Well Completion Techniques

Well life cycle

Steps involved in well completion-
• After drilling & before production
• Cleaning out the well
• Tubing installation
• Packer installation
• Perforation
• Production
 Pressure
• Pore pressure
• Hydrostatic pressure
• Formation pressure
• Overburden pressure
• Casing pressure (FIT, LOT,LT)
• Shut-in pressure (well killing)
 Hydrostatic pressure
• Pressure exerted by a column of fluid
• HP = g x ρf x D
• HP (psi) = 0.052 x ρf (ppg) x D (ft)
Calculate the hydrostatic pressure for the following
wells:
a. mud weight = 9 ppg, hole depth = 10100 ft MD
(measured depth), 9900 ft TVD (true vertical depth)
b. mud gradient = 0.468 psi / ft, hole depth = 10100 ft
MD (measured depth), 9900 ft TVD (true vertical
depth)
 Pore pressure
• Pressure acting on a fluid in pore space
• Analyses
• Pre-drilling: by using seismic interval velocity
data, geological well logging and from offset
well
• While drilling: LWD, MWD and mud logging
data
• Post- drilling: by having all the data, pore
pressure model will be created
Pore pressure prediction for future well
 Causes of Abnormal pressure
• Depositional effect
• Depositional evaporates
• Structural causes
• Tectonic effect
• Diagenis effect
• Thermodynamics effect
 Reasons
• Rapid loading and under compaction
• Tectonical movements and shear deformation
• Hydrocarbon (methane gas) generation
(biochemical process)
• Increasing temperature with increased burial
depth (if system is isolated and volume is kept
constant)
• Squeezing of water in clay as compressed
 Methods of pore pressure prediction

1. Terzaghi’s and Biot’s effective stress law

• Pore pressure in the formation is the function
of overburden stress and effective stress
• PP = (Overburden stress- effective vertical
stress)/Biot effective stress co-efficient
 From acoustic travel time/velocity in shale

• Hottmann and Johnson – from shale properties

derived from well log data
• Decrease in porosity is the function of depth from
acoustic travel time in Miocene and Oligocene
• Normal compaction trend as a function of burial
depth and fluid present in it is hydrostatic
• Gardner proposed an equation,
• Pf = σv –{(αv-β)*((A1-B1ln∆t)^3)/Z^2}
 From Resistivity
• Eaton proposed an equation from resistivity log
in shale region
• Applicable in young sedimentary basin under-
under compaction, normal shale resistivity is
properly determined
• Ppg = OBG –{ (OBG – Png)((R/Rn)^ᵑ)}
• Approach
– Assume resistivity is constant
– Accurate determination of normal compaction trend
line
 Estimation of pore pressure
• Before drilling
– Nearby well data
• While drilling
– Drilling rate
– Torque
– Mud log analysis
– Core cutting analysis
– MWD
– Drilling fluid analysis
 Mud logging methods
• Measure Drilling parameters (ROP,WOB, RPM,
flow rate)
• Measure properties of drill cuttings from samples
collected at the shale shaker
• Measure gas levels from well
• Produce a lithological column as well is drilled
• Determine where to drill and when to stop
• Give warnings of increasing pressures
• Help determine accurately the depth of casing
seats
 Factors involving
• Rate of penetration
• D exponent
• Drag, torque and fill
• Gas levels
• Temperature data
• Drill cuttings parameters
 Common procedure for determining the pore
pressure from dc
• Plot dc values on a semi-log
paper against depth.
• Establish a normal pressure
trendline through dc values
corresponding to known clean,
normally pressured shales.
• Plot the actual dc values
alongside the trendline
• Calculate the Pore Pressure
using Eaton equation and Ratio
method
 d- Exponent method
• Calculated in Shale region
• Given by,

• Where,
i. d=D Exponent, in d-units
ii. ROP = penetration rate (ft/hr)
iii. RPM = rotary speed (rpm)
iv. WOB = weight on bit (lbs.)
v. B = diameter of the bit, inch
• Can correct the RPM
• Proportional to rock strength
• For normal pressure zone, d increases with depth
• For abnormal pressure zone , decrease with depth
 Corrected d- Exponent
• Given by

