Iraqi Journal of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering

Vol.15 No.1 (March 2014) 59- 63

ISSN: 1997-4884




Design of Horizontal Well Program for Ajeel Field

Mohammed S.AL-Jawad, A.A.AL-Dabaj
*
and Hassan Abdul Hadi Abdul Hussien
University of Baghdad-College of Engineering-Petroleum Engineering Department
*
Reservoirs Directorate-Ministry of Oil

Abstract
Horizontal wells are of great interest to the petroleum industry today because they
provide an attractive means for improving both production rate and recovery
efficiency. The great improvements in drilling technology make it possible to drill
horizontal wells with complex trajectories and extended for significant depths.
The aim of this paper is to present the design aspects of horizontal well. Well design
aspects include selection of bit and casing sizes, detection of setting depths and
drilling fluid density, casing, hydraulics, well profile, and construction of drillstring
simulator. An Iraqi oil field (Ajeel field) is selected for designing horizontal well to
increase the productivity. Short radius horizontal well is suggested for the developing
the field since many drilled vertical wells are exists
A soft string model was programmed to predict the imposed loads on suggested
drillstring. Six operating conditions of drillstring includes rotating off bottom, pick
up without rotation, slack off without rotation, pick up with rotation, slack off with
rotation, and sliding ,were considered. Also, two buckling modes of drill string were
estimated. According to drillstring simulator results, short radius well of build rate 90
deg/100 ft could be implemented without exceeding the strength limits of the
suggested drillstring.

Keywords: Petroleum; Horizontal drilling; Design well

Introduction
To meet the increasing demand of
petroleum resources, since 1970's the
horizontal well drilling technology has
been improved festally. Now this
technology has become the important
technical way to enhance oil recovery
of old wells

[1].
Ajeel field is located about 30 km to
the North East of Tikrit city, North
Iraq. The average elevation of the field
area is 150-170 m above Mean Sea
Level. The reservoir structure consists
of the main (southern) dome and North
West dome. The main structure
contains an oil accumulation mainly in
the Jeribe, Dhiban, Euphrates,
Serikagni, and Favreina formations,
and a gas cap mainly in transition beds.
All these units contain carbonated
rocks with quite poor permeability [2].
In 1996 HORWELL Company
examined for N.O.C the possibility to
apply horizontal well technology on
the field to increase its productivity.
Five main formations were selected to
perform the study, which are T12-T15,
Jeribe, Dhiban, Euphrates, and
Favreina. Due to the proximity of gas
and/or water contacts in some critical
Iraqi Journal of Chemical and
Petroleum Engineering

University of Baghdad
College of Engineering
Design of Horizontal Well Program for Ajeel Field
60 IJCPE Vol.15 No.1 (March 2014) -Available online at: www.iasj.net

areas and low permeability in other,
the company suggested three locations
for horizontal drilling which are Jeribe,
Euphrates, and Favreina. With aid of
analytical calculation and correlation
issued from basic numerical
simulation, high horizontal well
productivity indexes were obtained
ranged from 6 up to 14 for replacement
ratio from 2.75 to 6.5 [3].

Steps of Design
1- Bit and Casing Sizes
HORWELL

[3] study suggested hole
size of about 8.5 in for horizontal well.
If the production casing or liner size
was chooses as 6 5/8in, the sizes of bits
to drill the whole well and casing sizes
for casing the well could be determined
with API tables. Table 1 provides the
final sizes of bits and casing strings.

2- Setting Depths and Drilling Fluid
Densities
Pore and fracture pressures data of
the Ajeel field were gathered from
offset well reports (geologic reports).
Table 2 shows these values of
pressures at different depths. With
these data, casing setting depths and
drilling fluid densities were determined
with liner interpolation method. Since
the depth of Euphrates formation is
nearly 2975 ft (setting depth of the
production casing), table 3 provides
setting depths of other casing strings
and required density for drilling these
sections.

3- Casing Grads
Casing Grads and weights were
determined for each section based on
the density of drilling mud and
formation pressures of the field. A
worst conditions design were
considered in computing of tension,
burst, collapse, and bending loads
imposed on casing string [4]. Also
safety factors with high values for each
type of load were assumed. For tension
(SF=2), for burst (SF=1.2), and for
collapse (SF=1.2) .With the aid of
computer program, the detailed
information about the casing program
was provided in table 4.

