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Well completion issues for underground gas storage in oil and gas reservoirs in
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DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2018.07.061

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Accepted Manuscript

Well completion issues for underground gas storage in oil and gas reservoirs in China

Mingxing Bai, Anqi Shen, Lingdong Meng, Jianjun Zhu, Kaoping Song

PII: S0920-4105(18)30636-3
DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2018.07.061
Reference: PETROL 5158

To appear in: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

Received Date: 23 May 2017

Revised Date: 7 July 2018
Accepted Date: 23 July 2018

Please cite this article as: Bai, M., Shen, A., Meng, L., Zhu, J., Song, K., Well completion issues
for underground gas storage in oil and gas reservoirs in China, Journal of Petroleum Science and
Engineering (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2018.07.061.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Well Completion Issues for Underground Gas Storage in

Oil and Gas Reservoirs in China

Mingxing Bai1, 2, Anqi Shen1,*, Lingdong Meng1, *,Jianjun Zhu3, Kaoping Song1

1
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, 163318, Daqing, China

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2
Research Institute of EOR, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 102249, Beijing, China
3
Daqing Oilfield Production Technology Institute, 163712,Daqing, China
* Corresponding author: Anqi Shen, and Lingdong Meng. Email: baimingxing@hotmail.com

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Abstract

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Underground Gas Storage (UGS) is considered a strategic method to balance the
supply-demand chain of the energy required throughout a year and shave the peak

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demands during the winter time. This paper highlights international UGS distributions
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including ongoing UGS facilities in China, followed by a review of integrity issues
such as fault reactivation and well integrity. As guidance for well design during UGS
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construction, the fundamental requirements for UGS well completion in an oil and gas
reservoir in China are listed including those for newly drilled wells and the use of old
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wells. The technical and regulatory demands for newly drilled injection wells need to
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consider the mechanical and chemical effects. For example, the corrosion problem of
downhole equipment is a major challenge. By re-completing the old wells with OHGP
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(Open-Hole Gravel Packs) the well’s performance could be improved significantly.

The development of well completion technology for UGS in China are illustrated by
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comparing three well completion schemes in Dagang, Guxinzhuang, and Shuang 6

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which are constructed in different time. It is found that the key technology including
tubing selection, lost circulation control, subsurface safety valve, retrievable
downhole packer, and formation damage prevention are some cutting-edge
technologies that are matured enough compared to cement slurry selection in special
formations, and the use of welded casing technology are still not quite developed.

Keywords：underground gas storage; well integrity; well completion; completion

string

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1. Introduction

Underground Gas Storage (UGS) is considered as a strategic method to balance the

energy supply-demand chain throughout a year and shave the peak demands during
the winter time and thus quite important in today’s competitive natural gas
transportation market place. It involves the use of appropriate facilities to produce

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effective gas from underground space during peak demand periods, acting as a buffer
to internal and external demand or supply shocks (Escobar et al., 2011). The gas

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stored in an UGS is called the inventory, and is classified as either cushion gas, which

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is to maintain adequate pressure, or working gas, which is the maximum volume of
gas available for withdrawal.

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The international UGS technology in Europe has evolved with quite a long history,
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and the operation management technology, technical standards, and related rules and
laws are quite advanced (Coffin and Lebas, 2007; Hoagie et al., 2013; Brown et al.,
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2003; Lawal et al., 2016). According to the 2011 Statistical Report from European
Union of the Natural Gas Industry, as of January 2011, there were 124 underground
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storage facilities in Europe. The share of each country is listed in Table 1.

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Approximately 400 underground natural gas storage facilities located strategically

throughout the United States in 2011 were the key to maintaining the reliability,
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integrity, and capability of the Nation’s natural gas transmission and distribution
network. According to a report from Canadian Gas Association, in Canada the
maximum working gas stored was 456×109 cu ft (1.29×1010 m3) in 2006. Alberta
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storage accounts for 47.5 percent of the total working gas volume. It is followed by
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Ontario accounting for 39.1 percent, British Columbia accounting for 7.6 percent, and
Saskatchewan accounting for 5.1 percent.

