Well Design AND

Planning

Well Planning
Well Design
Casing and Cement Design
Drilling fluid design
Drill bit selection
Well control equipment
Safety equipment

Objective of Well
planning
Objective of well planning is to
formulate a drilling program for many
variables for drilling a well.
(1) Safety
(2) Minimum cost
(3) Usable Hole

Cost vs. Well planning

Effort
C
o
s
t

Well Planning Effort

ACTIVITIES BEFORE START OF DRILLING

OPERATION
(1) Release of location.
(2) Survey of surface/subsea location. cost
can be reduced by a small change in surface
location.
(3) Civil works and foundation for onshore
drillsite and soil coring/sea bed survey in case
of offshore well.
(4) Preparation of Geo- Technical Order.

(5) Preparation of complete well

plan/program.
(6) Preparation of bill of material and
initiation of purchase procedure, if
required.
(7) Procedures from obtaining sanction
for purchase to receipt of material.
(8)Rig allocation and its shifting to new
location.

INPUT DATA FOR WELL

PLANNING
Information required for planning of a
well:
(1) Objective of the well.
(2) Well data package consisting of
seismic data, location map, structural
map, expected pore pressures, offset
and correlation logs and information
on formation type, top and thickness.

(3)Offset and correlated drilled wells data

consisting of bit record, mud reports,
mudlogging data, drilling reports, well
completion reports, complication reports
and production/injection histories.
(4)Proposed logging, testing and coring.
programs.
(5) Government regulations and
Company's policy.

GEO- TECHNICAL ORDER

Various input data are thoroughly analysed
and Geo- Technical Order
(GTO) is prepared which provides broad
guidelines for drilling of the well.
G.T.O. gives following details:
General data like :Well name and number
Area
Location

Water depth
Elevation,
Well type
Category
Objectives of the well etc.

GEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
TYPE OF ROCK (Sand, shale, silt etc.)
ROCK CONSISTENCY (Broken,homogeneous etc.)
ROCK DUCTILITY (Brittle, plastic etc.)
ROCK HARDNESS (Requires heavy or light
weight to penetrate)

GEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
HYDRATABILITY (Swelling, balling, heaving
etc.)
ROCK STRENGTH (Compressive and shear)
STATE OF STRESS LEVEL (Overburden
stress, tectonic stress)
FORMATION PRESSURE (Normal,
abnormal, subnormal etc.)
FRACTURE STRENGTH (Specially that at
casing shoe)

APPLICATION OF GEO.
CONCEPTS
GEO-STRUCTURES (Faults, folds
etc.)
POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY
DIP AND STRIKE(Hole stability)
ROCK ABRASIVENESS
(Mechanical wear characteristic)

GEO- TECHNICAL ORDER

Geological data consists of
following details:
1 ) Depth
2) Age
3) Formation
4) Lithology
5) Interval of coring
6) Electro logging

7) Collection of cuttings
8) Angle of Dip
9) Oil/gas shows
10) Formation pressure
11) Formation temperature
12) Mud loss/caving

GEO- TECHNICAL ORDER

Mud parameters consist of
1)Type of mud
2)Specific gravity
3) Viscosity
4) pH
5) Percentage of sand
6) Filtration loss

GEO- TECHNICAL ORDER

Drilling data includes 1) Casing policy and rise of cement
2) Type of drilling
3) Type and size of bit
4) Number of bits expected
5) Meterage per bit
6) Weight on bit

7) RPM of rotary
8) Stand-pipe pressure
9) Pump discharge
10) Bit nozzle details
11) Drilling time

DRILLING PROGRAMME
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Well details
Well objectives
Casing policy
Wellhead selection
BOP requirements
Cementing programme

7) Deviation programme
8) Survey requirements
9) Mud programme
10) Bit and Hydraulics programme
11) Estimation of well cost

WELL OBJECTIVES
Well objectives are defined in the well release
order issued by the exploration department. A
typical format for setting out the objectives is
"To test hydrocarbon prospects of fore
reef facies
in Oligocene, Miocene and carbonate in
Eocene
section of XYZ feature".

CASING POLICY
FUNCTIONS OF CASING
Casing pipes are put into a well bore for:
(1)Isolate troublesome or unstable formations
which may include heaving shales, lost circulation
zones and flowing halites
(2)Isolate different pressure or fluid regimes:
(a)Protect fresh water horizons especially domestic
water bearing sandstones in case of land wells.
(b)Protect producing formations from mud and
mud filtrate contamination.

(c)Protect weaker zones from breakdown caused

by heavy muds whose hydrostatic head is required
for pressure control purposes in lower sections
(3)Control well pressure by containment of down
hole pressures.
(4)Provide a stable seat for packers, liner hangers
etc.
(5)Support the wellhead and BOP stack.
(6)Confine produced fluid to the wellbore and
provide a flow path for it.

