Introduction to Well Completions

Agenda

At the end of this presentation, you will be able to:

•Define completion
•Factors influencing completion design.
•List and define the different types of completion
•Describe surface control equipments
•Define subsea completion
Completion

• After exploratory drilling confirms the presence of an oil or natural gas

reservoir, the hydrocarbons are brought to the surface.

• Once the design well depth is reached, the formation is tested and Safety Equipment
evaluated to determine whether the well is to be completed for
production, or plugged and abandoned. PLATFORM

• This decision is taken based on the information available on reservoir

characteristics.
SEA BED
• To complete the well production, casing is installed and cemented, and 30’’ CASING
the drilling rig is dismantled and moved to the next site. 13 3/8’’ CASING
20’’ CASING

• A service rig is brought in to perforate the production casing and run

production tubing along with down hole equipments. Production casing (9 5/8) 7’’ LINER

Downhole Equipment
• The installation of surface safety equipments takes place and
production begins.
RESERVOIR

Completion Process
Completion

What is Completion?

It’s a link between drilling the borehole and

the production phase.

Well completion creates a dependable pathway

to the surface for the hydrocarbons.

Once the well is drilled, it has to be made ready

for the safe and efficient production of oil.

The term ‘completion’ describes the assembly of

Down hole tubulars and other safety equipments
that is required to enable the safe and efficient
production of oil or gas from the well after it has
been drilled.

Completion Process
 FACTORS INFLUENCING COMPLETIONS DESIGN.

• Purpose of the well

• The environment
• Drilling
• The reservoir
• Production
• Completion techniques
 Purpose of the well
• Exploration wells: To obtain preliminary data on a reservoir, nature and
characteristics of the fluids on the reservoir, pay zone characteristics (pressure,
temperature, permeability and productivity)

• Appraisal or confirmation: Refine or complete the data from exploration and

determine the off-wellbore characteristics (permeability, reservoir boundaries,
existence of faults/discontinuity)

• Developmental well: This stage brings the wells on the production stream.
Assess well conditions and effectiveness of completions and obtain further info
on the well.
– Production- productivity
– Injection- Optimize reservoir pressure
– Observation-monitor variations in reservoir parameters
 Parameters related to the Environment

• Constrains related to country/site/location of well

i.e land or offshore.

• Environmental restrictions involve:

– Difficulty in obtaining supplies
– Available space
– Available utilities
– Safety rules and regulations
– Certain operations that may or may not be possible

 Meteorological and oceanographic conditions must also be taken into

consideration where applicable.
 Parameters related to the Drilling

• Types of rigs
(drilling/completions)
• Well profile-
horizontal/directional
• Drilling and casing program
• Drilling in the pay zone(s) and
drilling fluids- formation
damage and fluid
contamination.
• Cementing the production
casing
 Parameters related to the Reservoir

• Reservoir pressure and its changes-

need for injection wells?
• Interface between fluids and their
changes- water encroachment
• Number of levels to be produced
• Rock characteristics and fluid types
• Production profile and the number of
wells required.
 Parameters related to the Production

• Safety- compliance with various regulations

• Flowing well or artificial lift- a wells flow capability depends on

natural changes in bottom hole pressure versus cumulative
production.

• Operating conditions- space availability, operating fluids-

erosion/corrosion

• Anticipated measurement, maintenance or work over operations-

maintenance and repair operations to ensure the well reaches its
lifetime
 Other factors

• Parameters related to completion

techniques: general configuration, pay zone to bore hole
connection, treatment of the formation, equipment installed,
artificial lift

• Synthesis-How completion is designed-

completions should be designed to optimize
productivity/injectivity performance, make sure the well produces
reliably and safely, optimize the implemantation of atrificial lift,
optimize equipment lifetime and make it easy o change all or some
of the equipment in the future without much difficulty.