4- Well Profile
Ajeel oil field has many vertical
wells with known depths. These
vertical wells could be converted to
short radius wells (reentry wells) by
drilling building section with a high
build rate of angle. Usually, this type
of horizontal well could be completed
as open hole, since the formation is
limestone. Well profile was
constructed with radius of curvature
method (most common method for
profile design) as single curve with the
following equations [5].

R= 5727.27/ BUR (1)

V1= R.(SinI
2
-SinI
1
) (2)

H1=R.(CosI
1
-CosI
2
) (3)

L1=100.(I
2
-I
1
)/BUR (4)

Figure 1 depicts single build
(constant build) horizontal well profile
suggested for this field when the rate
of build is 90 deg/100ft. Table 5
presents the dimensions of this profile
(Short radius well profile). A 63.66 ft
vertical distance is required to convert
the well from vertical to horizontal.
While vertical depth of about 2934 ft is
required to start the deflection process.


Fig. 1, Horizontal Well Profile
Mohammed S.AL-Jawad, A.A.AL-Dabaj and Hassan Abdul Hadi Abdul Hussien

-Available online at: www.iasj.net IJCPE Vol.15 No.1 (March 2014) 61

5- Drillstring Loads
Drill string Loads (drag & torque)
were calculated with soft-string model

[6]. The equations of this model are:

F
N
=[(T sin
AVG
)
2
+( T + W sin

AVG
)
2
] (5)

T=W cos
AVG
F
N
(6)

M= F
N
r (7)

F
f
= F
N
(8)

Six operating parameters (pick-up
without rotation, slack-off without
rotation, sliding, pick with rotation,
slack-off with rotation, drilling with
rotation) are considered in the
computation [7]. Friction coefficients
between drillstring and wall of the hole
are derived from the type of mud

[8].Also; buckling tendencies
(sinusoidal and helical buckling) of
drillstring are calculated from the
following equations [9]:

5 . 0
sin
2 |
.
|

\
|
=
r
g A EI
F
s
cir
|
(9)

r
EIW
F 83 . 2
*
= (10)

Figure 2 shows the loads analysis of
inverted drillstring using drillpipe
type(S-135) and drillcollar without
rotation. While Figure 3 shows the
string loads for rotating case.

Fig. 2, Drillstring Loads without Rotation

Fig. 3, Drillstring Loads with Rotation

In both cases, a maximum surface
tension of the string was recorded in
pick-up condition. These values are
smaller than the tensile strength of
drillpipe (388000 lb), which provided
reasonable safety margin. Also,
maximum compressive load has been
achieved when using steerable bottom
hole assembly (sliding mode). This
mode of drilling could be used safely
since the sinusoidal critical buckling of
drillpipe (40000 lb) is larger than the
compressive load in the string. In
addition, a sufficient surface slack-off
load is noticed which provided
adequate string weight to offset the
axial friction effects while tripping in
the hole.

6- Hydrulic Requirements
A computer program was constructed
to calculate the pressure losses in the
circulation system for Bingham plastic
fluid (since the offset wells are drilled
with Bingham plastic mud). Also
nozzles size, jet velocity, hydraulic
power at the bit (BHHP), and impact
force of the bit (BIF) were calculated.
Table 6 provides the results of
calculations.

Conclusions
This paper is concerned with the
design of horizontal well aspects.
These included selection of bit and
casing size, setting depths and drilling
-150000
-100000
-50000
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Measured Depth,ft
D
r
i
l
l
s
t
r
i
n
g

T
e
n
s
i
o
n
,
l
b
Sinusoidal Buckling
Helical Bukling
Pick up W/O Rotation
Slack off W/O Rotation
Sliding
-100000
-50000
0
50000
100000
150000
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Measured Depth,ft
D
r
i
l
l
s
t
r
i
n
g

T
e
n
s
i
o
n
,
l
b
Sinusoidal Buckling
Helical Buckling
Pick up W/Rotation
Slack-off W/Rotation
Drilling W/Rotation
Design of Horizontal Well Program for Ajeel Field
62 IJCPE Vol.15 No.1 (March 2014) -Available online at: www.iasj.net

fluid densities, well profile, drillstring
loads and casing. An Iraqi oil field
which is (Ajeel field) is selected for
application this design. From the
obtained results, a vertical well could
be converted to short radius well with
64 ft vertical distance needed. Also, a
single build profile with rate of build
of about 90 deg/100ft could be
implemented without exceeding the
strength limits of the inverted
drillstring.

