Foreword

Drilling and well completion engineers are confronted with increasingly complex well
design in order to achieve the high productivity goals that are assigned to each well.
New technologies are now available, while equipment is constantly improving, and
there is growing understanding of the cornplex phenomena that are involved. Furthermore,
the well path has changed, with horizontal, multilateral and extended reach wells now commono
These changes have brought about a significant evolution in drilling, cementing and
completion techniques. In addition, it has become incceasingly common for reservoir, drilling and completion engneers to work together as a team. This book was written for all
engineers who are involved in well productivity, in order to provide accurate information
and an overview of the various phenomena and techniques required for well designo
The following topics are discussed:
Well technology: casing and tubings, packers, coiled tubings.
Well productivity evaluation and control: pressure 108scalculations versus fluid rheology, preventing formation damage, remedial clean-up and sand control.
Stimulation: hydraulic fracturing and matrix acidizing.
Horizontal and multilateral wells: classification, pressure drops and flow patterns.
Production improvement: water control, heavy oil, artificiallift, scale treatment.
For each topic, informaton is provided on: the basic parameters and physicallaws used
in well designand productivity control; current equipment and industrial praetiees, including new, recently-designed technologies; and the formulae used in well design and cornQ@tion.
Jaequeline Lecourtier
Director, Drilling and Production R&D
lnstitut Francais du Ptrole

Preface

Well production techniques have considerably progressed in recent years. Therefore,

we thought that a new handbook on the subject might well prove valuable to the practicing
engineer.
This work is designed to give a complete, comprehensive
overview of field development and well production, providing a wealth of practical information. It is intended as a
reference
guide for petroleum engineers
and oilfield operators, yet also provides
readily-available
soiutions to practical peoblems. The user willfind the guidelines, recomrnendations, formulas and charts currently in use, as it covers most of the cases encountered
in the field. Even when a problem has been contracted out to a service company, reference
to this handbook will help the oilfield manager lo better monitor outsourced work and current opeeations.

The information used i,n this book ro choose a solution to a given problem in oilfield
development is based on a wide variety of petroleurn industry documents and reviews, and
on the many papees presented at SPE and other intemational confeeences. Numerous references, both at the end of each chapter and in the captions to figures and tables, will enable
. the interested reader to study a specific topic in greater detail.
Many examples are given throughout to facilitare the use of the formulas. AIso, measurements are frequently expressed in both metric and U.S. units. The symbols used for
these units conform to the recommendations
of the SPE Board of Dieectors.

This publication will therefore serve both as a guide and as a handbook, in which the
operator will find answers lo his questions, along with quick and easy solutions to most of
the problems that occur in field development.

Henri Cholet

VII

Acknowledgments

Well production is a very broad area that covers the analysis ofreservoirs and of well productivity, activation and stimulation techniques, one-phase and multiphase production in
. horizontal, deviated and multilateral wells, problems due to water control and gas intlux,
deposit treatment, well reconditioning, measurements in cased holes, standards and econornics. One cannot be a leading specialist in all these areas. 1 thus greatly appreciated the help of
my former colleagues at IFP, oil and service company engineers and petroleum consultants.
Works published by professors of the IFP School provided me with a wealth of practical
information. The Drilling Data Handbook was particularly useful in preparing the first two
chapters of.this work.
At SPE and AFTP conferences, 1 had the opportunity to discuss with and benefit from
the advice of speakers, session chairpersons and organizing committee members.
1 offer my hearty thanks to thern and Editions Technip for helping bring this book into
being.

The preparation of this work, which involved many long hours, would have been impossible without the support and understanding of my wife.

Henri Cholet

IX

. .J

Contents

11 GENERAL

DATA

CASING ANO TUBING

Introduction

B.2
B.3

Geometrical
Dimensions

37

B.4
B.5

Steel grade and tensile requirements of tubings

Tubing connection

37
47

B.6

Makeup of threaded connection

49

B.7
B.8

API and buttress tubing thread form

53
Elongation '................................................................................................................................
54

characteristics of casings
and mas ses of tubings

B.9

Tubing movement

B.l0
B.l1

Tubing capacity
Annular volume between casing and tubing

37
37

formulas

55
55
58

COI lEO TUBING

(.1
(.2

(,3
C.4
(.5

(,6

35

B.l

Coiled tubing unit equipment

Workover safety

design
_,.~,.

Tube technology and capabilities

Sand and solids washing
Unloading wells with lighter fluids

61
63
65
67
71
72

C.7
C.8

Coiled tubing assisted logging and perforating

73
Cementing
,.....................................................................................................................
74
Fishing
75

C.9

Velocity

(,10
(.11

Production appl ications

Advanced-composite
spoolable

strings

75

77
tubing

,~~,

:.............................. 81

PACKERS

83

D.l

Introduction

85

D.2

Tubing-to-packer

connections

XI

85