Introduction to

Formation Damage

Section 4

Printed: 3/25/2006

EDC, Tomball, TX

Introduction to
Formation Damage
O Introduction
O Damage Mechanisms
O Reservoir Assessment
O Production Assessment
O Removal
O Prevention

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 Introduction
O Formation damage is a well known phrase in the
oil and gas industry
O Main reason many oil, gas, and water injection
wells have low productivity or injectivity
O Damage is often expressed as ‘skin’ or ‘zonal’
damage which results when the original
permeability of the producing formation is altered
O Net result of such damage is a decrease in the
flow capacity of the well
O Formation damage is caused by many factors
and may occur from the moment the formation is
penetrated by drilling to any time during the life
of a well.
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Damage Mechanisms
O Well Life Cycle & Formation Damage
O General Damage Classifications
O Examples
³ Fines Migration
³ Scale Deposition

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 Well Life Cycle &
Formation Damage
O Formation Damage can occur in any well
operations including:
³ Drilling (including fluids used)
³ Cementing (including cement bond logs)
³ Completions & Perforating (including fluids
used)
³ Production
³ Workover
³ Stimulation

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Common Types of
Formation Damage
New Well Old Well Injection Well
O Invasion of O Deposits O Deposits
fluids and/or ¾ Inorganic ¾Inorganic
solids Scales Scales
¾Whole mud ¾ Paraffin & ¾Clay Swelling &
¾Mud Solids Asphaltene Migration
¾Mud Filtrate ¾ Corrosion ¾Oil Carryover
¾Cement Filtrate ¾ Fines Migration ¾Unfiltered
Solids
¾Cement Solids O Fluid Problems
¾Bacterial Slime
¾Wettability ¾ Emulsions
¾Plugged Perfs ¾ Water
¾Perf Production
Compaction ¾ Clay Swelling

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 Drilling History
O Review of the drilling history (drilling
report) can reveal damage caused early in
the life of a well
O To understand fluids used and their
properties (oil-based, water-based, pH,
solids used etc.)
O Two primary drilling damage mechanisms
to consider
³ Drilling mud filtrate loss to the formation
³ Drilling solids invasion
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Drilling Mud Filtrate Loss

O Caused formation damage, permeability reducing
effects
³ Invasion of unbroken viscosified gel fluid filter cake
Ë On the formation face or within natural fractures or vugs
³ Alteration of wettability from water-wet to oil-wet state
Ë Caused by surfactants or oil-based fluids
³ Reaction of fluid filtrate with formation minerals
Ë Causing clay swelling and dispersion or
Ë Migration of fines through clay effects or mineral
dissolution

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 Drill Solids Invasion
O Damage caused by drill solids invasion
³ Weighting materials, bentonite clay or barite
³ Drill cuttings and cuttings fines
³ Loss circulation material (LCM)
³ Pipe dope
³ Other miscellaneous solid materials used

O Whole Mud Loss To Formation

³ In naturally fractured formations

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Cementing Program
O The following possibilities for formation
damage
³ High losses of high-pH cement filtrate, disturb
clays and fines migration
³ Invasion and plugging by cement solids
³ Loss of whole cement to the formation
Ë Either into natural fractures
Ë Or due to inadvertent fracturing during cementing

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 Completions
O Completion practices and the fluids used
³ Perforating in dirty fluids
³ Unfiltered solids in perforation fluid
³ Completion fluid not always compatible

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Perforating
O Perforating in oil-based
drilling fluid
³ Cause undesirable
wettability
Ë Reducing relative
permeability to oil or
gas
O Compaction or crushing of
formation
³ Dramatically reduce the
inflow of fluid into the
perforation
O Method
³ Over/Under Balanced
O Density
³ Shots per foot
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 Workover History
O Damage created during workover
operation
³ Use of dirty fluid, cause plugging
³ The fluid not compatible with formation brine,
results in formation of variety of scales,
carbonates, and sulfates
³ Paraffin deposition resulting from near-
wellbore fluid temperature reduction
³ Water-blocking (retention of water in formation
pore spaces)