In China, the government has committed to UGS construction in the past several
decades. The first UGS construction was started in a gas reservoir in Daqing oilfield
in the 1970th followed by the first real commercial UGS at Dagang Dazhangtuo gas
condensate field which was put into production and operation in 2000 (Ding et al.,

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2015). A series of UGS constructions have been built in recent years, and till now
there are totally 25 UGS operations in China, as listed in Table 2. In order to prevent
the gas shortage in the winter of 2009, the Chinese government has promoted the
construction of gas storage facilities at Jintan, Dagang and Huabei field, which has
contributed to improving the natural gas network for seasonal demand. A typical salt

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cavern UGS is located at Jintan, which covers an area of 8.9 km2, and the current
formation pressure is 13MPa and formation pressure coefficient is 1.1. Xiangguosi

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UGS, a depleted gas reservoir type, has an initial pressure of 28.73MPa. Its average
formation pressure was 2.38MPa and the formation pressure coefficient was 0.1

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during well shut-in in 2010. In addition to these, CNPC brought into operation the
country’s largest underground gas storage facility in Hutubi in July 2013 which has a

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combined storage capacity of 10.7 bcm for the West-East Gas Pipeline. It is reported
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that China has planned to construct over 35 underground storages in total to boost its
storage capacity to 60 bcm by 2020 (Zhang et al., 2014; IEA, 2014).
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Since the construction of UGS in China, pretty much research work has been
conducted in the past decades. In Dagang and Jing-58 area some experiences have
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been obtained in terms of geological system selection, well drilling and completion,
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numerical simulation to optimize UGS operation and so on. However, the research of
UGS operation, management and maintenance in depleted reservoirs is relatively
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scattered in China, and a mature technology system has not formed. The difficulties in
the construction of UGS in China lie in slow UGS construction and productivity
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speed, low working gas volume, sharp rise of investment cost, risk identification and
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safe operation, and so on. Moreover, China is lacking with advanced tools and
equipment with independent intellectual property rights for the construction of UGS.

Three issues are quite critical for a successful UGS. One is maximizing storage
capacity in the underground space, another is minimizing storage cost, and the third
one is the integrity of the wellbores, including injection wells, production wells and
existing old and abandoned wells. Well integrity is a prerequisite to ensure a safe and
long-term containment of natural gas. The outcome of a loss of well integrity in UGS,

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similar to CCS, is the creation of different leakage pathways for the ascent of gas, as
shown in Figure 1. The mechanisms responsible for a loss of well integrity are
subdivided into chemical loading, mechanical-thermal loading and construction
defects (Reinicke and Fichter, 2010; Bai et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Schultz et al., 2016).
The key to maintaining well integrity is a successful well completion operation, which

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is obviously different from oil and gas production wells. The first part of this paper
will introduce the UGS development status quo, especially with regard to well

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completion technology. Secondly, the integrity issues such as fault seal destabilization,
and well integrity are reviewed. The third part will introduce the fundamental

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requirements for well completion, reuse and plugging of old wells in China. After that
the development of well completion technology for UGS operation in China will be

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reviewed followed by a demonstration of a successful design of well completion
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string for gas injection wells with well-flushing and automatic security control
functions in a UGS area in the Northeast China.
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2. Well integrity issues for UGS

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To achieve the purpose of large storage capacity and cost savings, it is necessary to
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use the existing wells as much as possible. However, the size of typical well
configuration of UGS in China is small as well, which restricts the implementation of
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UGS and the emergency process ability. The field experience and theoretical analysis
have proved that the use of Open-Hole Gravel Packs (OHGP) can not only avoid the
difficulties and concerns of perforation packing, but also enlarge the capacity since
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the formation fluid would converge toward and through the gravel pack radically from
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360 degree, and thus guarantees that it will be more productive. Therefore, according
to a review conducted by Florian et al. (2009), by replacing Inside Casing Gravel
Packs (ICGP) by Open-Hole Gravel Packs (OHGP) the existing wells can be
converted to high-capacity wells whose performance could be improved significantly
subsequently.

2.1 Cement integrity

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To ensure well integrity during UGS, the cement sheath has to withstand cyclic
mechanical and thermal loading as well as corrosion during its life time, otherwise
different types of failure would occur such as interface debonding, presence of mud
layer or mud channels at the contact surface (Carter and Evans, 1964; Carter et al.,
1973), free water channel or layering in the deviated wells (Tinsley et al., 1979), and

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excessive thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical stresses at the wellbore (Cain et al.,
1965; Matthews and Copeland, 1986). Many engineers, scientist and industries have

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designed fit-to-purpose cement formulations to prevent cement from such failures.
For instance, the addition of latex or polypropylene fibers could improve the

