Well Completion Week2

Mai Cao Lan, Ph.D.
(USQ, Australia)
Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering
Faculty of Geology & Petroleum Engineering
HCMUT, VIETNAM
Lecturer’s Information
Dr. Le Nguyen Hai Nam (Kyushu Uni., Japan)
Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering
CONTACT INFORMATION
Office: B8 – 102
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0909 479 185
RESEARCH INTEREST
• Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)
• Non-thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery
• Nano-particles for EOR, flow assurance, drilling fluid, cementing …
• Sustainable Development (CO2 footprint, biochar,…)

10/01/2023 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 2
Course Objectives
To provide essential knowledge about equipment and

operations of well completion and reservoir stimulation;
To provide theoretical background for the design and

evaluation of typical well completions and reservoir
stimulation treatments.
Outline
Chapter Topic
1 Overview of Well Completion
2 Lower Completion
Completion
3 Upper Completion
4 Special Well Completions

5 Well Completion Design
6 Overview of Reservoir Stimulation
7 Fundamentals of Acidizing
Stimulation
8 Design and Evaluation of Acidizing Treatments
9 Fundamentals of Rock Fracturing
10 Design & Evaluation of Hydraulic Fracturing
Text Books
1. Economides, M.J. et al., 1998. Petroleum Well Construction,
Wiley.
2. Renpu, W., 2011. Advanced Well Completion Engineering,
Gulf Professional Publishing.
3. Bellarby, J., 2009. Well Completion Design, Elsevier.
4. Schechter, R.S., 1992. Oil Well Stimulation, Prentice Hall.
5. Williams, B.B. et al., 1979. Acidizing Fundamentals. Society of
Petroleum Engineers.
6. Gidley, J.L. et al., 1990. Recent Advances in Hydraulic
Fracturing. SPE Monograph Series, Vol. 12
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, students must be able to:
No. Course Learning Outcomes *
describe basic concepts and terminology related to well completions
L.O.1
and reservoir stimulations (REMEMBER)
recognize the essential parts of well completions, and explain their
L.O.2
main functions as well as mechanisms of action (UNDERSTAND)
distinguish well completion parts by their specifications, functions
L.O.3
and working principles (ANALYZE)
calculate the main parameters and predict the performance of
L.O.4
typical well completions (APPLY)
recognize main components of hydraulic fracturing and acidizing
L.O.5 treatments, and explain their main functions as well as mechanisms
of action
(UNDERSTAND)
examine the basic steps of hydraulic fracturing and acidizing
L.O.6
treatments (ANALYZE)
calculate the main parameters of hydraulic fracturing and acidizing
L.O.7
treatments
(APPLY)
predict the performance of hydraulic fracturing and acidizing
L.O.8
treatments
list (APPLY)
10/01/2023 Dr. Mai Cao 6
* The verbs used in this areLan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT
in accordance with revised Bloom’s taxonomy (2001)
Learning Outcomes (cont’d)
Revised Bloom’s taxonomy (2001)
Grading Criteria
Students are required to finish exercises/quizzes in each chapter in

order to move to the next chapter. The final result for the course will be
assessed as follows:
Exercises/Quizzes: 20%
Mid-term exam (multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes): 30%
Final exam (multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes): 50%
Chapter Outline
§ Life cycle of oil and gas wells

§ Main functions of well completions
§ Main parts and classification
§ Critical factors for well completion design
§ Well completion optimization with NODAL analysis
method
1.1. Life Cycle of Oil & Gas Wells
Well completion equipment play a vital role in production phase, and have
strong effects on well intervention as well as P&A activities.
What is Well Completion?
• After careful interpretation and consideration on well test
data (coring, logging etc), a decision is made whether to
set production casing and complete the well or to plug
and abandon it.
• Decision to abadon is made when the well is not capable
to produce oil or gas in commercial quantities
• However, sometimes wells that were plugged and
abandoned at one time in the past may be reopened and
produced if the price of oil or gas has become more
favorable.
• “Completing a well” means installing equipment in the
well to allow a safe and controlled flow of petroleum from
the well.
What is Well Completion?
• A series of activities to prepare an oil well or a gas well, so