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Stimulation History
O Review of stimulation history is utmost
importance
O Contact those who involved in past
treatment design
O The damage can occur during ACIDIZING
and FRACTURING
³ In both sandstones and carbonates

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 Acidizing Damage Mechanisms
O Inadvertent injection of solids
O Use of incompatible additives or improper mixing
procedures
O Reprecipitation of acid reaction products
O Loss of near-wellbore formation compressive
strength
O Formation of emulsions
O Water blocking
O Wettability alteration
O Unbroken gel plugging
O Post treatment fines migration

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Hydraulic Fracturing Damage

Mechanism
O Fines migration and plugging in the
proppant pack
O Problems associated with incompatible
fluids (water-block, wettability, emulsions)
O Unbroken polymer gel in the propped
fracture

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 Classifications
O Shallow Damage
³ Usually associated with solids invasion during
drilling and workover operations
Ë Mud solids create a tough impermeable filter cake
on the borehole wall
Ë Some particles may penetrate up to a few inches
into the formation, creating a cylinder of reduced
permeability around the wellbore which reduces the
flow rate of fluid and/or gas into the bore hole

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Classifications (cont.)

O Moderate / Deep Damage

³ Usually associated with invasion of the formation by
fluids which are incompatible with either the formation
fluids or the formation itself

³ Can also be caused during production of the well

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 Classifications (cont.)

O Examples of Moderate/Deep Damage:

³ Clay Swelling & Dispersion
³ Wettability Changes
³ Chemical Precipitation
³ Emulsion Blocks
³ Water Blocks
³ Bacterial growth
³ Organic & Scale Deposition

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Examples
O Fines Migration
O Inorganic Deposition
O Organic Deposition
O Clay Damage

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 Fines Migration
O Occurs in sandstones
³ During abrupt increases in production
³ During natural production
³ If production rates exceed “critical velocities”
O Induced in sandstones by acidizing
³ HF treatments are notorious for generating
new fines
³ Or releasing existing, and undissolved fines

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Particle Invasion
O A primary causes of formation damage is
the invasion of solid particles that plug
interconnected pore throats
O As a result, reduce the natural
permeability of the formation

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 Particle Mixing Theory
O Derry Sparlin’s SPE paper 4772, “Sand
and Gravel - A Study of Their
Permeabilities”, states:
³ In the actual case of a mixture (of particles),
the smaller particles tend to fill the void
spaces between the larger particles so that the
permeability of the mixture is almost always
less than the permeability of the smaller
particulate matter.

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Particle Mixing Theory (cont.)

Large Particles Small Particles Mixed Particles

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 Particle Invasion -
Geometrically
O Particles with diameters smaller than 1/13
the diameter of the average formation
sand grain will invade the pore space and
possibly become trapped within the
formation matrix itself
STABLE BRIDGE

d'

d' = diameter of bridging particle

d = diameter of pore throat

If d ≤ 2d' STABLE BRIDGES WILL FORM Slide 25

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Particle Invasion - Research

O A. Abrams’ SPE paper 5713, “Mud Design
to Minimize Rock Impairment Due to
Particle Invasion”, was presented at the
51st Annual Fall Technical Conference in
New Orleans during October, 1976. Basic
conclusions of this work are:
³ Particles with diameter size ranges between
1/3 and 1/7 the size of the pore throat will plug
pore channels.
³ Particles smaller in size than 1/7 the size of the
pore throat will migrate freely through the
formation matrix.
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 Particle Invasion - Research
(cont.)
O Since core samples are not always
available to determine pore space sizes, a
method of estimating pore space sizes
can be helpful. Harris and Odom’s article,
“Effective Filtration in Completion and
Other Wellbore Operations Can Be Good
Investment”, provides the following rule of
thumb for estimating pore space size in
the Gulf Coast:
³ The pore size in microns approximately equals
the square root of the permeability in
millidarcies
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Particle Invasion - Research