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compressive strength (Shahvali et al., 2014). The use of lightweight slurries or
engineered fiber material (EFM) in depleted and unconsolidated formations can

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prevent formation damage (Urraca and Balas, 2009). An engineered expanding
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cement system has been introduced in China which allows the cement to remain intact
under extreme downhole conditions (Wu et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2014). Cavanagh
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et al. (2007) invented self-healing cements, in which an special cement formulation,

based on a process called encapsulation, modifies and repairs the cracks. Ravi et al.
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(2007) measured the cyclic stress of self-healing cements in two successive cycles to
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study the mechanical properties as well as integrity of cement when put under cyclic
loads. They pointed out that laboratory experiments can determine the effect of cyclic
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loading on the endurance limit of cement, while engineering analysis is required to set
the safety factor in cement design.
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2.2 Fault and caprock seal

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Two principle factors influencing well integrity in a fault-related geological setting

are fault reactivation and permeability of fractures within caprock. Numerous
scientific contributions have emphasized that original fault seal capacity may be
breached by reactivation resulting from fluid injection or extraction, shown in Figure
2 (Ellsworth, 2013; Elsworth et al., 2016). However, two ways of fault activation, in
fact, concerning this issue include aseismic slip and seismic slip. It is confirmed by
recent studies that aseismic slip commonly occurs in clay-rich fault zones or caprock
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with low frictional strength at shallow depth range (< 8 km) (Ikari et al., 2011; Kohli
and Zoback, 2013), and these weak faults and rocks being barriers to injection fluid
may only induce micro-seismic events without leading to gas leakage from the storage
(Makhnenko and Vilarrasa, 2017). Yet, it should be pointed out that aseismic slip can
cause severe instability for certain well trajectories (Willson et al., 1999) and borehole

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casing failure (Maury et al., 1992). Methods of fault reactivation analysis have been
established such as “Slip Tendency” (Morris et al., 1996) and “Coulomb Failure

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Function” (Castillo et al., 2000), and have been proved to be quick routes to preview
the fault stability by assumption of homogeneous frictional strength of fault zones. It

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is important to note that the low frictional strength with high reactivation risk
routinely corresponding to the high sealing capacity of faults due to the reduced

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fault-zone permeability by increasing weak and low permeable clays (Meng et al.,
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2017; Vilarrasa et al., 2016), thus, fault-sealing analysis is an essential prerequisite for
fault stability evaluation.
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In siliciclastic sequences, caprocks are commonly clay-rich, showing a strong

membrane sealing capacity. Hence, there is little possibility for amount of fluid
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seeping through the pore throats on production timescales. Gas seeping occurs
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commonly in the fracture network of caprocks, especially within the fault damage
zone where the concentrated stress favors the formation and interlink of
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multi-orientation fractures (Bond et al., 2017). These fractures may be open if the
pore fluid pressure keep rising due to fluid injection. However, the permeability may
decrease with an increase of effective confining pressure due to compaction-induced
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self-healing of clays (Zhang and Rothfuchs, 2008). Hence, it is essential to evaluate

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fracture-opening risk using the method of “Retention Capacity” proposed in

Gaarenstroom et al. (1993). That is, as will be seen in Figure 3, two sections including
fault stability and retention capacity of caprock are integral parts of the entire
evaluation of gas storage safety to constrain maximum fluid pressure sustained by
both faults and caprock avoiding occurrence of any risks of rock failure.

3. Requirements for UGS well completion in China

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3.1 Newly drilled wells

1) Mechanical analysis shall be performed based on the periodic alternating stress,

temperature variation, and extreme operating conditions. Anti-corrosion materials
shall be adopted based on the property of the reservoir fluid, considering both the
initial and potential changes of the environment.

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2) The completion string shall be of the simplest structure, equipped with
Subsurface Safety Valves (SSSV), and use reliable tools instead of expansion

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joints. Moreover, it shall be installed with seating joints, with appropriate drift

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diameter to allow for downhole monitoring or snubbing operations. Last but not
least, the threads of the pipes shall be air-tight, and each pipe shall go through

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air-tight test under a pressure 1.1 times the maximum operation pressure of the
wellhead.
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3) The well completion fluid, acidizing fluid and kill fluid shall be compatible with
formation, and be of solid-free system to reduce harm to the formation.
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4) The pressure rating and anti-corrosion grade of Christmas tree shall be

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determined based on maximum operation pressure and properties of formation

fluid. It shall use metal-to-metal seal, and go through air-tight test before
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mounting.
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3.2 Old wells