that the well can flow in a controlled manner. All wells
have to be completed.
• In addition, to the casing that lines the wellbore, tubing
and a system of flow valves must be installed.
• Cannot operate alone – must joint effort with other sub-
disciplines such as production engineering and reservoir
engineering.
1.2. Main Functions of Well Completion
• Provide safe and efficient pathway for fluid from

the reservoir into the wellbore
• Provide safe and efficient pathway for wellbore

fluids to surface
• Facilitate well intervention or stimulation
To provide safe and efficient communication between reservoir and wellbore
To provide safe and efficient communication between the wellbore and surface
1.3. Main Parts of Well Completion
(Baker Hughes)
1.3. Main Parts of Well Completion
1.4. Considerations for Well Completion
Design
§ Location
§ Reservoir rock properties
§ Reservoir fluid properties
§ Wellbore configurations
§ Production methods
1.4. Considerations for Well Completion
Design
Dissolved Gas Drive
Cap rock
Reservoir
Basement
Gas Cap Drive
Gas cap
Cap rock
Reservoir
Basement
Water Drive
Cap rock
Reservoir
Water
1.5. Well Completion Optimization with
NODAL Analysis Method
§ Recall: Principles of NODAL analysis method
§ Well completion contribution to the inflow performance
§ Well completion contributions to the tubing performance
1.5. Well Completion Optimization with
NODAL Analysis Method
Chapter Outline
2.1. Introduction
§ Lower completion is referred to as technology, equipment

and activities needed for completing a well at the
interface between reservoir and wellbore.
§ The main function of lower completion is to provide a safe

and efficient communication between the reservoir and
the wellbore
2.2. Main Types of Lower Completions
2.2.1.1. Barefoot Completion
§ The simplest open hole completion

§ Casing/liner set above the production zone
§ Mainly used in consolidated formations
§ Future remedial works/well treatment can be
challenging
2.2.1.1. Barefoot Completion
with/without External Casing Packer
Source: Wan Renpu (2011)
Example of a Barefoot, Open-Hole Well Example of a Barefoot, Open-Hole Well
Completion without Tubing Completion with Tubing
2.2.1.2. Open Hole Completion with Pre-
drilled /Slotted Liner
Example of either Open-Hole Slotted Liner or
Screen Completion without Tubing
2.2.1.3. Open Hole Completion with Sand
Control (Gravel Pack)
Example of an Open-Hole Gravel Pack Open-

Source: Wan Renpu (2011) Hole Completion
The advantages of a barefoot, open-hole
completion include:
• They are the least expensive completion technique;
• They are adaptable to special drilling techniques that minimize
reservoir damage (wells can be drilled to the top of the reservoir,
casing set and cemented in place, and drilling/completion fluids
changed to less damaging fluids for drilling through the reservoir);
• No perforating expenses;
• No issues with open-hole logging (time-lapse open-hole logs can be
run for improved reservoir characterization and surveillance);
• Large wellbore radius, rw, across the reservoir (a large wellbore
radius improves Productivity Index and Inflow Performance);
• Large diameter conduit to surface which results in lower pressure
losses in high production rate wells;
• The well can be easily deepened if desired;
• The completion can be modified at a later date with an inner casing
string or liner if desired.
The disadvantages of a barefoot, open-
hole completion include:
• Sand production cannot be permanently controlled without a
Major Rig Workover, MRWO (an expensive well intervention
requiring a drilling rig and hoist). Temporary sand control can
be performed with multiple bailer/clean-out well interventions
(less expensive Slickline Workover).
• Excessive gas or water production cannot be easily controlled;
• Selective well stimulation (acidizing or hydraulic fracturing of
specific depth(s) in the reservoir) more difficult than with
Cased and Perforated Completions;
• while the large diameter conduit for fluids flowing to the
surface has the advantage of lower pressure losses, it has the
disadvantage of lower velocity for the same volumetric rate. If
the velocity of multiphase flow is too low, then the heavier
fluids may segregate toward the bottom of the well causing a
segregated water phase across the reservoir.
2.2.2.1. Cemented & Perforated Completion
with Casing
§ Protect formation from collapse

