James A.

Craig
 Concept of Skin
 Effective Wellbore Radius
 Skin Factor
 Flow Efficiency
 Skin Components
 Skin has no physical dimension.
 It is analogous to the film coefficient in heat
transfer.
 Skin can be zero (no effect), positive or
negative.
A restriction to flow.
 A distortion of the flow lines from the
perfectly normal to the well direction.
 May result from:
• Partial completion (perforation height less than
formation thickness)
• Inadequate number of perforations
• Phase changes
• Turbulence (high-velocity flow)
• Damage to the natural reservoir permeability
 Flowenhancement
 May result from:
• Matrix stimulation (near-wellbore permeability
exceeds the natural value)
• Hydraulic fracturing
• Highly inclined wellbore
 rw  rwe  S

r’w = effective wellbore radius, ft

rw = wellbore radius, ft
S = skin factor

 Positiveskin has the effect of reducing

wellbore radius.
 Negative skin has the effect of increasing
wellbore radius.
 Pressure drop (psia) due to skin is:
141.2qo o Bo
PS  S
2 kh

qo = oil flow rate, STB/D

μo = oil viscosity, cp
Bo = oil FVF, bbls/STB
k = reservoir permeability, mD
h = reservoir thickness, ft
S = skin factor
 Damaged zone

Undamaged zone
No damage – no skin (ks = k)
 Ideal drawdown:

141.2qo o Bo  rs 
PS  Pwf ,ideal  ln  
2 kh  rw 

Damage (ks < k)

 Real drawdown:

141.2qo o Bo  rs 
PS  Pwf ,real  ln  
2 kS h  rw 
  Pressuredrop due to skin  Pwf ,real  Pwf ,ideal
 Therefore:

141.2qo o Bo
PS  S  Pwf ,real  Pwf ,ideal
2 kh

141.2qo o Bo 141.2qo o Bo  rs   141.2qo o Bo  rs  

S ln      ln   
2 kh  2 kS h  rw    2 kh  rw  

141.2qo o Bo 141.2qo o Bo  1 1   rs 
S    ln  
2 kh 2 h  kS k   rw 
141.2 qo o Bo 141.2 qo o Bo  1 1   rs 
S    ln  
2  kh 2 h  kS k   rw 

S  1 1   rs 
    ln  
k  kS k   rw 

 k   rs 
S    1 ln  
 kS   rw 
 Ideal drawdown
F
Real drawdown

F
 P P
S wf ,ideal k
s

P  P
S wf , real  k

F < 1: Damaged well (skin is positive)

 F = 1: No change (skin is zero)
 F > 1: Stimulated well (skin is negative)
 S  Sd  Sc  S  S p   S pseudo

S = total skin effect of a well

Sd = skin due to damage
Sc = skin due to partial penetration completion
Sθ = skin due to deviation
Sp = skin due to perforation
Spseudo = skin due to rate-dependent effects & phase-
dependent effects
 Rate-dependent skin can be obtained from a
well test.
 Phase-dependent skin effects are associated
with phase changes because of the near-
wellbore pressure gradient.
 If Pwf < Pb: a reduction in the effective
permeability to oil in the case of oil wells.
 If Pwf < Pd: a reduction in the effective
permeability to gas in the case of gas wells.
Skin Due To Deviation
   
2.06
   1.865  h kh 
S         log   
 41   56   100rw kv  

 kv 
   tan  tan  
1

 kh 

Sθ = skin due to deviation

θ = angle between the well & the vertical
kh = horizontal permeability
kv = vertical permeability
Skin Due To Completion (Partial Penetration)
   k 
0.825
 h     k  
Sc  1.35   1 ln  h h  7   1.95  ln rwc  0.49  0.1ln  h h   
h    kv  
 p     kv   

  zm 
rwc  rw exp  0.2126   2.753  
  h 

zm = distance between the top sand & the middle of the

open interval.
rwc = rw for an interval either starting at the top of the
reservoir of finishing at the base.
 Clegg, J. D.: “Production Operations
Engineering,” Petroleum Engineering
Handbook, Vol. IV, SPE, 2007.
 Economides, M. J., Hill, A. D., and Ehlig-
Economides, C.: “Petroleum Production
Systems,” Prentice Hall, PTR, 1994.
 Bellarby, J.: “Well Completion Design,” 1st Ed.,
Elsevier B.V., 2009.