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Well Completion PE443

What is a well completion?
In simple petroleum engineering terms, well completion refer to the
method by which a newly drilled well can be finalized so that reservoir
fluids can be produced to surface using production facilities efficiently
and safely, in general the process of completing a well is includes the
following;
1-A method of providing satisfactory communication between the
reservoir and the borehole.
2-The design of tubulars (casing and tubing) which will be installed in
the well.
3-An appropriate method of raising reservoir fluids to the surface.
4-The design, and the installation in the well of various components used
to allow efficient production, pressure integrity tests, and emergency
contaminated of reservoir fluids, reservoir monitoring, barrier
placement, well maintenance and well kill.
5-The installation of safety devices and equipment which will
automatically shut the well in in the event of a disaster.
In general the best scenario is that after exploratory drilling confirms the
presence of an oil or natural gas reservoir, the hydrocarbons are brought
to the surface.
Once the designed well total depth (TD) or target depth is reached, the
formation is tested and evaluated to determine whether the well is to be
completed for production or plugged and abandoned.
This decision is taken based on the information available on reservoir
characteristics.
In another way to complete the well means put it on production, casing is
already installed and cemented while drilling phase and the drilling rig is
moved to the next location if is not going to complete the well, in such
case work over rig is going to put the well on production phase.
Work over rig is brought into perforation operation already done in case
of the well is a cased hole type, otherwise production tubing along with
downhole production equipment is run to reach the pay zone. Installation
of surface safety equipment takes place and production begins.

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Design considerations
Before drilling phase started, completion plan must take place to ensure
that the design of the completion is the best possible. Number of factors
must be taken into consideration during this planning stage, which can
broadly split into reservoir considerations and mechanical
considerations.
Reservoir Considerations;
1-Production rate
2-Reservoir drive mechanism
3-Multiple produced zones
4-Sand control requirements
5-Stimulation requirements
6-Artificial lift requirements
7-Secondary recovery requirements
8-Workover requirements

Mechanical Considerations;
1-Functional requirements
2-Operating conditions
3-Componenmt reliability
4-Safety

Completion Types
There are several ways to classify or categorized completion types.
The most common criteria for the classification of completion include the
following;
1- Open Hole Completion
2- Cased Hole completions
3- Slotted liner completion
Open Hole Completion
Known as "Barefoot completions" which are only feasible in reservoirs
with sufficient formation strength to prevent caving or sloughing

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In such completions there are no means of selectively producing or

isolating intervals within the reservoir or open hole section.
The production casing or
liner is set and cemented
in the reservoir cap rock
leaving the wellbore
through to the reservoir
open.
The use of open hole
completion is now
restricted primarily to
some types of horizontal
wells and to wells where
formation damage from
(air drilling) drilling fluids is severe.
Cased Hole Completions
This is the most common type of bottom hole completion methods.
In this type of completion the production casing or liner is set and
cemented through and beyond the production zone or zones.
Communication with the reservoir is then established by shooting holes
through the casing or liner.
The cement cover around
the liner/casing isolates
each zone to be selectively
perforated, produced, and
stimulated.
The initial cost of
completing this way has
higher cost implications.

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Slotted Liner Completions

A non- cemented liner is used in a non-consolidated formation.
The production casing is set above the producing zone and an open hole
drilled.
The open hole is then lined with a short length of slotted or wire-wrapped
casing or tubing which is hung from the production casing and sealed
into it.
In sandy wells where slotted or wire wrapped liner has proved
inadequate, the refinement technique of gravel packing has been
developed.
This open hole completion type has all the disadvantages of the open hole
completion with the added cost of the liner and liner hanger thrown in.
Advantages and Disadvantages;
Completion Technique Advantages Disadvantages
Open Hole -No perforating, no -Laible to sand out
production casing, no -No seiectivity for
cementing expense. production or stimulation.
-Minimum rig time -Ability to Isolate is
-Full diameter hole in the limited to the lower part
pay zone improves of the hole.
productivity
-No critical log
interpretation is required.
Cased Hole -Introduces flexibility -Required critical log
allowing isolation of interpretation to specify
zones for production or actual perforation zone.
injection. -cost of casing/liner
cementation.
-Cost of rig time for
longer completion period.
Slotted Liner -No perforating or -No selectivity for
cementing expense for the production or stimulation.
production casing. -Cost of slotted liner or
-Assists in preventing pre-packed screen.
sand production. -Difficult to isolate zones
-No critical log for production control.
interpretation is required. -Slightly longer
completion time than
open hole completion.

