OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

6200 North Central Expressway .

Dallas, Texas 75206
=~ OTe 1295
THIS IS A PREPRINT --- SUBJECT TO CORRECTION

Subsurface Safety Valves

By

Henry Schaefer) Amoco International Oil Co.

© Copyright 1970

Offshore Technology Confere'rice on behalf' of American Institrite of Mining, Metallurgical, and

Petroleum Engineers, Inc., The AmeriQan Association of ,Petroleum Geologists, American Institute of
Chemical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, The American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, The Institute of Electrical l3.nd E_lectrollicsEngineers, Inc., Marine Technology Society,
Society of' Exploration Geophysicists, and Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Second Annual Offshore Technology Conference
to be held in Houston, Tex., April 22~24, 1970. Permission to copy is rest~icted to an abstract
of not more than 300 words.- Illustrations may not be copied. Such use of an abstract should
contain conspicuous acknowledgmen~9f where and by whom the paper is presented.

ABSTRACT safety valves.

Because most of' our company's production
is in open wate.r~LoJ;'.;n~vigab,lechannels,
management has been vitally concerned about
controlling offshore wells in the event of
storm navigation or other catastrophic
occurrence. A comprehensive stUdy has been
made of'thia potentially dangerous situation.
We hope it proves benef'ici~l.not only to us,
but also to the other operators who have co-
operated with us and who are producing oil and
gas in the open seas.
INTRODUCTION
A subsurface saf'ety valve is used to shut
in a well automatically at some depth below the
bottom of the sea, or below ground level, if
the wellhead eCluip]llent or QtlJ.E':)rsur;t'l:l.Ge, pro-
duction eCluipment f'ails. The majority of'
installations of subsurf'ace saf'ety valves is in
offshore wells, althOUgh they also are being
used in onshore areas where sabotage of the
wellhead is even a remote possibility.
OBJECT
The object of' this paper is to:
1. Give a brief history of the develop-
ment of subsurf'ace saf'ety valves.
2. Review surface cOJ;l.trolled subsurf'ace
Illustrations at end of paper.
3. Discuss troubles we experienced in
Iran with our f'irst installations.
4. Discuss work done to improve our
valves and eliminate troubles.
5. Discuss performance of valves in Iran
and Egypt.
6. Discuss development of a valve for use
in gas wells, including test work in Oklahoma.
7. Show sketches of valves.
8. Provide schematic sketches of typical
installations.
Brief' History of' Subsurface Safety Valves
As long ago as 1936, accelerated drilling
of high pressure oil and gas wells in inland
waters near townsites and other dangerous or
isolated places reCluired a device to protect
wells from uncontrolled f'low caused by accident
or other damage to surface eCluipment. To meet
this need, many types of' saf'ety valves were
built and tried, most of' them being of the
velocity-operated type. These valves were
designed to operate by increased velocity, or
by the pressure dif'f'erential across the valve
caused by the increased velocity of flow, or by
a drop in pressure to a predetermined value,
caused by the rupture of some part of' the well
eCluipment on the surf'ace. The velocity-
operated valve is subjected to inherent vari-
ables of flowing wells which made it diff'icult
for average operating people to calculate and
set the closing rate accurately.
II-682
While the velocity-operated valve is
suitable for flowing wells producing at re-
duced rates} it is less suitable in areas where
large volumes of flow are permitted. In wells
produced at rates at or close to their poten-
tial} it is hard to predetermine spring set-
tings to guarantee closure in an emergency.
With the rapid extension of the offshore
fields into the shipping lanes of such areas
as Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of Mexico} it
became apparent that a f)l:l,fety device should be
developed which would not have. the disadvan-
tages of the velocity-operated valve.
In Venezuela} work was started on a sur-
face controlled subsurface safety valve which
would not be dependent upon the velocity of
flow'to close the valve. As a result of this
effort} the ball valve came into being. It is
