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Part 5
Perforation Techniques

Perforating Techniques Animation

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Contents
• Introduction
• Shaped Charged Perforation
• Explosives
• Perforating Guns
• Perforation Efficiency & Gun Performance
• Well/Reservoir Characteristics
• Calculations
• References
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Introduction
• Objective of perforation is to establish
communication between the wellbore & the
formation.
• This is achieved by making holes through the casing,
cement & into formation.
• The inflow capacity of the reservoir must not be
inhibited.

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History
• Mechanical, prior to 1932
• Bullet Gun, 1932 to present 
• Hydraulic, 1958 to present
• Abrasive jetting
• Shaped Charge, 1946 to present
• Spin‐off from DOD and DOE Terminology most 
popular
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Well Productivity
• Well productivity & injectivity depend primarily on near-
wellbore pressure drop called Skin.
• Skin is a function of:
• Completion type
• Formation damage
• Perforation
• Skin is high & productivity reduced when:
• Formation damage is severe (drilling & completion fluids
invasion ranges from several inches to a few feet)
• Perforations do not extend beyond the invaded zone.
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Meaning of Skin and Skin Factors

Deep Penetration
• Increases effective wellbore radius
• Intersects more natural fractures if present
• Prevents/reduces sand production by reducing
pressure drop across perforated intervals.
• High-strength formations & damaged reservoirs
benefit the most from deep- penetrating
perforations

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Shape Charged Perforator
• The shaped charge evolved from
the WW2 military bazooka.
• Perforating charges consist of:
• A primer
• Outer case
• High explosive
• Conical liner connected to a detonating
cord.

Jet Perforator

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Jet Perforator

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Shaped Charged Perforation

• The detonating cord initiates the primer & detonates the
main explosive
• The liner collapses to form the high-velocity jet of fluidized
metal particles that are propelled along the charge axis
through the well casing & cement & into the formation.
• The detonator is triggered by:
• Electrical heating when deployed on wireline systems or,
• A firing pin in mechanically or hydraulically operated firing head
systems employed on tubing conveyed perforating (TCP)
systems
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Shaped Charged Perforation

• The jet penetrating mechanism is one of “punching” rather 
than blasting, burning, drilling or abrasive wearing.
• This punching effect is achieved by extremely high
impact pressures –
• 3 x 106 psi on casing
• 3 x 105 psi on formation.
• These jet impact pressures cause steel, cement, rock, &
pore fluids to flow plastically outward.

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Jet Penetrating Mechanism

1. Detonation Waves.
3. Jet Formation

4. Slug Formation
2. Liner Collapse

Gun system
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Jet Perforator

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The Shaped Charge

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Jet Penetrating Mechanism

Elastic rebound leaves
• Shock‐damaged rock, 
• Pulverized formation grains & 
debris in the  newly created
perforation tunnels

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Jet Penetrating Mechanism

• Hence, perforating damage
can consist of three
elements:
• A crushed zone
• Migration of fine formation
particles
• Debris inside perforation tunnels.

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Jet Penetrating Mechanism

• The crushed zone can limit both
productivity & injectivity
• Fines and debris restrict
injectivity & increase pump
pressure, which:
• Decreases injection volumes
• Impairs placement or distribution
of gravel & proppants for sand
control or hydraulic fracture
treatments.
• Acid wash is performed to clean
the tunnel

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Factors Affecting Formation Damage
• Lithology
• Rock strength
• Porosity
• Pore fluid compressibility
• Clay content
• Formation grain size
• Shaped-charge designs

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Explosives
• Explosives used in perforation are called Secondary high
explosives.
• Reaction rate = 22,966 – 30,000 ft/s.
• Volume of gas produced = 750 – 1,000 times original volume of
explosive.
• Generally organic compounds of nitrogen & oxygen.
• When a detonator initiates the breaking of the molecules'
atomic bonds, the atoms of nitrogen lock together with much
stronger bonds, releasing tremendous amounts

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Common Explosives
Typical explosives are:
• RDX (Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine)
• HMX (Cyclotrimethylene tetranitramine)
• HNS (Hexanitrostilbene)
• PYX Bis(Picrylamino)-3,5-dinitropyridine
• PS (Picryl sulfone)
• Composition B (60% RDX, 40% trinitrotoluene)