(cont.)
Critical Plugging
Permeability Pore Size Range
(md) (microns) (microns)
100 10.0 3.3 to 1.4
250 15.8 5.2 to 2.2
500 22.4 7.4 to 3.2
750 27.4 9.1 to 3.9
1,000 31.6 10.5 to 4.5
1,500 38.7 12.9 to 5.5
2,000 44.7 14.9 to 6.3
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 Inorganic Scale Deposition
O Occur during well production
³ Depending on well conditions
³ Produced water characteristics
³ Different scale types may form
O Common scales
³ Calcium carbonate, iron carbonate, calcium
sulfate
³ Barium sulfate, strontium sulfate, iron sulfate
³ Combinations may also form

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Carbonate Deposition

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 Calcium Carbonate

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Layered Calcium Sulfate Deposit

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 Calcium Sulfate deposit in a 4” pipe

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Organic Deposition
O Very common problem in oil wells
O If not properly diagnosed
³ It can be missed
³ Or mistaken for other forms of damage
O Two general types
³ Paraffin (wax)
³ Asphaltenes

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 Paraffin Deposition
O A function of reservoir or wellbore
temperature
³ Temperature above the cloud point (p29)
Ë Deposition will not take place
³ Below the cloud point can cause the paraffin
to crystallize
Ë Deposit in perforation or wellbore
O Such temperature change may occur
during any well operation
³ When the fluid is introduced from the surface
to the wellbore or formation

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Rod coupling with

wax build-up after
hot water program

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 Asphaltene Deposition
O Asphaltenes are high carbon number,
primarily cyclic hydrocarbons
³ Present in crude oil in colloidal suspension
O Asphaltenes deposition is not sensitive to
temperature, but to pressure drop
³ As crude oil flows from the formation into the
wellbore, and production tubing
O Upset to the fluid equilibria can also cause
asphaltenes deposition

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Clay Damage
O Three things we want to know about
clays…
³ Type
³ Occurrence
³ Abundance

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 Introduction to Permeability
Impairment by Indigenous Clays
O Water sensitive formations are
characterizes by their reduced
permeability when contacted by fluids
foreign to the formation. This reduced
absolute permeability results from
plugging of pore channels by invading or
inherent particles. Clay swelling and / or
migration is an example.

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Introduction to Permeability
Impairment by Indigenous Clays (cont.)

O Sandstones
³ Most sandstone formations typically contain a
certain percentage of indigenous clays in their
mineral composition. These clays can be part
of a matrix, as coating on pore walls, or lying
in the pores.
³ A sandstone containing between 1.0% and
5.0% clay would be considered ‘clean’. A
‘dirty’ sandstone would contain 5.0% to 20.0%

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 Introduction to Permeability
Impairment by Indigenous Clays (cont.)

O Carbonate Formations
³ Carbonate formations are seldom clay-bearing
and, when clays are present, they are
incorporated in the matrix.

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Montmorillonite
(Smectite, Bentonite)
O Has a structure and cation composition
that gives it the ability to soak up large
quantities of water, which spreads its
sheet-like layers apart (causes it to swell).
O This tendency is the main reason
montmorillonite can be so damaging to
formation permeability when it is exposed
to aqueous filtrates.
* Montmorillonite is a swelling clay.