used in many of the oil wells in Lake
Maracaibo}· Venezuela.
Surface Controlled Subsurface Safety Valves
Surface controlled subsurface safety
valves are hydraulically controlled from the
surface and are designed to shut in the well
automatically in the event of the failure or
damage to wellhead equipment} production
facilities 'or flow lines. A surface controlled
subsurface safety valve is designed to offer
a wide scope of protection and is not affect~d
by changing flow rates. It is controlled only
by the variables the system is monitoring.
Pilots may be installed to monitor all variable
conditions and} in case of disaster or any
event outside of predetermined limits} the well
is shut in automatically.
Troubles Experienced in Iran with our First
Installation of Subsurface Safety Valves
The eqUipment which was insta:Ued in
Darius 1 on Nov. 5} 1961} consisted of a type
of ball valve that is run on tubing and was
chosen over the wireline retrievable type be-
cause the fo:fnlerwould offer less resistance
to flow than the latter. On initial tests} the
eqUipment performed satisfactorilyj however}
at the end of a 2 months series of production
tests} the ball of the safety valve would not
rotate to the fully open position when pressure
was applied to the hydraulic control line.
The ball'valve was pUlled from Darius 1
on Feb. 6} 1962. When the valve was dismantled
it was found that the ball had broken. A
stUdy of the broken valve led to the conclusion
that it was caused by hydrogen embrittlement of
the material used to make the ball.
A combination annulus and tubing valve}
which is not wireline retrievable} but was
chosen in order to offefminimum resistance to
OTC 1295
f'low} was ordered for four 'wells. Dates when
this batch of subsurface safety valves were
installed and pUlled are shown in Table"l.
None of these wells had been produced} except
for initial testing} during the time interval
the combination annulus and tUbing valve was
in place.
The hydraUlic control line for the valve
consisted of' two lengths of 1/4-in. seamless}
stainless-steel tUbing which were coupled with
a mechanical fitting. The tubing was not
available in one piece which would be long
enough to reach from the wellhead to the
setting depth of 300 to 400 f't for the safety
valve. In three of the four installations}
the 1/4-in. control line failed for one reason
or another. For example} in Darius 1 the
control line pUlled apart at the mechanical
fitting ~hich joined the two piecesj a leak
developed in one of' the control line connec-
tions in Darius 3} and in Darius 4} the control
line became plugged.
Work Done to Improve Valve
and Eliminate Troubles
After suffering the difficulty just de-
scribed} it soon became apparent that the
then available subsurface safety valves were
not suitable f'or our Darius f'ield in the
Persian Gulf. So} intensive efforts were
initiated to determine the causes of all the
failures and then attempt to design a valve
that would. not have the uudesirablefeatures.
The problem in the Darius field is different
from other areas where saf'ety valves are being
used because of the reqUirement to provide a
means to inject corrosion inhibitors into the
wells while producing the sour oil.
Two manuf'acturers of safety valve's were
asked to build a safety valve meeting these
reqUirements which would be tested in the U. S. }
and if' the valves proved satisfactory} they
would be purchased. Based on previous experi-
ence} part of which had been cited} it appeared
that a wireline retrievable valve that did not
require a small hydraulic line would be de-
sirable. After giving the problem a lot of
stUdy} it was decided to use a dual string of
tubing from the surface to a packer set about
100 :f:t below the bottom of the sea} and a
single string of tubing below the packer. The
safety valve would be seated in the short
string of tubing about one joint above the
packer and would be wireline retrievable
through the tubing which would also serve as
the hydraulic control line. Oil production
would flow up the casing} then through one
joint of tubing to the seating nipple for the
safety valve and then into the annulus and out .
of the wellhead. The long string of' tUbing
would ,be used for the injection of' corrosion
inhibitor and for running wireline eqUipment.

