SPE 106342

Next Generation Expandable Completion Systems

Gareth Innes, Weatherford; Quentin Morgan, Weatherford; Ally Macarthur, Weatherford; Annabel Green, Weatherford

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2006 SPE Technical Symposium of Saudi
Arabia Section held in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 21-23 May 2006.
Copyright 2006 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Symposium Program Committee
following review of information contained in full manuscript submitted by the author(s).
Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum
Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not
necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members.

Abstract
This paper documents an 18-month expandable technology
research and development effort that has culminated in a
system that enables a new approach to reservoir architecture.
The drive for maximum well productivity compels oil and
gas companies to consider openhole completion strategies.
However, historical uptake has been impeded by inability to
achieve effective zonal isolation. The Expandable Reservoir
Completion [ERC] combines slotted and solid expandable
technology and features a return to conventional unexpanded
premium connections to deliver a freely configurable reservoir
completion architecture, offering a combination of openhole
production performance and cased hole functionality.
Fundamental to the new Expandable Reservoir Completion
is a unique, selective rotary compliant expansion technique,
which is used to clad the formation wall with expandable
screens, slotted liner or solid tubulars with sealing units. This
technique facilitates unparalleled flexibility in reservoir design
by allowing sections of conventional casing to remain
unexpanded between zones. This enables integration with
conventional flow control and intelligent completion
equipment, ultimately permitting selective isolation &
production control.
This paper outlines detailed test data generated by the
development program, which included three downhole field
trial installations. In addition to this, information from the
first global commercial installations will be presented, from
pre-job planning through to post installation performance
review.
The Expandable Reservoir Completion builds upon
existing expandable sand screen and solid expandable
technologies to deliver a combination of productivity and
functionality previously unavailable to the petroleum industry.

Introduction
In recent years there had been few radical developments in the
sand control arena. When the first Expandable Sand Screen
[ESS] was launched in 1999 it was not only a significant
departure from convention, it introduced the concept of direct
screen contact with the formation as a means of reducing
completion skin, thereby increasing productivity, and to boost
reliability through improved sand retention characteristics.
ESS has now been installed in over 350 wells in a variety
of operating conditions in numerous locations worldwide.
With this extensive track record, the base ESS technology
platforms are now being integrated with new and conventional
downhole technologies in a move to evolve the original, single
zone reservoir system into a suite of solutions with multi-zone
reservoir completion potential.
Until now, the most common conventional approach
employed to complete and commingle multi-zone,
unconsolidated reservoirs is to set and cement casing in the
wellbore, thereby providing isolation between zones. The
zones of interest are perforated prior to the installation of a
screen and placing gravel to control solids migration. This
cased hole sand control technique has worked reasonably
well but has a history of producing high completion skins. In
addition, resultant inside diameters makes the subsequent
design and installation of selective production upper
completion strings difficult, limiting the overall achieveable
functionality.
In many instances basic petroleum engineering theory
indicates that well productivity can be substantially boosted by
migrating towards an openhole high deviation or horizontal
completion strategy. To realize these productivity gains and
also facilitate selective production handling, Weatherford
advocate combining contouring zonal isolation technologies
with compliantly expanded ESS to create a sand-face
completion featuring casedhole functionality. The current
zonal isolation technologies that best satisfy functionality and
ESS performance criteria are swelling elastomers and solid
expandables.
This leap forward in overall system capabilities has
paradoxically involved taking a step backward by substituting
expandable connections in favour of conventional unexpanded
premium connections. In so doing, system architecture has
been simplified, made freely configurable, and affords a
simple interface with upper completions equipment to achieve
selective production

Multi-Zone ESS System Functional Specification

In 2003, Weatherford embarked on a joint development
program with a major operator to deliver the optimum, next
generation expandable sand face completion, with zonal
isolation capabilities and selective production / isolation
potential. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the original design
concept. The stated mission of the development project was to
Deliver a widely applied completion technology, with sand
control effectiveness and installation efficiency better than
conventional; productivity better than open hole; operability
better than cased hole. The project mission stated the
following goals:

Define and prove compliant expansion requirement

Deliver single-trip installation efficiency
Deliver effective zonal isolation

These goals, alongside the operators technical

requirements, drove the functional specifications that
constrained the product development. Table 1 details some of
the high-level system functional specifications.
System Functional Specifications
Number of Trips to Install
Expansion Mechanism
Target Reservoir Hole Size
Minimum Compliant Range
Selective Upper Completion Compatibility