§ Avoid interlayer interference
§ Keep clear of interbedded
water, bottom water, and gas
cap
§ Provide the conditions of
separate-zone operation
Wan Renpu (2011)
2.2.2.2. Cemented & Perforated
Completion using Liner
Configuration 1: Typical
§ Hang on the intermediate

casing
§ Length of the overlap
section: not less than 50 m
§ Suitable for a well with a
medium or low pressure
Wan Renpu (2011)
2.2.2.2. Cemented & Perforated
Completion using Liner
Configuration 2: with Tie-back
§ Commonly applied to:

§ Deep and ultra deep wells
§ High-pressure and super
high pressure wells
Wan Renpu (2011)
2.2.2.3 Cemented & Perforated Completion
with Sand Control (Gravel Pack)
The advantages of a Cemented and
perforated completion in the well
• In single-layer reservoirs, a cased and perforated
completion is a simple, durable completion;
• for multiple-layer reservoirs, a cased and perforated
completion allows for zonal isolation for different zones;
• for multiple-layer reservoirs, a cased and perforated
completion allows selective stimulation (different
stimulation treatments for different reservoir zones);
• very flexible with many possible cased and perforated
completions available for the same problems.
The disadvantages of a cased and
perforated completion in the well
• The costs of the perforating thick reservoir zones may be
excessive;
• Well logs for future reservoir evaluation, workover
planning, or determination to Plug and Abandon the well
are limited to Cased Hole Logs (subset of well logs that
are not impacted or are designed not to be impacted by
the presence of the casing);
• Deepening of the well is more difficult than in open-hole
completions.
2.3. Lower Completion Components
§ Casing
 Conductor
 Surface
 Intermediate
 Production
 Tie-back
§ Liner
 Intermediate liners
 Production liners
 Tie-back liners
 Scab liners
§ Other components
 Perforations
 Sand control equipment
2.3.2. Liners
§ Do not reach the surface
§ Are hang on the intermediate casing by liner hanger
§ Together with the intermediate casing, liner acts as the
production casing
§ Can be used with open hole or cased & perforated
completion
§ Cost effective compared to full length casing
Main Types of Liners
§ Drilling or intermediate liners:
 Used to isolate lost circulation or abnormally pressurized
zones to permit deeper drilling
§ Production liners:
 Used as a more efficient option for full casing to provide
isolation across the producing or injection zones
§ Tie-back liners:
 a section of casing extending upwards from the top of an
existing liner to the surface or well head
§ Scab liners:
 A section of casing that does not reach the surface. It is used to
to repair existing damaged casing.
 Normally sealed with packers at top and bottom or cemented
in some cases
Main Parameters of Slotted Liners
• Shape of Slot
• Width of Slot opening
• Arrangement of Slots
• Size of Slotted liner
• Length of Slot
Arrangement of slot Shape of slot
• Quantity of Slots
• Slot cutting of Liner
Longitudinal distance between slots
Slotted Liner Selection
Intermediate casing Bit of Open Hole Section Slotted Liner

Nominal size Casing OD Nominal size Bit diameter Nominal size Liner OD
(in.) (mm) (in.) (mm) (in.) (mm)
7 177.8 6 152 ̴ 1/2
5 5 127 1
̴ 40
85/8 219.1 71/2 190 51/2 6
̴ 5/8 140 1
̴ 68
95/8 244.5 81/2 216 65/8 7
̴ 5/8 168 1
̴ 94
103/4 273.1 95/8 244.5 75/8 8
̴ 5/8 194 2
̴ 19
2.3.3. Perforations
§ Provide the communication
between the wellbore and
the formation is established
through perforation tunnels.
§ This is achieved by making

