Well-Head Selection

Well-head Selection
Types & Considerations

Definition of a wellhead
• A wellhead is the crossover between a BOP or
Christmas tree and the various casings of the
well. For design purposes the wellhead, tree
and casings should be considered as pressure
vessels, which have to be hydrocarbon tight.
This is complicated by the many penetrations,
outlets, inspection ports and large through
bore connections.
Types of wells
 There are several variations of the compact type of
wellhead and the final choice will depend on the
category of well and its unique characteristics such as
pressure, flow, etc. Also if it is an onshore or offshore
well.
 Wells can be divided into the following six categories:
• Oil Producers
• Gas Producers
• Gas Injectors
• Water Injectors
• Water Producers
• Gas Lifted Wells
Types of wells
The following types of well are defined as
"specialist":
• Steam Injection
• Beam Pumped
• ESP Lifted
• Plunger Lifted
• Jet Pump Lifted
• Sub-sea
Types of wellhead
 Conventional Wellhead
 Compact Wellhead
Wellhead Selection
 Prior to selection the following aspects should
be considered:
• It is possible that weakness of the wellhead
systems can be concealed. This situation can
occur when the formation evaluation is carried
out using Drill Stem Tests which bypass the casing
and head. This practice is unlikely to reveal any
weaknesses as most exploration wells do not
become 'production' wells.
• The casing scheme finally selected will impose a
number of restrictions on the wellhead design,
such as pressure rating, tie-in points, etc.
Wellhead Selection
 Prior to selection the following aspects
should be considered:
• The selected BOP system will have an impact
on the upper connection style.
• It is important that both drilling and
production requirements are reconciled in the
design phase to maximize operating
performance.
Wellhead Selection
Selection of wellhead equipment usually involves
the following departments/personnel:
• Exploration and Production who provide data for the
objectives.
• Production department (Technology and Well Services)
who define the production, testing, and completion
requirements.
• Drilling or Production Engineer who finally selects the
wellhead.
Normally the wellhead is selected by Drilling
Personnel, based on the interpretation of the forecast
by the Exploration team.
Exploration and Production Wellhead
• In the past the standard practice was to develop a field
with the back-up exploration wellhead. This practice was
based upon the availability of equipment and a
propensity/tendency towards standardization.
• The completion, normally designed by a Production
Technologist, was then added to the Exploration
Wellhead. Unfortunately the exploration wellhead was
selected on the basis of information yet to be validated,
and, very often, with short term seal design. As a result
the exploration wellhead was only guaranteed
hydrocarbon tight for a short period of time and
therefore became the weakest part of the construction.
The tubing, tubing hanger and Christmas tree were then
relied upon for the integrity of hydrocarbon containment.
Exploration and Production Wellhead
• It is recommended to select the production casing of a
well on the same engineering criteria as the
testing/production tubing and in accordance with casing
design standards. The completed well is then subjected
to either a Production Test or a Drill Stem Test.
• The same practice that has been adopted for
testing/production tubing has been applied to the design
of wellheads. The benefits of this practice are that in the
event of a discovery the wellhead used for exploration is
also suitable for permanent completion with less
functional limitations and reduced chances of future
interventions.
Design Standards
The design should be in accordance with
the following standards:
• BOP: API specification 16A
• Wellhead: API specification 6A
• Casing: API specification 5CT
Wellhead Selection criteria
The selection of a wellhead depends on the objectives of
the well and its completion requirements, such as pressure
rating, tie-in points, wellhead bore, etc.
 The selection criteria must include the following:
• Technical specifications; Reliability and Completability.
• Maintenance requirements; Repeatability, Retrievability,
Side-track ability, and Tie-back ability.
• Rig time saving.
• Low profile.
• Weight reduction.
• Purchasing cost.
• Delivery.
Wellhead Selection criteria
• Ranking of the different available alternatives in order of
priority varies with each application. Standardization is
further hampered by the different casing schemes, bore
size and pressure rating as well as modern tighter casing
schemes and slim hole drilling.
• In the past the importance of completability and
maintainability have often been overlooked by designers.
It is therefore recommended to adopt a standardized
approach to design. This does not mean all future
wellheads should be identical. It does mean that such an
approach to design will determine the objectives and
allow the incorporation of any new engineering
developments that will achieve those objectives by the
most cost effective methods.

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Well-head Selection

Types & Considerations

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