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 Montmorillonite Group
O Diagenetic or detrital
O Detrital
³ Shales & shale clasts
³ Laminations in Sst
O Diagenetic
³ Grain-coating
³ Pore-bridging

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Illite
O Appears as hairlike structures lining pore walls
O Permeability reduction caused by dispersed illite
is primarily due to the resultant increase in
tortuosity (pore friction).
O When conditions prevail, due to outside
influences, that potassium ions are leached out
from the crystal structure, illite can change to a
clay that will expand on contact with water
O Illite is often associated with water blocks due to
microporosity.
* Illite is primarily a migrating clay
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 Illite (cont.)
O May be detrital or
diagenetic
³ Detrital occurs in
shales, shale clasts, &
shale laminations
³ Diagenetic occurs as
pore-bridging & grain-
coating clay

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Kaolinite
O Typically present in both young and old
rocks in small amounts
O Main permeability damage caused by
kaolinite found in sandstone is due to its
tendency to bridge off in pore throats
once it has been dispersed and
deflocculated

* Kaolinite is a migrating clay

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 Kaolinite (cont.)
O Aluminum-rich
O No interlayer cations
O Loosely attached
O Migrating fines
potential

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Chlorite
O Dissolution of chlorite, being an iron-
bearing mineral, could create the potential
for the formation of pore plugging iron
hydroxide precipitates.
O An iron sequestrant should be used in any
treatment.

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 Chlorite (cont.)
O Usually diagenetic
O Blades & rosettes
O Grain-coating &
grain-replacing
O iron-bearing &
acid-sensitive

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Pore Lining - Chlorite

SAND
GRAINS

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 Mixed Layer Clays
(MLIS = Mixed Layer Illite/Smectite)
O Composed of layers of different clays
O Irregular mixed clays usually contain
montmorillonite and illite and thus show
marked swelling tendencies
O Some tests show that permeability
reduction is the greatest when
montmorillonite and mixed-layer clays are
present
O Reduction is less with illite, and least with
kaolinite and chlorite.
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Mixed Layer Clays

O Most commonly MLIS
O Combines migration and
swelling potential
O Properties depend on
relative amount of
smectite and on
interlayer cation type

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 Clay Migration

Oil Flow through Sandstones

Water-Wet
Oil Sand Particle
Flow

Water-Wet Clay Particles Water-Wet

Clay Particle

Water-Wet
Water Sand Particle
Envelope

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Pore Blocking by
Oil-Wet Clay Particles
Water-Wet

Sand Particle
Oil-Wet

Clay Particles

Oil

Flow

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 Clay Bridging
O Pore Bridging - Illite O Discrete Particles -
Kaolinite

SAND
GRAINS SAND
GRAINS

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Flocculated and
Unexpanded Clays

Feldspar

Formation Quartz
Water Grains

Clay Minerals

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 Deflocculated and
Expanded Clays

Feldspar

Fresh Quartz
Water Grains

Expanded and Deflocculated

Clay Minerals

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Reservoir Assessment
O Geology & Mineralogy
³ Laboratory Tests Performed on Formation
Samples
O Fluids
O Production
O Porosity
O Permeability

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 Reservoir Geology and
Mineralogy
O Information on reservoir geology
³ Rock type, sandstone or carbonate
³ Permeability and porosity
³ Nature of porosity, matrix vs naturally
fractured
³ Permeability distribution across the producing
or injection interval

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Reservoir Geology and

Mineralogy (cont.)
O Information on mineralogy characteristics
³ Bulk mineralogy, define the mineral types
present
³ Location of mineral phases in and around the
rock pore spaces
³ Natural fracture network

O Most important, the Lab Tests

O Consult with geologists

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 Laboratory Tests Performed
on Formation Samples
O The following tests should be run on core
samples to gain insight on potential problems
that may be generated or prevented by the choice
of fluids:
³ Thin Section Petrography - Determines the mineralogy,
texture, pore throat size, type and distribution.

³ Scanning Electron Microscope - Large scale view of

mineralogy and pore structure.

³ X-Ray Diffraction - Analysis of bulk components

showing minerals and clays present.