1) Before UGS construction, information about geological conditions, well drilling

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and production history must be collected and the well status must be assessed in
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terms of cementation quality, casing thickness, pressure test, well track and so on.
2) In principle, the old wells can be re-used as monitoring wells, production wells
and drainage wells, but not injection wells. To be reused as a monitoring or
production well, three requirements have to be met. Firstly, the length of
continuous cement sheath with good quality in the caprock section shall be no
less than 25m, while at least 70% of such segment in length shall be qualified.
Secondly, the mechanical integrity of the string shall be checked and it has to

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meet the requirements of actual operation conditions. Thirdly, the production

casing shall go through pressure test with fresh water under pressure 1.1 times the
maximum operation pressure at the wellhead. It will be deemed qualified if its
pressure drop is not higher than 0.5MPa within 30 min.
3) If reused as drainage well, the old well shall have its wellhead replaced to meet

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the operation conditions. During the operation process of UGS, once the
gas-liquid ratio reaches 300m3/m3, the well shall be plugged. In order to plug a

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well, cement plugs shall be placed to prevent the migration of natural gas. In
addition, proper materials shall be squeezed into the reservoir section, with a

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pressure not higher than the formation fracture pressure.
4) If the cement top is higher than 200m, and the continuous cement sheath with

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good quality in the caprock section is longer than 25m, the bridge plugs can be
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directly placed; otherwise the casing shall be milled for no shorter than 40m and
part of the boreholes shall be reamed, and injected with continuous cement plugs.
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5) The filter loss of the cement slurry shall be not more than 50ml, the gas
permeability of the set cement shall be lower than 0.05×10-3µm2, and the
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compressive strength shall be not less than 14MPa within 24-48 hours.
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4. Development of well completion technology for UGS wells

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If existing wells cannot guarantee well integrity, new wells shall be drilled. The
drilling and completion technology for UGS has evolved significantly in the past 10
years in China (Li et al., 2004; Chen et al., 2003; Chen et al., 2008). The key
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technology includes lost circulation control, directional well drilling, completion and
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cementation of large wellbores, anti-corrosion and so on. To ensure wellbore integrity,

the technical and regulatory considerations for injection wells need to focus on the
mechanical and chemical aspects, and their coupling effects (Dharmananda et al.,
2004; Syed and Cutler 2010). Due to the corrosive injected gas, the corrosion
problems of downhole equipment require more attentions during the construction and
operational phase (Yuan et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2001; Li et al., 2004). Especially
the part of casing below the packer is prone to acid and therefore warrants corrosion
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resistant alloy. A series of measures can be adopted against the corrosion problems
such as oxygen scavenger, coating protection, and cathodic protection etc (Yuan et al.
2008). Moreover, corrosion resistant alloys such as duplex stainless steel or lined
material can also be used (Kermani and Smith, 1997; Bai et al., 2015). It is found that
tubing made of seamless L-80 material with Hydfil CS premium connections can

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prevent Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC) and lowering of the tubing tensile stress.
Composite lined material like Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) linings, Internal Plastic

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Coatings (IPC), thermoplastic coatings are more commonly used as corrosion barriers
for injection tubing (Kenneth, 2001; Bai et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2011). UGS in

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depleted gas reservoirs in China is generally deeper than 2500 m, with multiple
vertical pressure systems which makes it imperative to use suitable drilling and

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completion technology. Some cutting-edge technologies have not been applied in
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China, e.g., welded casing technology.

Similarly to oil and gas wells, well completion method for UGS includes perforation
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completion, open-hole completion, gravel packing and so on. A difference lies in that
the bare area of boreholes should be as large as possible for UGS so that the gas
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filtrational resistance can be reduced and the individual well productivity can be
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improved. Well completion technologies vary for different types of UGS, as listed in
Table 3. A salt cavern UGS such as Jintan allows for a rapid gas production speed, and
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therefore a large-diameter completion string with big internal pressure strength and air
tightness is needed. Different from salt caverns, gas in depleted hydrocarbon
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reservoirs and aquifers such as Xiangguosi is stored in rock matrix with large flow
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resistance; therefore, the string diameter is relatively small. In Jintan Φ177.8 mm

tubing is used, while for conventional gas reservoirs, tubing with a diameter of
152.4mm is generally satisfactory.

