This course exposes participants to various elements of fluid and heat flows that occur in petroleum production. Using spreadsheet calculations, participants will compute pressure and temperature profiles in single- and multiple-string completions, and both conduits of gas-lift wells. These principles will be extended to tackle flow assurance and reservoir surveillance related problems. Production in offshore risers, solids deposition in the producing conduits and critical pressure buildup in annuli that threaten to raise serious issues with flow assurance will be analyzed and solutions presented. Reservoir monitoring with wellhead pressure and temperature measurements, wellhead fluid sampling, and other approaches will be discussed. Field examples, including problems encountered by the participants, will be discussed throughout this workshop.

Topics Covered

• Fluid and Heat Flow Models
• Empirical and mechanistic fluid- and heat-flow models
• Flow in complex well configurations
• Flow in offshore wells
• Reservoir Surveillance
• Designing gauge placement in deepwater wells
• Diagnosing reservoir compartmentalization
• Understanding wellhead watercut sampling in three-phase flow
• Diagnosing gas and water breakthroughs
• Flow Assurance
• Combating wellbore solids (asphaltene, wax, and hydrates)
• Estimating influence of flow rate on annulus-pressure buildup
• Understanding p/T profiles in gas-lift wells

Attendees will receive a copy of the SPE text Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Wellbores (2002) by A.R. Hasan and C.S. Kabir.

Attendees must bring a laptop to class.