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COMPLETION TECHNIQUES in Horizontal wells

As noted earlier, it is possible to complete horizontal wells as open hole,
with slotted liners, liners with external casing packers (ECPS), and
cemented and perforated liners. The choice of completion method can have
a significant influence on well performance. More details about the
completion are included in.

COMPLETION OPTIONS
These completion aspects are described below:
1. Open Hole: Open-hole completion is inexpensive but is limited to
competent rock formations. Additionally, it is difficult to stimulate open-
hole wells and to control either injection or production along the well
length.
2. Slotted Liner Completion: The main purpose of inserting a slotted liner
in a horizontal well is to guard against hole collapse. Additionally, a liner
provides a convenient path to insert various tools such as coiled tubing in
a horizontal well. Two types of liner have been used:
a. perforated liners, where holes are drilled in the liner;

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b. slotted liners, where slots of various width are milled along the liner
length;
Slotted liners provide limited sand control by selecting hole sizes and slot
width sizes. However, these liners are susceptible to plugging.
The main disadvantage of a slotted liner is that effective well stimulation
can be difficult, due to the open annular space between the liner and the
well. Similarly, selective production and injection is difficult.
3. Liner with Partial Isolations: Recently, external casing packers (ECPS)
have been installed outside the slotted liner to divide a long horizontal
wellbore into several small sections. This method provides limited zone
isolation, which can be used for stimulation or production control along
the well length.
Normally, horizontal wells are not horizontal; rather, they have many
bends and curves. In a hole with several bends, occasionally it may be
difficult to insert a liner with several external casing packers.

4. Cemented and Perforated Liners: it is possible to cement and perforate

medium and long radius wells. It is not economically possible to cement
short radius wells. Cement used in horizontal well completion should have
significantly less free water content than that used for vertical well
cementing. This is because in a horizontal
well, due to gravity, free water segregates
near the top portion of the well and heavier
cement settles at the bottom. This results in a
poor cement job. To avoid this it is important
to conduct a free water test for cement at
least 45°, in addition to or instead of, the
conventional API free water test, which is
conducted in the vertical position.

COMPLETION CONSIDERATIONS
Several items need to be considered before selecting an appropriate
completion scheme. A brief discussion of each item is given below:
1. Rock and Formation Type: If an open-hole completion is considered,
then it is important to ensure that the rock is competent and the drilled hole
will be stable. Several early horizontal wells drilled in competent limestone
formations have been completed as open holes. Field experience reported

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that when horizontal wells are drilled along the direction of least
horizontal stress, they exhibit excellent hole stability.
2. Drilling Method: With short radius only an open-hole or a slotted-liner
completion is possible. With a medium-and long-radius well, one can
complete them either as open hole, open hole with slotted liner or with
cement and perforate them.
3. Drilling Fluid/Mud Cleanup: Formation damage during horizontal
drilling is a serious problem in many wells, especially for wells drilled in
low permeability reservoirs. Horizontal drilling takes significantly longer
time than drilling a vertical well, and the producing formation is exposed
to drilling fluid for a longer time period than in a vertical well. Thus, the
possibility of mud invasion and related formation damage in a horizontal
well is higher than that in a vertical well. Therefore, a method must be
devised for well cleanup. Although not impossible, it is difficult to clean up
a horizontal well completed as an open hole or with slotted liners. If the
well has a large turning radius then swab tools can reach at least up to the
end of the curve. For sharp turning radius wells, swab tools cannot reach
beyond the vertical well portion.
To minimize damage while drilling horizontally, one can drill under
balance. It is also possible to use a special mud, for example, a polymer
mud with either minimal or no solids. However, these types of muds may
have problems with shale caving and sloughing. Moreover, some mud
systems may have a limited capacity to carry solid cuttings. This may result
in cutting accumulation in the horizontal well portion.
Another alternative for dealing with formation damage is to cement and
perforate the horizontal well, the way we do for vertical wells. Perforations
may extend past the drilling damage. Then, one can either break down or
do limited fractures job on a horizontal well to regain the lost productivity
due to drilling and cementing. The objective of stimulating here is to
achieve well productivity at least the same as that for an undamaged open-
hole horizontal well.
It is important to note that many horizontal wells at a high flow rate the
well has a better chance of self cleanup than at low flow rates.
4. Stimulation Requirements: A cemented horizontal well is preferred if the
well is to be fractured. The well can be isolated in several zones along its
length by using bridge plugs and each zone can be fractured independently.
Recently, several wells have been completed by inducing multiple fractures