• Where,
– Corrected d- Exponent
– NPP = Normal Pore Pressure gradient
– ECD = Equivalent Circulating Density
• dc exponent more sensitive to changes in mud
weight and increasing pore pressure
• Limitation
– t can only be used to calculate pore pressures in
clean shales or clean argillaceous limestones.
– Large increases in mud weight cause lower values
of dc.
– dc exponent values are affected by lithology, poor
hydraulics, type of bit, bit wear, motor or turbine
runs and unconformities in the formation.
 Eaton method
(i) Record the value of the normal trendline d c (dcn) and
observe dc (dco) at the depth of interest.
(use only dco values from shales)
(ii) Record the overburden gradient from the
overburden plot at the depth of interest.
(iii) Use the below formula

• PP= Pore pressure (ppg)

• σov= Overburden (ppg)
• Pn= Normal pore pressure gradient (ppg)
• dco= Observed value of dc at depth of interest
• dcn= Normal trendline value of dc at depth of interest
 Ratio Method
• Do not require values of overburden
• Given by

• Where,
– PP= Pore pressure (ppg)
– Pn= Normal pore pressure (ppg)
– dco= Observed d exponent
– dcn= Normal trendline value of d exponent
 Problem
1. If R= 20ft/hr, N=100rpm, W= 25000lbf, D b=9
7/8”, find d
2. If normal pore pressure gradient in an area is
0.433psi/ft and actual mud weight is 11.2gal
find dc
Experimental determination of fracture gradient
• Leak off Test (LOT)
– Amount of pressure required to initiate fracture
• Pressure integrity Test (PIT)
– Only to determine pressure that formation can
withstand without fracturing
• Limit Test (LT)
– A test carried out to a specified value, always below
the fracture gradient of the formation.
• Fracture Gradient Test (FGT)
– A test carried out to the leak off point and beyond until
the formation around the wellbore fails. The fracture
gradient is equal to the earth minimum horizontal
stress.
 Formation integrity test
• To test the strength of formation, casing shoe, cement
bond by increasing the BHP to designed pressure
• Reasons
– To investigate the strength of the cement bond
around the casing shoe and to ensure that no
communication is established with higher
formations.
– To determine the fracture gradient around the
casing shoe and therefore establish the upper limit
of primary well control for the open hole section
below the current casing.
 – To investigate well bore capability to withstand
pressure below the casing shoe in order to validate
or invalidate the well engineering plan regarding
the next casing shoe setting depth
– To collect regional information on the formation
strength for optimization of well design for future
wells
• Factors affecting
– Formation type, rock strength, mineralogy,
permeability and orientation of planes
 Pressure associated
• Breakdown pressure :
to break the formation
and initiate the
fracture
• Propagation pressure :
to enlarge the fracture
• Shut-in pressure: to
hold the fracture open
 Stress associated

• The maximum
principal stress
(designated σz)
• The intermediate
principal stress
(designated σy)
• The minimum
principal stress
(designated σx)
 Procedure
• Equipment
– Large scale pressure gauges
– The cement pumps should always be used in
preference to the mud pumps
• Preparation
– Same pump rate as the proposed FIT
– Plotted of pressure vs. volume
• Procedure
– Drill 10-20 ft
– Equal increments of mud
– Continue the test to the pre-calculated surface
pressure value.
• Calculate the FG using,

• Where,
• FG = Fracture Gradient (ppg)
• ρm = Mud Density (ppg)
• FIT = Maximum Test Pressure (psi) after rock
fracture
• D = TVD (feet)
 Inference
• From 1 to 2 limit test taken place
• At or near 2, limit test stopped
• At 3, tock tends to deform and no longer a straight
line relationship
• At 4, pimp is cut off and the volume of mud cines out
must be equal to in and is known as the formation
breakdown pressure
• If pumping was continued beyond point 4 (ie after
formation breakdown) the fracture created would
propagate at a pressure lower than that at point 4
fracture propagation pressure, point 5. The fracture
propagation pressure gives the definitive
measurement of fracture gradient.
 Hubbert and willi’s
• Fracturing occurs when the applied fluid
pressure exceeds the sum of the minimum
effective stress and formation pressure

• Where, σ ′ 3 = minimum principal stress - pore

pressure
• In-terms of poisson ratio,
2. Ben Eaton
– Consider variation in pore pressure gradient
– Most accurate
– Where,
F= ((S-P)/D)*(ɣ/(1-ɣ))+(P/D)
S = Overburden stress (psi)
ɣ = Poisson ratio
3. Matthews and Kelly
– Pore pressure is taken into consideration
– Changes in rock matrix, stress coefficient & stress
F = (Ki*σ/D)+(P/D)
Where,
Ki = matrix stress co-efficient
σ = vertical matrix stress, psi
• 1 and 3 yield similar result
• Not considering the water depth effect