The completion string for the first UGS wells in China comprises basically wellhead
and tubing, flow coupling, safety valve, XD sliding sleeve, expansion joint, anchored
seal assembly, permanent packer, landing nipple, mechanical gun release and
perforating gun, as shown in Figure 4. The Dagang UGS wells adopted such design.

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All the well completion methods thereafter are optimized on this basis. Generally, the
completion string in a gas reservoir consists of SSSV, sliding sleeve, retrievable
packer and landing nipple, etc. A SSSV can prevent gas from leaking along the tubing,
a retrievable packer can seal the annulus between injection tubing and production
casing, and the subsurface safety condition may be monitored in real time through the

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pressure and temperature on the landing nipple.
In Figure 5, an updated well completion technology as well as wellhead design was

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applied in Guxinzhuang. Firstly, high-quality air tight tubing was used. Secondly, the
surface controlled SSSV with 3 flow couplings conform to API spec. Thirdly, side

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sliding door was drilled for completion fluid placement. Fourthly, a packer with
anchor seal assembly and tail pipe extension with 2 nipples are used which allow for

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safe change of upper part of the completion if workover is required. Moreover, it is
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considered to replace side sliding door (potential tubing to annulus leakage) with side
pocket mandrel (more reliable, easier to maintain). A latest well completion scheme is
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shown in Figure 6 and Table 4 for Shuang 6 UGS facilities, which will be introduced
in detail hereunder.
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The completion string in a salt cavern such as Jintan is complex and comprises mainly
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injection and production string, temperature pressure flow monitoring device,

downhole packer, landing nipple and so on. There is an inner tube inside the flow
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string for brine displacement. Upon the completion of brine displacement, snubbing
equipment is required to pull out the string. Due to the long-term exposure to brine,
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the completion string should be highly anti-corrosive.

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5. Current well completion technology in Shuang 6 UGS

As the first UGS area in Northeast China, Shuang 6 UGS is located in a national
natural protection zone near Shuangxiling Oilfield. The first well in this area was
completed in August 1978. Ever since then, the equivalent cumulative production of
oil and gas had reached about 6.87×106 ton, which has made a tremendous
contribution to Chinese economy. At present the reservoir is depleted and stopped

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production. The formation pressure decreased from an initial pressure of 24.6 MPa to
about 5 MPa. The average porosity is about 17.3%, and the average permeability is
about 224×10-3 µm2.

The wells in this area suffer from not only corrosive attack but also stress changes due
to the injection and production processes which might lead to a loss of well integrity.

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The content of CO2 in the injected gas is about 2.7%, and the content of chloride ion
in the formation water is about 1152~1258 mg/L. Due to the existence of corrosive

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components in the gas source and formation water, the casing and tubing are quite
prone to severe corrosion problems. In addition, the maximum storage capacity is

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about 3.6×109 m3, the average gas production of a single well is about 2~11×105 m3/d
and the gas injection is about 4.8~8.5×105 m3/d, respectively, as required. The
completion string is shown in Figure 6.
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5.1 Optimization of tubing materials
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When selecting the materials for the tubing strings, the following should be taken into
account such as corrosion of wellbore fluid, anti-corrosion technology, as well as
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mechanical integrity. The CO2 partial pressure is one of key factors which affect
corrosion. A study conducted by Cron and Marsh (1983) shows that corrosion can be
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ignored when CO2 partial pressure is lower than 0.021 MPa, corrosion might occur
when CO2 partial pressure is between 0.021 MPa and 0.21 MPa, and corrosion occurs
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when CO2 partial pressure is greater than 0.21 MPa.

Local corrosion inside UGS wellbores subjected to CO2 is affected by temperature

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and will occur in a certain depth of a wellbore. A study conducted by Ikeda et al.
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(1983) shows that the rate of CO2 corrosion is almost null when the temperature
inside the wellbore is lower than 38 °C, when the temperature increased up to around
93 °C, the corrosion rate increases at an extremely pace and reaches a peak value at
about 93 °C, and when the temperature is greater than 93 °C, the corrosion rate will
decrease.

As to Block Shuang 6, at the wellhead CO2 partial pressure is 0.19 MPa, the
temperature is 40~60℃, and the concentration of chloride ion is 1152～1258 mg/L.

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At the bottom of the wellbore, CO2 partial pressure is 0.24 MPa, temperature is 89 °C
and concentration of chloride ion is 1152～1258 mg/L. In the tests with different
materials, CO2 partial pressure is 0.3 MPa, H2S partial pressure is 0.0001 MPa and the
concentration of NaCl is 2070 mg/L. Obviously the test conditions are much harsher
than the real ones.

