THE DRILLING PROCESS

After choosing a prospect location, based on the geophysical and geological mapping and
interpretation, the site is surveyed to determine its boundaries, and environmental impact
studies may be done. Lease agreements, titles and right-of way accesses for the land must
be obtained and evaluated legally. For offshore sites, legal jurisdiction must be
determined.

Figure 45 – Offshore Jack-up Rig

Once the legal issues have been settled, the crew goes about preparing the land:

1. The land is cleared and leveled, and access roads may be built.
2. Because water is used in drilling, there must be a source of water nearby. If there
is no natural source, they drill a water well.
3. They dig a reserve pit, which is used to dispose of rock cuttings and drilling mud
during the drilling process, and line it with plastic to protect the environment. If
the site is an ecologically sensitive area, such as a marsh or wilderness, then the
cuttings and mud must be disposed offsite -- trucked away instead of placed in a
pit.

Once the land has been prepared, several holes must be dug to make way for the rig and
the main hole. A rectangular pit, called a cellar, is dug around the location of the actual
drilling hole. The cellar provides a work space around the hole, for the workers and
drilling accessories. The crew then begins drilling the main hole, often with a small drill
truck rather than the main rig. The first part of the hole is larger and shallower than the
main portion, and is lined with a large-diameter conductor pipe. Additional holes are dug

1
off to the side to temporarily store equipment -- when these holes are finished, the rig
equipment can be brought in and set up.

Rigging up

Depending upon the remoteness of the drill site and its access, equipment may be
transported to the site by truck, helicopter or barge. Some rigs are built on ships or barges
for work on inland water where there is no foundation to support a rig (as in marshes or
lakes). Once the equipment is at the site, the rig is set up. Here are the major systems of a
land oil rig:

Figure 45 – Anatomy of an oil rig

 Power system
 large diesel engines burn diesel fuel to provide the main source of power
 electrical generators are powered by the diesel engines to provide
electrical power

2
 Mechanical system - driven by electric motors
 hoisting system - used for lifting heavy loads; consists of a mechanical
winch (drawworks) with a large steel cable spool, a block and tach\kle
pulley and a receiving storage reel for the cable
 turntable - part of the drilling apparatus

 Rotating equipment - used for rotary drilling

 swivel - large handle that holds the weight of the drill string; allows the
string to rotate and makes a pressure-tight seal on the hole
 kelly - four- or six-sided pipe that transfers rotary motion to the turntable
and drill string
 turntable or rotary table - drives the rotating motion using power from
electric motors
 drill string - consists of drill pipe (connected sections of about 30 ft / 10
m) and drill collars (larger diameter, heavier pipe that fits around the drill
pipe and places weight on the drill bit)
 drill bit(s) - end of the drill that actually cuts up the rock; comes in many
shapes and materials (tungsten carbide
steel, diamond) that are specialized for
various drilling tasks and rock formations

 Casing - large-diameter concrete pipe that lines the

drill hole, prevents the hole from collapsing, and
allows drilling mud to circulate
 Mud Circulation system - pumps drilling mud
(mixture of water, clay, weighting material and
chemicals, used to lift rock cuttings from the drill
bit to the surface) under pressure through the kelly,
rotary table, drill pipes and drill collars
 pump - sucks mud from the mud pits and Figure 46
pumps it to the drilling apparatus Mud circulation in the hole
 pipes and hoses - connects pump to drilling
apparatus
 mud-return line - returns mud from hole
 shale shaker - shaker/sieve that separates rock cuttings from the mud
 shale slide - conveys cuttings to the reserve pit
 reserve pit - collects rock cuttings separated from the mud
 mud pits - where drilling mud is mixed and recycled
 mud-mixing hopper - where new mud is mixed and then sent to the mud pits

3
Figure 47 - Drill-mud circulation system

Drilling mud is used to:

 lift soil/rock cuttings from the bottom of the borehole and carry them to a settling
pit;
 allow cuttings to drop out in the mud pit so that they are not re-circulated
(influenced by mud thickness, flow rate in the settling pits and shape/size of the
pits);
 prevent cuttings from rapidly settling while another length of drill pipe is being
added (if cuttings drop too fast, they can build-up on top of the bit and seize it in
the hole);
 create a film of small particles on the borehole wall to prevent caving and to
ensure that the upward-flowing stream of drilling fluid does not erode the adjacent
formation;
 seal the borehole wall to reduce fluid loss (minimizing volumes of drilling fluid is
especially important in dry areas where water must be carried from far away);
 cool and clean the drill bit; and lubricate the bit, bearings, mud pump and drill
pipe

 Derrick - support structure that holds the drilling apparatus; tall enough to allow
new sections of drill pipe to be added to the drilling apparatus as drilling
progresses

4
Blowout prevention

A blowout occurs when there is loss of control of downhole reservoir fluid pressures.,
when the hydrostatic pressure due to the column of mud in the hole is less than the
reservoir pressure. When a higher than normal reservoir pressure is drilled into, it may be
necessary to activate the blowout prevention system (BOP stack) to provide time to kill
the well. The BOP stack is usually a combination of different types of blowout
preventers.
 Blowout preventer - high-pressure valves (located under the land rig or on the sea
floor) that seal the high-pressure drill lines and relieve pressure when necessary to
prevent a blowout (uncontrolled gush of gas or oil to the surface, often associated
with fire)

The BOP stack is usually located below the rotary table. A typical BOP stack consists of
three (3) blowout preventers is shown below:

Mud Return

Annular
Preventor

Blind
Rams

Pipe
Rams

i) Annular Preventer (top)

ii) Blind Rams (middle)
iii) Pipe Rams (bottom)

Drilling

The crew sets up the rig and starts the drilling operations. First, from the starter hole, they
drill a surface hole down to a pre-set depth, which is somewhere above where they think
the oil trap is located. There are five basic steps to drilling the surface hole:

5
 1. Place the drill bit, collar and drill pipe in the hole.
2. Attach the kelly and turntable and begin drilling.
3. As drilling progresses, circulate mud through the
pipe and out of the bit to float the rock cuttings
out of the hole.
4. Add new sections (joints) of drill pipes as the
hole gets deeper.

5. Remove (trip out) the drill pipe, collar and bit

when the pre-set depth (anywhere from a few
hundred to a couple-thousand feet) is reached.

Once they reach the pre-set depth, they must run and
cement the casing -- place casing-pipe sections into the
hole to prevent it from collapsing in on itself. The casing
pipe has spacers around the outside to keep it centered in Figure 48.
the hole. Drill Floor workers trip drill
The casing crew puts the casing pipe in the hole. The pipe
cement crew pumps cement down the casing pipe using a
bottom plug, a cement slurry, a top plug and drill mud. The pressure from the drill mud
causes the cement slurry to move through the casing and fill the space between the
outside of the casing and the hole. Finally, the cement is allowed to harden and then
tested for such properties as hardness, alignment and a proper seal.
Drilling continues in stages: They drill, then run and cement new casings, then drill again.
When the rock cuttings from the mud reveal the oil sand from the reservoir rock, they
may have reached the final depth. At this point, they remove the drilling apparatus from
the hole and perform several tests to confirm this finding:
 Well logging - lowering electrical and gas sensors into the hole to take
measurements of the rock formations there
 Drill-stem testing - lowering a device into the hole to measure the pressures,
which will reveal whether reservoir rock has been reached
 Core samples - taking samples of rock to look for characteristics of reservoir rock

Once they have reached the final depth, the crew completes the well to allow oil to flow
into the casing in a controlled manner. First, they lower a perforating gun into the well to
the production depth. The gun has explosive charges to create holes in the casing through
which oil can flow.

After the casing has been perforated, they run a small-diameter pipe (tubing) into the hole
as a conduit for oil and gas to flow up the well. A device called a packer is run down the
outside of the tubing. When the packer is set at the production level, it is expanded to
form a seal around the outside of the tubing.

Finally, they connect a multi-valved structure called a Christmas tree to the top of the
tubing and cement it to the top of the casing. The Christmas tree allows them to control
the flow of oil from the well.

6
Once the well is completed, they must start the flow of oil into the well. For limestone
reservoir rock, acid is pumped down the well and out the perforations. The acid dissolves
channels in the limestone that lead oil into the well. For sandstone reservoir rock, a
specially blended fluid containing proppants (sand, walnut shells, aluminum pellets) is
pumped down the well and out the perforations. The pressure from this fluid makes small
fractures in the sandstone that allow oil to flow into the well, while the proppants hold
these fractures open. Once the oil is flowing, the oil rig is removed from the site and
production equipment is set up to extract the oil from the well.

Well Completion

If the evaluation of the well logs indicates a potential zone to be completed, ie potential
hydrocarbon bearing zone present, the well must be completed. This will enable the well
to produce hydrocarbons to the surface, until the reservoir is depleted. The first and
critical step is to run and cement casing in the hole.

The main reasons fore running and cementing casing in the open hole is to:

1. Prevent caving of the hole.

2. Confine production to the wellbore
3. Prevent contamination of fresh water sands, particularly in the surface
hole.
4. Facilitate installation of surface equipment
5. Facilitate installation of downhole equipment
6. Provide means of controlling pressure
7. Exclude water from producing formation

Casing String and Design Factors

The casing is the steel pipe which is run to different depths in the well. This depth at
which the casing is set is the casing point. A casing string is casing that is run from it’s
casing point back to the surface or to the seafloor in offshore wells. A casing liner is
casing that is run from it’s casing depth back to a casing liner hanger downhole inside a
previously run and cemented casing string or liner.

