1-4 WELL COMPLETIONS 9
from the wellbore, the well may be acidized to dissolve
Production Casing
Perforations
Figure 1-6 Cased-hole completions with perforations
mally associated with fluid invasion, fines migration, pre-
cipitates, or the formation of emulsions in the reservoir.
Loss of productivity is expressed as a skin factor, s, in
Darcy’s equation as follows:
q
kh
p  ðln re =rw þ sÞ ð1-3Þ
A positive skin value indicates that a well is damaged.
Formation damage can be removed or bypassed
through the use of stimulation techniques. In instances
where the formation damage extends only a few feet
or remove the damage. Matrix acidizing is used to restore
initial productivity. Hydraulic fracturing is a stimulation
technique that creates a fracture that is intended to
extend beyond the damage area. Significant advances in
well stimulation have been made since the early part of
this century, when openhole completions were stimulated
by jars of nitroglycerin that were placed and detonated
downhole.
As noted previously, reservoir pressure will decline as
hydrocarbons are produced. Many of the wells com-
pleted in the early part of the twentieth century were
produced through the casing, and the reservoirs had suf-
ficient pressure for the hydrocarbons to flow to the sur-
face. With declining reservoir pressures and producing
volumes, production through smaller-diameter tubing
became necessary, since the velocity through the casing
could not sufficiently sustain natural flow.
Figure 1-7 shows a simple cased-hole completion with
tubing.
These early completion techniques proved adequate in
relatively shallow wells. However, as deeper, multiple,
and higher-pressure reservoirs were encountered, it was
recognized that the completions imposed limitations on
well servicing and control, and designs would require
improvement to meet increasing requirements for well-
bore re-entry and workover operations.
A wide range of downhole equipment has been
designed and manufactured to meet the needs of more
complex well completions. In situations where multiple
reservoirs cannot be commingled, the zones are sepa-
rated with a production packer. Packers are devices that
are run on, or in conjunction with, a string of tubing. The
packer has a rubber element that is extruded by compres-
sion to form a seal between the tubing and the casing
(Figure 1-8). Packers are used for a variety of reasons in
well completions.
Another component that has become an integral part
of well completions is the sliding sleeve. The sliding sleeve
provides annular access between the tubing and the cas-
ing. It is used to produce a reservoir isolated between two
production packers and for circulating a well above the
uppermost packer. The sleeve is opened or closed
through the use of wireline servicing methods. Many
other functions can be performed with wireline devices
set in landing nipples.
The evolution of offshore drilling in the 1930s (ETA,
1976) and the production of wells from offshore plat-
forms in the 1940s (Graf, 1981) demanded methods of
well shut-in for safety and environmental concerns.
Storm chokes were pressure-controlled devices set inside