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It can be seen from Figure 7 that the corrosive rate of 13Cr is only 0.007 mm per year
at 100 °C. If we choose the tubing whose wall thickness is 6.88 mm, its breakdown

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caused by corrosion will take more than 100 years under the normal bottomhole
conditions. As such this material can completely prevent the corrosion from occurring

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during UGS. At the early operation stage of Shuang 6, the water concentration was so
high that the corrosion was serious. Along with the operation, the water content falls

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down and the corrosion alleviates gradually. Thus 13Cr tubing material can meet the
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requirement and prevents the tubing string from corrosion completely.

5.2 Determination of tubing size

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The determination of tubing size has to take two aspects into account. Firstly, since
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the average daily production of a single well can reach as much as 2~11×105 m3/d, the
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tubing will suffer from intense erosion during the operational stage, so the
injection/production rate has to ensure the gas in the well does not erode the tubing.
Secondly, the production rate has to ensure the gas could effectively carry the fluid
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bubbles up to the ground to prevent liquid loading in the wellbore. Thirdly, the
pressure loss in the tubing shall be less than the allowable maximum pressure loss. As
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such, the calculation of the maximum rate (critical erosion rate) and the minimum rate
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(liquid loading rate) is necessary. The diameter of tubing can be determined by

plotting the IPR curves and TPR curves.

According to the variation range of formation pressure, a series of calculations have

been performed for the tubing with different diameter such asΦ73 mm, Φ88.9 mm
and Φ114.3 mm. Planned well depth is 2600m, the specific gravity of produced gas is
0.85, the formation temperature is 90 °C, the geothermal gradient is 3.15 °C /100 m,

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and the daily production rate ranges from 20×104 m3/d to110×104 m3/d.

The calculation of the critical liquid carrying rate and critical erosion rate is
conducted by using the formula recommended by the API RP 14E in the oil field,
shown in Equation 1 and 2, respectively. The critical erosion rate for tubing with
different size under different flowing pressure can be calculated and drawn together

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with the Inflow Performance Curve. The intersection of the two curves is the
maximum injection or production capacity under given formation pressure.

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Ptf γ g 
0.25

2
d P
t tf σ
0.5 0.25
l  ρl − 3484.5 TZ 
 

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qg = 2378.28
(TZγ g )0.5
Equation (1)

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v= Equation (2)
ρ
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where, qg denotes the critical liquid carrying rate, ×104 m3/d; dt tubing internal
diameter, m; ρl liquid density, kg/m3; σl surface tension, mN/m; Ptf wellhead flowing
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pressure, MPa; γg gas relative density, dimensionless; qsc gas rate in the ground state,
m3/d; T average temperature, K; Z gas deviation factor, dimensionless; v erosion rate,
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m/s; C empirical constant; ρ gas density, kg/m3.

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According to the calculation results shown in Table 5 and Table 6, when Φ73 mm
tubing and Φ88.9 mm tubing work under the pressure of 24 MPa, they can’t cope with
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the production rate requirement of as much as 11×105 m3/d. Considering the periodic
change of formation pressure in a short time corresponding to a higher production rate
range, a tubing with a diameter of 114.3 mm can effectively prevent erosion and
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liquid loading from occurring.

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5.3 Subsurface safety valve and safety control system

A subsurface safety valve (SSSV) and surface safety control system are designed for
Shuang 6 UGS. A SSSV is a key equipment to ensure safe production, which is
installed at a depth of 80~200m under the wellhead, and passed through a 1⁄4 in
hydraulic pipeline. It is connected to the wellhead tubing hanger and the surface
safety control system, a hydraulic device in which can control the switch of the

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bottomhole safety valve. The bottomhole safety valve will open under the hydraulic
pressure and will close once losing the hydraulic pressure. Moreover, the surface
safety control and some valves in the Christmas tree can work instantly once in
danger of fire.The design of surface safety control system mainly takes the following
dangerous accidents into consideration: surface leak, flow pressure-out, wellhead fire,

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Christmas tree damage and so on. In order to prevent the impact on SSSV from gas
injection and production, flow nipples whose wall is thicker than that of the normal

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tube is installed on its upper and lower parts. Besides, expansion joint, circulating
sliding sleeve, packer are also installed to prevent gas leakage.