GTC 1295 .HENRY SCHAEFER
A wireline retrievable check valve would be
used to prevent flow out of the long string of
tubing.
After a period of development and testing,
both makes of valves appeared to be. fjatis- _
factory.
Performance of Valves in Iran and Egypt
SUbsurface safety valves of Make A have
been installed by Iran Pan American Oil Co.
[IPAC] in all of its prodUcing wells in the
Darius field [12 wells] and in the Cyrus field
[10 wells], located in the Persian Gulf. No
trouble has been experienced with the valves in
the Cyrus field. The produced oil is sweet.
In the Darius field, which produces sour
oil, some trouble has been experienced with
the rubber seals. At first, Buna N was used
for the seal rubber but this material does not
retain its resilience in hydrogen sulfide above
2000 F. Viton for the seals is on test, and we
also'plan to test a polyepichlorohydrin
elastomer. This is a subject for further re-
search.
Mechanically, the Make A valve and asso-
ciated equiplllE:nt have performe.d. sa.tisfaGtorUy.
In Egypt, the first wells completed in the
El Morgan field, located in the Gulf of Suez,
were fitted with the Make A valve, the same'as
t:Q.at used in Iran. Installed by our joint
interest company, Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co. or
GUPO, these valves proved satisfactory until
the well produced sand. The path of oil flow
through the valve and seating nipple is a bit
tortuous and is not a good design for sand-
laden fluid. As soon as the erosion of the
valve was detected, we changed from the piston
design to a ball valve of Make B, which permits
straight flow through the tubing. Th~ hydrau-
lie control line used with the ball valve is
1/8-in. extra heavy pipe with special long
couplings. As far as I know, these installa-
tions are satisfactory, although they have only
been in service about 1 year. The produced oil
is sweet, so hydrogen embrittlement is not a
problem. . __ __ .
Development of a Subsurface
Safety Valve for Gas Wells
In Iran, our oil wells are produced
through the casing in order to obtain the maxi-
mum efficient flow rate. Oil from the form-
ation moves up the casing, through the safety
valve and back into the casing and on to the
surface.
For gas wells in the North Sea offshore
from England, it was decided that it would be
II-683
desirable to produce through the tubing and
have the tubing-casing annulus loaded with a
suitable packer fluid.
Because none of the safety valves then
available appeared to be suitable for our gas
well completion plans, work was initiated to
develop and test subsurface safety valves for
such a completion.
Two manufacturers were asked to furnish
the valves. Past experience with safety valves
indicated it would be desirable to field test,
as well as shop test, any new safety valve, so
an arrangement was made with Pan American
Petroleum Corp. to conduct the field testing.
A couple of wells in northwestern Oklahoma
were chosen by Pan American for the tests.
Make B valve was installed in Whetstone
No. I, located southeast from Woodward, Okla.;
the well was 'placed on production about the
middle of Nov., 1966. At last report, the
valve was performing satisfactorily.
Make A was installed in Nicklesen No. I,
located west from Woodward; production started
about the first of May, 1967. The valve when
tested on July 5, 1967, would not completely
shut in the well. It had been in service
about 2 months.
The valve was pUlled from the well and
dismantled. It was found that the piston had
been undercut in manufacturing so that, in
the open position, one of the seals was ex-
posed to flow. A new piston for the valve was
sent to Oklahoma, and the valve was dressed
and run into the well 'the latter part of JUly.
Apparently, it was not locked into the seating
nipple because when the well was opened for
test, the valve was blown out of the hole and
damaged so much it was necessary to return it
to the manufacturer for repairs.
The repaired valve was installed in the
test well about Aug. 21, 1967. It was tested
in July, 1968, and operated satisfactorily.
Because of the satisfactory performance
of the Make B valve on test in Oklahoma, it
was chosen by the Amoco ~roup for use in the
English North Sea gas wells. At the present
time, 34 installations have been made in Leman
field gas wells.
Sketches of Valves
Fig. 1 shows the valve which is currently
in use in our wells in the Persian Gulf and in
some of the wells in the Gulf of Suez. It is a
piston-type valve and is held in the open
position, as shown in the figure, by pressure
applie9- to the top side of the piston. When