ESTIMATION OF PORE
PRESSURE
Most of the decisions pertaining to casing policy
are based on formation pore pressure. So pore
pressures should be known or estimated as
accurately as possible.
Two sources of well pressure data for well
planning are geological data and offset well
data. Offset wells provide more accurate data,
but in exploratory wildcat wells in new area,
there is no offset well data available. So pore
pressure prediction has to be done by analyzing
seismic data.

Seismic data is used in the

exploration phase to locate potential
reservoir traps and to estimate
formation tops in the lithological
column. It can be used to give a
qualitative estimate of the formation
pressure and hence an indication of
any pore pressure abnormalities

CASING DESIGN:
Burst pressure
Collapse pressure
Tension

ESTIMATION OF FRACTURE PRESSURE

Formation fracture pressure prediction can be
based on anticipated geology and offset well
records. Most rocks of a certain type will exhibit
typical characteristics. This can be used to assist in
fracture gradient estimation. It is vital to have an
accurate assessment of this so that the casing seat
can be selected in an effective manner. Once a
leak-off test has been carried out in the well,
equations such as 'Daines' are used by employing
values of Poisson's Ratio for given formations to
estimate probable fracture gradients at other
depths in the well.

In case of continuous depositional basins,

Eaton's equation with suitable modification
can be used for the estimation of fracture
pressure gradient.
A Leak off test is conducted to determine the
pressure at which formation begins to leak. It
gives the formation fracture pressure.
It also establishes the integrity of cement at
the casing shoe.
Performed after casing is set and cemented .

WHY LEAK OFF TEST ?

To confirm the strength of cement bond
around casing shoe.
To determine the capacity of exposed
formation to withstand the pressure in excess
of mud hydrostatic. This helps in assessing
the severity of kick that can be safely
controlled without fracturing the formation.
To determine the max. allowable surface
pressure (MASP) for controlling a kick without
fracturing the formation at shoe.

LEAK OFF TEST

(FUNDAMENTALS)

During a leak off test, pressure is applied at

constant low pump rate to the formation
until small fractures are created. When this
occurs, whole mud enters the formation via
the fractures and the rate of pressure
increase at surface decreases. The pressure
at which fracture initiation occurs is the
Leak off pressure.
When pressure is released, the fractures will
close.

REQUIREMENTS FOR LOT

A low volume, high pressure pump.
An accurate calibrated pressure gauge.
Accurate volume measurement.
Clean & uniform mud is required.
All surface equipment, pressure tested
to ensure leak free operation.
A LOT chart, designed to allow data
recording & interpretation.

LEAK OFF TEST

PROCEDURE
Drill out cement, shoe and 10-15 feet
of new hole.
Circulate out cement and cuttings. Line
up cementing unit.
Pull the bit in the casing shoe & close
annular BOP or pipe rams.
Open annulus between casing strings.

LEAK OFF TEST PROCEDURE

Pump into the well with cementing unit in
increments of to barrel. Wait each time
for pressure to stabilize.
Simultaneously plot pressure v/s total vol.
pumped for each increment.
Continue pumping until the plotted curve
begins to flatten.
Once leak off indications are noticed,
continue to pump at constant rate to
confirm.

POINTS TO REMEMBER
Do not keep the pressure and volume data for plotting
later on. This may lead to over pumping and formation
breakdown.
Surface pressure not to exceed 80% of burst pressure of
casing.
Stop pumping immediately, when flatten curve shows
decline or a sudden pressure drop occurs.
Release pressure & measure the volume of fluid lost to the
well, so as to ensure whether leak-off has occurred or not.
Volume of return mud should be almost equal to the
volume of mud pumped.
Pressure so recorded plus the hydrostatic pressure at
casing shoe TVD is the sub surface leak off pr.

CASING DESIGN
The following are the criteria which must
be
considered when carrying out casing
design:
(1) Burst
(2) Collapse
(3) Tension
(4) Other loadings

WELLHEAD SELECTION
After completed the casing design, all the
information required to allows the engineer to
select a wellhead. Wellhead must be of the
correct pressure rating, designed for the desired
service like (H2S) and be capable of
accommodating all designed and contingent
casing strings. After selecting a wellhead, its
specification should be included in the Drilling
Program along with a sectional view of its
component stack up.

BOP REQUIREMENT
BOP requirement for a given well will depend on company
policy and anticipated bottom hole pressures. Surface holes
have either no BOP requirement, or use a diverter.
CEMENTING PROGRAMME
Cement is used for zonal isolation in the well. Effectiveness of
this zonal isolation depends on three main factors and these
must be considered at the planning stage.
(1) Slurry design-yield, density, thickening time, amount of
water mix, compressive strength, fluid loss, flow
characteristics
(2) Casing accessories selection
(3) Displacement methods

DEVIATION PROGRAMME
Directional drilling has become an
essential element in oilfield
development, both onshore and offshore.
Application of directional drilling can be
grouped into the following categories:(a) Side tracking
(b) Drilling to avoid geological problems

(c) Controlling vertical holes

(d) Drilling beneath inaccessible
locations
(e) Offshore development drilling ~,
(f) Horizontal drilling
(g) Relief well drilling.