holes through the casing (or
liner), cement and into the
formation.
Perforation Gun
Perforation Charges
Ott & Woods (2001)
Perforating gun
Charge Detonation
0
μsec
4
μsec
Charge Detonation
9.4
μsec
16.6
μsec
Explosive Types
§ RDX (Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine)
§ HMX (Cyclotrimethylene tetranitramine)
§ HNS (Hexanitrostilbene)
§ PYX Bis(Picrylamino)-3,5-dinitropyridine
§ PS (Picryl sulfone)
§ Composition B (60% RDX, 40% trinitrotoluene)
Perforation Anatomy
Perforation Specifications:
Depth of Penetration & Entrance Hole
(GeoDynamics)
Perforation Specifications:
Gun Phasing
Perforation Specifications by GeoDynamics
GeoDynamics
Perforating Methods
§ Wireline casing perforation
§ Through-tubing perforation
§ Tubing conveyed perforation
(TAMU)
Wireline casing Through-tubing Tubing-conveyed

perforation perforation perforation
Wireline Casing Perforation
• Overbalance perforating by
wireline casing gun
• Underbalance perforating by
wireline casing gun
• Pressurized wireline casing gun
perforation
(TAMU)
Overbalance Perforating by Wireline
Casing Gun
Advantage Disadvantage
• Simple operation • The solids and liquid
• Low cost phase of perforating fluid
• High perforation density may invade the reservoir
• Deep penetration  Causing serious formation
damage.
Underbalance Perforating by
Wireline Casing Gun
• Same basic as overbalance perforating by wireline casing
gun
• Before perforating, the wellbore liquid level is dropped to
a certain depth
 Appropriate underbalance pressure
• Suitable for low- and medium-pressure thin oil reservoirs
Through-tubing Perforation
Advantage Disadvantage
• Underbalanced • Perforation gun diameter
perforating is limited by the inside
• Reducing formation diameter of the tubing
damage  Cannot achieve high
• Suitable for re-perforation perforation density and deep
penetration
Tubing-conveyed Perforation
• The perforating gun is run to the desired

perforating depth on tubing
• A differential pressure packer, ported nipple,
and firing system are attached to the bottom
of the tubing
• The perforating charge is detonated by bar
dropping
Src: Renpu, W. (2011)
Inflow Performance for Perforated Wells
kh  pe  pwf 
q
  re  
141.2  B  ln    st 
  rw  
 k   rd   k 
st    1 ln       s p  s 
 kd   rw   kd 
St: Total skin due to perforation and damage
Sp : Skin due to perforation
S : Correction for boundary effect, can be ignored for rough calculation
rd, kd: Radius and permeability of the damaged zone
rw, k: Well radius and reservoir permeability
Skin due to Perforation by Karakas &
Tariq (1988)
s p  sh  sv  swb  sc
sh: Skin due to horizontal flow (phase effect)

sv : Skin due to vertical convergence skin
swb : Skin due to wellbore effect
sc: Skin of the crushed zone
Horizontal Skin sh
 rw 
s h  ln 
 r q  
 e 
 0 .2 5 l p q  0
r q   
  ( l p  rw ) q  0
re(q): Effective wellbore radius as a function of phase angle q

lp: Perforation length (in)
: Function of phase angle q
Vertical Convergence Skin sv
s v  1 0 a h Db  1 r pbD
a  a 1 lo g 1 0 ( r p D )  a 2 ;
b  b1 r p D  b 2
hp kv
hD 
lp kh
rp  kh 
rpD   1  
2hp  kv 
12
hp 
SPF
a1,a2,b1,b2: Functions of phase angle q

hD: Dimensionless perforation height; hp: Perforation phasing
rpD: Dimensionless perforation radius
kv,kh: Vertical and horizontal permeabilities
Factors for Vertical Convergence Skin
Wellbore Skin swb
s w b  C 1 e x p ( C 2 rw D )
rw
rw D 
l p  rw
C1,C2: Functions of phase angle q

rwD: Dimensionless wellbore radius
rw: Wellbore radius (in)
lp: Perforation length (in)
Crushed Zone Skin sc
hp  k   rc 
sc    1 ln  
l p  kc   rp 
sc: Skin of the crushed zone