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5.4 The retrievable downhole packer

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In order to extend the operational life of a UGS well, the traditional UGS usually uses
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permanent packers which are hydraulic set ones and will make the strings
permanently fixed on the casing after setting. It can’t move, so the string has a good
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sealing property. But this type of packer also has some disadvantages. For instance, in
case the leakage through the tubing above it happens, the string above the packer
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cannot be replaced. In that case, the packer must be milled to replace it, which not
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only adds the operation cost, but also tends to damage the casing. Therefore, a
retrievable downhole packer made up of the packer body and upper sealant element is
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used. Assorted with plug landing sub, a retrievable downhole packer can be set down
the string. When workover is needed, we just need to right rotate the packer to drop
out the sealing element, and then separate it. If the packer body has problems, we can
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utilize the fishing tools to retreat the packer anchored device with no harm to the
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casing. Retrievable downhole packer can replace the string above the packer without
killing the well, protect the casing from HPHT conditions, and improve the sealant
property. Moreover, it is convenient to fish the packer during workover operations.

5.5 Prevention of formation damage during operation

At present the formation pressure is only about 5 MPa and the reservoir has been
invaded by water, so near wellbore damage might occur. The decrease of near
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wellbore permeability will affect the life cycle of the well as well as the injection rate.
As such, a plug landing nipple and cyclic sliding sleeve tools are designed to solve the
problems of formation damage. A plug landing nipple is assorted beneath the packer
for the convenience of workover. When a workover is needed after the completion
string is set in place, we just need to drop down the plug to pack the tubing and then

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separate the workover and formation damage completely. When the remedial work is
finished, a fishing tool can be dropped to retreat the plug. Since the plug is equipped

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with a pressure balance pin, the situation that the pressure difference is too great to
fish the packer cannot happen.

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The casing protection fluid in the annulus can inhibit corrosion. However, when the
protection fluid needs to be replaced or the tubing up the packer needs to be replaced,

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a sliding sleeve is used to achieve the communication between the tubing and the
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casing. A sliding sleeve is made up of upper, middle and lower joints, internal sliding
sleeve and seal packing assembly. It uses switch tool to move the internal sliding
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sleeve up and down to open or close the sliding sleeve. During operation, we just need
to drop down the plug and use wire lines to switch the cyclic sliding sleeve in order to
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replace the casing protection fluid, kill the well and some other purposes without
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damaging the formation.

6. Conclusions and discussions

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The first commercial UGS in Dagang was constructed in 1999 and up to now, there
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are totally 25 ongoing UGS facilities in China. Ever since then, experience has been
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obtained extensively by both research work and field operations. Critical factors to
ensuring a long-term and effective containment of gas in the underground space has
been identified such as fault seal integrity and well integrity. Original fault seal
capacity may be breached by reactivation resulting from fluid injection into reservoirs.
Similarly, the outcome of a loss of well integrity is the creation of leakage pathways
for the ascent of gas. For this, the well completion has to be paid more attention when
drilling new wells, for example, cement design, downhole string assembly etc. For old

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wells, by replacing Inside Casing Gravel Packs (ICGP) by Open-Hole Gravel Packs
(OHGP) the existing wells can be converted to high-capacity wells.

Well completion technology has been compared for different types of UGS in China.
Compared to oil/gas reservoirs and aquifers, the salt cavern UGS allows for a high
injection or production rate, so a large-diameter completion string with big internal

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pressure strength and air tightness is required. Secondly, due to the long-term
exposure to brine, the completion string should be much more anti-corrosive. The

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completion string for oil/gas reservoirs comprises basically flow coupling, safety
valve, circulating sliding sleeve, expansion joint, anchored seal assembly, permanent

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packer, landing nipple, mechanical gun release and perforating gun. All the well
completion methods thereafter are optimized on this basis. The development of well

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completion technology for UGS in China has been illustrated by comparing the
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downhole assembly schemes in Dagang, Guxinzhuang, and Shuang 6 which are
constructed in different time. It is found that the key technology including tubing
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selection, SSSV, retrievable downhole packer, and formation damage prevention have
been improved, but mature well completion technology for UGS in China has not
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formed.
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An up-to-date well completion design for injection wells has been demonstrated,
based on Shuang 6 UGS facilities constructed in 2014. The tubing material is
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recommended to be 13Cr. By performing calculations tubing with a diameter of 114.3

mm can prevent erosion and liquid loading. For a safe operation, a downhole
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assembly has been designed which includes special designed bottomhole safety valve
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and retrievable downhole packer. In addition, a plug landing sub and cyclic sliding
sleeve tools are designed to solve the problems of formation damage. All downhole
tools worked properly and the casing head exhibits no sustained casing pressure,
which implies a satisfactory sealing performance of the designed string.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China

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(Grant No.: 51774095), Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of

China (Grant No.: QC2016055) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant
No.: 2016M590274).

