Well Completion & Workover Operations: Professional 5-Day Training Course

Course Overview

This comprehensive Well Completion and Workover Operations training program delivers essential expertise for petroleum professionals across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, GCC countries (UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain), and Africa. The course covers completion design, perforating, stimulation, artificial lift, workover planning, well intervention, and production optimization essential for maximizing hydrocarbon recovery and well productivity in upstream oil & gas operations.

With the Middle East producing over 30 million barrels per day and operating 100,000+ wells, this training addresses critical competencies for professionals at Saudi Aramco, PDO, ADNOC, Kuwait Oil Company, Qatar Energy, optimizing well performance, extending well life, supporting Saudi Vision 2030 energy sector sustainability.

Target Audience

• Completion Engineers designing well completions in Saudi Arabia, Oman, GCC, Africa

• Production Engineers optimizing well performance and artificial lift

• Workover Engineers planning well intervention operations

• Operations Engineers managing producing wells

• Reservoir Engineers integrating completion with reservoir management

• Drilling Engineers transitioning to completion phases

Day 1: Well Completion Fundamentals & Design

Morning Session: Completion Types & Principles

• Completion definition: transition from drilling to production, enabling controlled hydrocarbon flow

• Objectives: maximize productivity, control sand, isolate zones, enable interventions

• Completion types: open hole (barefoot, slotted liner), cased hole (perforated)

• Open hole applications: horizontal wells in Saudi Arabia (Ghawar carbonate), Oman tight gas (Khazzan)

• Cased and cemented: most common, zonal isolation, selective perforation

• Single vs. dual completions: multiple zone production, commingled flow

• Intelligent completions: downhole monitoring, interval control valves (ICV), fiber optics

• Regional applications: Saudi Aramco intelligent fields, ADNOC smart wells

Afternoon Session: Completion Equipment

• Tubing: sizes, materials (carbon steel, CRAs), thread types (API, premium)

• Packers: permanent vs. retrievable, mechanical, hydraulic, inflatable

• Subsurface safety valves (SSSV): tubing-retrievable (TRV), wireline-retrievable (WRV)

• Gas lift mandrels: side pocket, conventional, spacing design, unloading valves

• Flow control devices: ICD, AICD, ICV for intelligent completions

• Landing nipples: profile nipples, no-go nipples, lock mandrels

• Completion fluids: density, compatibility, formation damage prevention

• Design considerations: reservoir characteristics, fluid properties, artificial lift needs

• Workshop: Designing completion string for Saudi carbonate reservoir

Day 2: Perforating & Stimulation Operations

Morning Session: Perforating Technology

• Objectives: creating flow paths, optimizing productivity

• Methods: casing gun, tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP), wireline

• Shaped charges: penetration depth, hole diameter, shot density

• Parameters: shot density (SPF), phasing (0°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 180°)

• Underbalanced vs. overbalanced: surge vs. control, damage considerations

• Extreme overbalance (EOB): high differential creating clean perforations

• Gun selection: based on casing ID, tubing size, requirements

• Safety: explosives handling, pressure control, wellbore integrity

• Regional practices: Saudi Aramco standards, PDO carbonate perforation

Afternoon Session: Well Stimulation

• Objectives: enhancing productivity, bypassing damage, creating flow paths

• Matrix acidizing: dissolving damage, improving permeability

• Sandstone acidizing: mud acid (HCl-HF), 15-20% productivity increase

• Carbonate acidizing: HCl (15-28%), wormhole formation in Saudi Arabia, UAE

• Hydraulic fracturing: high-conductivity flow paths, extending drainage

• Fluids: water-based, oil-based, foam, crosslinked gels

• Proppants: sand, ceramic, resin-coated, conductivity

• Tight gas stimulation: Oman Khazzan, Saudi Jafurah unconventional

• Post-stimulation evaluation: production increase, pressure analysis

• Workshop: Acidizing design for carbonate reservoir

Day 3: Artificial Lift Systems

Morning Session: Artificial Lift Selection & Gas Lift

• Necessity: insufficient reservoir pressure, increasing water cut

• Selection criteria: depth, rate, fluid properties, GLR, operating costs

• Gas lift fundamentals: injecting gas to reduce fluid density

• Common in Saudi Arabia (Ghawar), UAE, Oman mature fields

• Continuous vs. intermittent: steady injection vs. cyclic production

• Design: gradient curves, injection gas requirement, mandrel spacing

• Gas lift valves: IPO, PPO, orifice check valves

• Unloading: bringing well on production, sequential valve operation

• Troubleshooting: inadequate gas, valve problems, heading

Afternoon Session: ESP, PCP & Rod Pumps

• ESP (Electric Submersible Pumps): high rate (500-50,000+ BPD)