The following are considered when selecting a casing to be run:

i) Axial load in tension

ii) Axial load in compression
iii) Burst as a thin walled cylinder (due to internal pressure)
iv) Collapse as a thin walled cylinder (due to external pressure)
v) Corrosion
vi) Abrasion

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 17 1/2 " hole

13 3/8" casing

12 1/4" hole

casing liner hanger

9 5/8" casing

8 1/2" hole

7" casing liner

Figure 49 - Typical casing and hole sizes.

There are four typical types of casing that may be run in a well:

i) Conductor pipe
ii) Surface string
iii) Intermediate string or liner
iv) Production string or liner

Conductor Pipe

The conductor pipe may also be called drive pipe for offshore wells since it may be
driven in to the seafloor with a pile driver. One function of the conductor pipe is to
support the wellbore through the unconsolidated materials present in the surface ho,e
such as dirt, gravel, clay, sand, rock boulders, silt and sediment. It is therefore desirable
to set the conductor pipe either on solid rock or into solid rock. A second function of the
conductor is to protect the wellbore near the surface from washout, which may result

8
from circulation of the drilling mud from the lower section of the wellbore, and therefore
to restrict the well diameter at the surface to the ID of the conductor.

The Surface String

The surface string serves a primary function of protecting the surface environment from
contamination from downhole fluids such as hydrocarbons and drilling mud. This
environmental protection requirement makes the cementing of the surface casing to the
surface necessary. Once the surface string is run, a bolt flange connection is welded to the
top of the casing to which the BOP stack will be attached. The combination of the casing
head and BOP stack will protect against blowout during further drilling operations. It is
important that the surface string be set at sufficient depth within solid rock to provide
protection against downhole pressures.

Intermediate String

A primary function of intermediate strings or liners is to seal off zones of high fluid
pressures. The determining factor for this casing point will be to drill through an
impermeable rock formation below the high pressure reservoir, thereby permitting further
drilling with a less dense drilling mud. A second function of intermediate strings or liners
is to seal off zones of lost circulation, which can occur when drilling a low pressure
reservoir. Another function of intermediate strings or liners is to seal off zones of
wellbore washout in unconsolidated sandstones or mobile shales.

The Production String

The production string or liner is that casing through which the reservoir fluid will be
produced. This casing is run all the way through the reservoir and set some depth below
it. The casing depth is therefore dependent on the depth of the bottom of the reservoir and
the amount of rathole required for that particular well.

It is usually desirable to produce hydrocarbons through production tubing rather than

through the production casing in order to minimize exposure to possible corrosion from
the reservoir fluids. The production casing may also serve the functions of sealing off
high pressure zones, zones of lost circulation, and zones of potential wellbore washout.

Production Choke

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The production choke can be used to control the production flow rate of the well and
hence the drawdown. The drawdown is the difference between the reservoir pressure and
the flowing bottomhole pressure. This is very important in preventing sand entry into the
wellbore. If the drawdown is too high, the cohesive forces due to the cementing material
between the sand grains within the rock can be exceeded. This will result in sand grains
becoming loose and flowing into the wellbore. This can result in plugged tubing, washed
out choke and plugged flowline.

The choke could be either adjustable or fixed choke (with a bean inserted). Adjustment of
the choke and hence the flow rate can maintain a bottomhole pressure above the bubble
point, preventing the breakout of gas out of solution at the bottom of the well. This
guarantees only liquids flowing into the well.

Factors affecting Production:

i) Reservoir Fluid Pressure

ii) Reservoir Fluid Temperature
iii) Formation Volume Factor
iv) Bubble Point Pressure
v) Reservoir Fluid Saturations
vi) Solution Gas Oil ratio
vii) Reservoir Fluid Viscosity
viii) Reservoir Fluid Compressibility
ix) Porosity
x) Permeability
xi) Well Depth
xii) Flow area variations
xiii) Perforation size, penetration and density
xiv) Choke size
xv) Flowing Bottomhole Pressure
xvi) Production history of the reservoir
xvii) Skin Factor

Running the casing

A casing guide shoe is attached to one end of one joint of the casing. The joint of casing
is the brought to the rig floor and is suspended from the hoisting system in the derrick.,
with the guide shoe on the lower end. The guide shoe will allow the casing to be lowered
in unconsolidated formations where there will be ledges in the well. The guide shoe will
guide the casing past these ledges, to keep it from hanging up. The guide shoe also
protects the end of the casing from damage while it is being run into the wellbore.

The first joint of casing is now run into the wellbore and a float collar is attached to the
top of that joint. Within this float collar is a one-way check valve. This valve prevents
flow from occurring up through the inside of the casing, but permits flow down through
the casing.

10
Once the float collar has been connected, joints of the casing are addad as the casing is
lowered into the wellbore. The inside of the casing is filled with drilling mud to prevent
the casing from floating out of the well due to buoyancy. During the running of the
casing, centralizes and scratchers are placed at pre-determined intervals along the outside
of the casing string. The functions of these centralizes are to centralize the casing in the
center of the wellbore. Scratchers have spring steel teeth, which scratch through the
bentonite the bentonite wall cake on the wall of the wellbore, to provide a better cement
bond with the rock formations.

Primary Cementing

A cementing head (plug container) is attached to the top of the casing string. Within this
cementing head will be the bottom plug and the top plug. The diameter of these plugs
will be slightly less than the casing ID. The mud is conditioned prior to cementing, by
reciprocating the casing vertically with the hoisting system; ideally a distance at least
equal to the spacing between centralizes and scratchers, as mud is circulated down th
inside of the casing, thereby opening the check valve in the float collar and returning up
the annulus. This procedure will break the gel in the annulus. Any rock particles present
in the annulus will be carried to surface because of the reciprocation and circulation as
the well is prepared for cementing.

The bottom plug is now dropped on top of the mud column in the casing, and the
calculated volume of cement is pumped into the casing behind this plug. This bottom
plug separates the drilling mud from the cement, thereby minimizing contamination of
the cement by the mud as the wipers remove the mud from the wall of the casing in front
of the cement.

When the calculated volume of cement has been pumped into the casing, the top plug is
dropped on the cement column. Once the bottom plug reaches the internal shoulder at the
top of the float collar, flow will be stopped when that plug seats on the shoulder, since
flow is blocked by the plug. The result is a pressure increase, which will rupture a
diaphragm within the bottom plug. When the diaphragm ruptures, it will be known at the
surface, since the pressure will drop and flow will resume. Pumping will continue until
top plug seats on the remains of the bottom plug. When this occurs, flow again will stop
and pressure will rise, indicating that the top plug has reached a position on top of the
remains of the bottom plug.

The casing is reciprocated throughout the entire pumping process in order to break the gel
in the annulus and permit the cement to distribute itself around the casing. When the top
plug seats the system is shut down to provide the pre-determined time for the cement to
set. Once the cement has set, further drilling can now proceed.

The bit size for the next hole is attached to the bottom of the drill string and tripped into
the hole and drilling is resumed. The top and bottom drillable plugs are then drilled out

11
along with the float collar. The bottom joint of casing filled with set cement along with
the guide shoe are now drilled out. Drilling now proceeds to the next casing point.

Squeeze Cementing

Squeeze cementing is selective cementing downhole, within the casing. This technique
might be used to seal off casing leaks caused by corrosion or to repair channels that occur
behind the casing during primary cementing. A drillable plug is placed in the casing
below the point where the squeeze cementing is to occur. Tubing with a packer is then
run into the wellbore, and the packer is set in the casing above the point at which the
squeeze cementing is to occur. Cement is the pumped under pressure through the pipe
and squeezed into intervals perforated for this purpose, or through the leaks, to seal the
annulus and therefore the leak at that location. After the cement has set the packer is
released and the tubing is retrieved to the surface. It is then necessary to drill out the set
cement remaining in the casing, and the plug set in the casing below the cement.

WELL COMPLETION

There are three basic types of well completion:

1. Conventional Single zone Completion

2. Conventional Multiple zone Completion
3. Tubingless Completion

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Conventional Single Zone Completion

Open Hole Completion

This is the simplest of all completion types, where casing is run and cemented just above
the producing zone. The pay section is drilled with a non-damaging fluid.

Open hole completions can be barefoot, where tubing is run and a packer is set in the
casing above the open hole the well put on production. Another option is to run a gravel
pack liner or screen and gravel pack the open interval. This is known as an Open Hole
Gravel Pack completion. The open hole can also be widened using an under-reamer and
then gravel packed. Productivity of open hole gravel packs is higher than the cased hole
gravel packs because the hydrocarbon flows into a larger tube.