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Table 1: UGS distribution in Europe at 1 January 2011 (excerpt from EuroGas, 2011)

Number of storage Maximum working Maximum withdrawal

facilities volume, m3 capacity, m3/day
Austria 5 4744 55
Czech Republic 8 3127 52
France 15 11900 200
Germany 46 21297 515

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Hungary 5 6330 72
Italy 10 14747 153
Netherlands 3 5000 145

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Romania 8 2760 28
Slovakia 1 2785 39

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Spain 2 2367 13
United Kingdom 6 4350 86
EU 27 124 85990 1453

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Table 2: UGS distribution in China
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Number of storage
District Type Construction time
facilities
Dagang Oil/Gas Reservoir 1999 6
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Jing58 Oil/Gas Reservoir 2007 3

Guxinzhuang Oil/Gas Reservoir 2013 1
Suqiao Oil/Gas Reservoir 2013 5
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Jintan Salt cavern 2012 1

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Liuzhuang Oil/Gas Reservoir 2011 1

Lamadian Oil/Gas Reservoir 1975 1
Shuang 6 Oil/Gas Reservoir 2014 1
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Xiangguosi Oil/Gas Reservoir 2013 1

Hutubi Oil/Gas Reservoir 2013 1
Shan224 Oil/Gas Reservoir 2012 1
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Table 3: Well completion comparison for different types of UGS in China

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Injection/
Storage Diameter of Anti-corrosion Well
UGS Type production
medium string requirement cementing
rate
Extremely Expansive
Salt cavern High Cavity Large
high cement
Oil/Gas Expansive
Low Matrix Normal High
reservoir cement
Expansive
Aquifer Low Matrix Normal High
cement
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Table 4: The downhole assembly components for Shuang 6 UGS

No Downhole tool name Internal diameter External diameter

1 Test landing nipple 3.725（94.62 mm） 5.03（127.76 mm）
2 Perforated tubing — —
3 Plug landing nipple 3.813（96.85 mm） 5.03（127.76 mm）
4 Removable downhole packer 3.875（98.425 mm） 5.875（149.225 mm）
5 Sliding sleeve 3.813（96.85 mm） 5.600（142.24 mm）

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6 Flow nipple 3.813（96.85 mm） 4.911（124.739 mm）
7 Downhole safety valve 3.813（96.85 mm） 5.96（151.5 mm）
8 Safety control pipeline — —

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9 Control line protection — 0.25（6.35 mm）

Table 5: Critical liquid carrying rate with different tubing size (×104 m3/d)

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Formation pressure（MPa）
External diameter（mm）
10 13 16 19 22 24

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Φ73 4.60 5.15 5.57 5.86 6.05 6.13
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Φ88.9 6.91 7.75 8.37 8.81 9.09 9.21

Φ114.3 12.07 13.54 14.63 15.40 15.89 16.11

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Table 6: Critical erosion rate (×104 m3/d)

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Formation pressure（MPa）
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External diameter（mm）
10 13 16 19 22 24

Φ73 30.01 34.69 38.63 41.90 44.58 46.09

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Φ88.9 45.10 52.12 58.05 62.96 66.98 69.26

Φ114.3 78.86 91.14 101.51 110.09 117.13 121.11

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Figure 1: Leakage pathways (Reinicke and Fichter, 2010)
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Figure 2: Mechanisms for induced fault reactivation (Ellsworth, 2013)

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Figure 3: Schematic diagram of gas injection into a fault-bounding trap showing failure
mechanisms of the fault and caprock seal (Meng et al., 2017)
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Figure 4: Configuration of downhole completion string for Dagang UGS
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Figure 5: Configuration of downhole completion string for Guxinzhuang UGS

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Figure 6: Configuration of downhole completion string for Shuang 6 UGS
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Figure 7: Corrosion test results comparison for different materials (Ikeda et al., 1983)
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• Elaborate the status quo of UGS development in China

• Explain the integrity issues and well completion requirements for UGS in China

• Elaborate the development of well completion technology for UGS in China

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