• Components: centrifugal pump, motor, seal section, cable, controller

• ESP applications: high-volume Saudi producers, offshore UAE

• Operations: monitoring amperage, vibration, temperature

• PCP (Progressive Cavity Pumps): viscous fluids, solids tolerance

• Applications: heavy oil (Saudi Arabia, Oman), high sand production

• Sucker Rod Pumps (SRP): beam pump, most common globally

• Components: pumping unit, rod string, downhole pump

• Design: displacement, stroke rate, submergence

• Troubleshooting: pump-off, gas locking, fluid pounding, rod failures

• Workshop: Artificial lift selection and sizing

Day 4: Workover Operations & Well Intervention

Morning Session: Workover Planning & Operations

• Definition: maintenance/intervention restoring well productivity

• Objectives: repair equipment, change completion, stimulate, plug back

• Types: major (pulling tubing), minor (wireline), coiled tubing

• Planning: justification, cost-benefit, risk assessment, resources

• Rig selection: conventional rig, workover rig, snubbing unit

• Well control: BOP stack, kill procedures, pressure control

• Killing well: circulating kill fluid, hydrostatic overbalance

• Common operations: tubing repair, packer replacement, zone recompletion

• Water shutoff: cement squeezes, mechanical isolation, chemical treatments

• Regional challenges: high-temperature (Saudi Arabia), H2S (Oman, Khuff)

Afternoon Session: Wireline & Coiled Tubing

• Wireline operations: conveying tools on cable, non-intrusive interventions

• Tools: gauges, perforating guns, bridge plugs, setting tools, fishing tools

• Slickline vs. E-line: mechanical vs. electrical/hydraulic operations

• Common jobs: setting/pulling plugs, perforating, gauge runs

• Coiled tubing (CT): continuous pipe, live well interventions

• Advantages: no connections, rapid deployment, work under pressure

• Operations: cleanout (sand, scale), nitrogen lift, acid stimulation

• Equipment: reel, injector head, BOP, pumping equipment

• Through-tubing operations: fishing, perforating, profile milling

• Sand cleanout: jetting, bailing, vacuum operations

• Workshop: Planning workover for water cut increase

Day 5: Production Optimization & Advanced Technologies

Morning Session: Production Monitoring & Optimization

• Well performance: IPR (inflow performance), VLP (vertical lift), nodal analysis

• IPR curves: Vogel, Fetkovich methods for different reservoir conditions

• System optimization: tubing size, choke setting, artificial lift parameters

• Production logging: spinner surveys, flow profiling, water cut identification

• Well testing: buildup, drawdown, determining reservoir properties, skin factor

• Surveillance: monitoring rates, pressures, temperatures

• Decline curve analysis: forecasting production, reserves estimation

• Water/gas management: controlling coning, selective completion

• Sand control: gravel packs, screens, frac-pack completions

• Integrity management: corrosion monitoring, tubing inspections

• Regional: Saudi Aramco integrated systems, ADNOC digital oilfield

Afternoon Session: Advanced Completions & Future Technologies

• Expandable tubulars: casing, liners, monodiameter wells

• Sand control technologies: frac-pack, expandable screens, chemical consolidation

• Maximum reservoir contact (MRC): multilateral, extended reach, fishbone

• Multilateral completions: multiple laterals, TAML levels, junction systems

• Intelligent wells: downhole sensors, real-time data, interval control

• Fiber optic sensing: distributed temperature (DTS), acoustic (DAS)

• Autonomous completions: self-adjusting ICDs/AICDs, delaying breakthrough

• Digital oilfield: data aggregation, visualization, optimization algorithms

• Subsea processing: separation, boosting, flow assurance

• Carbon capture wells: CO2 injection completions, monitoring

• Future challenges: mature field management, energy transition

• Final workshop: Integrated completion design project

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• Design well completions selecting appropriate equipment for reservoir conditions

• Execute perforating operations optimizing shot density and phasing

• Plan stimulation treatments including acidizing and hydraulic fracturing

• Select artificial lift systems maximizing production economically

• Plan workover operations safely and efficiently

• Conduct well interventions using wireline and coiled tubing

• Optimize production systems through nodal analysis and surveillance

• Evaluate advanced technologies for intelligent completions

Course Delivery & Certification

• Format: Technical lectures, design workshops, case studies, calculation exercises

• Software: Introduction to nodal analysis tools (PROSPER/PIPESIM concepts)

• Materials: Manual, design charts, equipment catalogs, calculation templates

• Certification: Professional certificate recognized across KSA, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Africa

• Language: English (Arabic support available)

• CPD Credits: Continuing professional development for petroleum engineers

• Locations: Riyadh, Dhahran, Khobar (KSA), Muscat (Oman), Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Lagos, Cairo

Why This Course is Essential

Well completion quality determines 30-70% of ultimate recovery. Saudi Arabia’s 100,000+ wells require continuous optimization. Workovers extend field life 10-30 years economically. Artificial lift enables production from 60-80% of global wells. Poor completion design costs millions in lost production. Leading operators (Saudi Aramco, Shell, ExxonMobil) achieve 5-15% production increases through advanced completion technology and optimization.

This training delivers practical expertise incorporating API standards, Saudi Aramco completion practices, addressing regional challenges: carbonate reservoirs, high-temperature wells, H2S environments, horizontal/multilateral wells, supporting production optimization and Saudi Vision 2030 upstream efficiency goals.

Complete effectively. Produce optimally. Maximize recovery.