:1-684
-----------
STTRSTTR’F?Af!TT”SA1717!W
the control pressure drops a couple of hundred
psi below the well press~e, the valve is
supposed to close. wring the development
work, a coricertedeffort was made to throttle
the valve in order to find out what would
happen to the sealg. .We were never able to
throttle the valve by manipulating the hydrau-
lic presclre. In effect, the valve is either
fully open or closed and the operation is quite
rapid. the valve was throttled, however, by
mechanicallyholding the piston, antithe seal
on the piston was not affected by as much as
5iOO0-psipressur+ drop across it. -
Fig. 2 shows the Make B valve which we are
using in our gas wells in the English North
Sea. It.is a piston-type valve and its opera-
kion and constructionare somewhat similar to
the valve in Fig. 1; the main differencebeing
the method used to lock it in the seating
nipple.. .= ._ .... “
Fig. 3 shows one design for the ball
valve. Due to physical limitations,the
hydraulic control pressure required to open
the valve varies i%om alout 25 to ‘jOpercent
more than well pressure. The ball valve is a
through-conduittype sad in the open ‘position
will permit passage of wireline tools through
the larger size valves. For the ssme tubing
size, the wireline removable ball valve has
about one-half as much flow area as the piston-
type valve.
Schematic Sketches of TYPical Installations
Figs. k through 7 show, schematically,
several of.the maay possible arrangements of
subsurface safety valves. No attempt is made
to include in the sketches, details or elements
not specificallyrelated to the safety valve,
such as seating nipples for tubing plugs or
changes in the size of the tubing string.
Fig. 4 shows the arrangementwhich AMOCO
is using in the I!hglishNorth Sea. A by-pass
type seating nipple is used for the safety
valve. Gas passes through the bottom of the
safety valve and is then diverted or by-passed
around the safety valve and back into the
production tubing. Two tubing strings, run
concentrically,are used above the safety
valve with the annulus between them serving
as the conductor for the hydraulic control
fluid. The safety valve is surface controlled.
The tubing is supported on a sli~-t~e hanger
set about 100 ft below the bottom of the sea.
A packer is set just above.~heproducing inter-
val and the azmih.zsbetween the tubing and
casing is filled with suitablepacker fluid.
The arrangementfor a surface controlled.
subsurface safety valve used by IPAC in the
Persian Gulf, Iran, and by GUPCO for some of
the wells in the Gulf,of Suez, Egypt, is shown
.—
------
.- —---
VATJ??7S- mw
--- —,
in Fig. 5. Tubing is supported on a slip-type
hanger and packer set about 100 ft below the
bottom of the sea.” Parallel tubing strings
are run from the well to the packer; one of
the tubing strings is continued to bottom and
serves as a corrosion injection and kill
string and as ‘aconduit for running wireline
instruments. The safety valve, which is wire-
line retrievable,is located in the short
string of tubing about one tubing joint above
the packer. An injection or check valve,
which is also wireline retrievable,is placed
in the long string of tubing just above the
packer.
Oil production flows up the casing to the
hanger packer, through one joint of tubing,
then through the safety valve and into the
SZUN.ZIUS and out the wellhead. The tubing abov(
the safety valve serves as the hydraulic con-
trol fluid conduct. “
Subsurface safety valves, both surface
controlledand velocity operated, are used in
onshore wells in areas where sabotage of the
wel~ead may occur. k exmple of sa onshore
installation,using a surface o~erated valve,
is shown in Fig. 6. The safety valve is set
about two tubing joints below the wel~ead. A
packer is placed near the top of the protiucing
interval and the tubing casing annulus is
filled with a suitable packer fluid. A ball-
type safety valve is used.
Probably the first installationof a
surface controlled subsurface safety valve was
made in Lake Maracaibo. Fig. 7 shows the
arrangement of eguipment used in some of these
completionsfiA packer is set near the bottom
of the hole. The tubing is supported on a sli~
hanger and packer set about 100 ft below the
bottom of the lake with the ball-type safety
valve located in the tubing string just above
the packer. A l/8-in. pipe is strapped to the
tubing as a conduit for the hydraulic control
fluid and runs from the surface to the seating
nipple for the safety valve. Between the
bottom packer and the hsmger packer, produc-
tion flows in the casing and tubing by mesm
of a sliding sleeve near the packer sad a
ported nipple just below the hsmger packer.
Production can be confined to the tubing if so
desired by closing the slide door and bridging
the openings in the ported nipple.
Developmentwork on surface controlled
subsurface safety valves reported herein has
been conducted for more thsn a decade. Xt has
involved.otisEngineering Corp. and Page Oil
Tools, Inc., the research departmentsof our’
sister compsaies,Pan American Petroleum Corp.,
.md American Oil Co., and by operating people
in Iran and Oklahoma, and we wish to express
appreciationfor their help. It is anticipated
that work to tiprove the valves we are now
 II-685
(XV 1295 HENRY sCHAEmR___

