Well Intervention

Production Technology Intervention may occur on a producing or an

injecting well and the operation is normally
Well Intervention referred to as a workover
Workover could be divided to planned and
unplanned
Professor Bahman Tohidi A workover rig is required
Institute of Petroleum Engineering
Heriot-Watt University Workover is generally planned by
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
Scotland
production engineering in most oil
Tel: +44 (0)131 451 3672 companies
Fax: +44 (0)131 451 3127
Email: B.Tohidi@hw.ac.uk
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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Well Intervention Well Intervention

Reasons for well intervention: Problems on wells can be associated with
Mechanical malfunction or redesign one of three areas:
Changes in reservoir performance or flow The reservoir
characteristics The completion string
Interventions are complex due to: The wellbore
Complex and inter-dependent components Normally a problem is evident by surface
Hostile service environment: information on flowrate, pressure,
High pressure and high temperature conditions composition etc
Corrosive Fluids Sometimes it is necessary to run wireline or
Hydraulic and mechanical stresses through tubing logging equipment
In cases we are dealing with a "live well"
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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Planning and Conducting a Workover Types of Intervention

Problems associated with the
completion string can be classified as
follows:
Problems which arise in the tubing bore
Problems which necessitate the retrieval of
the completion string from the well

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 Internal Tubing Problems
Problems within the bore of the completion
string can be related to:
The failure and necessary retrieval/replacement of
wireline components and coiled tubing
Equipment installation, retrieval or operation within
the tubing bore
The installation of equipment across the
perforated interval or in the sump of the well to
exclude water, gas or other production problems
Tubing Retrieval Problems
There are a large number of problems which
necessitate tubing retrieval. Such as:
Mechanical failure of the tubing string
Inability to conduct wireline equipment
replacement
Alternative design, e.g., artificial lift.
The replacement of the tubing string to
optimise reservoir performance, e.g., change
to a smaller size

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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Coiled Tubing Coiled Tubing

The major benefit of the technique is that it It consists of:
allows concentric operations to be conducted
in the tubing. These operations can include: A reel of continuous tubing
Mechanical operations whereby devices within the A tubing straightener or gooseneck
tubing, can be operated (hydraulically or An injector head which will drive the tubing
mechanically), retrieved or inserted.
Circulation operations such as the placement of
into the well even if it is under pressure
acid or other treatment chemicals, or cement to The work tools
squeeze out at perforated intervals.
In addition CT can be used as a velocity string to
extend the life of a production well where it is
dominated by slippage.

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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Coiled Tubing Coiled Tubing Facility

Coiled tubing can assist in conducting
the following range of operations:
Circulation of fluid placement within the
wellbore
Retrieval and installation of wireline or
through tubing equipment
Drilling or milling operations
Application in horizontal and inclined wells

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Coiled Tubing Workover Benefits

The benefits of a successful workover
Principal advantage over wireline arises from:
can be significant. These could be
Ability to generate much higher tensile stresses
purely technical or they may have safety
Capability to circulate within the tubing
or economic implications.
Installing equipment through the tubing string,
e.g., into the area beneath the tail pipe.
The benefits could include:
Enhancement or restoration of safety
A fundamental technique in the servicing and
Reduction in operating costs
operation of horizontal wells, and placement
of fluids and hydraulic offloading Accelerate the production revenue
Increase the ultimate recovery

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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Absolute Measure of Profitability Time Value of Cash Flow

Discounted Cash Flow
Pay back-period
by this approach the Future cash flows are discounted back to a
period is determined standard reference time by use of a
when the project specified standard interest rate.
revenue would Net Present Value
repay the costs. Considers the current value of the revenue
of the workover compared to the actual
cost of the workover in present day terms.
It is a simple measure, but not realistic in terms The benefit is that it can be used to
of considering alternative investment incorporate risk factors to take into account
strategies. uncertainty in the evaluation.

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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

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 Time Value of Cash Flow Time Value of Cash Flow
Internal Rate of Production Rate Evaluation
Return
In this technique there is no
This is the definition consideration of economics, but purely
of the interest rate
on revenue which the comparison between pre and post
would generate a workover production rates
net present value of This can be expressed in terms of the
zero therefore benefit fraction or an incremental gain
provides the or the ratio of the production rate
maximum discount
rate of the project
increase to the pre workover rate.

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B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering B Tohidi, Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering

Time Value of Cash Flow Summary

Cost Benefit Intervention can be conducted through tubing
Analysis or require tubing retrieval
By this approach A range of solutions exist in most cases.
we look at the We are dealing with a live well and hence
cost associated safety and protecting the productivity /
with the project in injectivity index are important considerations.
terms of: Data is essential to the diagnosis of
Direct workover costs problems, as well as the collation and
Deferred oil production evaluation of options both technically and
Impact on production economically.
capacity
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