One
Compliant
8.50
9.25
Full

Sand Exclusion Functional Specification

Type
Hydraulic Collapse

ESS
250psi

Zonal Isolation Functional Specification

Type
Solid Expandables
Target Differential Rating
3000psi
Table 1. Multi-zone ESS System Functional Specifications

Development of the Expandable Reservoir Completion

required involvement of the entire product, manufacturing and
operations expertise and know-how that Weatherford have
created over the last 6 years, in both slotted and solid
expanded tubulars, as well as intellectual property.
Expandable Reservoir Completion Development
Each system component was developed in line with the
functional requirements agreed with the partnering operator.
A strict testing and verification program was enforced to
ensure that all of the components were suitably robust and
aligned to the specification.
Expandable Sand Screen Technology. ESS construction
comprises three sandwiched layers; the base pipe, the filter
media and outer protective shroud. The base pipe, unlike all
other forms of mechanical downhole sand exclusion
technology, is slotted rather than perforated, as is the outer
shroud. These slots open during expansion to accommodate

the change in diameter, while over-lapped layers of filter

media slide across each other to maintain sand integrity. The
use of slots allows expansion ratios up to 80% greater than the
original diameter and provides a larger inflow area than
perforated pipes. The entire length of the original design ESS
joint is expanded, including the connectors.
The original ESS was designed specifically to be applied to
single-zone openhole applications. Features such as large
exposed filter area and variable ESS borehole contact
(becoming known as compliant expansion) provide gravel
pack functionality with the operational simplicity of a standalone screen. The design premise was that a compliantly
expanded filter that could eliminate as much of the annular
gap as practicable would promote rapid formation stabilization
and minimize the movement of sand particles around the
screen during the transient sand production period. The large,
directly exposed filter surface was designed to minimise the
pressure drops in the screen and sand pack composite caused
by mud particles and formation fines. Both features were
aimed at improving productivity and reliability of the sandface completion.
The functional specification of the joint development
project dictated that the final system should be applicable to
8.50 openholes.
Expansion limits, dictated by the
overlapping layers of filter media, result in the maximum
achievable compliant range of the existing 5.5 ESS product
variant not meeting the minimum functional specification
requirements. This drove the commissioning of a new size
ESS product, which utilized a 7.0 base pipe. The 7.0 base
pipe not only delivered a larger compliant range to meet the
functional specification but also increased the mechanical
rating of the ESS in line with the functional requirements.
The slot pattern of the base pipe was also designed in line
with functional requirements. The optimum design traded
expansion force and inflow area against radial expanded
mechanical strength.
Zonal Isolation Technology. The two zonal isolation
technologies considered for inclusion in the expandable
reservoir completion were swelling elastomers and solid
expandables.
Swelling Elastomer Technology. Swell Packers have been
used in various applications combined with WCS technology,
including combination with existing ESS product lines to
provide zonal isolation in multi-zone reservoirs. The Swell
Packer develops dynamic swelling pressure in a
thermodynamic process with absorption of oil into the
packers elastomer element. Setting is initiated by the
production of oil and there are therefore no operations or rigtime spent.
The Swell Packer is manufactured and bonded directly
onto any size base-pipe. Differential pressure is dependent on
initial rubber thickness. The full limits of differential pressures
can be modeled using empirically tested reference points.
The swelling process effectively degrades the mechanical
properties of the elastomer and therefore the pressure retention
capability varies inversely with wellbore internal diameter.
The swelling capability of the elastomer is dependent on
wellbore fluid and temperature conditions and the life of the

