DUAL STRING COMPLETION

Name

FATIMA BABAR

Teacher’s name

ANEES RASOOL

Date

30-04-2020

Class
BS 7A (GEOPHYSICS)
 Table of content

WH

 WHAT IS WELL COMPLETION?

 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WELL COMPLETION?

 TYPES OF WELL COMPLETION

 CONVENTIONAL COMPLETIONS

 COMPLETION EQUIPMENT

 SINGLE STRING COMPLETION

 DUAL STRING COMPLETION

 REFERENCES

DUAL STRING COMPLETION PAGE 2

What is well completion
After careful interpretation and consideration on well test data (coring, logging etc), a decision is made whether
to set production casing and complete the well or to plug and abandon it. Decision to abandon is made when the
well is not capable to produce oil or gas in commercial quantities. However, sometimes wells that were plugged
and abandoned at one time in the past may be reopened and produced if the price of oil or gas has become more
favorable. “Completing a well” means installing equipment in the well to allow a safe and controlled flow of
petroleum from the well. A series of activities to prepare an oil well or a gas well, so that the well can be flowed
in a controlled manner. Casing and liners are installed then tubing and a system of flow valves must be installed.
Cannot operate alone, mutual effort with other sub disciplines such as production engineering and reservoir
engineering.
Well Completion is one of the primary steps before the beginning of production from a reservoir. There are
various steps that have to be taken care when converting a drilled well into a producing well. The following steps
needs to be performed to make the well complete:

1. Casing

Well casing is the primary step in the Well Completion process.

It is the process of protecting a wellbore from outside
incumbents like water or sand once oil or gas is produced from
the well.

2. Cementing

The next step is to pump cement slurry and additives into the
well to remove existing drilling fluids and fill the space between
the casing and actual sides of a drilled well. This process is also
known as Well Cementing.

3. Perforations

Once casing and cementing is done at the bottom of the

wellbore, perforations are created with the help of a perforation
gun so that hydrocarbons can enter into the well stream.

4. Gravel Pack

Gravel Pack is used to help filtering sand from crude oil or gas.
A sand-control method used to prevent production of formation
sand. In gravel pack operations, a steel screen is placed in the
wellbore and the surrounding annulus packed with prepared
gravel of a specific size designed to prevent the passage of
formation sand. The primary objective is to stabilize the
formation while causing minimal impairment to well
productivity. Drillers may also use gravel pack completions in
order to prevent the movement of sand from the reservoir into the wellbore or the area near the wellbore. Gravel
packing is the typical method of installation of equipment or application of techniques to control sand movement

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to the wellbore. As part of the gravel packing, a steel screen is inserted in the wellbore, while the surrounding
space is packed with gravel so that sand cannot pass into the wellbore. The key goal of the gravel pack method is
to stabilize the reservoir formation with the least possible impact on the oil or gas well productivity.

A. Open Hole Gravel Pack B. Cased Hole Gravel Pack

5. Production tree or Christmas tree

This is the last step in the Well Completion process. A Christmas

tree is installed at the wellhead on the surface of the earth to
provide surface controls in the flow of oil or gas to the surface of
earth.

What is the purpose of Well Completions?

After drilling an oil or gas well, the company evaluates the
presence of hydrocarbons in place. If it determines that
commercially possible volumes of oil and gas can be extracted
cost-efficiently, it moves to prepare the well for the start of
production.

Well completion types, methods, and modes vary, depending on

the type of reservoir, the design of the well, or the geology in the
area where a well is drilled. The choice, design, and installation of pipes and equipment have significant impact
on the productivity of an oil and gas well, therefore, engineers must ensure that the well completion is as safe and
efficient as it can be.

Whatever well completion strategy a company chooses, the key driver behind every strategy or well completion
mode is to ensure the recovery of the maximum possible volumes of oil at a reasonable cost.

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Oil and gas well completions should have the following outcomes in order to be deemed successful:

 Well completions should connect the reservoir to the production tubing so that oil and gas can flow
through the pipe to the surface, or fluids can be injected into the reservoir.
 Well completions should isolate the oil and gas reservoirs to protect the producing zones from non-
producing zones in order to avoid interference with the producing reservoir.
 Well completions must protect the reservoir’s integrity and reduce damage to the formation.
 Well completions should help reduce the resistance to oil and gas flow.
 Well completions must ensure that the completion resists corrosion and creep and does not collapse into
the reservoir or the wellbore.
 Well completions should also ensure a means to detect and assess changes in the reservoir conditions and
hydrocarbon flow rate by well tests.
 Well completions must get the wells ready for the subsequent stages of oil or gas extraction.