Assuming that a target rig site has been

selected, for directional planning considerations,
the values that must be identified are as follows;
Lateral or horizontal displacement from the
target to a vertical line from the rig site.
Kick off point (KOP)
Desired build angle rate
Final drift angle
Plan type: Straight kick Vs Curve
Desired drop angle rate in case of 'S' curve

MUD PROGRAMME
Mud programming can be broken down as:
(1) Determination of mud weight
requirement to maintain primary well
control.
(2) Determination of suitable 'trip margin'
which is added to the primary well control
mud weight to give a programmed mud
weight.

(3) Confirmation that this mud weight does not exceed

formation fracture strengths when considered in a dynamic
mode.
(4) Analysis of formations to be drilled and the likely
reaction of these to the available drilling fluid alternatives.
Using this information. select a basic mud type such as:
Water-based:
freshwater mud
seawater mud
calcium mud
lignosulphonate mud
polymer mud

Oil-based
(5) Determination of fluid loss requirements
(6) Determination of pH requirements
(7) Determination of viscosity requirements
(8) Determination of temperature stability
requirements
(9) Analysis of rig mud treatment
equipment to meet hole requirements with
selected mud types

After deciding mud system required for

a well, mud treatment equipment
available on the rig should conform to
check compatibility with selected
system. Treatment equipment falls into
four main groups:

BIT AND HYDRAULICS PROGRAMME

Bit selection: To select a bit the
following factors
are considered:
formation drillability and characteristics
mud system in use
directional implications
availability

Hydraulics program:
Once the mud has been selected, hydraulics
implications of using this mud should be
considered, means looking at the mud
dynamically rather than statically.
Annular Velocity (A V):
A certain minimum annular velocity is required for
a given mud type to prevent cuttings slippage
through the mud and to effectively lift the
cuttings out of the hole to the mud treatment
equipment.

Bit and hole cleaning: Drilling fluids flow in either a

laminar or turbulent manner (or in a combination of these).
Laminar flow will cause less hole erosion, however, turbulent
flow is likely to clean the hole better. In practice, both
laminar flow and turbulent flow are acceptable in the
annulus depending upon the bore hole condition. There are
two main theories concerning how much hydraulic
horsepower should be expended at the bit to gain maximum
cleaning efficiency. The first theory is the maximum
hydraulic horsepower theory, which in practice means
expending 2/3rd of the available HHP at the bit. The
alternative theory is the maximum jet impact theory which in
practice means expending around 50 % of the available HHP
at the bit.

WELL COST ESTIMATION

Preparing cost estimates for well is the final step in
well planning. A properly prepared well cost may
require as much engineering work as the actual well
design. After the technical aspects are established,
the expected time required to drill the well must be
determined. The actual well cost is obtained by
integrating expected drilling and completion times
with the well design.

Elements of well cost:(A typical example)

Cost of well is based on 8 main elements :
(1) Preparatory: This includes the cost of land,
approach road, rig foundation and all other civil works.
(2) Manpower: This is the cost incurred on the
drilling crew in form of salaries, allowances and
other payments.
3) Services: This includes the cost on services namely
geology, geophysics, cementing, transport, workshop,
production testing, catering, sea bed surveys etc.

( 4) Materials: Covers cost on casing pipes, bits,

wellhead, cement, mud chemicals, POL and
other consumable materials.
(5) Project overheads: The project overheads
include all the other costs on drilling at the
project level which are incurred towards drilling
except the cost of depreciation.
(6) Regional and Headquarter overheads:
Includes cost incurred at Regional and
Headquarter level towards drilling activity as
apportioned for a given well.

(7) Depreciation of rig equipment: Depreciation is

worked out on straight line method and the cost is
assigned to well in proportion to the rig days taken.
(8) Depreciation of drillpipes: This element of well
cost is based on per meter depreciation which is
worked out centrally for different regions depth wise,
based on the replacement cost of the pipes during
the preceding year.
In above elements some of the costs are determined
in terms of the rig days(cycle days) spent on the
well, while others can be determined separately for
the well itself .

STEPS INVOLVED IN
DRILLING OF A WELL
Selection of drilling location based on
geological/ seismic survey data
Preparation of drill-site for moving
rig/Sea bed survey
Rig building/Rig Move
Spudding
Drilling of well till hermetical testing of
production casing.

YPICAL GTO