downhole seal has yet to be ascertained. The most developed

product is designed to be run in oil. Although there are some
products now being run in water and gas, the results have still
to be fully qualified.
Although swelling elastomers are valid for a large range of
ESS multi-zone applications, the project functional
specification dictated that the selected zonal isolation
technology could withstand a differential pressure of 3000psi
at a maximum wellbore diameter of 9.25. The Swell Packer
ratings, based on the 7.00 base pipe (required to pass the
expansion system), fell outwith the target requirements for the
joint development project.
Solid Expandable Zonal Isolation Technology. Solid
expandable technology has been used extensively to address
zonal isolation challenges in the wellbore and has been applied
in both cased and openhole scenarios. Generally, in order to
provide effective isolation an elastomeric compound is bonded
to the outside diameter of the pipe. When the pipe is expanded
to contact the wellbore inside diameter, the elastomer is
compressed between the formation and the solid pipe,
providing a hydraulic seal.
Unlike casedholes, drilled openholes are seldom gauge or
guaranteed to fall within predetermined tolerances. Therefore
in order to provide a competent seal, the zonal isolation device
must have the ability to accommodate variable borehole
diameters and non-circular cross sections. The EZI unit is
activated using compliant rotary expansion tool. The tool
delivers a compliant range of geometries designed to operate
and effect a seal in openhole conditions.
Lab testing confirmed that solid expandable technology
was capable of deliveriong the combination of pressure
differential and expanded range specified at the outset of the
joint development project.
System Qualification. The qualification program for the
system was divided into three groupings, Mechanical,
Operational and Performance. The mechanical testing and
FEA work focused on the expansion process, expansion
parameters, effect of expansion on the EZI materials. Outputs
from this included post expansion material properties,
expanded dimensions, operating envelopes and the
quantification of the effect of variables such as completion
string loading and borehole geometry changes.
Operational testing was performed to confirm the system
performance in an operating environment. The key operational
tests were performed, at depth, within a test well. To date
three such tests have been performed. These operation tests
confirmed that the mechanical test results were valid for a rig
environment and ensured that the operating envelopes were
achievable and realistic. In addition expected surface /
downhole operating parameter responses were determined and
detailed operating procedures developed. Further operational
testing to establish the effects of operational errors such as
running the activated expansion tools through premium
connections, tool stationary time limits and repeat pass testing
were also performed.
Performance related testing and FEA work was used to
determine the in-situ performance of the EZI and ESS. For the
EZI this was mainly focussed around pressure testing and

collapse mapping as a function of geometry and compliance.

For the ESS sand integrity testing, FEA collapse modeling and
screen loading and flow test simulations in consoldated and
unconsolidated sand sands.
Expandable Reservoir Completion System Concept
and Configuration
Expandable Sand Screen [ESS]. A new size of ESS,
incorporating a 7.0, 29ppf base pipe, has been created as part
of the system development [see figure 2]. The 7.0 platform
enables a greater compliant range to ensure compliance in hole
sizes in excess of 9.2. The thicker wall section and optimized
slot pattern increase the strength of the product.
Unlike the original ESS design, the basepipe is not
slotted along its entire length; solid pipe remains at the joint
ends, to allow for non-expandable premium couplings.
Unexpanded premium couplings underline the robust nature of
the new product and are common to all system components,
promoting modularity, and integration with conventional
oilfield technologies.
The transition between the non-expanded and expanded
section includes solid plates behind the weave to prevent
potential erosion over the non-compliant length.
Expandable Zonal Isolation [EZI]. The key to
Weatherfords new Expandable Reservoir Completion System
is the Expandable Zonal Isolation [EZI] device, which utilises
proprietary rotary compliant expansion technique to clad the
formation wall, effecting openhole zonal isolation.
The expandable section of the EZI unit features an
extended section of moulded, ribbed elastomer with solid end
back-up, as shown in figure 3. The elastomers are protected
during deployment using cross coupling centralisers and a
mechanical tag is located within the expandable section for
positive depth correlation during expansion operation. As
with all of the expandable reservoir system components, the
connections are non-expanded premium couplings.
Conventional Unexpanded Casing. The expandable reservoir
completion system is modular by design and can include
lengths of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) casing
between ESS and EZI joints. This casing is not designed to be
expanded, but is used to space out the completion across the
reservoir section resulting in maximum completion design
flexibility.
Including standard OCTG unexpanded pipe in the string
provides reference points for integration with conventional
inner string completions including ICT. This high level of
integration with conventional technology is the hallmark of a
mature technology offering.
ERC Expansion System. Both the ESS and EZI are
expanded using proprietary rotary compliant expansion
technology. The ESS and EZI require slightly different tool
designs. The ESS has a larger % expansion requirement with
reduced force, whereas the EZI requires less % expansion, but
requires higher expansion forces. For this reason 2 different
expansion tools are required in the string. The ESS Expansion

