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THEORY & FORMULAE

Skin Factors In Perforated Vertical Completions

The analysis of the different skin effects in a well completion is a necessary step in the
optimization of completion and stimulation designs. The total skin is usually determined
by the conventional transient pressure test analysis.

In a cased-hole perforated completion for a vertical well, the total skin effect st is made
of the following main components: skin due to formation damage/stimulation sd, due to
restricted entry/partial penetration sc , skin due to well deviation/slant sθ and skin due to
perforation sp.

st = sd + sc + sθ + sp

The perforation process depends mainly on the following parameters (shot density, hole-
size, penetration, phasing). The perforation skin sp is comprised of 3 sub-components:
Horizontal (2D plane flow) sH , vertical (3D convergence flow) sV and wellbore
blockage effects swb.

sp = sH + sV + swb.

Herein is presented the means for estimating the completion-dependent skin factors for
a vertical or deviated well, based on published semi-analytic models. The key equations
underpinning these models are given below.

Skin Due To Partial Penetration (Brons et al):

G(b) = 2.948 + 7.363b + 11.45b2 + 4.675b3

Skin Due To Well Inclination (Cinco et al):

Skin Due To Perforation-induced Horizontal flow effects (Karakas & Tariq):

Skin Due To Perforation-induced Vertical flow effects:

Skin Due To Perforation-induced Wellbore effects:

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Also, the Completion Efficiency Factor, Ec (also referred to as the Productivity Ratio,
PR) is defined as follows:

where
h = reservoir thickness, ft
hd = fractional penetration = perforated height/h
b = hd modified for completion placement as defined in Brons et al.
hperf = vertical distance between perfs = reciprocal of shots-per-ft
rw = wellbore radius, ft
re = radius of external drainage boundary, ft
rperf = radius of tunnel created by perforation bullet, ft
lperf = length of perforation tunnel, ft
kh = horizontal permeability of formation, mD
kv = vertical permeability of formation, mD
θ = well deviation angle, degrees
θperf = angle of perforation phasing, degrees
a0,a1,a2,b1,b2,c1,c2 = Phasing-dependent constants tabulated in Karakas & Tariq.

Tips

◊ Use link EXAMPLE Of Input/Output to demo data entry expectations and results;
you may edit & use it as starting point

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Al-Qahtani A.M. & Al-Shehri D.A.; The Ec factor: A new correlation for optimizing completion
efficiency; paper SPE-81490, 2003.
 Brons F. & Marting V.E.; The effect of restricted fluid entry on well productivity; JPT, Feb.
1961, p. 172-174.
 Cinco H., Miller F.G. & Ramey H.J.; Unsteady-state pressure distribution created by a
directional drilled well; JPT, Nov. 1975, p. 1392-1400.
 Karakas M. & Tariq S.M.; Semianalytical productivity models for perforated completions;
SPEPE, Feb., 1991, p. 73-82.
 Economides M.J., Hill A.D. & Ehlig-Economides C.; Petroleum Production Systems; PTR
Prentice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1994, chap. 5.
SKIN FACTORS IN PERFORATED VERTICAL WELLS Skin
Components Of Partially Completed Cased-holes

INPUT DATA

Title Well QA-EC-123 Study

Well deviation angle 35 °

Well radius 0.328 ft
Perforated length 65 ft
Formation thickness 115 ft
Horizontal permeability 2300 mD
Vertical permeability 250.1 mD
Perforation radius .0208 ft
Distance between perfs. .5 ft
Perforation length 0.667 ft
Perforation phasing angle 60 °

Approx. Location of Perforation Top of reservoir Middle

Extra Data For Efficiency Estimation (Optional)

Skin due to formation damage 2

Radius of external boundary 2222 ft

RESULTS

PseudoSkin, due to: Skin Factor Totals

♦ Well Inclination, sθ -0.95
♦ Partial penetration, sc 3.6
♦♦ Slant & partial penetration, sc+θ 2.65
♦ Perforation: planar flow effects, sH -0.9
♦ Perforation: vertical flow effects, sV 4.75
♦ Perforation: wellbore effects, swb 0.0
♦♦ Perforation sp 3.85
♦♦♦ Total Skin, st 6.5

♦♦♦ Completion Efficiency, Ec 0.61