Nomenclature
: inclination angle at the lower end of
element, degree.
: azimuth angle at lower end of
element, degree.
: hole angle, measured from vertical,
deg
: weight per cubic inch, lb
m
.
: coefficient of friction.
T: change of axial tension over the
length of element, lb
f
.
M: change of torsion over the length
of element, ft-lb
f
.
: change of inclination angle over
the length of element, degree.
: change of azimuth angle over the
length of element, degree
A
s
: cross- sectional area of pipe,in
2

BUR:build up rate of angle ,deg/100ft
E: Young's modulus, psi
F
crit
: critical buckling force ,lbf
F
N
: the net normal force, lb
f

F
f:
sliding friction force acting on the
element, lb
f
.
F
*
: helical buckling force, lb
g: gravitational force, lb
f
.
H1: horizontal displacement of build
section, ft
I
1
, I
2
: inclination at station 1and 2,
degree
I: moment of inertia of pipe, in
4

L1: length of build section, ft
M: torsion at the lower end of element,
ft-lb
f
.
R: radius of curvature, ft
r: characteristic radius of element, ft.
T: axial tension at the lower end of the
element, lb
f
.
V1: vertical height of upper build
section, ft
W: buoyed weight of drillstring
element, lb
f
.

References
1- Economides, M.J., Watters, L.T.,
and Norman, S.D., "Petroleum Well
Construction", John Willey& Sons
Ltd, England, (1998).
2- Hassan, A., Aljawad, M., and
Aldabaj, A., "Design of Horizontal
Well Programm for an Iraqi Oil
Field"; Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Baghdad, 2010.
3- Horwell, "Horizontal Drain
Opportunities for Ajeel Field",
December, (1996).
4- Rabia, H., "Oil Well Drilling
Engineering Principles & Practice",
Graham & Trotman Limited,
London, (1985).
5- Rabia, H." Well Engineering &
Constructions", (2005).
6- Johancsik, C.A., Friesen, D.B., and
Dawson, R., "Torque and Drag in
Directional Wells-Prediction and
Measurement", JPT, (June 1984),
987-992.
7- Cobert, K.T., and Dawson, R.,
"Drillstring Design for Directional
wells", OGJ. (Apr30, 1984), 61-66.
8- Dellinger, T.B., Gravley, W., and
Tolle, S.C.," Directional
Technology Will Extended Drilling
Reach", OGJ. (Sept. 1980), 153-
169.
9- Dawson, R. and Pasaly, P.R.,
"Drillpipe Buckling in Inclined
Holes", JPT, (Oct.1984), 1734-
1738.






Mohammed S.AL-Jawad, A.A.AL-Dabaj and Hassan Abdul Hadi Abdul Hussien

-Available online at: www.iasj.net IJCPE Vol.15 No.1 (March 2014) 63

Table 1, Bit and Casing Sizes for 6 5/8 in
Production Casing
Bit Size, in Casing Size ,in
17 1/2 13 3/8
12 1/4 9 5/8
8 1/2 6 5/8
.
Table 2, Pore and Fracture Pressure Data
Depth(RTKB)
ft
Pore
pressure
psi
Fracture
pressure
psi
2261 1518 2057
2404 1572 2212
2562 1487 2383
2747 1492 2637

Table 3, Setting Depths and Drilling Mud
Densities
Setting Depth
,ft
Mud Density,
ppg
1445 8.92
2520 12.63
2975 11.77


Table 4, Casing Grads and Weights
Hole
Size
in
Casing
Size
in
Grade
Weight
Lb/ft
Length
ft
17.5 13 3/8 k-55 54.5 1445
12.25 9 5/8 K-55 36 2520
8.5 6 5/8 N-80 26 2975

Table 5, Dimensions of Horizontal Well
Profile
Radius of Curvature,
ft
63.66
Vertical Depth of
Build Section, ft
63.66
Horizontal Length of
Build Section, ft
63.66
Length of build
Section, ft
100
Kick-off
Point(KOP),ft
2934
Total Measured
depth, ft
3534

Table 6, Hydraulic Calculation of Circulation System
Dh
in
Q
gpm
Ps
psi
P
string

psi
P
annulus

psi
P
bit

psi
A
n

In
2
V
n

Ft/sec
D
n,

1/32in
BHHB
hp
BIF
Lb
f

17.5
12.25
8.5
692
510
310
50
38
22
412
403
250
42
73
94
2525
2555
2703
0.39
0.34
0.24
561
474
505
13.1
12.2
10.29
1018
758
602
1789
1577
1179