the fluid column. The completion must be
designed spacing the upper valves (unloading valves) which are used at the moment
of start up to discharge fluids contained inside the casing, and lighten the fluid
column in the tubing, if the completion was made according to the well
characteristics, the unloading valves which are live valves (open/close) should
remain closed after unloading phase is done, there are two types of unloading
valves, injection operated (IPO) and Production Operated (PPO).

The principle: In a typical gas lift system, compressed gas is injected through gas lift
mandrels and valves into the production string. The injected gas lowers the
hydrostatic pressure in the production string to reestablish the required pressure
differential between the reservoir and wellbore, thus causing the formation fluids to
flow to the surface.

Figure N° 6-1
Tipical Gas lift System

The final consideration is that the injection should be made through the lowest point.
There are two GL techniques, Continuous and intermittent, continuous is used at the
early stages of reservoir natural force depletion, while intermittent is normally the
option when continuous is no longer producing benefits.
6-4 Well Completion

Continuous GL: The technique is based in the principle of lightening the fluid
column along the tubing to drive the fluids to surface, through gas injection inside it.
This is achieved by a fixed orifice, installed in a side pocket mandrel at the deepest
possible level (the closer to the packer the better).

Intermittent GL: in this case, there is a lapse of time, between the action of the
lowest valve (which is a live valve) this lapse, allows fluids to enter from the formation
and create a liquid “plug” in the tubing which is the amount of liquid to be lifted.

INTERMITTENT Gas Lift

CLOSED OPEN CLOSED

OPEN CLOSED CLOSED

t i : INFLUX t t : TRAVEL t e : ESTABILIZATION

Tc = CYCLE TIME = t i + t t + t e

Figure N° 6-2
Intermitent Gas Lift (Standar & Idealized)
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-5

6.2. ROD LIFT SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Also known as Beam Pumps, a typical
reciprocating rod lift system consists of a
surface-pumping unit powered by an
electric or gas prime mover, a rod string,
and a positive displacement pump. Fluid
is brought to the surface by the
reciprocating pumping action of the
surface unit attached to the rod string,
which in turn, moves a traveling valve on
the rod pump, loading it on the
downstroke and lifting fluid to the surface
on the upstroke.
The operation of reciprocating rod lift
systems has a history of proven reliability
while giving operators the flexibility to
reuse various components in different
well applications. Weatherford offers a
complete package and full range of
reciprocating rod lift equipment for all
your application requirements.

6.2.1. ROD LIFT SYSTEM

APPLICATIONS
• Virtually all applications, including
sandy, gaseous, and high
viscosity
• Wide range of fluid levels from
near surface to seating nipple
depth
• Low to medium volume lift
capabilities
• All types of wells, including
horizontal, slant, directional and Figure N° 6-3
vertical reservoirs ROD Lift
• Industry standard for land and
remote applications
6-6 Well Completion

6.2.2. ROD LIFT SYSTEM ADVANTAGES

• High system efficiency
• Optimization controls available
• Economical to repair and service
• Positive displacement/strong drawdown
• Upgraded materials reduce corrosion concerns
• Flexibility -- adjust production through stroke length and speed
• High salvage value for surface and downhole equipment

Figure N° 6-4
Typical beampump
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-7

6.3. PCP SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Progressing Cavity Pumping (PCP) Systems typically consist of a surface drive, drive
string and downhole PC pump. The PC pump is comprised of a single helical-shaped
rotor that turns inside a double helical elastomer-lined stator. The stator is attached
to the production tubing string and remains stationary during pumping. In most cases
the rotor is attached to a sucker rod
string, which is suspended and rotated by
the surface drive.
As the rotor turns eccentrically in the
stator, a series of sealed cavities form
and progress from the inlet to the
discharge end of the pump. The result is
a non-pulsating positive displacement
flow with a discharge rate proportional to
the size of the cavity, rotational speed of
the rotor and the differential pressure
across the pump.

6.3.1. PCP SYSTEM

APPLICATIONS
• Sand-laden heavy crude oil and
bitumen
• Medium crude oil with limits on
H2S and CO2
• Light sweet crude oil with limits on
aromatic content
• High water cuts
• Dewatering gas wells such as
coalbed methane projects
• Mature waterfloods
• Visual and/or height sensitive Figure N° 6-5
areas PCP Lift
• All type wells, including horizontal,
slant, directional and vertical
reservoirs
6-8 Well Completion

6.3.2. PCP SYSTEM

ADVANTAGES
• Low capital investment
• High system efficiency
• Low power consumption
• Pumps oils and waters with
solids
• No internal valves to clog or
gas lock
• Quiet operation
• Simple installation with minimal
maintenance costs
• Portable, lightweight surface
equipment
• Low surface profile for visual
and height sensitive areas

6.3.3. DIRECT GEARBOX

SURFACE DRIVES
Offering the flexibility to be used with
either a gas or electric prime mover,
Direct Gearbox Drives provide an
efficient and economical method to
transmit power through the drive
string to the downhole Progressing
Cavity (PC) pump. These drives can
be applied where a lower pumping
speed is required or where electric
power is not readily available. Figure N° 6-6
PCP System
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-9

Figure N° 6-7
PCP Completion
6-10 Well Completion

6.3.4. DIRECT ELECTRIC SURFACE DRIVES

Direct Electric Surface
Drives from Weatherford
provide an efficient and
economical method to
transmit power through the
drive string to the
downhole Progressing
Cavity (PC) pump. The
electric motor is mounted
to the wellhead drive and
transmits torque through
belts and sheaves to the
drive string. Most
Weatherford surface
drives have the patented
hollow shaft design
allowing simple
installation, operation and
Figure N° 6-8
maintenance of both the
PCP Drive
wellhead drive and
downhole PC pump.