Some features of open hole gravel pack completions:

i) It is run in consolidated sandstone or carbonate reservoirs

ii) Perforating expense is eliminated
iii) It provides good sand control
iv) The entire pay section is produced
v) It can easily be converted to cased hole completion
vi) It is difficult to selectively stimulate using acid or fracturing
vii) The casing is set “in the dark” before the pay section is drilled
viii) It is difficult to eliminate water or gas production

Single Zone Cased Hole Completion

In this completion, casing is run and cemented to the bottom of the pay zone. In some
cases the well is drilled and cased beyond the pay zone, leaving a “rat hole” below the
perforated zone. The size of the casing is determined based on the expected rate of
production of the well. The thickness of the casing is determined based on both the
external and the internal pressures the casing must withstand. These are called collapse
and burst pressures. Single zone cased hole completions may be with gravel packed
screens or liners for sand control.

Some features of open hole gravel pack completions:

i) It is easier to selectively stimulate using acid or fracturing

ii) Different intervals can be stimulated selectively
iii) Multiple completion is possible
iv) The well can be easily deepened
v) Perforating cost can be high

13
 vi) Various sand control techniques can be utilized

Conventional Multiple Completion

Conventional Multiple Completion is utilized when there are two zones in a well that
contain significantly different reservoir pressures. If both are produced together and
allowed to mix, some production from the higher pressure zone will preferably flow into
the lower pressure zone, especially when the well is shut in. Thus it is necessary to isolate
production from both zones.

This is achieved by placing a dual packer between both zones and allowing flow up two
different tubing strings (see diagram).

DUAL COMPLETION

17 1/2 " hole

13 3/8" casing

12 1/4" hole

casing liner hanger

9 5/8" casing

high pressure zone high pressure zone

low pressure zone low pressure zone

7" casing liner

Figure 50 – Dual Completion.

Tubingless Completion

In this type of completion the casing is small and no inner tubing is run in the hole.
Tubingless completions can be single zone or multiple zone. The zones are perforated
using “orienting guns” which utilize magnetism to orient the guns away from the other
casing strings in the hole, while perforating the selected zone.

14
Tubing

Tubing is set inside the casing to transmit fluids from downhole to surface, with minimal
pressure drop. Another factor is gas expansion in the tubing, which assists in the lifting of
the liquids to the surface. To achieve this, tubing is usually small in diameter e.g 2 3/8”,
2 7/8”, 3 ½”. In choosing the optimum size of tubing the following is considered:

i) The desired flow rate

ii) Gas and liquid ratio for liquid loading in the tubing
iii) Possible artificial lift method to be employed.
iv) Special requirements for completion e.g. sand control

Packers

Packers are set in the wellbore to provide a seal between the tubing and casing.They also
serve an anchors/hangers for the production tubing.A packer may be classified by the way
it is set: hydraulic or mechanical set, by the way it is run: wireline or tubing, or by
whether permanent or temporary.

Packers are run for:

i) Casing protection from pressure or fluid in the tubing

ii) Separation of zones
iii) Subsurface pressure and fluid control for safety
iv) Artificial lift support equipment

Wellheads

Wellheads are the connection points for the tubing and the surface flow lines as well as
being the surface control point in all wells. The selection of the wellhead is based on the
pressure, temperature and corrosivity of the produced fluids. Both the casing and tubing
strings are landed in the wellhead. The casing also acts as a conduit allowing for all types
of workover operations. Wellheads plays a major role in preventing oncontrolled flow
from downhole, through it’s configuration of valves.

15
A SECTION

Casing head 13 5/8" 5M X l3 3/8" SOW w/2 1/16" 5M F.O. & 6" L.P. w/hold down
screws; Valve WKM 2 1/16" 5M RJ MM T-21; 2 Flanges threaded 2 1/16" 5M X 2"
LP; l-Bull Plug 2" LP plain; 1-Bull Plug 2" LP X 1/2" NPT.

16
 B SECTION

2. AP Flange Packoff TS-5 13 5/8" 5M X 11" 10M W/9 5/8" "P" Seals.

3. AP Casing Spool 11" 10M X 11" 15M "SF" w/1 13/16" 15H F.O. and
hold down screws for wear bushing and 2-9 5/8" 'P" seals RC-22
w/K-Monel Hd. Screws.

4. Valve WKH 1 13/16" 15M 6BX MM T-22 w/test flange 1 13/16" 15N X 1 1/8"
autoclave.

5. Valve WKM 1 13/16" 15M 6BX MM T-22 w/weld neck flange,

C SECTION

6. Tubing head 11" 15M X 7 1/16" 20M w/1 13/16' 20M outlets.
RC22 W/K-Monel hold down Screws,

7. Valve - WKM 1 13/16" 20M 6BX MN T-26 w/test flange 1 13/16" 20M X 1 1/8"
S.S.

8. Valve - WKM 1 13/16" 20M 6BX MN T-26 w/weld neck flange.

UPPER SECTION

9. AP Flange Adp. Spool 7 1/16r X 2 9/16" 20H w/"P'" seals to accept metal to metal
hanger S.S., and UEMM Tbg. Hanger w/metal to metal seals; Nom. 6" X 3 1/2" 15.80#
PH6 CB L X S 2 1/2" BPV 17.4 PH S.S.

10. Valve WKM 2 9/16" 20M 6BX MM T-26.

11. AP Cross Stud. 2 9/16" 20M Run X 1 13/16" 20M out. S.S,

12. AP Top Adapter 2 9/16" 20M S,S. w/2 7/8" Lift Threads. BP Tapped 1 1/8" 12 NF,

13. Valve WKM 1 13/16" 2OM 6OX MM T-25.

14. Valve WKM 1 13/16- 20M T-26 w/.s-600 actuator and bonnet kit,

15. Pos. Choke - T[[C 1 13/16" 20M FXF S.S, w/weld neck 1 13/16" 20M RC22 flange,

16. Adj. Choke - THC 1 13/16- 2OM FXF S.S. w/weld neck I 13/16" 20M RC22 flange.

17
Perforating

Perforations are hole through casing to permit entry of fluids. The perforations must be
placed opposite the productive zones and are designed to penetrate both the casing and
the cement placed behind it, thus allowing communication between the permeable part of
the reservoir and the borehole.

The “shaped charge” or “jet charge” is the most commonly used perforating technique
used today. This mechanism produces a hole in the casing by propagating a pressure
wave front from the surface of the metal liner in the charge, through the port or scalloped
wall of the gun and then through the casing and cement into the formation. The metal
liner of the charge deforms under high pressure and provides mass, which makes the
charge more efficient.

In order to achieve this, a chain reaction is triggered from an electrically-fired detonator,

which detonated the primacord, booster charge and the main charge. Usually four (4) one
half inch (1/ inch) diameter holes per foot are required, except in gravel packing
operations where 4 to 8 three-quarter inch (3/4 inch) holes are shot. The higher density
larger holes accommodate transport of gravel through the perforations with less pressure
drop across them.

The three (3) typical perforating guns used for perforating wells are: casing, through
tubing and tubing conveyed guns.

Casing Gun Perforating

The casing guns are hollow steel carrier guns run on wireline. This gun is run without the
tubing in the hole and requires a wireline lubricator connected on top of a shooting valve.
The tubing is run after the guns are fired and retrieved from the borehole. An electric
current, sent down the wireline to a detonator, fires the guns.

This type of gun is used for overbalance perforating. “Overbalance” occurs when the
hydrostatic head, due to the density and weight of the perforating fluid, is greater than the
reservoir pressure. Casing gun perforating is cheaper than the other two types and is used
for low pressure, low rate wells.

Through tubing perforating

The through tubing guns contain charges that are screwed into a thin metal strip that can
pass through the tubing. The tubing is run in the hole, packer set and well head installed.
A wireline lubricator is installed on top of the wellhead. A grease injector head is installed
on the lubricator since this type of perforating can withstand some pressure from the well.
The firing mechanism is the same as casing gun perforating.
Multiple runs have to be made since the length of the perforating gun, and hence the
number of charges per run, are restricted by the length of the lubricator. The advantage

18
of this type of perforating is that the well can be flowed as soon as the last run is
completed, and it is not as expensive as tubing conveyed perforating.

Tubing Conveyed Perforating

Tubing Conveyed Perforating or TCP as it is more popularly known is the most

expensive of the three and is used for high production rate wells. The perforating guns
are run on hollow steel and attached at the end of the tubing. The tubing is run in the
hole, packer set and wellhead installed. The guns are fired either by tubing pressure or by
dropping a steel bar in the tubing, which sets off the detonator on impact. Sometimes,
especially in deep wells, the drop bar method is utilized as a back-up mechanism.

This type of perforating is done underbalance (the hydrostatic head is less than the
reservoir pressure). This results in gun debris being flowed back immediately upon
perforating as the wellhead sees an immediate pressure and the well can be produced and
cleaned up immediately.

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PRODUCTION EQUATIONS

The following is a simplification of procedures for predicting well performance. This

discussion assumes a flow efficiency of one. A damaged well or other factors will affect
the flow efficiency and could change the well's productivity.

Productivity Index

When the well flowing pressure (Pwf) is greater than bubble -point pressure (Pb), the fluid
flow is similar to single phase flow, and the inflow performance curve is a straight line
with slope J, as given by the productivity index, PI:

Where:

Q = the fluid test production rate. Pwf = the well flowing pressure @ test rate .

= the well static pressure.