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along the well length. From a mechanical standpoint, it is preferable to

fracture various zones along the well length in stages. It is prudent to use
reservoir engineering criteria to design the number of fractures required
along the well length to maximize recovery and minimize fracturing cost.
It is difficult to fracture wells completed as an open hole or with a slotted
liner. This is because of large leak-off occurring along the well length.
Similarly, uniform acidization along the length of a well completed as open
hole or with slotted liner is also difficult. The difficulty in uniform
acidization along the well length can be reduced by using coiled tubing.
To ensure uniform acid distribution along the well length, the coiled tubing
may have to be moved up and down the hole while spraying the acid.
Another alternative is to use a staged acidization treatment where each
stage is separated by a chemical diverter.
5. Production Mechanism Requirements: In some wells, especially those
drilled in a fractured reservoir with a bottom water drive, water may break
through a certain portion of the long horizontal well similarly, in an
enhanced recovery application, the injected fluid, such as water, may show
a premature breakthrough along a small portion of a long producing
horizontal well. In such cases, one may have to plug off a certain portion
of a long well.
The effective way to plug off well length is to isolate the zone where
undesirable fluids are entering the well and squeeze that zone off using
cement. A completion plan should include design considerations for such
contingencies.
In reservoirs with gas caps, it is important to obtain effective well isolation
from the gas cap.
6. Workover Requirements: Before selecting a completion option,
workover requirements must be considered, but they are also difficult to
anticipate. For example, consider completing a medium radius horizontal
well in a competent but fractured limestone reservoir with a bottom water
drive. One can anticipate a possibility of water breakthrough along a small
portion of the horizontal well sometime during the well life. The following
three completion scenarios are possible:
a. One can insert a slotted liner and pull it out later when water breaks
through or water cut gets high. After pulling the liner out, one can insert a
casing and cement it. This will stop water production. However, how risky
is to pull a slotted liner out of a horizontal hole?

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b. One can cement the well and perforate it. Once the water breaks
through, production logging can be used to locate the high water
production zone. later, one can squeeze the zone off using cement.
c. One can complete the well as an open hole and wait until water
breakthrough occurs to design a course of action.
Each of these options has costs and risks associated with it. The completion
choice should be based on local operating experience and the operator’s
willingness to assume a degree of risk.
7. Abandonment Requirements: At the present time to special regulations
are in effect for abandoning a horizontal well. however, an operator should
anticipate these needs and design well completion so that the well can be
abandoned safely.

COMPLETION SUMMARY for Horizontal wells;

Proper well completion is essential to ensure a successful horizontal well
project. Based on the completion needs, one can choose an appropriate
drilling technique. For example, if the well is to be cemented, ultrashort
and short-radius drilling techniques cannot be used. In contrast, medium-
and long-radius wells can be cemented and perforated. The table below
Includes a summary of possible completion options and logging options for
difficult drilling methods.

Method Completion Logging

Ultrashort Radius Perforated tubing or gravel pack No
Short Radius Open hole or slotted liner No
Medium Radius Open hole, slotted liner or cement and Yes
perforated liner
Long Radius Slotted liner or selective completion Yes
using cementing perforation

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Completion Process;
Well completion activities include;
1-Conducting drill stem test
2-Setting production casing
3-Running production tubing along with down-hole equipment.
4-Installing surface safety equipment.
5-Starting production flow.
6-If decided that the well will not be completed, then it will be plugged
and abandoned.
Conducting drill stem test (DST);
To determine the potential of producing formation the operator may order
a drill stem test (DST).
The DST crew makes up the test tool on the bottom of the drill stem, then
lowers it to the bottom of the hole.
Weight is applied to the tool to expand a hard rubber sealer called a
packer, operating the tool ports allows the formation pressure to be tested.
Typical Drill Stem String Photo
Setting Production Casing
Production casing is the final casing in the well.
It can be set from the bottom to the top.
Sometimes a production liner is installed, liner means casing from bottom
to somewhere attached and hanged to the previous casing to reduce cost
of the well.
Running Production Tubing and Down-hole Equipment
The well is usually produced through tubing inserted down the production
casing.
Oil and gas is produced more effectively through this smaller diameter
tubing than the large diameter production casing.
Joints of tubing are connected together with tubing coupling to make up
tubing string.

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Tubing is run into the well similar to casing, but smaller in diameter and
is removable.
Installing Surface Safety Equipment
Though the tubing and down-hole equipment are present in the well,
production cannot start without installing surface control equipment,
which are required to prevent uncontrolled oil flow out of the well.
Starting Production Flow
Production flow is started by "washing in" the well and setting the
packer.
The pumping in of water or brine to flush out the drilling fluid is called
washing in.
Usually this is enough to start the well flowing. If this does not work then
the flow might be started by pumping high-pressure gas into the well after
setting the packer.

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