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Additional Tests Performed

on Formation Samples
O Standard Core Flood Test
O Clay Damage Test
O Particle Invasion Test
O Additional Preliminary Core Tests

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 Mineralogical Analysis
(XRD)

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Reservoir Fluids
O Fluid types (oil or gas)
O Fluid properties
³ H2S or CO2 content in gas
³ Oil gravity
³ Paraffin and asphaltene content
³ Produced water volume
Ë Ionic composition and scaling tendency
O Lab testing and Lab analysis review

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 Production History
O In an older well,
³ A sudden and sharp decline in production
Ë Indicative of migration of mobile formation fines in
near wellbore region
O In a new well with good DST
³ But poor performance after completion
Ë Indicate damage in the completion process
O Other possible production damage
mechanisms

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Production History (cont.)

O Other possible production damage
mechanisms contributors
³ Fines migration
³ Inorganic scale deposition
³ Organic solids deposition
Ë Paraffin
Ë Asphaltenes

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 Offset Well Production
O Offset well and or nearby well comparison
O The first-step to understand the interest
well
³ Is the well underperforming
³ Is the well suffering from any form of damage

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Porosity
O Porosity is the amount, volumetrically, of a
porous media (rock) which is not occupied by
solid material, expressed as a percentage.
O In other words, if a one cubic foot sample of a
particular formation contained 0.75 ft3 of solid
material and 0.25 ft3 of void space, the porosity
would be :

0.25 ft3 / 1 ft3 = 0.25 = 25 %

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 Porosity (cont.)
O Volume of acid to radially fill a zone d

O Volume = Height x π (D2-d2) x Porosity

4
In oilfield units: D

Volume, gals = 0.0408 x Height x (D2-d2) x Porosity

Where: Height, ft Let’s

Porosity, fraction Try an
Example
D, invaded zone, inches Problem!
d, wellbore diameter, inches
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Permeability
O Permeability is a measure of the ease with
which a fluid or gas can flow through a
porous media, expressed in millidarcies
(mD) or, less often darcies (D).

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 Production Assessment
O Effects of Formation Damage
³ Darcy’s Law
O Permeability Damage
O Skin Factor

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Effects of Formation Damage

Darcy’s Law for radial flow

Q = 7.08 (pe - pw) K h FLO
U ID W
µ ln(re/rw) FL

where: Q = rate (bpd)

K = permeability (D)
pe = reservoir pressure (psi)
pw = wellbore pressure (psi)
H = height (ft)
µ = fluid viscosity (cp) re
re = reservoir radius (ft) rw r1
rw = wellbore radius (ft) pe pw
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 Permeability Damage
O Permeability Damage Ratio

³ The next graph gives an estimated production

decrease associated with a given amount of
permeability damage in the near wellbore
region.

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Permeability Damage Ratio

1.00
7” wellbore
PI (damaged) / PI (undamaged)

0.90

0.80
Kd/Ku = 0.50
0.70

0.60

0.50
Kd/Ku = 0.25
0.40 Damaged Zone, Kd
0.30
Kd/Ku = 0.10 660’ drainage radius
0.20
40 acre spacing
0.10
Kd/Ku = 0.05
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

DEPTH OF DAMAGE (feet) Slide 74

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 Average Permeability

O Given:
Original permeability, k
Reservoir radius, re
Damaged or reduced permeability, kd
Damaged or reduced permeability radius, rd

³ The well will act as as it has an average permeability, kavg

where:

ln (re / rw) = ln (re / rd) + ln (rd / rw)

kavg k kd
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Skin Factor

p e − p wf
q = 7 . 082 kh ( )
β o µ ⎡⎢ ln ⎛⎜ re r ⎞⎟ + S ⎤⎥
⎣ ⎝ w ⎠ ⎦
Where:
S = Skin value re,= reservoir radius, ft
q = production rate, b/d rw = wellbore radius, ft
k = permeability, D h = formation height, ft
pe = reservoir pressure, psi
pwf = flowing wellbore pressure, psi
βo = formation volume factor, reservoir vol/prod.vol
µ = formation fluid viscosity, cp Slide 76

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 Skin Factor (cont.)