Figure 57

20
Inflow Performance Relationship

If is less than , resulting in multi-phase flow, the IPR method should be used. The
relationship is given by the following equation:

This relationship was first used by W.E. Gilbert1 and further developed by J.V. Vogel2.
Vogel developed a dimensionless reference curve that can be used to determine the IPR
curve for a particular well.

Formation Damage and skin factor

Wellbore damage occurs when filtrate (liquid) or solids from drilling mud or completion
fluids interact or plug the formation near the wellbore. Water in the filtrate can swell the
clays or fines from the solids can plug the pore throats. Both result in a reduction in the
size of the flow channels and hence a reduction in the near wellbore permeability. This is
referred to as skin damage. The skin factor is a numerical representation of skin damage.
The additional pressure drop in the near wellbore due to skin is called Δpskin.

Flow Efficiency

The Vogel equation was modified by Standing, who represented the Vogel Equation as
the situation when the Skin Factor is zero. The flow efficiency can be estimated as:

F.E = 7
7+s
Where s is the skin factor.

If the skin factor is positive (s0), then the Flow Efficiency is less than 1 indicating that
the well is damaged. If the skin factor is negative (s0), then the Flow Efficiency is
greater than 1 indicating that well is stimulated.

21
 IPR Standing

4500

4000

3500
FE > 0

3000

2500
Pwf

2000
Stimulated well
IPR Curve
1500

1000

500

0
0.0 500.0 1000.0 1500.0 2000.0 2500.0 3000.0
Q

For the well represented in the graph above, the unstimulated well will produce at a rate
of approx. 1,750 bopd for a flowing bottomhole pressure of 1,000 psia, while the
production rate for the same flowing bottomhole pressure will be approx. 2,400 bopd, an
increase of 650 bopd.

Darcy Equation for Radial Flow

Previously we looked at the Darcy Equation for linear flow for incompressible fluids.
However, radial flow exists in a reservoir (flow from all directions in a radial pattern as
shown below).

Wellbore

Plan View of a wellbore, depicting radial flow

22
 Darcy developed an equation for radial flow, which estimates the radial fluid flow
thropugh porous media:

7.08 x 10-3 k h (P - Pwf)

qo = µoB o( ln(0.472 re/rw) + s )

where:

qo = Oil flow rate, (STD/day)

h= Reservoir Rock Thiockness, (ft)

P= Initial reservoir Pressure, (psia)

Pwf = Flowing Bottomhole Pressure, (psia)

o = Oil Dynamic Viscosity, (Centipoise)

Bo = Oil Formation Volume Factor, (RB/STB)

re = Radius of the boundary (limit of reservoir), (ft)

rw = Wellbore Radius, (ft)

s= Skin Factor

From the above equation, we can see that a positive skin factor (s0) will result in a
reduction in the well’s oil rate, while a negative skin factor rill result in an increased flow
rate in the well. This forms the basis for well stimulation.

23
ARTIFICIAL LIFT

In most fields, the new wells flow under it’s natural pressure until such time that the
reservoir pressure is reduced to the point that the well can no longer flow under it’s
natural pressure. The well now becomes a prime candidate for artificial lift.

There are various artificial lift mechanisms such as: gas lift, plunger lift, downhole
electric or hydraulic pump, and rod pump. The selection of artificial lift depends on type
of hydrocarbons, flow rate and the reservoir pressure. The design of lift systems also
depends on the economics of the project.

Artificial lift is simply a method of adding energy to lift liquid to the surface of a well,
and can be accomplished by any of the following means:

1. Gas Lift

a) Continuous gas lift system

b) Intermittent gas lift system
c) Plunger lift system

2. Beam pumping or sucker rod pumping

3. Electric submersible pumping

4. Progressive cavity or screw type pumps particularly for heavy oil operations

5. Various special techniques e.g. hydraulic pumps, jet pumps etc.

Gas Lift

Gas lift systems can be used to effectively produce wells ranging from low productivity
to high productivity. Gas lift systems are selected for artificial lift if a low cost, high
pressure gas source is readily available.

In flowing wells, gas is produced along with the liquids. The gas
comes out of solution and expands as the pressure is reduced as it
flows up the tubing. The expanding gas assists in lightening the
column of fluid, resulting in more inflow from the reservoir and
also helps push the fluids out of the well.

In gas lift operations, high pressure gas is injected down the casing
and enters the tubing at the bottom of the well through a pressure-
rated gas lift valve. As the gas rises the bubbles expand, increasing
the velocity of the fluid and decreasing it’s density just as in
flowing wells.

24
Figure 51 – Gas Lifting
The applications of gas lift are:

i) To enable wells that will not flow naturally to produce

ii) To increase production rate in flowing wells
iii) To unload a well that will later flow naturally
iv) To remove or unload fluids from gas wellsand keep the gas wells unloaded
(usually intermittent gas lift)

Continuous Gas lift

Under continuous gas lift, high pressure gas enters the tubing through gas lift valves
continuously, maintaining a constant flowing bottomhole pressure. This action reduces
the fluid gradient in the tubing and the well performs very similar to a natural flowing
well. The gas lift valves can be either loaded or pressure balance release valves. The two
different types of gas lift valves used in the industry are differential valves and bellows or
charged valves.

The differential valves are normally open and when the pressure in the annulus is high
enough, the valve closes. As the pressure in the tubing is less than the injected gas, the
valve will not reopen until the tubing pressure has risen due to liquid loading or the
injection pressure has decreased.

The bellows pressure in the pressure charged bellows valve closes the valve. The valve
opens when the annulus gas pressure acting on the area below the bellows plus the tubing
pressure is greater than the bellows pressure. The valves are arranged in a string down the
tubing with the bellows-pressure charge being less as the valve location is deeper,
allowing the deeper valve to stay open when the valve above is closed.

Intermittent Gas Lift

Intermittent gas lift is used on wells that have low volumes of produced fluids.
Intermitting is usually done using surface equipment. The gas lift supply is shut down for
a predetermined period of time, allowing fluid inflow from the reservoir. The injection
takes place again, removing fluids from the wellbore and then the next cycle begins.

Some features of gas lift

i) Simple operation
ii) Very flexible – one gas lift design can handle a variety of changing well
conditions
iii) Relatively low cost – both capital and operating

25
 iv) Can be used in directional wells
v) Must have a high pressure gas supply
vi) Would not work on low API gravity crudes due to high specific gravity of the
oil
vii) Requires a compressor, to recompress the gas for further gas lift use

Plunger Lift

Plunger lifting is an economical artificial lift alternative, especially in high gas oil ratio
wells. A plunger is a “pipeline pig” that runs vertically in a well to remove liquids from a
wellbore after the well is unable to produce fluids on it’s own drive mechanism.

A plunger cycle consists of three stages:

Shut-in: A producing well is shut in to build casing pressure. This is needed to

build the pressure to lift the plunger with the liquid column on top of the plunger.

Unloading: The tubing is opened, and stored casing pressure lifts the liquid column
and plunger to the surface.

Afterflow: The well is allowed to flow while the plunger is at surface. During the
afterflow period, the well keeps producing gas and fluids until the next shut-in period. At
the end of the afterflow period, the well is shut in and the plunger falls.

Plunger lift is used mainly in:

- High producing GOR wells

- Wells where scale, paraffins, wax foul up the tubing
- Gas wells that require liquid unloading
- Reducing liquid fall back (used along with intermittent gas lift)

Advantages of plunger lift

i) Low maintenance cost

ii) Increases the well’s own lifting efficiency
iii) Easy installation
iv) Reduces paraffin or hot oil expense for cleaning the deposits in the tubing as
the moving plunger keeps the tubing clean
v) No external energy is required except for low gas oil ratio wells
vi) Slows well decline and extends well life

26
Beam Pumping

Figure 52 – Rod Pump

Beam Pumping is the most widely accepted artificial lift method. It utilizes a mechanical
linkage to actuate a piston type bottomhole pump. The beam pump (or rod pump) is a
plunger with a two valve arrangement. The standing valve is a one way valve in the
bottom of the pump, which allows flow from the wellbore to the pump but stops reverse
flow. The traveling valve is another one way valve that is attached to the rod string.

As the plunger is lifted by the rod on the upstroke, the traveling valve is closed, forming a
low pressure area beneath the plunger and drawing in reservoir fluid through the standing
valve into the wellbore chamber.

At the end of the upstroke, the downstroke begins. When the bottom of the plunger
(which contains the traveling valve) hits the surface of the liquid that has flowed into the
pump, the traveling valve is forced open as the valve moves through the liquid and the
standing valve is closed. The downstroke of the plunger forces the liquid in the pump up
through the traveling valve, adding it to the tubing. The new fluid pushes all other fluid in
the tubing up by the volume of the liquid in the pump.

27
The most difficult task in beam pumping is keeping the rod string in operation without
high maintenance costs, frequent servicing and excessive downtime. Problems associated
with sucker rods result from:

i) Corrosion
ii) Carelessness in handling
iii) High pumping speeds
iv) Wide range of loads
v) Crooked hole
vi) Poor selection and string design

Sucker rod pumping is controlled by variable frequency drive and timer mechanism at the
surface.

Electric Submersible Pump

A submersible pump is a pump which has a hermetically sealed motor close-coupled to

the pump body. The whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. The
advantage of this type of pump is that it can provide a significant lifting force as it does
not rely on external air pressure to lift the fluid.

