Well Productivity

Arasy Az Zariat | 2020

GLOBAL SKIN

geometric skin

Turbulences

S ' = Sm + S g + S q

mechanical skin
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
MECHANICAL SKIN

re
rw
pay zone ks k
rs

Zone of changed permeability s → skin

due to FORMATION DAMAGE w → well

Formation damage is any impairment

of reservoir permeability around the wellbore.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
HAWKINS FORMULA

k − k s  rs 
ln 
Rw
Sm = s → skin
Rs ks  rw  w → well
Ks
K

K = 500 mD ; Dw = 81/2"
Ks = 50 mD ; Rs = Rw + 30 cm

S = +11.9 If Rs = Rw + 10 cm
If Ks = 100 mD
→S= ?
→S= ?
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
INFLOW EXERCISE solution
k − k s  rs 
Sm = ln 
ks  rw 

Case 1: K = 500 mD ; Dw = 8"1/2

Ks = 100 mD ; Rs = Rw + 30 cm

inches →m

500 − 100  (8.5 / 2 )* 0.0254 + 0.3 

S= ln 
100  (8 .5 / 2 ) * 0.0254 
 0.40795 
S = 4 ln 
 0.10795 
S  +5.3 diam. to radius
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
INFLOW EXERCISE solution
k − k s  rs 
Sm = ln 
ks  rw 

Case 2: K = 500 mD ; Dw = 8"1/2

Ks = 50 mD ; Rs = Rw + 10 cm

500 − 50  (8.5 / 2 )* 0.0254 + 0.1 

S= ln 
50  (8.5 / 2 )* 0.0254 
 0.20795 
S = 9 ln 
 0.10795 
S  +5.9
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
EXAMPLE OF THE FORMATION DAMAGE
DUE TO THE DRILLING PROCESS
• Main roles of the mud :
• To balance formation
pressure by hydrostatic
injection line pressure,
high pressure • To clean the hole and
transport cuttings,
• To stabilize the wellbore,
• To cool and lubricate the bit.
High Pressure Circulation
Low Pressure Circulation
BOP • Main kinds of mud :
• water based mud
• oil based mud
Drilling pump
landing collar

casing
Mud tank
+ mud treatment

open hole
drilling bit
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INTERFACE WELL-RESERVOIR
DURING THE DRILLING PROCESS
Filtration through the wellbore

impermeable

External cake
zone

Invaded zone
Internal cake

Non invaded
Well

zone
reservoir rock
cake

Circulating mud
The penetration depends mainly on the filtration properties of the mud.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
WBM AND
RELATIVE PERMEABILITY TO OIL

Soi

kro reduction
Swi
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KEY NOTES
Formation damage and formation skin
• During the last drilling phase, the mud is in contact with the reservoir. The mud is
composed of a liquid part, named the filtrate, and solid particles, which generate a
cake along the well walls. At a given depth, the mud cake initially doesn't exist, and
the filtrate enters the formation. Then, the formation cake starts, seals more and more
efficiently the reservoir from the well, and therefore protects it : there is less and less
filtrate invasion in the reservoir.

• At the end of the drilling process, there is an external cake on the well walls, a thin
internal cake, and a zone of filtrate invasion in the reservoir.

• When beginning the production, the cake has to be removed, and a part of the filtrate
is evacuated with the first fluid in place produced. But the part of the mud remaining
in the formation changes the permeability of the reservoir, and therefore generates a
"barrier" for the production, which is quantified by a factor named the skin.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
KEY NOTES
Formation damage and formation skin
• In terms of productivity of the well, an adequate mud is a mud ...
✓ which cake is generated very rapidly, and seals very efficiently the reservoir from
the well,
✓ which the filtrate is compatible with the fluid in place,
✓ which cake can be removed easily.

• The granulometry of the solid part of the mud is chosen in order to minimize the
internal cake thickness.

• The good removal of the cake is one of the main conditions for a good production of
the well when produced open hole (case of horizontal drains)
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GEOMETRIC SKIN
geometric skin

Turbulences

S ' = Sm + S g + S q
well trajectory
mechanical skin

S g = S pp + S + S frac

Partial penetrating
Completion hydraulic
fracturing
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THE SKIN FACTOR IN PRACTICE...

S ' = Sm + S g + S q can be estimated

with well tests

can be estimated
can be estimated
with models
with well tests

the part of the skin we can act on

has to be estimated
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KEY POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND
The formation damage is any impairment of the reservoir permeability
near the wellbore.

ONLY TWO WAYS to impair the near wellbore permeability :

- Physical reduction in pore/pore throat size,
- Reduction of the relative permeability to oil (with WBM)

Remember that it can occur during ...

• Drilling, cementing
• Completion, workover
• Gravel packing, perforating
• Production, stimulation or injection ...

The mechanical skin, Sm, is the parameter for integrating

all sources of damage in the reservoir-wellbore interface model.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
KEY POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND
Skin factor
• The global skin is the sum of the skin due to formation damage
(mechanical skin) + geometric skin + skin linked with turbulences.
• The global skin can be estimated from well test interpretation,
• the geometric skin is the result of technical choices and is given by models (ex :
trajectory of the well, number of perforations...),
• the skin due to turbulences is neglected excepted in the case of gas wells or in the
case of very high oil production rates.
• the skin due to formation damage can sometimes be estimated from well tests, but
can also be estimated by the difference between the global skin and the geometric
one.

• The smaller the skin, the higher the productivity.

• The knowledge of the mechanical skin allows to take decisions for

extra jobs (acidizing job, reperforation,...) before starting production
to finally obtain a lower global skin, and a better productivity index.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
KEY POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND

Formation damage

• In the case of a cased hole, the perforations

must have a sufficiently deep penetration to
allow the effluent to bypass the damaged zone.
• In the case of an open hole, the cake has to be
well removed for a good connection between
the reservoir and the well.
 Arasy Az Zariat | 2020
QUIZ

• the PI depends/ doesn't depend on the skin factor

• the relative permeability of the rock to oil increases/decreases when the saturation
in oil increases.
• the cake removal plays a greater role on the productivity of the well in the case of a
cased hole / an open hole.
• The skin factor can/can't be determined before the drilling job, with help from near
wells.
• The total skin factor is the sum of ...Sm. + .Sg.... + .Sq....
• When the skin is positive, it is easier/ more difficult to produce than without skin.
• The main part of the pressure drop of the fluid flowing in the reservoir is located at
the limit of the drainage area of the well / at the wellbore-reservoir interface.
 THANK YOU
REFERENCE
Isabelle REY-FABRET Class Module – IFP School
Reservoir Engineering Handbook –Ahmed T – 4th ed.