⎛ k ⎞ ⎛ rs ⎞
S = ⎜⎜ − 1 ⎟⎟ x ln ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ ks ⎠ ⎝ rw ⎠
Where:
k = formation permeability
ks= permeability of altered (damaged) zone
re,= reservoir radius
rw = wellbore radius Slide 77

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Total Skin

(S t = S c + φ + S p + S d + Σ pskins )
Where:

St = Total Skin
Sc+Ø = Skin due to partial completion
Sp = Skin due to incomplete perforations
Sd = Skin due to damage
∑pskins = pseudo-skin factor
(phase- and rate-dependent effects)
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 Formation Damage Removal
O “Cures” for formation damage:
³ Matrix acid jobs
³ Acid fracturing jobs
³ Propped fracturing jobs
³ Various surfactant injections, etc.
O Selecting the right treatment is often not a
simple matter

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Formation Damage Removal

(cont.)
O When considering a well treatment, the following
information (is required):
³ Type of formation and mineral composition
³ Type of damage and its extent
³ Contact time interval available for chemical treatment
³ Physical limitations of well equipment
³ Bottom hole pressure and temperature
³ Possible contaminants
Ë water, mud, bacteria, cement, etc.
³ Treating fluid compatibility with contaminants
³ Formation properties: acid solubility, permeability,
porosity

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 Formation Damage Removal
(cont.)
O Small Volume Chemical Treatments
³ Removing skin damage at the wellbore
generally requires small treatment volumes,
using low injection rates at pressures below
the formation fracturing pressure.
³ Using Darcy’s radial flow model and some
basic formation information, we can calculate
treatment rates and expected production
increase.
³ It is important to remember that a matrix acid
job will not give an appreciable production
increase on an undamaged well (formation).
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Mechanical Removal
of Scales
O For perforated casing, reperforating is the
most effective method of bypassing
perforations sealed with scale
O Other methods such as string shot, sonic
tools, drilling or reaming have been used
to remove both soluble and insoluble
scales from tubing, casing or open hole
O Scale may be removed from surface lines
with ‘pigs’ or by reaming out

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 Chemical Removal
of Scales
O Water-Soluble Scale
³ The most common water-soluble scale is
sodium chloride which is readily dissolved
using fresh water. Acid should not be used to
remove NaCl.
³ If gypsum scale is newly formed and porous, it
may be dissolved by circulating water
containing about 55,000 mg/liter NaCl past the
scale. At 100 °F, this solution will dissolve
three times as much gypsum scale as would
fresh water.
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Chemical Removal
of Scales (cont.)
O Acid-Soluble Scale
³ The most common scale compound, calcium
carbonate (CaCO3), is acid soluble and can
easily be removed using HCl or acetic acid.
³ Acid-soluble scales also include iron
carbonate (FeCO3), iron sulphide (FeS), and
iron oxides (Fe2O3). HCl plus a sequestering
agent is normally used to remove iron scale.

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 Chemical Removal
of Scales (cont.)
Acid Required for CaCO3 and Iron Scales
Type of Acid Gallons of 15% HCL
Soluble Scale per ft3 of Scale

CaCO3 95
Fe2O3 318
FeS 180

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Chemical Removal
of Scales (cont.)
O Chemically Inert Scales
³ The most common chemically inert scales are
barium sulphate (BaSO4) and strontium
sulphate (SrSO4). Until recently these scales
could only be removed by mechanical
methods, or bypassing them by reperforating.
New products have been developed within the
last couple of years that are able to convert
these scales to a moderately soluble state.
However, in the case of these scale deposits,
the best approach is still prevention.

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 Formation Damage Prevention
O Prevention is the best cure for formation damage
O Damage that occurs while drilling is difficult to
prevent, especially when heavy weight muds are
required
O Many times, good completion techniques will
overcome the majority of damage done while
drilling
³ If not, a stimulation treatment may be required

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Section Summary
O Introduction to Formation Damage
³ Introduction
³ Damage Mechanisms
³ Reservoir Assessment
³ Production Assessment
³ Removal
³ Prevention

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