You are on page 1of 29

Universidad Nacional de Medelln

October 24-25, 2002

Formation Damage
Types, Mechanisms & Prevention

OUTLINE

Definition of Formation Damage


Types
Classification
Influence of Geology-Rock Properties
Operation Related Damages
Drilling
Completion
Stimulation
Production
Workovers
Summary

FORMATION DAMAGE
a reduction of permeability around a
wellbore, which is the consequence of
drilling, completion, injection, stimulation,
or production of that well*

BP Well Productivity Awareness

Productivity Potential. Skin Factor

Skin Damage Factor


It is identified at the beginning of well testing
It is identified when pressure drops are recorded
in addition to those corresponding to idea radial
flow
Positive skin means high pressure drops near
wellbore, then productivity will be less in
comparison to another well with skin=0
Negative skin means productivity is higher in
comparison with another well with skin =0

Skin Damage Factor

Flow Efficiency
Skin is an useful mathematical concept, but it does not
provide a correct idea of damage effect on production
rate
Fluid Efficiency is amore useful concept:
FE= Actual Production Rate( with skin) qr

IdeaI Production Rate ( without skin ) qi


FE

ln ( re/rw )
ln ( re/rw) + s

7
7+s

Both production rates ( current skin and skin cero ) require


to be
measured under identical pressure drop conditions.

Skin Damage Factor


Damaged Well
? Ps>0, S>0, FE<1
Ideal Well
? Ps=0, S=0, FE=1
Stimulated Well
? Ps<0, S<0, FE>1

Productivity Index
Measurement of production rate per each psi of
pressure drop.

TYPES OF FORMATION
DAMAGE

Physical Reduction in Pore / Pore Throat


Size
Relative Permeability Reduction to
Hydrocarbons

PHYSICAL REDUCTION IN PORE


SPACE
Drilling Mud Solids and Filtrate Invasion
Cement Filtrate Invasion
Completion/Workover Solids and Fluids
Invasion
Perforation Damage Zone
Plugging of Formation with Native Solids
Asphaltene or Paraffin Precipitation
Scale Precipitation in the
Formation/Perforations
Formation of Emulsion in the Formation
Growth or Injection of Bacteria
Compaction of Reservoir with Production

RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
REDUCTION
Water Coning
Condensate Banking
Fluid Saturation Change and Fluid
Blocking
Wettability Change
Emulsion Formation
Relative Permeability Change

FORMATION DAMAGE CLASSIFICATION


BY PROCESS
Pro ce s s
Ty p e

Ph y s i cal Po re S i z e
Re d u cti o n

Re l ati v e
Pe rm e ab i li ty
Re d u cti o n

Fl ui d - R o ck
Int era ct i o n

W e ttab ility ch an g e d u e
to ad s o rp tio n o f s u rf ace
activ e co m p o u n d o r
re m o v al o f n ativ e
co m p o u n d s

Fl ui d - Fl ui d
Int era ct i o n

Fin e s m ig rati o n
Clay s w e llin g
S o lid s in v as io n
A d s o rp tio n .p re cip itatio n
larg e m o le cu le s
(p o ly m e ric)
Fo rm atio n s o f s cale s ,
Em u ls io n an d s lu d g e s

P res s ure/Tem p
C ha nge

S cale f o rm ati o n
W ax/A s p h alte n e Fo rm atio n

M echa ni ca l
P ro ces s es

S tre s s in d u ce d p e rm
ch an g e
Pe rf o ratio n p lu g g in g

Flu id s atu ratio n ch an g e


an d f lu id b lo ck in g
G as b re ak o u t
Co n d e n s ate b an k in g
W ate r co n in g

INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY-ROCK
TYPE
Porosity, Permeability and Pore Structure
Rock Type
Sandstone
Carbonate
Cementation, Cleanliness, Heterogeneity
Clay Content
Kaolinite (plate booklets prone to migrate)
Illite (fibers prone to catch moving fines)
Chloride (random platelets, often Fe rich)
Smectite (prone to swell & block pore throats)

CHARACTERIZATION OF
ROCK
CT Scanning/Core Photo
Geological Description
Thin Section, SEM Description, XRD
Vs. K, Other Data From Conventional Core
Analysis
Pore (Hg Injection) and/or Particle Size
Distribution
Capillary Pressure
Relative Permeability