Tool is situated at the bottom of the string and incorporates 2

rows of 3 piston-mounted rollers. The EZI tool is situated
above the ESS tool and has 1 row of piston-mounted rollers.
Diverter Tool. Selecting the appropriate expansion tool for
the zone requires a Diverter Tool to be incorporated in the
string between the 2 tools. The Diverter Tool simply switches
between the ESS and EZI tools using flowrate and associated
backpressure.
EXR Liner Hanger + Save A Trip [SAT] Running Tool.
These components deliver one-trip, expandable reservoir
completion installation. The EXR Liner Hanger/Packer is an
evolution of the two-trip EXP Hanger/Packer used in all
previous ESS installations in Middle East. The SAT tool is a
fully hydraulic running tool which features running and setting
keys that collapse on completion of the hanger setting process
allowing the tool string to be moved through the hanger and
expansion of the ESS / EZI to take place.
Fluid Loss Valve [FLV]. The FLV incorporates a flapper
arrangement, which prevents fluid loss to the formation when
completing a well, and allows for testing/setting upper
completion components. A shifting tool in the expansion
string is used to activate the flapper, isolating the reservoir
from wellbore fluid and pressure above. Wellbore pressure is
then used to open the valve following installation of the upper
completion, and prior to bringing the well onto production.
In its open state, the curved flapper is fully enclosed within
the wall of the completion resulting in zero flowing restriction
following release for production.
Expandable Reservoir Completion Installations
The worlds first 7 Expandable Completion was run and
fully expanded in a single trip in a well in South Texas USA in
November 2004. Five Expandable Zone Isolation units were
used to isolate the six zones encountered in the well and two
sections of ESS were run across the upper and lower gas zones
(see figure 4 for installed completion schematic). The
operation was performed without any downtime or equipment
failure / major issues relating to the completion and all
components were fully and compliantly expanded.
The main technical objectives for the field trial were:

Qualify an Expandable Completion system with the

required technical specifications
Demonstrate single trip installation of 7 expandable
completion equipment, including zone isolation.
Demonstrate operation of the One Trip Hanger
Compliantly expand all section of the Expandable
Completion where the borehole is less than 9.25 ID.
Prove pressure integrity of 7 Expandable Zone Isolation

All objectives have been met and verified either during the
installation operation or during production.
An 8-1/2 open hole section was drilled from 6,100 ft to
6,680 ft using a 9.7 ppg Oil Based Mud (OBM) producing a
vertical and gauge hole. Formation logs were run that
identified three gas (one non-pay) and three water zones. In

order to be able to prove compliance a UBI log was performed

to provide a high-resolution caliper of the well and this proved
the borehole to be circular and gauge. The completion string
comprised of:

9-5/8 x 7 EXR Liner Hanger (Standard)

7 23# 316L EZI c/w 7 24.75# Vam ACE connections &
five discrete elastomer units
7 24.75# 25% Cr Duplex ESS c/w Vam ACE
connections & 230 micron 316L weave and perforated
plate.
7 26# 13%Cr casing c/w Vam ACE connections.

From top to bottom the completion was spaced out using 7,

26 lb/ft 13% Cr joints and pups in order to:

Run ESS across the upper gas bearing sand and isolate
with EZI above and below
Isolate the two water bearing formations below the upper
sand
Isolate the non-pay gas sand with EZI above and below,
but allow for future perforation
Isolate the depleted lower water bearing formation
Run ESS across the lower gas bearing sand

After deploying the completion and setting the one trip hanger,
expansion of the completion was performed sequentially from
top to bottom. Both the surface digital data acquisition system
and the downhole DAQ sub indicated that the required
operating parameters had been maintained and full compliant
expansion has been achieved. Despite a failure of the planned
USI logging tool and poor log quality from mechanical
calipers, the logging data confirmed that full and compliant
expansion had been achieved over the entire Expandable
Completion. Figure 5 shows images generated by the
mechanical and USI logs.
A 2-7/8 selective completion was deployed into the 7
Expanded Completion with two Hydrow 1 packers set in the
7 casing between EZI 2 and EZI 3. These were separated by a
sliding sleeve, allowing the pressure integrity of the packers to
be independently verified. A dual gauge mandrel was installed
adjacent to the upper producing zone with a single gauge
mandrel below the lower zone isolation nipple. Pressure
gauges within these mandrels allow permanent downhole
monitoring of the effectiveness of the EZI seal. During initial
start up dry gas production from the lower zone has proved the
effectiveness of the EZI in isolating the depleted water
producing sand from the lower gas bearing zone. Gauge data
confirms that a collapse pressure of 1500 psi was being held
by the EZI (see figure 6). After being depleted, this sand the
zone was isolated and the sliding sleeve opened to produce
from the upper gas bearing zone. Production from this zone
has been ongoing over the last six months with 400 psi
effective seal being held across the EZI.
Summary Points and Learning from EZI expansion:

Five EZI joints were deployed and successfully expanded.