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Common Explosives
Chemical  Density  Detonation   Detonation 
Explosive Formula (gm/cc) velocity  Pressure (psi)
(ft/sec)
RDX Cyclotrimethylene
trinitramine C3H6N6O6 1.80 28,700 5,000,000
HMX Cyclotrimethylene
tetranitramine C4H8N8O8 1.90 30,000 5,700,000
HNS Hexanitrostilbene
C14H6N6O12 1.74 24,300 3,500,000
PYX
Bis(picrylamino)-3,5- C17H7N11O16 1.77 24,900 3,700,000
dinitropyridine
PS (Picryl sulfone) C12H4N6O14S 2.1 22,880 3,200,000

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Explosives
• RDX is the most commonly used explosives for shaped
charges (up to 300°F).
• In deep wells when extreme temperature is required & where
the guns are exposed to well temperatures for longer periods
of time HMX, PS, HNS or PYX is used.
• It is important to respect the explosives used in perforating
operations.
• They are hazardous.
• Accidents can occur if they are not handled carefully or if
proper procedures are not followed.
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Perforating Guns
• Perforating guns are configured in several ways.
• There are four main types of perforating guns:
• Wireline conveyed casing guns
• Through-tubing hollow carrier guns
• Through-tubing strip guns
• Tubing conveyed perforating guns

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Wireline Conveyed Casing Guns

• Generally run in the well before installing the tubing.
• Advantages
• High charge performance
• Low cost
• Highest temperature & pressure rating
• High mechanical & electrical reliability
• Minimal debris & minimal casing damage
• Instant shot detection
• Multi-phasing
• Variable shot densities of 1 – 12 spf
• Speed & accurate positioning using
CCL/Gamma Ray
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Through-tubing Hollow Carrier Guns

• Smaller versions of casing guns which can
be run through tubing.
• They have lower charge sizes &,
therefore lower performance, than all
other guns.
• They only offer 0o or 180o phasing
• Maximum shot density of 4 spf on the 2-
1/8” OD gun & 6 spf on the 2-7/8” OD gun.
• Due to the stand-off from the casing which
these guns may have, they are usually
fitted with decentralizing/orientation
devices. 27

Through-tubing Strip Guns

• Semi-expendable type guns consisting of a metal
strip into which the charges are mounted.
• Charges have higher performance.
• They also cause more debris, casing damage &
have less mechanical & electrical reliability.
• They also provide 0o or 180o phasing.
• By being able to be run through the tubing,
underbalance perforating can possibly be
adopted but only for the first shot.
• A new version called the Pivot Gun has even
larger charges for deep penetration.

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Pivot Gun
• A pivot gun was a type of cannon 
mounted on a fixed central emplacement 
which permitted it to be moved through a 
wide horizontal arc.
• They were a common weapon aboard 
ships and in land fortifications for several  A Pivot
centuries but became obsolete after the  gun
invention of gun turrets system

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Tubing Conveyed Perforating Guns

(TCP)
• TCP guns are a variant of the casing gun which can
be run on tubing.
• Longer lengths can be installed.
• Lengths of over 1,000 ft are possible (especially useful for
horizontal wells).
• The main problems associated with TCP are:
• Gun positioning is more difficult.
• The sump needs to be drilled deeper to accommodate the gun
length if it is dropped after firing.
• A misfire is extremely expensive.
• Shot detection is more unreliable.