Figure 53 – ESP
ESP systems are effective for pumping produced fluids to surface. A system of
mechanical seals are used to prevent the fluid being pumped entering the motor and
causing a short circuit. The pump can either be connected to a pipe, flexible hose or
lowered down guide rails or wires so that the pump sits on a "ducks foot" coupling,
thereby connecting it to the delivery pipework.

Submersible pumps are found in many applications, single stage pumps are used for
drainage, sewage pumping, general industrial pumping and slurry pumping. Multiple

28
stage submersible pumps are typically lowered down a borehole and used for water
abstraction.

Submersible pumps are also used in oil wells. By increasing the pressure at the bottom of
the well significantly, more oil can be produced from the well compared to natural
production. This makes Electric Submersible Pumping (ESP) a form of "artificial lift" (as
opposed to natural flow). New varieties of ESP can include a water/oil separator which
permits the water to be reinjected into the reservoir without the need to lift it to the
surface.

The ESP system consists of a number of components that turn a staged series of
centrifugal pumps to increase the pressure of the well fluid and push it to the surface. The
energy to turn the pump comes from a high-voltage (3 to 5 kV) alternating-current source
to drive a special motor that can work at high temperatures of up to 300 °F (150 °C) and
high pressures of up to 5000 lb/in² (34 MPa), from deep wells of up to 12000 feet (3.7
km) deep with high energy requirements of up to about 1000 horsepower (750 kW). ESPs
have dramatically lower efficiencies with significant fractions of gas, greater than about
10% volume at the pump intake. Given their high rotational speed of up to 4000 rpm (67
Hz) and tight clearances, they are not very tolerant of solids such as sand.

Progressive Cavity Pump

Progressing Cavity Pumping (PCP) Systems typically consist of a

surface drive, drive string and downhole PC pump. The PC pump
is comprised of a single helical-shaped rotor that turns inside a
double helical elastomer-lined stator. The stator is attached to the
production tubing string and remains stationary during pumping. In
most cases the rotor is attached to a sucker rod string which is
suspended and rotated by the surface drive.

As the rotor turns eccentrically in the stator, a series of sealed

cavities form and progress from the inlet to the discharge end of
the pump. The result is a non-pulsating positive displacement flow
with a discharge rate proportional to the size of the cavity,
rotational speed of the rotor and the differential pressure across the
pump.

Figure 54 – PCP

29
PCP System Applications

 Sand-laden heavy crude oil and bitumen

 Medium crude oil with limits on H2S and CO2
 Light sweet crude oil with limits on aromatic content
 High water cuts
 Dewatering gas wells such as coalbed methane projects
 Mature waterfloods
 Visual and/or height sensitive areas
 All type wells, including horizontal, slant, directional and vertical
reservoirs

There are two basic elements that make up the downhole Progressing Cavity
(PC) Pump – a single helical alloy-steel rotor connected to a rod string and a
double helical elastomer-lined stator attached to the tubing string. Using the
latest manufacturing technology, rotors are kept to tight tolerances and
treated with chemical and abrasion-resistance coating, typically hard
chrome. Stators are comprised of a steel tube with an elastomer molded
inside to provide the internal geometry. Each combination of rotor/stator is
matched to downhole conditions to provide highly efficient operation and optimum production
enhancement. Figure 55 – Rotor

30
RESERVOIR DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES

All information gathered through drilling and completion of the wildcat and appraisal
wells and analysis of data obtained, is used to prepare a Reservoir Development Plan.
This plan includes not only spacing of development wells, as affected by surface and
subsurface conditions, but also the control procedures determined for manipulating the
reservoir fluid pressure changes and flow characteristics over the productive life of the
reservoir.

For flowing wells, this involves choke sizes and variations, in order to manipulate the
flowing bottomhole pressure of the wells within technical and economic limits. It also
involves fluid injection into the reservoir, to manipulate that pressure and therefore
control the production of hydrocarbons from the reservoir and encroachment of external
fluids such as water and gas into the reservoir.

The onshore development plan will be quite different than the offshore development plan.
One of the major decisions in preparing the offshore development plan is selection of
offshore platform locations and number of platforms, to optimize production within
economic limits from the reservoir in a reasonable lifetime.

If an offshore platform is placed in the wrong location, as determined by later drilling,

this will result in a major economic loss compared to drilling a single well in the wrong
onshore location. The decision, therefore, for offshore development may be far more
critical than decisions foe development of an onshore reservoir.

Economics, both at the time of development, and that anticipated over the productive life
of the reservoir, place limits on the extent to which the best technology can be applied.
For example, an offshore reservoir might be best developed on a 40-acre spacing (16
wells per square mile).

However, the cost of the platforms as related to hydrocarbon prices may justify the
drilling of only three wells per mile on an average basis, by directional drilling from
centralized platforms. It cannot be anticipated, therefore, that as high a percentage of the
original hydrocarbon in place will be recovered during the life of production of the
reservoir with three wells per mile as would have been recovered has the best available
technology been applied, requiring 16 wells per mile.

31
HYDROCARBON RECOVERY MECHANISMS

The recovery of hydrocarbons is basically a volume displacement process. When a

volume of hydrocarbon is removed from the reservoir by production, it will be replaced
by a volume of some fluid. Energy is expended in this process. Hydrocarbon recovery
mechanisms may be divided into two categories:

i) Primary Recovery
ii) Enhanced Recovery

Primary Recovery

Primary recovery is “utilization of the natural energy of the reservoir to cause the
hydrocarbon to flow into the wellbore.” Based on this definition, as long as the
hydrocarbon flows into the wellbore, this is primary recovery, even if the hydrocarbon
must be artificially lifted to the surface by pumps or some other process. There are many
sources of this primary recovery energy of which three are dominant:

a) Dissolved Gas Drive ( Solution Gas Drive )

b) Gas-Cap Drive
c) Water Drive

Dissolved Gas Drive

When the reservoir is produced so that gas is permitted to escape from the hydrocarbon
liquid in the reservoir, so that two-phase flow (gas and liquid) occurs from the reservoir
into the wellbore, the expanding gas will force the oil ahead of the gas into the wellbore.
In order to maximize oil recovery, however, for most reservoirs it is desirable to prevent
dissolved gas drive, at least until late in the productive life of the reservoir.

As the reservoir approaches depletion, the flowing bottomhole pressures may be reduced
to as low a value as possible, in order to recover whatever percentage of remaining
hydrocarbons might flow into the wellbore, including solution gas from the oil which will
remain in the reservoir (residual oil) at the time the reservoir is abandoned.

Dissolved gas drive can be delayed by injecting water into the water zone beneath the oil,
or gas on top of the oil (there creating a gas cap, in order to maintain reservoir fluid
pressures above the bubble point pressure.

32
Gas-Cap Drive

If a gas cap exists above the oil zone, and wells are drilled and perforated in the oil zone
and the bottomhole pressures are sufficiently reduced, the expanding gas cap will force
the oil into the wells as the gas interface encroaches into the oil zone. In order for gas-cap
drive to exist as a primary recovery mechanism, however, the gas cap must exist
naturally.

Water Drive

Most hydrocarbon reservoirs will have a water zone beneath the hydrocarbon. This water
is tending to encroach into the oil zone. If wells are drilled and perforated in the oil zone,
when the wellbore pressure is reduced, oil flow will be initiated into the well as water
encroaches into the oil zone forcing the oil towards the producing wells. If this natural
encroachment tendency is to exist, natural energy must be present. There are several
possible sources of this natural energy. One source is the expansion of the water as a
compressible fluid, as reservoir pressures are reduced. As the reservoir pressure is
reduced, the expanding water will push the oil in front of it into the producing wells.

Water expansion as a compressed liquid produces more oil than oil as a compressed
liquid, not because the compressibility of water is much different to compressibility of
oil, but because the total volume of water in the water zone is usually very large when
compared to the total volume of oil in the oil zone.

Another source of energy for water drive occurs when the reservoir rock dips upward to
the surface where it outcrops. If permeability continuity exists through this rock, as oil is
produced from the reservoir, water flows down dip from the surface to replace the oil
volume removed. Surface water replenished that water, maintaining a constant
hydrostatic pressure on the reservoir fluids.

Secondary Recovery

Secondary recovery is proven technology; indeed, a recent study indicates that 50 percent
of all domestic crude oil in the US comes from secondary recovery operations. Water
flooding is inherently more efficient than gas displacement in pressure-maintenance
projects and is the preferred process where feasible.

Some reservoirs, principally those containing heavy oil that flows only with great
difficulty, not only provide poor primary recovery but often are not susceptible to
waterflooding. Enhanced oil recovery would be especially useful in some of these
reservoirs.

33
Water Flood

Of the historical techniques used for EOR, water flooding has been the most common.
This is not water drive. In water drive, water is encroaching into the oil zone from
beneath, but in a true water flood, water is injected down injection wells into the oil zone.
Ideally, this creates a vertical flood front, pushing the oil in front of the water toward the
producing wells. In a water flood, the water injection wells are placed relative to the oil
producing wells in some predetermined pattern based on reservoir characteristics and
production history. A common pattern for water flooding for large reservoirs which arc
basically horizontal reservoirs is the five spot pattern. This five spot pattern is repeated
over the reservoir,

Prior to the initiation of a water flood project for a reservoir, various studies will have
been made in designing the water flood. These might include model studies in the
laboratory, digital and analog computer simulations, and pilot floods may have been run
in a portion of the reservoir as a preliminary study, so that an analysis of the water flood
plan might be made.

