3.

Well Planning

Habiburrohman abdullah

Well Planning
Pore Pressure and Fracture Gradient
Casing Depth Selection

Types of Well Planning

Exploration well planning.
Development well planning.
Completion/workover programme planning.

Well Planning
Close interaction between Drilling and the
Exploration, Petroleum Engineering, Design
and Construction Departments is vital to
optimise total project costs. Rig/platform
interaction, well reach and well design options
should be fully evaluated in the conceptual
stage. All platform options and well design
options should be considered and all
possibilities for reducing costs should be
examined.

Typical Well Configuration

Typical well
configuration
between exploration
wells and
development well

Figure 1: Well Configuration

Pore Pressure and Fracture

Gradient
Parameters like pore pressure and formation
strength determine aspects like:
1. Choice of mud weight profile,
2. Determination of casing setting depths,
3. Design of optimal casing strings,
4. Selection of the drill bit,
5. Cementing additives and procedures.

RKB & MSL

Within drilling engineering, the drilling floor or
rotary table (RKB) is the most often used
reference depth.
Geologists and geophysicists generally prefer
to use their data in reference to ground floor
or mean sea level (MSL).

Well Depth Guidance

Correct RKB to MSL reference
D
d MSL d RKB

D hRKB ..(1)
Convert MSL data to RKB

d RKB

D hRKB
d MSL
D

...(2)

Wildcat to Development Well

Correlation
Another common problem is when data referenced
to one RKB (e.g. rig used to drill the wildcat well)
has to be applied for further/later calculations (e.g.
drilling development wells from a production
platform). Here the data have to be corrected from
RKB1 to RKB2 .
Correct from RKB1 to RKB2:

d RKB2 d RKB1

D h
D

..(3)

Wildcat to Development Well

Correlation
where:
D [m or ft] ... total depth of point of interest in
reference to RKB
hRKB [m or ft] ... height of RKB above MSL
h [m or ft] ... difference of elevation of RKB1
to RKB2

Geology Prediction
Normally when a well is to be
drilled, the drilling engineer is
supplied from the geology
department with a sequence
of predicted subsurface
formations, their
characteristics and markers,
as well as knowledge about
where special care has to be
taken.
Figure 2: Typical geological
profile to plan a well

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

By definition, a hydrostatic pressure is
developed due to the own weight of a fluid at
a certain depth.
p g h 9.81 h ..(4)

Or in field units:
p 0.052 fl D

..(5)

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

Where
fl [ppg] ... density of the fluid causing hydrostatic
pressure
[kg/m3] ... average fluid density
D [ft] ... depth at which hydrostatic pressure occurs
(TVD)
h [m] ... vertical height of column of liquid
p [psi] ... hydrostatic pressure
g [m/s2] ... acceleration due to gravity

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

When the burial depth
increases, the overlaying
pressure (overburden
stress) increases. This
decreases the pore space
between the grains and
thus the porosity of the
formation.
Figure 3: Porosity profile with
increasing depth

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

When drilling a well, formations are often
encountered that are under a different pressure
regime. These formations are named to be
abnormally pressured. Abnormal pressures can be
positive (actual formation pressures are higher than
hydrostatic pressure) or negative (actual formation
pressures are lower than hydrostatic pressure).
Sometimes the term subnormal pressure is used
when the formation pressure is lower than the
hydrostatic one.

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

Some mechanisms that lead to abnormally
pressured formations are:
1. Compaction effects,
2. Artesian System
3. Uplift
4. Salt Beds
5. Differential density effects (Osmosis)
6. Salt Domes

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

Compaction effects
A sealing mechanism must be present to trap abnormal
pressure environment. The common sealing mechanism is a
shale section. The shale reduces normal fluid escape,
causing undercompaction and abnormal fluid pressure.

P 0.465 psi / ft DB 1.0 psi / ft ( D1 DB )

.(6)

Where:
D1 = depth of interest below the barrier, ft.
DB = depth of the barrier, i.e., low permeability section, ft
P = formation pressure at D1, psi

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

While burying of the sediments, formation water is
expelled with increasing depth and temperatures
due to reduction in pore space and diagenesis of
the rock materials.
As long as the permeability and the effective
porosity of the rock is high enough so that the
formation water can escape as quickly as the
natural compaction takes place, the formations are
normally pressured. The (vertical) pressures acting
inside formations can be modelled as:

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

ob z p

(7)

Where :
ob [psi] ... overburden stress
z [psi] ... vertical stress supported by the grain-tograin connections
p [psi] ... formation pore pressure

Pore pressure PredictionHydrostatic Pressure

The bulk density [ppg] of a formation is
estimated by equation:
b g (1 ) fl .(8)
where:
g [ppg] ... grain density
fl [ppg] ... formation fluid density
[1] ... total porosity of the formation

Casing Depth Selection

Type of casing :
Conductor casing
Surface casing
Intermediate casing
Production casing.

Casing Depth Selection

A. Conductor casing
Applications:
- to provide a fluid conduit from the bit to the surface.
- to minimize hole caving.

B. Surface Casing
Applications:
- cover freshwater sands
- maintain hole integrity by preventing caving
- minimize lost circulation into shallow, permeable zones
- cover weak zone that are incompetent to control kick-imposed
pressure
- provide a means of attaching of BOP
- support the weight of all casings run below the surface pipe

Casing Depth Selection

C. Intermediate casing
Applications:

- used to isolate salt zones or zones that cause hole problems, such as
heaving and sloughing shales.

D. Production casing.
Applications:
- isolate the producing zones from the other formations.
- provide a work shaft of a known diameter to the pay zones.
- protect the production tubing equipment.

Setting Depth Design Procedures

Casing seat depth are directly affected by
geological conditions. In some cases, the
prime criterion for selecting casing seats is to
cover exposed, severe lost circulation zones,
differential sticking problems, pressure
depletion, controlling abnormal pressure and
preventing their exposure to weaker shallow
zones.

Setting Depth Selection for

Intermediate and Deeper Strings
Criteria:
1. Let the mud weight control formation pressure
without fracturing shallow formations (this
considerations are made from bottom to up)
2. Differential pressure sticking determination to
be made to verify the casing string will become
stuck when running it to the well (this
considerations are made from top to bottom)

Setting Depth Selection for

Intermediate and Deeper Strings
General values for the amount of differential
pressure that can be tolerated before sticking
occurs:
- Normal pressure zones: 2,000 2,300 psi
- Abnormal pressure zones: 3,000 3,300 psi

Setting Depth Selection for

Intermediate and Deeper Strings
Equation to determine the new intermediate
depth if sticking is a concern:

P MW 90.052 D

..(9)

Where :
MW = mud weight, lb/gal
D
= depth to deepest normal zone, ft
P = differential pressure, psi

Setting Depth Selection for

Intermediate and Deeper Strings
An arbitrary limit of 2,000 2,300 psi is normally
used for P. The mud weight, MW from equation
(9) can be used to locate the depth where the P
value will exist:

MW TM P

.(10)

Where :
MW = mud weight, lb/gal
TM = trip margin, lb/gal
P = formation pressure, lb/gal

Surface Casing Depth Selection

The most problem at this section is a kick. Kick imposed
equivalent mud weights are the cause for most underground
blowouts.
EMWkick

total depth
M OMW

.(11)
depth of int erest

Where :
EMWkick = equivalent mud weight at the depth of interest, lb/gal
total depth = deepest interval, ft
depth of interest = ft
M = incremental kick mud weight increase, lb/gal
OMW = original mud weight, lb/gal

END