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Perforation Efficiency & Gun

Performance
• Optimizing perforating efficiency relies extensively on the
planning & execution of the well completion which
includes:
• Selection of the perforated interval
• Fluid selection
• Gun selection
• Applied pressure differential
• Well clean-up
• Perforating orientation
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Standard
• API RP 19B, 1st Edition (Recommended  Practices for Evaluation
of Well Perforators) provide means for evaluating perforating 
systems (multiple shot) in four ways:
• Performance under ambient temperature & atmospheric
pressure test conditions.
• Performance in stressed Berea sandstone targets (simulated
wellbore pressure test conditions).
• How performance may be changed after exposure to elevated
temperature conditions.
• Flow performance of a perforation under specific stressed test
conditions
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Factors Affecting Gun Performance

Include:
• Compressive strengths & porosities of formations.
• Type of charges used (size, shape).
• Charge alignment.
• Moisture contamination.
• Gun stand-off.
• Thickness of casing & cement.
• Multiple casings.
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Considerations
• It is necessary for engineers to obtain as much
accurate data from the suppliers & use the company’s
historic data in order to be able to make the best choice
of gun.
• Due to the problem of flow restriction, the important
factors to be considered include:
• Hole diameter to achieve adequate flow area.
• Shot density to achieve adequate flow area.
• Shot phasing, Penetration, Debris removal.

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Hole Size
• The hole size obtained is a function of the
casing grade & should be as follows:
• Between 6 mm & 12 mm for natural
completions.
• Between 15 mm & 25 mm in gravel packed
completions.
• Between 8 mm & 12 mm if fracturing is to be
carried out & where ball sealers are to be used.
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Shot Density
• Shot density is the number of holes specified in shots
per foot (spf).
• An adequate shot density can reduce perforation
skin & produce wells at lower pressure differentials.
• Shot density in homogeneous, isotropic formations
should be a minimum of 8 spf but must exceed the
frequency of shale laminations.
• A shot density greater than this is required where:
• Vertical permeability is low.
• There is a risk of sand production.
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Shot Density
• A shot density greater than this is required where:
• Vertical permeability is low.
• There is a risk of sand production.
• There is a risk of high velocities & hence turbulence.
• A gravel pack is to be conducted

• Note: Too many holes can weaken the casing strength

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Shot Phasing
• Phasing is the radial distribution of
successive perforating charges around
the gun axis.
• Simply put, phasing is perforation
orientation or the angle between holes.
• Perforating gun assemblies are
commonly available in 0o, 180o, 120o,
90o & 60o phasing.

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Shot Phasing
• The 0o phasing (all shots are along
the same side of the casing) is
generally used only in small outside-
diameter guns.
• 60o, 90o & 120o degree phase guns
are generally larger & provide more
efficient flow characteristics near the
wellbore.
• Optimized phasing reduces
pressure drop near the wellbore by
providing flow conduits on all sides
of the casing.

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Shot Phasing
• Providing the stand-off is less
than 50mm, 180o or less, 120o,
90o, 60o is preferable.
• If the smallest charges are being
used then the stand-off should not
be more than 25mm.
• If fracturing is to be carried out
then 90o and lower will help
initiate fractures.

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Shot Phasing
• Reason for phasing? 
• Improving contact angle  with the 
formation for the completion or  
stimulation design.
• Examples
• 60o , 90o , 120o for fracturing
• 60o for gravel packing
• 0o for through‐tubing perf addition 
(common)
• 180o for orienting perf guns to known 
frac direction
• Gun phasing may also help reduce 
sand failures in soft sand formations

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Gun Clearance and Standoff

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Formation Strength
• Penetration decrease is charge 
dependent
• Penetration decrease range from 
0.5” to 1.75” per 1 ksi strength 
increase

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Penetration
• In general, the deeper the shot the better
• But at the least it should exceed the drilling damage area by
75mm.
• However, to obtain high shot density, the guns may be limited
to the charge size which can physically be installed which will
impact penetration.

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Well/Reservoir Characteristics
• Pressure differential between a wellbore and
reservoir before perforating can be described by:
• Underbalanced
• Overbalanced
• Extreme overbalanced (EOB)

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Underbalanced Perforating
• Reservoir pressure is substantially
higher than the wellbore pressure.
• Adequate reservoir pressure must exist
to displace the fluids from within the
production tubing if the well is to flow
unaided.
• If the reservoir pressure is insufficient to
achieve this, measures must be taken to
lighten the fluid column typically by gas
lifting or circulating a less dense fluid
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Underbalanced Perforating
• Flow rates & pressures used to exercise control
during the clean up period are intended to
maximize the return of drilling or completion fluids
& debris.
• Controlled backflush of perforating debris or
filtrate
• Enables surface production facilities to reach
stable conditions gradually.
• Standard differential pressure ≈ 200 – 400 psi.
• Differential pressures up to 5,000 psi in allow 47

