Petroleum Production

Engineering-II

Unit 1: Well
Problems; Low
Well
Productivity.
Prepared by: Mr
Saddam Al-Sadi
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What is a problem well?

› Depending on the economics of a
particular situation, a problem well may be
related within specific limits to:
Ø  low oil or gas production,
Ø  high GOR ,
Ø  high water cut ,
Ø  mechanical problems,
Ø  or insufficient profit.

Petroleum Production Engineering-2

Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 3

PROBLEM WELLS
›  Problemsin injection or disposal wells may be
related to
1.  high injection pressure
2.  and low injection rate
3.  or mechanical problems.

›  Gas well and oil well problems are similar;

›  however,high water production is more difficult to

handle in gas wells. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 4

Causes for Limited Producing Rate

›  Limited producing rate may be a result of:

v  (I) low reservoir permeability ,

v  (2) low reservoir pressure for depth,
v  (3) formation damage,
v  (4) wellbore , tubing or flowline plugging,
v  (5) high viscosity oil ,
v  (6) excessive back pressure on formation,
v  (7) inadequate artificial lift, or
v  (8) mechanical problems.
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 5

Low Reservoir Permeability

› Low reservoir permeability may be:
1.  an overall reservoir characteristic,
2.  or it may be limited to only a portion of a
reservoir.

› Characteristically,
in a low permeability
reservoir, well productivity declines rapidly
if fluids near the wellbore are produced at
a high rate.
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 6

Low Reservoir Permeability

› flowmeter surveys and pressure buildup

tests may aid in differentiating between low
permeability and formation damage .

› radioactive
tracer ' surveys may be used
to determine formation-wellbore
communication for each interval .
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 7

Formation Damage
›  Formation
damage may be defined as: any
impairment of well productivity or injectivity due to
plugging:
Ø  within the wellbore ,
Ø  in perforations ,
Ø  in formation pores adjacent to the wellbore,
Ø  or in fractures communicating with the wellbore .

The problem is to determine:

Ø  thedegree of well damage,
Ø  probable causes of well damage,
Ø  and finally, approaches to alleviate any serious
damage. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 8

Formation Damage
›  A
reservoir study may be required to differentiate
between
Ø  ( 1 ) production decline due to gradual formation
plugging
Ø  and (2) decline due to loss of reservoir pressure .

›  Comparison of offset wells may not be sufficient to

detect gradual plugging because all wells may be
subject to similar damaging conditions.

›  "Skin" damage calculations plus a through-tubing

flowmeter survey, provide a much more definitive
approach to skin damage. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 9

Formation Damage

Petroleum Production Engineering-2

Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 10

Formation Damage
›  Figure1 -2 illustrates the difference in pressure
drawdown in a normal well as compared with a well
with serious " skin" damage.

›  Ina relatively high permeability well with severe skin

damage, reservoir pressure measured in the well may
stabilize within a few hours.

›  If
permeability is low, days or weeks may be required
for reservoir pressure to stabilize;

›  under these conditions, it may be difficult to determine

skin damage. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
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Plugging of Tubing, Wellbore, and

Perforations
›  Forall types of wells , the probability of flowline,
tubing , wellbore , or perforation plugging should be
evaluated .
›  Plugging may be caused by
›  gravel pack
›  or frac sand,
›  fines,
›  mud,
›  formation rock,
›  paraffin ,
›  asphaltenes, scale, pipe dope , gun debris or other junk,
and collapsed tubing or casing. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
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High Viscosity Oil

›  Highviscosity oil may be normal for a particular
reservoir.

›  If
the reservoir is being produced by dissolved gas
drive, oil viscosity will increase somewhat as gas is
released from the oil.

›  If
well producing problems are due to high viscosity
water-in-oil emulsions in or near the wellbore , it
may be economical to either break or invert the
emulsion with surfactants to lower viscosity .
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
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High Viscosity Oil/Emulsions

› Emulsions can also form in or around the
wellbore and may create a block that
restricts or completely cuts off production
from the reservoir.

› An emulsion: is simply a mixture of one liquid

(the discontinuous phase) that is dispersed
within another liquid (the continuous phase)
and is likely to be formed when oil and
water are mixed.
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
 14

High Viscosity Oil/Emulsions

›  Stable
emulsions are the most likely to block
production and are also the most difficult to
remove.

›  For
an emulsion to become stable, an emulsifying
agent (fine particles and/or surfactants) must be
present.

›  Althoughsurfactants can cause emulsions, other

surfactants at the proper concentrations can
break emulsions.
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
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Excessive Back Pressure on

Formation
›  Excessive back pressure can appreciably lower
producing rates in wells producing from reservoirs
nearing pressure depletion.

›  Excessive formation back pressure may be due to:

1.  limited or plugged perforations;
2.  plugging of wellbore , tubing , or flowline;
3.  subsurface or surface chokes;
4.  undersized gas-oil separator, flowline ,
tubing, or casing;
5.  excessive back-pressure on the casing
connected to the oil flowline or directly to a
gas gathering system,
Petroleum Production Engineering-2
6.  or high pressure on the gas oil separator Mr. Saddam. Al-Sadi
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Mechanical failures
›  Mechanical failures can occur in a well for a
variety of reasons that are usually related to one of
the following:

Ø  (1) the corrosion of downhole equipment,

Ø  (2) the collection of debris or scale in the wellbore,
Ø  (3) the production of formation sand or collapse of
the formation,
Ø  (4) insufficient cement protection,
Ø  (5) the use of equipment that is not designed to
withstand the depth, temperature, or pressure of a
well. Petroleum Production Engineering-2
Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi
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Examples of Mechanical
Failures

Petroleum Production Engineering-2

Mr. Saddam Al-Sadi