Ultimately, the way in which engineers decide to complete a well will impact the rate of oil and gas production
and will directly influence the time over which oil and gas will be pumped from the well.

Types of well completions

There are mainly four types of well completion which are listed below:
 Open hole completion
 Case hole completion
 Liner completion
The type of well completions that engineers choose depends on many variables, including the targeted volumes
of oil and gas to be produced, the type of fluids that will be pumped, temperatures at the surface and at the
downhole, the depth of the production zone, the rate of production, the expected pressure, the location of the well,
the surrounding landscape and environment, and the costs and expected returns on investment.

Basing their well completion design on the above-mentioned variables, engineers can choose a type of well
completion that can vary from the most basic and cheapest open-hole completion to complex completions with
many horizontal wellbores from a main wellbore, each of which will include a completion. Depending on the
place where the completion is made, oil and gas well completions are divided into lower completion or downhole
completion, and upper completion. The lower completion connects the oil and gas formation with the wellbore.

The upper completion is the link between the lower completion and the surface. At the reservoir (lower) level,
there are two main types of well completions—the open-hole completion in which there is no casing placed across
the reservoir, and cased completions, or liner completions in which casing or liner are run and cemented across
the reservoir zone.
If the well is completed in an open-hole completion manner, the drilling company does not need to perforate the
well to get it to produce hydrocarbons. If the driller places a casing, it will need to perforate the well to allow it
to connect with the reservoir rock.

1. Open-hole completions
The production casing set on top of production zone before drilling the production formation that contains the
hydrocarbon fluids, and then after casing was cemented, producing formation drilled.

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Open-hole completion is the simplest and cheapest type of oil and gas completion. Open-hole completion, also
referred to as barefoot completion, is a completion that does not have casing or liner across the reservoir
formation. In open-hole completions, the production casing is set just above the reservoir pay zone, the one that
contains economically producible oil or gas. The bottom of the pay zone is left uncased. This allows the
hydrocarbons to flow directly into the wellbore. The open-hole completions allow for maximum exposure to the
pay zone.
Although open-hole completions are the least complex and cheapest type of completions, they have some
drawbacks which limit their use. Open-hole completions make control over excessive water or gas difficult
because water and gas zones cannot be plugged off. Moreover, the sand face—the physical interface between the
formation and the wellbore—is not supported in open-hole completions and could collapse.

Remedial work and treatments of the flow and of the reservoir are more difficult when an oil or gas well is an
open-hole completion. This type of completion would be generally used for reservoirs that are estimated to have
little chance of producing unwanted fluids or sand. These completions also typically target hard and consolidated
reservoir rocks.

Advantages
 No perforating expense
 Can be easily deepened and converted to a liner type completion.
 With a gravel pack provides excellent sand control
 Require minimum rig time on completion
 There is no formation damage from cement
 Full diameter of pay zone

Limitations
 Gas and water production difficult to control
 Selective critical section in production zone for fracturing and acidizing more difficult

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  May require frequent well-bore clean out
2. Cased-hole completions
The hole is drilled through the target formations and production
casing is run and cemented in the hole.
Cased-hole completions refer to the well completion method in
which casing or a liner goes through the pay zone and is
subsequently cemented across the reservoir zone. ‘Cased-hole’
as a term can apply to any section of the hole, but in well
completions, it typically refers to the techniques applied after a
casing or liner has been set across the reservoir zone.

Drillers ensure the connection between the wellbore and the

reservoir by perforation, in cased and perforated completions.
The perforation in the casing allows for precise positioning and
isolation of the different zones in the reservoir and stimulation
of different zones in a multi-layer reservoir.
Advantages
 Excessive gas and water production can be controlled
more easily
 Adaptable to multiple completion techniques
 Can be easily deepened
 Will control most sand
Limitations
 Cost of casing cement and perforating for long zones.
 Well productivity is less than productivity of open hole
completion.
 No adaptable to special drilling techniques to minimize
formation damage.

3. Liner completions
A liner is a type of casing in which the top is suspended from the inside and does not go all the way to the surface.
That liner is hung from a liner hanger. Because the liner does not extend to the surface, it allows for more
flexibility in the completion design of the upper wellbore by increasing, for example, the diameter if the
characteristics of the fluids and flow rates call for larger diameters at the upper end of the wellbore. The design
of many conventional wells includes a production liner set across the reservoir zone. The most commonly used
types of liner completions in well completions include:

 Slotted and screen liner completion

A slotted liner refers to a liner in which slots have been prefabricated (figure A). A screen is a liner in which holes
have been pre-milled (figure B). When placed across the reservoir zone, the slotted liner and the screen do not
require additional perforations in order to access the oil or gas formation.

