Well Completion and Intervention (PET690)

Well completion is the installed flow conduit from the reservoir deep in the ground to the Christmas tree located on surface. We look at how to design and install the lower completion (production/injection control) and the upper completion (well control). Well intervention methods discussed in the course include pumping, wireline, coiled tubing and snubbing. We look at required work tasks for barrier reestablishment, production management, repair, cleaning, maintenance, inspection and well completion manipulation.

NB! This is an elective course and may be cancelled if fewer than 10 students are enrolled by August 20th.

Half of the course is well completion and the other half is well intervention. Common to both of these areas is the pioneering well mechanics contributions by Lubinski, which is heavily integrated in many of the engineering calculations performed in the course. Well mechanics analysis includes the use of effective force as reference datum and the deployment of the Lubinski yield circle for well tubular design.

The well completion part deals with lower and upper completion systems. The starting point is inflow performance and thorough treatment of skin factor is given. Openhole and perforated lower completions are discussed in detail. Upper completion design and installation are explained. Calculations include helical buckling of tubing sealed in packers, inflow performance, skin factors, gravel-packing, packer-setting depth and preloading in addition to other well completions scenarios.

The well intervention part covers pumping, wireline, coiled tubing and snubbing. We look at required surface equipment and well control elements. Mechanical well failures, well productivity issues, well intervention equipment, barriers, standards and regulations, different types of operations, choice of intervention technology and various relevant well engineering calculations are discussed. There is theoretical emphasis on tubular design and other mechanical engineering analysis in the course.

After completing this course the student should have knowledge about:

• Well control for completion installation and service life
• Well completion solutions with emphasis on design, equipment, barriers
• Lower completion: Stand-alone screens, openhole gravel-packed, cased and perforated
• Upper completion: Naturally flowing producer, injector, gas-lifted producer
• Well control and equipment for pumping, wireline, coiled tubing, snubbing
• Well completion failure detection, well intervention application areas

After completing this course the student should have skills for calculating:

• Well completion and well intervention problems from homework and lectures
• Inflow performance and skin factors
• von Mises tubular design factor using the yield circle
• Neutral axial stress datum and zero axial stress datum
• Effective and real axial force of tubing sealed in packer
• Effective and real axial force of well intervention work string
• Buckling force during well completion and well intervention
• The student should be able to apply general engineering principles and theory learned in the course to solve related engineering problems

After completing this course the student should have general competency about:

• Sand control
• Life of well operations
• Fluids for completion, workover, intervention
• Well barriers
• Pressure testing of well completion and well intervention equipment
• Well control contingency for well completion and well intervention
• Proposed well intervention solutions for different types of well problems