It is desirable to conduct the water flood so as to maximize the sweep efficiency within
economic limits relative to production, so that when the water front from the injection
wells breaks into the producing wells, a maximum percent of the reservoir volume will
have been swept by the flood. Once this water front reaches the producing wells, further
hydrocarbon production will be negligible, in that the wells will now produce essentially
water. In order to recover further hydrocarbons, a different EOR technique must now be
applied as a tertiary (or third) method for recovery.

Whatever the technique used for enhanced recovery, it is desirable that the mobility ratio
of driving fluid be less than the mobility ratio for the driven fluid. The mobility ratio is
the ratio of the permeability to the flow of the liquid to the dynamic viscosity of that
liquid. The oil ratio mobility ratio will be

[ko/o ] = Oil Mobility Ratio

And, in the case of the water flood, the water mobility ratio of the water will be

[kw/w ] = Water Mobility Ratio

If the mobility ratio of the driving fluid is greater than the mobility ratio of the driven
fluid, the driving fluid will tend to channel or finger through the hydrocarbon, tending to
bypass the hydrocarbon in the smaller permeability channels, leaving it behind in the
reservoir.

34
Gas –Cap Injection

In the gas cap drive injection secondary recovery technique, gas is injected into the gas
cap above the oil zone, to pressurize the gas cap. In reservoirs where reservoir fluid
pressure is higher than the bubble point pressure, a gas cap may be created by gas
injection so that the expending gas cap with further gas injection will displace the oil into
the producing wells. As previously discussed, gas cap drive or gas cap drive enhancement
is often used as a reservoir pressure maintenance technique.

Enhanced Recovery

Processes that inject fluids other than natural gas and water to augment a reservoir’s
ability to produce oil have been designated “improved,” “tertiary,” and “enhanced” oil
recovery processes. The term used in this assessment is enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

According to American Petroleum Institute estimates of original oil in place and ultimate
recovery, approximately two-thirds of the oil discovered will remain in an average
reservoir after primary and secondary production. This inefficiency of oil recovery
processes has long been known and the knowledge has stimulated laboratory and field
testing of new processes for more than 50 years.

Early experiments with un-conventional fluids to improve oil recovery involved the use
of steam (1920’s) and air for combustion to create heat (1935). Current EOR processes
may be divided into four categories:

(a) Thermal, (b) miscible, (c) chemical, and (d) other.

Most EOR processes represent essentially untried, high-risk technology. One thermal
process has achieved moderately widespread commercialization. The mechanisms of
miscible processes are reasonably well understood, but it is still difficult to predict
whether they will work and be profitable in any given reservoir. The chemical processes
are the most technically complex, but they also could produce the highest recovery
efficiencies.

The potential applicability of all EOR processes is limited not only by technological con-
straints, but by economic, material, and institutional constraints as well.

Thermal Processes

Viscosity, a measure of a liquid’s ability to flow, varies widely among crude oils. Some
crudes flow like road tar, others as readily as water. High viscosity makes oil difficult to
recover with primary or secondary production methods.

35
The viscosity of most oils dramatically decreases as temperature increases, and the pur-
pose of all thermal oil-recovery processes is therefore to heat the oil to make it flow or
make it easier to drive with injected fluids. An injected fluid may be steam or hot water
(steam injection), or air (combustion processes).

Steam Injection.

Steam injection is the most advanced and most widely used EOR process. It has been
successfully used in some reservoirs in California since the mid-1960’s. There are two
versions of the process: cyclic steam and steam drive.

In the first, high-pressure steam or steam and hot water is injected into a well for
a period of days or weeks. The injection is stopped and the reservoir is allowed to “soak.”
After a few days or weeks, the well is allowed to backflow to the surface. Pressure in the
producing well is allowed to decrease and some of the water that condensed from steam
during injection or that was injected as hot water then vaporizes and drives heated oil
toward the producing well.

Figure 56

When oil production has declined appreciably, the process is repeated. Because of its
cyclic nature, this process is occasionally referred to as the “huff and puff” method.

The second method, steam drive or steam flooding, involves continuous injection of
steam or steam and hot water in much the same way that water is injected in water
flooding. A reservoir or a portion thereof is developed with interlocking patterns of
injection and production wells. During this process, a series of zones develop as the fluids

36
move from injection well to producing well. Nearest the injection well is a steam zone,
ahead of this is a zone of steam condensate (water), and in front of the condensed water is
a band or region of oil being moved by the water. The steam and hot water zone together
remove the oil and force it ahead of the water.

Cyclic steam injection is usually attempted in a reservoir before a full-scale steam drive is
initiated, partially as a means of determining the technical feasibility of the process for a
particular reservoir and partly to improve the efficiency of the subsequent steam drive.
A steam drive, where applicable, will recover more oil than cyclic steam injection.

Combustion Processes.

Combustion projects are technologically complex, and difficult to predict and control.
Injection of hot air will cause ignition of oil within a reservoir. Although some oil is lost
by burning, the hot combustion product gases move ahead of the combustion zone to
distill oil and push it toward producing wells. Air is injected through one pattern of wells
and oil is produced from another interlocking pattern of wells in a manner similar to
waterflooding.

This process is referred to as fire flooding, in situ (in place) combustion, or forward
combustion. Although originally conceived to apply to very viscous crude oils not
susceptible to water flooding, the method is theoretically applicable to a relatively wide
range of crude oils.

An important modification of forward combustion is the wet combustion process. Much

of the heat generated in forward combustion is left behind the burning front. This heat
was used to raise the temperature of the rock to the temperature of the combustion. Some
of this heat may be recovered by injection of alternate slugs of water and air. The water is
vaporized when it touches the hot formation. The vapor moves through the combustion
zone heating the oil ahead of it and assists the production of oil.

Miscible Processes

Miscible processes are those in which an injected fluid dissolves in the oil it contacts,
forming a single oil-like liquid that can flow through the reservoir more easily than the
original crude.

A variety of such processes have been developed using different fluids that can mix with
oil, including alcohols, carbon dioxide, petroleum hydrocarbons such as propane or
propane-butane mixtures, and petroleum gases rich in ethane, propane, butane, and
pentane.

The fluid must be carefully selected for each reservoir and type of crude to ensure that the
oil and injected fluid will mix. The cost of the injected fluid is quite high in all known
processes, and therefore either the process must include a supplementary operation to

37
recover expensive injected fluid, or the injected material must be used sparingly. In this
process, a “slug,” which varies from 5 to 50 percent of the reservoir volume, is pushed
through the reservoir by gas, water (brine), or chemically treated brine to contact and
displace the mixture of fluid and oil.

Miscible processes involve only moderately complex technology compared with other
EOR processes. Although many miscible fluids have been field tested, much remains to
be determined about the proper formulation of various chemical systems to effect
complete solubility and to maintain this solubility in the reservoir as the solvent slug is
pushed through it.

Because of the high value of hydrocarbons and chemicals derived from hydrocarbons, it
is generally felt that such materials would not make desirable injection fluids under
current or future economic conditions. For this reason, attention has turned to C02 as a
solvent. Conditions for complete mixing of C02 with crude oil depend on reservoir
temperature and pressure and on the chemical nature and density of the oil.

Chemical Processes

Three EOR processes involve the use of chemicals: surfactant/polymer, polymer, and
alkaline flooding.

Surfactant/Polymer Flooding.

Surfactant/polymer flooding, also known as micro-emulsion flooding or micellar

flooding, is the newest and most complex of the EOR processes. While it has a potential
for superior oil recovery, few major field tests have been completed or evaluated.

Several major tests are now under way to determine its technical and economic
feasibility. Surfactant/polymer flooding can be any one of several processes in which
detergent-like materials are injected as a slug of fluid to modify the chemical interaction
of oil with its surroundings.

These processes emulsify or otherwise dissolve or partly dissolve the oil within the
formation. Because of the cost of such agents, the volume of a slug can represent only a
small percentage of the reservoir volume. To preserve the integrity of the slug as it moves
through the reservoir, it is pushed by water to which a polymer has been added.

The chemical composition of a slug and its size must be carefully selected for each
reservoir/crude oil system. Not all parameters for this design process are well understood.

38
Polymer Flooding.

Polymer flooding is a chemically augmented waterflood in which small concentrations of

chemicals, such as polyacrylamides or polysaccharides, are added to injected water to
increase the effectiveness of the water in displacing oil.

Alkaline Flooding.

Water solutions of certain chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate, and
sodium carbonate are strongly alkaline. These solutions will react with constituents
present in some crude oils or present at the rock/crude oil interface to form detergent-like
materials which reduce the ability of the formation to retain the oil.
The few tests which have been reported are technically encouraging, but the technology
is not nearly so well developed as those described previously.

Reservoirs not considered for alkaline flooding became candidates for other processes.

Other EOR Processes

Over the years, many processes for improving oil recovery have been developed, a large
number of patents have been issued, and a significant number of processes have been
field tested. In evaluating a conceptual process, it should be recognized that a single field
test or patent represents but a small step toward commercial use on a scale large enough
to influence the supply of crude oil.