using and to help develop new designs will be

a continuingprqje@O

Table 1

Well L—–. Installed Pulled

Darius 1 February 14, 1963 September 21, 1964

Darius 2 July 2, 1962 August 30, 1964
Darius 3 December 30, 1962 August 4, 1964
Darius 4 June 6, 1963 August 15, 1964
 Fig. 1 - Piston
type
valve
used
by Mom in Pem~mGulf.

Fig.
2 - Fistan type V61W umd by Amoco in EkLiah North Sea.

,,

Fig.
3 - B!iU
vd.ve
used by Amoco in Gulf of Suez.
 ~/ ..NYDRALJLIC CON.TROL.
..PAW -OFF AROU~&?? –LZLU,ID .JNLET
‘HYDRAULIC. — cOR ROSLON /NHL9LTOR
.X?L3/ii6 . IN–WEL L_k?.E/W \
:;COMTR OL FLU _I ML E.7 ....—.--... _.__ ....-_
–-&?/WDUC.TI.ON_~
.j~LE.Z _ ...- -. ourLET____ __ @
‘-PA,cKz.OFI?_. AROUND . .. .
)
Y \
! ._T.u6[ti.G_lN_ WEL L. IYEA D-–
O.UTER . .TUB./.6.6- . \ ,.
‘-.., ,“
Y “~.. ,.
‘k
..{NAIER ..TuBMG._ ‘ ‘---
_h!YP?ULIC .-CONTROL ---h! YL2RAUL[ C -~
,FIUID .-._._.. .’ -_ CC2N_TROLELUID_
-PROD UC-TIQ.N_ CA’S/AI.G.. ;
—. CONDUIT . . ...
i,

(
. .

- ,PRO.DUC.71Q.~ . cASW!

1
kAFETY. .V!wE. _
. SEA TIAIG. NIPPLE.
+?uN-oNXWG .
3AFE~Y_. 14ALV15 _,. .
f .- .wIRE. LINE.. REMUABLE _ SAFETY VALVE { ,
——---- . ...— . ... . . ---- 5EATf NG N/PP.LEn
_RUN ON 7VBIAIG

r
[ / CO EROSION.. ..[WL=ION
.SLIP ..7YPE ., 7UC31NdI AND.. _K[LL-_..STRVVG ._ :
.OROOUCTION<
HANGER I SET A~o~7 . _-_-~”Bl/vG, ONE
/00 ‘ BELOW BOTTOM ~ f NJEk-T/oN VALVE,
- ..JoIN+ _. . ..–— WIRE LIIVE REMOVABLE
_oF SEA,
i ‘-5LIP TYPE TUBING. ,
HA NGER,. A(VD PACKER
, _ SET_ ABour._-100~
_;BEL.@ w._ 1507_ TQfW - OF,.–
-

W
bACKER fzuto.-. -SEA.. _“ . . .. . ... . . .-. < . .
.—— .. . ....
—
PACKER -----
I --- “—.>- —-

~~
.,.

Fig.
4 - English North Sea.
Fig.
5 .Iran
and E&@.
 I
,: hyDRAuLlc--
_coN.TROL -FLUID.: ,: : > ;ACK.-.0FF– A#?C?U!G?_
bYDRA’uLJc ....TUBING SUSPE/VSION..._ -TL!BING-wME,LL
_AND_. PACK -.OFf= IN ---- ..7tJLE.T.. _ __. ... .._
.CONTROL .FLIJID_. .:tfEA L?_ “ ._ _7
-jWEL.L_.HEA D . . . . .. . .. j--- . . .. .. . .;
–LN.LE7_..— .. .. . .. .

~i I
; ‘-.., — /?RoDUC.T19N._TUBING._.
. .,
‘1
-. PROD UC_TION._TUB/WG SMALL IXA ME TER_—
_SM+lLL . D[AME TER,-
i“
HYDRAUL /C. CONTIVU
. H.YDRAUL[C CON?RO1 LINE.. :...— .: ....... ... . ‘FI?ODUC 71C?M. .CAS/(?@ .
..LINE - _.. –_.,. ___ —. .. —- . . . .
-PROL?UC TIOIV CASbVG .
1 I

— PACKER . F.LL![D-_ ....

SAFE TY.:...VL.L VE
‘( /:BALL. .TYPE .SAFETY_ _
SEA T(/VG AJIPPLE.
,_;VALVE.. WIRE .LIIvE___
RUN ON. .TUB ING —BALL. _TYPE_SAFET,Y: _. .REMOVABLE ___ _ .-_.._
SET ABOUT “.60; . VALVE. WIRE L!IYE .

~
—-r ,__ .... ...._
.BEL OW GeOUND -REM. O.k%IBLE ______ _
!“

f.
.S_URFACE -_... _ I
—.
-—---- ._ __________
- — SLIP TYPE TUB ING..
HA ~G.ER AND PACKER,.
SE T., ABQUT 10.0! -. —..
BELOW BOT.T.OM_OF__
LA KE._..._ . . ... _–.-_.
.- .-—-. . . .....,_—__ —.. , .

L-s--
?-l

~&“---- ‘&
5LIDIIVG .SIDE. DOOR. .

,_ kACKER -- ‘PACKER

Fig.
6 . On shore, W. 7 - venezuela.