Underbalanced Perforating
• Reservoir pressure is substantially
higher than the wellbore pressure.
• Adequate reservoir pressure must exist to
displace the fluids from within the
production tubing if the well is to flow
unaided.
• If the reservoir pressure is insufficient to
achieve this, measures must be taken to
lighten the fluid column typically by gas
lifting or circulating a less dense fluid.
• Correlation given to calculate underbalance
for consolidated non-sanding fromation

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Overbalanced Perforating
• Perforating when the wellbore pressure
is higher than the reservoir pressure.
• This is normally used as a method of
well control during perforating.
• The problem with this method is it
introduces wellbore fluid into the formation
causing formation damage.
• Use clean fluid to prevent
perforation plugging.
• Use of acid in carbonates.
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Overbalanced Perforating
• Perforating when the wellbore pressure is higher than
the reservoir pressure.
• This is normally used as a method of well control during
perforating.
• The problem with this method is it introduces wellbore fluid
into the formation causing formation damage.
• Use clean fluid to prevent perforation plugging.
• Use of acid in carbonates.
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Extreme Overbalanced Perforating

• The wellbore is pressured up to very high pressures with
gas (usually nitrogen).
• When the perforating guns are detonated the inflow of high
pressure gas into the formation results in a mini-frac, opening
up the formation to increase inflow.

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Calculations
• A mechanism to account for the effects of perforations
on well performance is through the introduction of the
perforation skin effect, sp in the well production
equation.
• For example, under steady-state conditions:

kh Pe  Pwf 
q
 r  
141.2B  ln  e   s p 
  rw  
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Calculations
• Karakas and Tariq (1988) have presented a semi-analytical
solution for the calculation of the perforation skin effect, which
they divide into components:
• Plane-flow effect, sH
• Vertical converging effect, sV
• Wellbore effect, swb
• The total perforation skin effect is then:

s p  sH  sV  swb
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The Plane-flow Effect

 4Rw+ lperf
 r   for   0
sH  ln  w  rw     Θ
 a 4
 rw   
 Θ rw  l perf  for   0
a

• rw = wellbore radius (ft).

• r’w(θ) = effective wellbore radius (ft). It is
a function of the phasing angle θ.
• lperf = length of perforation (ft)

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Constant ao depends on the perforation phasing.

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The Vertical Converging Effect

sV  10 a hDb1rDb a  a1 log rD   a2 b  b1rD  b2

rperf  k  hperf kH
rD  1 V hperf 
1 hD 
2hperf  k H  shot density l perf kV

• a1, a2, b1 & b2 are obtained from the table  above.

• kH = horizontal permeability
• kV = vertical permeability
• rperf = radius of perforation (ft)

• SV is potentially the largest contributor to Sp
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The Wellbore Effect

swb  c1 exp c2  rwD 

rw
rwD 
l perf  rw 

• c1 & c2 are obtained from the table

above.

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Effect of Shot Density and Phasing on 
Perforation Skin

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REFERENCES
1. Gatlin, C.: “Drilling Well Completion,” Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey,
1960.
2. ENI S.p.A. Agip Division: “Completion Design Manual,” 1999.
3. Halliburton: “Petroleum Well Construction,”1997.
4. Ott, W. K. and Woods, J. D.: “Modern Sandface Completion Practices
Handbook,”1st Ed., World Oil Magazine, 2003.
5. Schlumberger: “Completions Primer,” 2001.
6. Golan, M. and Whitson, C. H.: “Well Performance,” 2nd Ed., Tapir,
1995.
7. Karakas, M. and Tariq, S.: “Semi-Analytical Productivity Models for
Perforated Completions,” paper SPE 18271, 1988.
8. Clegg, J. D.: “Production Operations Engineering,” Petroleum
Engineering Handbook, Vol. IV, SPE, 2007.
9. Bellarby, J.: “Well Completion Design,” 1st Ed., Elsevier B.V., 2009.
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End

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