Some known processes have very limited application, for example, if thin coalbeds lay
under an oil reservoir this coal could be ignited, the oil above it would be heated, its
viscosity would be reduced, and it would be easier to recover. This relationship between
oil and coal is rare, however, and the process is not important to total energy production.

Another example involves use of electrical energy to fracture an oil-bearing formation

and form a carbon track or band between wells. This band would then be used as a high-
resistance electrical pathway through which electric current would be applied, causing the
“resistor” to heat the formation, reduce oil viscosity, and increase oil recovery. The
process was conceived over 25 years ago and has been tested sporadically, but does not
appear to have significant potential.

A third process in this category is the use of bacteria for recovery of oil. Several
variations have been conceived. These include use of bacteria within a reservoir to
generate surface-active (detergent-like) materials that would perform much the same
function as a surfactant/polymer flood. Although some bacteria are able to with-stand
temperatures and pressure found in oil reservoirs, none have been found that will both
successfully generate useful modifying chemicals in sufficient amounts and also tolerate
the chemical and thermal environments in most reservoirs. It is uncertain whether

39
nutrients to keep them alive could be provided. Further, any strain of bacteria developed
would need to be carefully screened for potential environmental hazards.

Recovery Efficiencies

Experience has determined expected ranges of efficiencies of recovery of hydrocarbons

by primary and enhanced techniques. These recovery efficiencies are normally expressed
in one of two ways:

i.) Percent of Original-Oil-in-Place recovered

ii.) Percent of remaining-Oil-in-Place recovered

The ranges of recovery efficiencies for primary recovery and enhanced may be
summarized as follows:

Primary Recovery Efficiencies

Oil (Percent of Original Oil- in- Place)

Dissolved Gas Drive 5% to 30%

Gas-Cap Drive 20% to 40%

Water Drive 35% to 75%

Gas (Percent of Original-Gas-In –Place)

Gas Expansion and Water Drive 90% +

Enhanced Recovery Efficiencies

Oil (Percent of Original- Oil- In- Place)

Water flood (Secondary Recovery) 30% to 40%

CO2 Miscible Flood (Tertiary Recovery) 5% to 10%

Steam Drive (Heavy Oil) 50% to 80%

40
REMEDIAL WELL WORK

Gravel packing

Gravel packs can be performed in either open hole or cased hole completions, in well
deviations from 0° to 110° and in zone lengths up to a few thousand feet. Systems are
available for virtually any well temperature, pressure, and environment. Gravel packed
wells can be produced under high drawdown without concern of sand production.
Productivity of the open or cased hole gravel packed completion is determined in part by
the condition of the reservoir behind the filter cake, quality of the filter cake, and stability
of the wellbore.
CASED HOLE GRAVEL PACK COMPLETION

17 1/2 " hole

13 3/8" casing

12 1/4" hole

casing liner hanger

9 5/8" casing

Gravel Pack Packer

Perforation Gravel

Gravel Pack Screen

Hydrocarbon

7" casing

Figure 58

Sand-free production, high productivity, and completion longevity are primary objectives
for gravel pack operations. To achieve these objectives, operators must be able to perform
gravel pack applications under various well conditions.

Several techniques are available for dealing with sand production from wells. These
range from simple changes in operating practices to completions such as Sand

41
Consolidation and Gravel Packing. The sand control method selected depends on site
specific conditions, operating practices, and economic consideration.

Acidising

The purpose of acidising is to stimulate or effectively increase the flow capacity of wells.
The increase in flow capacity is accomplished by the acid’s ability to dissolve rock,
certain scale, mud and other soluble material, which may be blocking the flow channels.

Acids that are commonly used for stimulation are:

i) Hydrochloric acid (HCl)

ii) Hydrofluoric acid (HF)

iii) Acetic Acid

iv) Formic Acid

v) Other Acid Additives

Of the four acids mentioned above, hydrochloric acid is the most widely used due to its
high carbonate dissolving ability and low cost. It reacts with limestone to form water,
carbon dioxide and calcium chloride.

HCI/HF, also known as mud acid, is used exclusively for sandstone reservoirs with little
calcium. A pre-flush of 10% HCl is used to dissolve any calcium which is in the pore
throats. Hydrofluoric acid is used on sandstone reservoirs since it reacts with siliceous
compounds:

SiO2 + 6HF = H2SiF6 + 2H2O

A mixture of 3% HF and 12% HCl, known as mud acid, is used to dissolve clays and and
remove mud cakes created during the drilling process.

Acetic and Formic acids are used in stimulations where their slower reaction time and
ease of inhibition is required. On the basis of cost, these acids are 3 to 5 times more
expensive than HCl.

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Acid Fracturing

In acid fracturing, the acid is injected at higher rates and pressures, which fractures the
reservoir. The acid then travels along the newly created flow path and etches sides of the
fracture as well as the matrix pores along the fracture. This method is useful where deep
penetration is required.

Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to allow oil and natural gas to move more freely
from the rock pores where they are trapped to a producing well that can bring them to the
surface. The technology was developed in the late 1940s and has been continuously
improved and applied since that time.

Hydraulic fracturing is used to create small cracks in subsurface geologic formations to

allow oil or gas to move toward a producing well. A fracture acts much like a road,
speeding up the journey of oil or gas molecules on their way to the wellbore that will
produce them.

If only water was being pumped into the well, the fracture would gradually close when
the operator stopped pumping, and within minutes the formation would be back to its
original non-fractured condition. In a hydraulic fracturing job, the fluid pumped into the
well contains a proppant (usually sand) to keep the fracture open.

This proppant collects inside the created fracture, so when the fracture tries to close, it
cannot, because the proppant is holding it open. The operator has now “constructed a
road” that molecules of gas far out in the coal can use to travel to the well. Some of these
gas molecules might not have been able to make it to the well otherwise. Even though
this new fracture is full of proppant, it is still much more permeable and easier to travel
through than the coal itself.

The extent of the fracture is controlled by the characteristics of the geologic formation, its
depth, the fluid type, and pumping pressure. The fracture will grow if the operator
continues to pump fluid at higher rates, or if the operator pumps a more viscous fluid into
the formation (e.g., molasses = high viscosity, water = low viscosity).

Whether the fracture grows higher or longer is determined by the surrounding rock
properties. When the fracture reaches the shale above (or below) the geologic formation
being fractured, it will stop; shale does not fracture easily. In nature, fluids that are under
pressure (such as fracturing fluids) will follow the path of least resistance. A hydraulically
created fracture will always take the path of least resistance, which means staying within
the formation that fractures easiest.

43
PROCESSING OF PRODUCED FLUIDS

For oil wells and gas wells, surface processing is intended to reduce the presence of
undesirable produced fluids and other materials to a sufficiently low level (percent by
volume or percent by weight) to make transportation of the desirable fluids
(hydrocarbons) economic to facilities at other locations for further processing and
conversion into marketable products.

In the case of crude oil it is normally desirable to reduce water present to a level no
greater than two percent of the total volume of the liquids to be transported. In some
instances, however, it is necessary to completely remove contaminants during the initial
processing. This would be the requirement if hydrogen sulfide (H2S) should be present,
in that not only does it create a corrosive environment in the presence of water, but it is
also toxic and potentially deadly.

The surface processing system is designed to perform its necessary functions at minimum
cost, without endangering personnel or environment, and to retain maximum value of the
hydrocarbons while still fulfilling the functions of the processing system. For example,
for crude oil in general, the higher the API gravity of oil, the greater its value. Removal of
the lighter weight hydrocarbon molecules, such as paraffin series hydrocarbons, reduces
the API gravity of the remaining liquids and increases the producing gas-oil ratio with a
net loss of hydrocarbon liquid volume. Since the hydrocarbon liquid (crude oil) is
normally of greater value than hydrocarbon gas, the processing system is designed to
maximize the volume of crude oil available for marketing at as high an API gravity as
possible.

The higher the processing temperature to which crude oil is subjected, the lower the API
gravity of the resultant crude oil and the lower the volume of crude oil available for
transport and sale. Therefore, it is desirable to design the surface processing system to
minimize the maximum temperature to which the crude oil is exposed, while still meeting
the necessary functions of the system. The design of this system is therefore an
optimization process.

Oil Wells

The most commonly produced fluids and materials from oil wells are oil, gas, water
(usually salt water), emulsions, and solids. Oil wells are generally classified as either high
pressure wells or low pressure wells. If both well classifications are producing into a
central gathering system, the high pressure wells will have their production directed to a
high pressure manifold, and the low pressure wells will have their production directed to
a low pressure manifold.

44
Fluids produced from high pressure wells normally have a high solution gas-oil ratio,
consequently resulting in a higher producing gas-oil ratio. There are several options for
this gas, and the option selected will affect specifications for the surface processing
equipment. The three most common options for the gas are:

1. Market the gas (or use the gas as a fuel at the location)
2. Re-inject the gas into the hydrocarbon reservoir from which it was produced or
into some other reservoir.
3. Flare or vent the gas as waste.