The expansion was performed in a controlled manner with

operating parameters maintained within the stated
envelopes.
No expansion parameter anomalies were noted and values
remained consistent.
The expansion tools performed as required
It is possible from surface information to surmise that
compliant or full expansion is being achieved.
The downhole data provides clearer confirmation of
compliant expansion.
Log data was generally poor or missing but confirms the
uniform and compliant expansion of the EZI joints.

Summary Points and Learning from ESS expansion

One ESS joint and one 21ft ESS pup joint were
successfully deployed and expanded.
The expansions were performed in a controlled manner
with operating parameters maintained with the stated
envelopes.
Expansions at optimum rates were not attempted due to
the short length of ESS deployed.
No expansion parameter anomalies were noted
The ability of the expansion system to pass through the
slotted solid transition was proven. Changes in force as
rollers enter this transition were detectable from surface.
An EZI joint was run immediately above the ESS pup
without any detrimental effects to expansion start-up.
Log data confirms the compliant expansion of both ESS
sections.
Since the first completion the final commercial system has
been qualified and two further installations performed. The
first of these being a short single zone water injector
application in the Caspian Sea and the second a triple zone
water injector in the North Slope Alaska using three EZI and
six ESS joints. The Alaska application has since been
completed with a three zone selective injection completion
with permanent downhole gauges in place allowing the
effectiveness of the EZI to be monitored over time.
Both of systems were deployed in OBM into deviated
wells, the results are still being analysed though initial
ultrasonic log results confirm that in both applications full
compliance has been achieved.
Conclusion
Expandable Sand Screens have been widely adopted by the
industry and provide the knowledge platform from which to
begin the shift towards this new concept in reservoir
architecture.
Until now, conventional wisdom held that unconsolidated
formations with multiple producing zones should be
completed cased hole, despite the negative impact on well
productivity.
Now, through the use of field-proven
expandable technology, all the zonal isolation benefits of a
cased and perforated completion are available with openhole
productivity performance.

Reference
1. Paul Metcalfe & Calum Whitelaw, Petroline Wellsystems Ltd,
The Development of the First Expandable Sand Screen,
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, USA (May 1999)
2. Paul Metcalfe, Colin Jones, Tracey Ballard, Steve Beare and
Dave Hillis, Weatherford Intl. Inc, Expandable Sand Screens:
From Novel Concept to Proven Sand Control Technique, Rio
Oil & Gas Conference, Paper no. 295, Rio de Janeiro (Oct. 2004)
3. Nicholas Gee, Colin Jones and Stuart Ferguson Towards the
Expandable Completion: The Case for Openhole Completions,
Offshore Technology Conference, Paper No. 16714, Houston
(May. 2004)
4. Rune Freyer, EWS, Arve Huse, Norsk Hydro Swelling Packer
for Zonal Isolation in Openhole Screen Completions, SPE 13th
European Petroleum Conference, Paper No. SPE 78312,
Aberdeen, UK (Oct. 2002)
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Development Oman, R.H. Van Noort, M.N Baaijens, Shell
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Technology, Middle East Oil Show & Conference, Paper SPE
81489, Bahrain (Apr 2003)
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Weatherford Intl. Inc. Next Generation Expandable Liner
Applications Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, USA
(May 2004)

Figure 1. The Next Generation of Expandable Completion Systems is designed to be applied to multizone reservoirs that are conventionally
completed cased hole. The Expandable Reservoir Completion [ERC] combines ESS across producing intervals, Solid Expandable pipe
between zones for isolation, and conventional casing to space the components across the reservoir.

Figure2. A new size of ESS was developed specifically for this

joint development project. The 7.0 ESS joint uses the same
base technology but expandable connections were replaced with
conventional premium, unexpanded couplings.

Figure3. Zonal Ioslation is achieved through application of Solid

Expandable technology

Figure 5. Following installation and subsequent expansion, a log was run to

confirm compliance and borehole contact. The 3 dimensional image of the lower 2
sections clearly shows the elastomer elements and compliantly expanded ESS.

Figure 6. Following installation of the upper completion, the EZI units were tested by
drawing down the lowermost zone. Downhole gauges were used to record the data.

Figure 4. Completion Schematic for

Worlds First Expandable Reservoir
Completion Installation in West Texas.