Pore Level Characterization

FORMATION DAMAGE
DURING DRILLING
Solids Usually Invades More Permeable Sections of
Reservoir , Can Reduce Permeability Dramatically.
Mud Filtrate Invasion Can Cause Damage by
Swelling and dispersion of clays
Scale precipitation
Fluid saturation changes/blocking
Chemical adsorption/retention and emulsion
Natural Fractures Increase Well Productivity as long
as they are not Blocked by Mud Invasion.
Laboratory Tests Can be Utilized to Minimize
Formation Damage During Drilling

COMPLETIONS
Completion Types
Well design (vertical, high-angle or horizontal)
Completion design (Barefoot, uncemented
liner, cased & perforated)
Casing and Cement
Completion Fluids
Types
Cleanliness, compatibility
Displacement
Perforating (tunnel length, clean-up)
Sand Control (Gravel packs, Frac-Pack,
chemicals)

STIMULATIONS
Reasons for Stimulation
Very low native permeability
To by-pass Near-wellbore damage
Acidization
Hydraulic Fracturing
Formation Damage During Acidization
Corrosion and Iron Reprecipitation
Fluid incompatibilities
Fines mobilization
Liquid Blocking
Cement Bond Destruction

STIMULATIONS (cont.)
Prevention of Damage During Acidization
Perform acid compatibility tests with all fluids
to be used to eliminate potential problems
Carry out core tests at the reservoir conditions
with actual rock and fluids to assess benefit
On-site quality control on chemicals supplied
Clean all pipework to be used
Control wellhead pressure to prevent fractures
Throughout acid job, monitor and record all
parameters carefully to compare with the
expectations

STIMULATIONS (cont.)
Prevention of Damage During Fracturing
Perform compatibility tests with all fluids to be
used to eliminate potential problems
Carry out realistic tests with treating fluids to
determine breaking of crosslinked fluid
On-site quality control on proppant and
chemicals supplied and take frequent samples
Clean all pipework to be used
Throughout acid job, monitor and record all
parameters carefully to compare with the
expectations

PRODUCTION RELATED
DAMAGE
Precipitation
Scale Precipitation (carbonate and sulfates)
Asphaltenes
Waxes-very limited
Fines Migration
Phase Related Perm Reduction
Condensate banking
Water coning
Gas breakout
Stress Induced Perm Changes
Injection Well damage

FORMATION EVALUATION
BASED ON FORMATION DAMAGE
IDENTIFICATION

FLUIDS

ROCK
X-Ray Diffraction
Mineralogical
Information
(Drilling Cuttings)

SEM
Petrographic Analysis
Youngs Modulus
Poissons Ratio

Formation Fluids
Characterization
( fluid samples)

Oil
Bo
API

Rock Properties
( core samples)

RESERVOIR

Water
Physical &
Chemical
Analysis

Permeability
Porosity

Paraffins,
Asphaltens

Electrical Logs

K.h

Resistivity

Drainage
Radius
S

P*

Sonic Logs
Viscosity

PBU / DST

Resistivity

Sonic
min
Density
Lithology
min
CBL,
CAST-V
MRIL

WORKOVERS
An Operation Upon an Existing Well
Types
Scale treatment
Wax and asphaltene cleanout
Recompletions (repair of existing design,
sidetracking, reperforation, etc),
Stimulations (acid and fracturing).
Water shut-off
A combination of the above
Follow Best Practices, Especially the ones
Worked Before

Skin Damage Factor

SUMMARY
Know your Reservoir
Be Aware of the Problems
Apply/Develop Solutions to Prevent Damage
Think in Terms of the Life of the Well, Not Very
Immediate Future
Communicate/Work with Others-Teamwork
Employ Best Practices

Data Adquisition

TREATMENT SELECTION

K= Logs, Well testing, Laboratory


= Logs. Laboratory
max, min = Logs, SRT, Minifrac
Sw, So, Sw
Mineralogy
Litology = Logs , Drilling cuts, cores
Reservoir Geology
Formation Fluids

Reservoir pressure
Flowing Pressure
Skin

NO

Productivity
S>0 (+)

YES
YES

Damage identification

Depth Damage
Frac

NO

Low K
NO

Fines, Clay and


Carbonate content
Acidizing

YES

You might also like