If significant gas is being produced, the third option is not normally permitted be
government regulations, in that a natural resource would be destroyed, with adverse
effect on the environment. Either of the first two options is more likely to be selected.
Therefore, the surface system is designed so that gas produced at the surface is
maintained as nearly as possible at the pipeline pressure or the re-injection pressure to
minimize cost of recompression of the gas.

Oil Well Surface Processing System

The high pressure well production from the high pressure manifold will initially be
directed through stage separators, so that gas is permitted to escape from the oil in stages.
From each stage separator, gas, oil, salt water, emulsions and solids may be removed. The
solids would tend to settle out due to gravity, but the liquids would essentially flow
through each stage of separation, to the free water knockout essentially at atmospheric
pressure (or at least at a relatively low pressure as compared to the wellhead pressure)

The produced fluid from the low-pressure wells is taken through the same system, with
the exception of the multi-stage separation process. The production from the low-pressure
well is directed to a low-pressure manifold, from where it flows directly to the free water
knockout. From that point to the transportation system, the process system is the same for
high-pressure and low-pressure well production.

The free water knockout is essentially a gravity separator with baffles to enhance the
separation. The high velocity fluids flow into this separator and upon entry, the flow area
is significantly greater, thereby reducing the velocity of flow and enhancing the gravity
separation of fluids and other materials into their different densities. Solid particles
transported from the reservoir will fall to the bottom of the system, with the fluids
stratifying according to density (salt water on bottom, emulsion in the next layer, crude
oil in the next layer, with gas rising to the top of the system). The water will contain
droplets of oil, the oil droplets of water, and the gas both oil and water droplets, possibly
in the form of a mist. As the fluids flow through baffling within the free water knockout,
fluid droplets suspended within the other fluids will tend to coalesce, forming larger
droplets and enhancing their gravity separation.

45
As the separated fluids exist from the free water knockout, the salt water is removed from
the bottom, oil and emulsions are removed from the top of the salt water, and gas is
removed from the top. The water likely contains sufficient oil to prevent its being
exhausted to the environment, and may require further processing to remove any
remaining oil or other contaminants to a sufficiently low level to permit its disposal
overboard, in the case of an offshore operation, into the surface environment, or re-
injection into a subsurface formation through a salt water disposal system. The oil, and
certainly the emulsion, flows from the free water knockout to an emulsion treater to break
the emulsion and remove as much additional water as is practical.

Gas sales

Oil Wells
Gas Vapor
Gas Recovery
Free Water Oil & Emulsion Clean Oil Clean Oil
Knockout Emulsion Treater Storage
Oil, Gas &
Water Water
Water
Salt Water

Disposal

Figure 59 - Oil Processing System

There are several different emulsion treating processes. Historically, one of the most
common has been the heater treater, in that increased temperature will break the
emulsion. The oil and the emulsion flows from the free water knockout into the heater
treater, where it flows down the “down-comer” to the bottom of the heater treater. There
it is exposed to the heater, thereby increasing its temperature.

The increased temperature tends to break the emulsion with the heavier water moving
downward and the lighter oil upward, through gravity separation. There may be baffling
in the system through which the oil passes, further breaking the emulsion. The oil is
skimmed from the top of the water and, if the processing system has serve its function, is
then transported for storage or to the transportation system (pipeline, offshore tanker, rail
cars etc.)

Since the heater treater has increased the temperature of the system, additional gas is
formed and is removed from the top of the heater treater, to be combined with the gas
obtained from the free water knockout. It is then recompressed for transport or reinjection
into the reservoir. The water from the emulsion treater must be transported for disposal.

46
If hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) are present in the produced fluid,
they are normally removed from the oil and gas after exiting from the free water
knockout, to minimize exposure of downstream processing systems to the corrosive
environment which exists when H2S and/or CO2 is present. Dependent upon the volumes
of H2S and/or CO2 produced, various removal systems are available. One of the most
common is the amine system.

Since the heater treater increases the temperature of the produced fluids, the API gravity
as well as oil volume are both reduced, thereby reducing the value of the produced
hydrocarbons. Therefore, other emulsion treater systems may be used. Others available
include electrostatic emulsion treaters, chemical treatment to break the emulsions, and
molecular sieves. The electrostatic treaters takes advantage of the fact that the H2O
molecule is an electric dipole so that, when exposed to an electrostatic field there is an
attraction for the water molecule, thereby enhancing separation from the hydrocarbon.

The gas is removed from the stage separators, the free water knockout, and the emulsion
treater will likely be directed to a dehydrator for further removal of H2O molecules. The
dehydration process is the same as that process which will be discussed relative to
production from gas wells. Both the crude oil and the hydrocarbon gas leaving the system
will be transported for processing into marketable products.

Gas Wells

Production from gas wells may include hydrocarbon gas, carbon dioxide (CO2),
hydrogen sulfide (H2S), hydrogen, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, other gases, hydrocarbon
liquids and water in the form of droplets or vapor, and suspended solid particles such as
sand particles. Solid particle suspension, however, should minimized at the reservoir to
reduce the “sand blasting” effect on the production casing and/or tubing, wellhead
components, and surface equipment. Surface processing of production from gas wells is
usually less complex than for oil wells. From the wellhead, production passes into a
gathering system delivering production to the central processing facilities or topside
facilities on an offshore gas production platform.

Gas Well Surface Processing System

In normal operations, gas well production flow into a gravity separator, which is basically
a large tank. The velocity of the flow from the gathering pipeline decreases significantly
upon entering the separator, so that gravity separation occurs. Solid particles and liquid
droplets fall to the bottom of the separator, and gases move to the top. If there is
sufficient liquid accumulation from gravity separation, the hydrocarbons, usually
condensate will float to the top of any water present.

47
Using a baffle system to separate the liquid hydrocarbons from the water, the
hydrocarbons will be removed by pipeline to a central gathering location. Water will be
removed from the bottom of the separator, and solids will accumulate. The gravity
separator tank must occasionally be flushed or backwashed to remove accumulated solids
from the bottom of the separator. Gas is taken from the top of the separator. If H2O
content and content of other gases is sufficiently low, the hydrocarbon gas is transported
to market by pipeline, used as an energy source at the location, or re-injected.

The hydrocarbon gas leaving the gravity separator may contain too much H2O for
transport, injection, or use as fuel. If this should be the case, it will pass to the dehydrator
for removal of H2O molecules to an acceptably low level. This will usually be a glycol
dehydrator, using components such as ethylene glycol, for removal of the H2O molecules
from the hydrocarbon gas. The glycol molecule has a greater affinity (attraction) for the
H2O molecule than does hydrocarbon. Glycol dehydration is therefore a relatively simple
operation.

Figure 60 - Gas Processing System

Gas Gas Sales

Dehydrator

Gas Wells
Gas, Water
Condensate
& Water Gravity
Separator

Water Condensate

The hydrocarbon gas is passed into the base of a glycol dehydration tower, where it rises,
bubbling through trays containing glycol, exposing the hydrocarbon gas to as large a
surface area of liquid glycol as is practical. As the hydrocarbon gas bubbles through the
glycol, the H2O molecules are attracted to the glycol and are removed from the
hydrocarbon gas, with the” dry” gas being removed from the top of the glycol tower.

“Dry” glycol (glycol without the presence of H 2O molecules) flows on a continuing basis
into the top tray of the layered trays in the tower, and flows downward through the tower
from one tray to the next, accumulating H2O molecules as the hydrocarbon gas bubbles
through the glycol. By the time the glycol reaches the base of the tower, it is now “wet”
glycol (glycol with a significant H2O molecular content).

48
This process of removing the H2O molecules from the hydrocarbon gas has not been a
chemical process, in that no chemical reactions have occurred. There have been no
molecular changes. This “wet” glycol is removed from the base of the dehydration tower.
The H2O molecules are then removed from the glycol as it is prepared for recirculation as
“dry” glycol, back into the dehydration tower.

Removal of the H2O molecules from the glycol is not complex,, since H 2O boils at a
lower temperature than does glycol. The “wet” glycol is taken to a temperature higher
than the boiling point of H2O, yet lower than the boiling point of glycol, boiling the H 2O
molecules from the liquid glycol, leaving it “dry”. The “dry” glycol is then re-circulated
back to the glycol dehydration tower.

If hydrogen sulfide H2S and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) should be present in the production
from the gas wells, the gas taken from the top of the gravity separator is taken through a
process to remove the H2S and/or CO2 before dehydration. Several types of processes are
available to remove the H2S and/or CO2, the most common being an amine system as
mentioned in the discussion for processing the fluids produced by oil wells. H 2S and CO2
molecules have a greater affinity (attraction) for amine molecules than for hydrocarbon
molecules, so in a similar fashion to glycol removal of H2O molecules from hydrocarbon
gas, the amine removes H2S and CO2 molecules. H2S and CO2 are corrosive in the
presence of water; therefore it is desirable to remove them early in the processing system,
to minimize exposure of downstream equipment to this corrosive environment.

The hydrocarbon liquid, usually condensate, taken from the bottom of the gravity
separator, is transported for storage or used downstream. If production is on or near an
offshore platform with an oil pipeline, the condensate may be used to “spike” the crude
oil in the pipeline by mixing it with oil. This mixing of the condensate with the oil
increases the API Gravity of the crude oil. The hydrocarbon gas exiting from this surface
processing system normally requires no further processing.

49