hp : perforation spacing (in)
lp : perforation length (in)
rp: perforation radius
rc : Radius of the crushed zone
kc : Permeability of the crushed zone
Exercise 2:
Estimate the total skin (due to perforation and damage) for
a 4-spf perforated well with borehole radius of 4.5 in. The
damaged zone around the wellbore due to filtrate invasion
has 1ft radius. Perforation tunnels have an average radius of
0.25 in with the penetration length of 10in, crushed zone
radius of 0.75in, and phasing angle of 60o. The formation has
permeability ratio kh/kv=0.2, kc/k=0.5 and kd/k=0.45.
2.3.4. Sand Control
§ Resin injection
 Binding rock particles
using injected resin with
suitable catalyst
§ Slotted liners, sand screens &
prepacked screens
 Low cost sand control
§ Gravel pack
 robust sand control for
unconsolidated reservoirs
Door-way to wellbore through perforations
Sand Control with Sand Screens
§ Provide low cost solution to sand control
§ Wide applicable range
§ Less pressure drop than slotted liner
§ Strong corrosion resistance
Source: Cole & Ross (1998)
Sand Screen Types
All-welded, pipe-base Dual-wrapped prepacked External prepacked

wire-wrapped oil well well screen gravel-pack screen
screen
Source: Cole & Ross (1998)
Sand Screen vs Slotted Liner
Wan Renpu (2011)
Sand Screen Selection
Sand Screen Selection
Sand Control with Gravel Pack
• Provide robust sand control solution

• Designed to effectively control for a wide range of
sand distribution
• Normally used in cemented & perforated
completion for unconsolidated formations
Sand Control with Gravel Packing
Gravel Specifications
• Qualified degree of gravel size
• Acid solubility of gravel
• Conglomeration of gravel
• Strength of gravel
• Sphericity and psephicity of gravel
Sphericity and Psephicity of Gravel
Gravel Size vs Screen Gap Size
Gravel Packing Procedure

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Mai Cao Lan, Ph.D.

Phone: 0909 479 185

• Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)

• Non-thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery

• Nano-particles for EOR, flow assurance, drilling fluid, cementing …

• Sustainable Development (CO2 footprint, biochar,…)

To provide essential knowledge about equipment and

To provide theoretical background for the design and

4 Special Well Completions

Students are required to finish exercises/quizzes in each chapter in

Mid-term exam (multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes): 30%

Final exam (multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes): 50%

§ Life cycle of oil and gas wells

• A series of activities to prepare an oil well or a gas well, so

• Provide safe and efficient pathway for fluid from

• Provide safe and efficient pathway for wellbore

• Facilitate well intervention or stimulation

To provide safe and efficient communication between reservoir and wellbore

§ Reservoir rock properties

§ Reservoir fluid properties

§ Recall: Principles of NODAL analysis method

§ Well completion contribution to the inflow performance

§ Well completion contributions to the tubing performance

§ Lower completion is referred to as technology, equipment

§ The main function of lower completion is to provide a safe

§ The simplest open hole completion

Source: Wan Renpu (2011)

Source: Wan Renpu (2011)

Example of an Open-Hole Gravel Pack Open-

§ Protect formation from collapse

Wan Renpu (2011)

§ Hang on the intermediate

Wan Renpu (2011)

Configuration 2: with Tie-back

§ Commonly applied to:

Wan Renpu (2011)

Source: Wan Renpu (2011)

Longitudinal distance between slots

Source: Wan Renpu (2011)

Intermediate casing Bit of Open Hole Section Slotted Liner

§ This is achieved by making

Ott & Woods (2001)

§ RDX (Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine)

§ HMX (Cyclotrimethylene tetranitramine)

§ Composition B (60% RDX, 40% trinitrotoluene)

Wireline casing Through-tubing Tubing-conveyed

• The perforating gun is run to the desired

Src: Renpu, W. (2011)

sh: Skin due to horizontal flow (phase effect)

re(q): Effective wellbore radius as a function of phase angle q

a1,a2,b1,b2: Functions of phase angle q

C1,C2: Functions of phase angle q

sc: Skin of the crushed zone

Door-way to wellbore through perforations

Source: Cole & Ross (1998)

All-welded, pipe-base Dual-wrapped prepacked External prepacked

Source: Cole & Ross (1998)

Wan Renpu (2011)

Source: Wan Renpu (2011)