6.3.5. HYDRAULIC DRIVES FOR PCP

Weatherford Hydraulic Surface Drives have been used in
Progressing Cavity Pumping (PCP) applications for more than
two decades. These systems are ideal for applications
requiring precise torque control and adjustable wellhead
speed. Of the two components making up the drive system,
the wellhead drive houses the hydraulic motor, supplies
power, suspends and rotates the drive string that, in turn,
rotates the bottomhole pump. The Power Transmission
System houses the prime mover (gas or electric), hydraulic
pump and hydraulic oil reservoir.

6.3.6. PC PUMPS
There are two basic elements that make up the downhole
Progressing Cavity (PC) Pump – a single helical alloy-steel
rotor connected to a rod string and a double helical Figure N° 6-9
elastomer-lined stator attached to the tubing string. Using the PCP Pump
latest manufacturing technology, rotors are kept to tight
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-11

tolerances and treated with chemical and

abrasion-resistance coating, typically hard
chrome. Stators are comprised of a steel
tube with an elastomer molded inside to
provide the internal geometry. Each
combination of rotor/stator is matched to
downhole conditions to provide highly
efficient operation and optimum production
enhancement.
The heart of the PC Pump is the stator
elastomer itself.

Figure N° 6-10
Elastometer

Figure N° 6-11
PCP Pump
6-12 Well Completion

6.4. ESP OVERVIEW

Electric Submersible Pumping (ESP) Systems incorporate an electric motor and
centrifugal pump unit run on a production string and connected back to the surface
control mechanism and transformer via an electric power cable.
The downhole components are suspended from the production tubing above the
wells' perforations. In most cases the motor is located on the bottom of the work
string. Above the motor is the seal section, the intake or gas separator, and the
pump. The power cable is banded to the tubing and plugs into the top of the motor.
As the fluid comes into the well it must pass by the motor and into the pump. This
fluid will flow past the motor aids in the cooling of the motor. The fluid then enters the
intake and is taken into the pump. Each stage (impeller/diffuser combination) adds
pressure or head to the fluid at a given rate. The fluid will build up enough pressure
as it reaches the top of the pump to lift it to the surface and into the separator or
flowline.

6.4.1. ESP APPLICATIONS

• High volume lift requirements (>300 BPD)
• A variety of well types including highly
deviated or non-vertical wellbores
• Waterfloods or high water-cut wells
• With proper trim, can handle small quantities
of H2S, CO2, and abrasives
• Well testing operations
• Mature waterfloods
• Abrasive, gassy, viscous fluids
• Electric Submersible Pumping Advantages
• High volume and depth capacity
• High efficiency over 1,000 BPD
• Low maintenance
• Minimal surface equipment requirements
• High resistance to corrosive downhole
environments
• Use in deviated wells and vertical wells with
doglegs
• Adaptable to wells with 4 1/2" casing or large
Figure N° 6-12
ESP lift
Section 6 –ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEMS 6-13

6.5. PLUNGER LIFT OVERVIEW

Plunger Lift Systems consist of a plunger, often referred to as a piston, two bumper
springs, a lubricator to sense and stop the plunger as it arrives at the surface, and a
surface controller of which several types are available. Various ancillary and
accessory components are used to complement and support various application
needs.
In a typical plunger lift operation, the plunger cycles between the lower bumper
spring located in the bottom section of the production tubing string and the upper
bumper spring located in the surface lubricator on top of the wellhead. In some
applications, the lower bumper spring is placed above a gas lift mandrel. As the
plunger travels to the surface, it creates a solid interface between the lifted gas below
and produced fluid above to maximize lifting energy.
The plunger travels from the bottom of the well to the surface lubricator on the
wellhead when the force of the lifting gas energy below the plunger is greater than
the liquid load above the plunger. Any gas that bypasses the plunger during the lifting
cycle flows up the production tubing and sweeps the area to minimize liquid fallback.
The incrementation of the travel cycle is controlled by a surface controller and may
be repeated as often as needed.

6.6. PLUNGER LIFT SYSTEM APPLICATIONS

• Unload wells that continue to load up with
produced wellbore fluids
• Reduce fallback of fluids in flowing wells
• Increase production in wells with emulsion
problems
• Clean the tubing ID in wells experiencing paraffin
or other tubing deposit problems
• Eliminates need for soap

6.7. PLUNGER LIFT SYSTEM ADVANTAGES

• Dewatering gas wells
• Requires no outside energy source – uses well's
energy to lift
• Easy maintenance
• Keeps well cleaned of paraffin deposits
• Low cost artificial lift method
• Excellent for small field or one well leases
• Handles gassy wells
• Good in deviated wells
• Can produce well to depletion
Figure N° 6-13
Plunger Lift
6-14 Well Completion

Notes