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 A. Slotted Liner

B. Screen Liner

 Cemented liner completion

A cemented liner completion has many of the advantages of the cased and perforated completion because it
also allows for precise selective perforation at particular intervals. In this way, the driller isolates the layers
and can control production in the intervals where the cemented liner is perforated, as well as the injection of
fluids into those differentiated zones. The cemented liner makes the initial cementing job more difficult, but
if the cementing is properly done, then the cemented liner completion has a lot of the characteristics of

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 the perforated casing completion. The cemented liner
completion is typically a lower-cost well completion
method than the cased and perforated completion.

Conventional completions
 Casing flow: means that the producing fluid flow has
only one path to the surface through the casing.
 Casing and tubing flow: means that there is tubing
within the casing that allows fluid to reach the surface.
This tubing can be used as a kill string for chemical
injection. The tubing may have a “no-go” nipple at the
end as a means of pressure testing.
 Pumping flow: the tubing and pump are run to a depth
beneath the working fluid. The pump and rod string are
installed concentrically within the tubing. A tubing
anchor prevents tubing movement while pumping.
 Tubing flow: a tubing string and a production packer are installed. The packer means that all the flow goes
through the tubing. Within the tubing you can mount a combination of tools that will help to control fluid
flow through the tubing.
 Gas lift well: gas is fed into valves installed in mandrels in the tubing strip. The hydrostatic head is lowered
and the fluid is gas lifted to the surface.

Completion Equipment
The design of the completion string involves the selection
and specification of all the component parts of the string.
There must be literally thousands of potential components
available if one considers that there are numerous
components and variants and, further, each of the equipment
suppliers has their own particular designs. It therefore is easy
to understand how this part of design process can be
somewhat be wildering to the less experienced. As with all
services, the alternatives are usually narrowed down in that
the operating company has historically used one particular
supplier or has considerable experience with specific types of
components. Since the equipment isspecified as a certain size
and with a certain type of threaded coupling, tubing
completion equipment is by neccesity fairly standard and
comparable betweendifferent suppliers. In selecting
equipment, this should be done on the basis that the
component will provide a specific facility deemed necessary
to the successful performance and operation of the well under
a range of operating scenarios. Each component add sun
desirable complexity to the completion and this must be
compensated for by the fact that it is necessary or provides
desirable flexibility. One approach to discussing the subject
is to postulate a typical or conventional well completion string in terms of the facility that each component

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provides. The discussion of a particular completion could then be made by considering
whether that component or facility proposed forthe typical completion is required or
is beneficial in this particular instance. In this way the design is justified on an “as
needs” basis and the benefits of incremental complexity created by incremental
flexibility can be assessed.

 Wellhead

This is the pressure containing equipment at the surface of the well where casing
strings are suspended and the blowout preventer or Christmas tree is connected.

 Christmas Tree

This is the main assembly of valves that controls flow from the well to the process
plant (or the other way round for injection wells) and allows access for chemical
squeezes and well interventions.

 Downhole safety valve (DHSV)

This component is intended as a last-resort method of protecting the surface from the
uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons. It is a cylindrical valve with either a ball or
flapper closing mechanism. It is installed in the production
tubing and is held in the open position by a high-pressure
hydraulic line from surface contained in a 6.35 mm (1/4")
control line that is attached to the DHSV's hydraulic chamber
and terminated at surface to a hydraulic actuator. The high
pressure is needed to overcome the production pressure in the
tubing upstream of the choke on the tree. The valve will
operate if the umbilical HP line is cut or the wellhead/tree is
destroyed.

This valve allows fluids to pass up or be pumped down the

production tubing. When closed the DHSV forms a barrier in
the direction of hydrocarbon flow, but fluids can still be
pumped down for well kill operations. It is placed as far below
the surface as is deemed safe from any possible surface
disturbance including cratering caused by the wipeout of the
platform. Where hydrates are likely to form (most production
is at risk of this), the depth of the SCSSV (surface-controlled,
sub-surface safety valve) below the seabed may be as much as
1 km: this will allow for the geothermal temperature to be high
enough to prevent hydrates from blocking the valve.

 Side pocket mandrel

This is a welded/machined product which contains a "side

pocket" alongside the main tubular conduit. The side pocket, typically 1" or 1½" diameter is designed to contain

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gas lift valve, which allows flow of High pressure gas into the tubing there by reducing the tubing pressure and
allowing the hydrocarbons to move upwards.

