Well Engineering For Non-Well Engineers Training

The course will shortly (0.5 days) outline the mechanics of drilling, so that participants gain a general knowledge on drilling rigs, on how a well is drilled and the main challenges of drilling a well.

The participants will then be introduced (0.5 days) to the process of designing a well, with a good overview of all those design items that are defined based on the outputs of the subsurface team’s work (such as directional path, directional tools, drilling fluid selection and characteristics, completion requirements, casing setting points, casing characteristics).

In the following two days of the course, the participants will “become” well engineers and will be taken through the most important design steps of a well with power point presentations, class worked examples and individual/group exercises; the intent is to show them how the subsurface data are used to design a well.

Standard well engineering software will be used to familiarize the delegates with its outputs, and to help visualizing how the well design needs to change when inputs are varied.

During the second day of the course, the subjects will be targets definition and directional well planning (0.5 days); and drilling fluid specification (0.5 days).  At the end of the day, one hour will be spent reading drilling reports and deducting technical well engineering information from them.

During the third day of the course, the subjects will be kick tolerance with casing shoe setting depths (0.5 days) and casing characteristics (0.5 days).  At the end of the day, one hour will be spent reading drilling reports and deducting technical well engineering information from them.

Day 1

Part 1: The mechanics of well drilling

• Overview of well types and objectives
• Drilling rigs (land, jack ups, semi-subs and others)
• Drilling rig components (power, hoisting, circulating, rotating systems)
• Overview of the well building process (drilling, setting casing, cementing)
• Drilling fluid, properties and drilling hydraulics
• Drill string, BHAs (Bottom Hole Assemblies) and drilling bits
• Directional drilling and downhole measurement tools
• BOPs (Blow Out Preventers) and monitoring system, Wellheads and Christmas Trees
• Well completions
• Drilling problems (stuck pipe, losses, gains, LIH (lost in hole) components, fishing)

Part 2: Overview of the well design process

• Overview of the well design process, milestones and traps, with inter-relations between data
• Building the design map (which will be used as guidance for the rest of the course)
• Directional Drilling Principles; needed input data, design strategies and constraints
• Pore pressure and fracture strength; needed input data, design strategies and constraints
• Designing the casing setting depths; needed input data, design strategies and constraints
• Overview of the casing/liner selection process and characteristics; needed input data, design strategies and constraints
• Well control: kick definition and resolution, planning for well control, well control methods
• Designing a well against possible drilling issues: playing with well parameters and back up scenarios

Day 2

Part 1: A day as well engineer: make a directional plan for two wells

• Targets and anti-targets definition: key factors and reasoning behind them
• Trajectory constraints and trajectory design
• Trajectory types: vertical, J-type wells, S-type wells, horizontal wells
• Some basics on directional engineering (measured and true vertical depth, inclination, azimuth, magnetic/true/grid north, convergence and declination)
• Directional tools and cost-benefit analysis in designing a trajectory
• EXERCISE: Computation of required inclination and of true vertical depth, tangent section angle, End of Build
• Visualization of offset wells on the 2D and 3D maps
• Driller’s target and ellipses of uncertainty
• Blow out contours and relief well trajectories requirements
• EXERCISE: Design a trajectory for a J-type well, given a number of requirements and constraints
• EXERCISE: Design a trajectory for a S-type well, given a number of requirements and constraints

Part 2: A day as well engineer: design the drilling fluid for two wells

• The impact of drilling fluid to well design
• Key data to design the correct drilling fluid: introduction to pore pressure and fracture strength as seen from well engineering
• P10, P50, P90 pore pressure and fracture strength values, and their impact on well design
• Analyzing offset wells data: what to look for and how to organize your findings to facilitate drilling fluid selection
• Type of drilling fluid: water based mud and oil based mud
• Drilling fluid additives
• Rheology models and pressure losses: the ECD (Equivalent circulation density) in the design process
• Latest technology advances in drilling fluid formulation and their impact onto well design
• The cost-benefit analysis in the drilling fluid selection
• Casing setting points as a consequence of correct drilling fluid design
• EXERCISE: design the drilling fluid for a well, based on given data and constraints
• EXERCISE: determine the boundary casing setting depths, based on drilling fluid selection
• Drilling reports reading

Day 3

Part 1: A day as well engineer: kick tolerance design and its impact on shoe setting depths

• What is kick tolerance
• How kick tolerance affects well design
• Kick detection methods and API standards
• The calculations behind kick tolerance
• Maximum kick volume and minimum shoe setting depth
• EXERCISE: Calculate the Stand Pipe and Annular pressures at different stages during a well kill
• EXERCISE: Calculate the maximum kick tolerance
• EXERCISE: Calculate the minimum shoe setting depth

Part 2: A day as well engineer: casing design

• Introduction to the casing and its importance for well integrity
• Casing characteristics and selection criteria
• Burst loads and calculations
• Collapse loads and calculations
• The subsurface data leading to burst and collapse casing design
• Design factors and safety factors
• Wear, collapse loads and tortuosity
• Critical points for load cases investigation
• EXERCISE: Gather data and calculate the burst loads for a casing
• EXERCISE: Gather data and calculate the collapse loads for a casing
• EXERCISE: Design the casing for a well
• Drilling reports reading