 Landing nipple

A landing nipple is a short tubular device which

has an internally machined profile, capable of
accommodating and securing a mandrel run into
its bore on wireline or coiled tubing. The nipple
provides a recess to mechanically lock the
mandrel in place using a set of expandable keys a
pressure seal against the internal bore of the
nipple and the outer surface of the mandrel.

Nipples are installed at various points in the string

to facilitate one or more of the following
operations:
Plugging the tubing for:

 pressure testing
 setting hydraulic set packers
 zonal isolation

Installing flow control equipment such as:

 downhole chokes, regulators, SSVs, etc

 landing off bottom hole pressure recorders.

Nipples can be classified into three basic designs:

 Top No-go where the No-go shoulder is located above

the seal bore.
 Bottom No-go where the No-go shoulder is located
below the seal bore. In this design the No-go shoulder
obviously restricts the diameter of the seal bore.
 Selective Nipples in the above two types, the nipple
sizes must progressively diminish with the depth of the
string. Then it is possible to run only one of each size
and type in the string. With selective nipples as
required can be installed since the locking mechanism
is selective and has to be specifically actuated by the
wireline tool.

Nipple profiles consist of the following:

 Lock mandrel recess profile

 Seal bore (below lock profile)

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  No-go shoulder which is optional but has a minimum through bore and provides positive positioning of
the lock mandrel.

 Sliding Side Door

The sliding side door is hydraulically or mechanically actuated to allow communication between the tubing and
the 'A' annulus. They are often used in multiple reservoir wells to regulate flow to and from the zones.

 Production packer

The packer isolates the annulus between the tubing and the inner
casing and the foot of the well. This is to stop reservoir fluids
from flowing up the full length of the casing and damaging it. It
is generally placed close to the foot of the tubing, shortly above
the production zone.

 Downhole gauges

This is an electronic or fiber optic sensor to provide continuous

monitoring of downhole pressure and temperature. Gauges either
use a 1/4" control line clamped onto the outside of the tubing
string to provide an electrical or fiber optic communication to
surface, or transmit measured data to surface by acoustic signal
in the tubing wall. The information obtained from these
monitoring devices can be used to model reservoirs or predict the
life or problems in a specific wellbore.

 Perforated joint

This is a length of tubing with holes punched into it. If used, it

will normally be positioned below the packer and will offer an
alternative entry path for reservoir fluids into the tubing in case
the shoe becomes blocked, for example, by a stuck perforation
gun.

 Formation isolation valve

This component, placed towards the foot of the completion string, is used to provide two-way isolation from the
formation for completion operations without the need for kill weight fluids. Their use is sporadic as they do not
enjoy the best reputation for reliability when it comes to opening them at the end of the completion process.

 Wireline entry guide

This component is often installed at the end of the tubing, or "the shoe". It is intended to make pulling out wireline
tools easier by offering a guiding surface for the tool string to re-enter the tubing without getting caught on the
side of the shoe.

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Single String Completion
In a single string completion, a packer will be set above each zone
in order to isolate fluid from each zone. What’s more, a packer
will prevent corrosion in the production casing due to the flow of
reservoir fluid.

 Single string completion is one of the types of completion

which allows producing only one zone.
 This system has only one tubing string and several packers
that isolate the various production levels.
 By using wire-line operations it is possible to open and
close the valves to allow production on single layers.

Dual String Completion

A multiple-string configuration consists of two or more
completion strings in one well. This is more expensive and
complicated to install than a single string configuration. However,
it has some advantages such as the ability to simultaneous produce
and inject into different zones and has a more accurate production
allocation than a single string type.

 The dual string completion uses, at the most, two or three

tubing, isolated by packers and producing on different
levels at the same time.
 This is useful when the reservoir presents different layers
of mineralization, for example gas and oil because it
allows us to produce selectively according to necessity,
while keeping production active on various levels at the
same time.

Advantages

 There is no annular flow, so there are no issues with high

pressures, corrosion, or erosion acting on the casing.
 The pressure gradient in the annulus and tubing are
approximately equal which protects the tubing from tubing
leaks.
 Production from the two reservoir zones is not
commingled.
 Both zones can be isolated with a relatively inexpensive
bridge plug.

Disadvantages

 Expensive completion.
 It is a complex well completion.

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  These completions can only be run if the wellbore and production casing have sufficiently large inner
diameters.
 Lower production rates – production rates are lower because the cross-section to flow is further reduced.
 Logging the well may be problematic as logging tools must be available for the restricted dimensions in
these completions.

REFERENCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Completion_(oil_and_gas_wells)#Sliding_sleeve
https://www.petropedia.com/definition/7099/well-completion
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Complete-Guide-To-Oil-Gas-Well-
Completions.html
http://www.drillingformulas.com/multiple-zone-completion/

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