A 5-Minute Overview of Ball-Activated Completion Systems

[@yazhindi]

Great video thank you so much. I am new to completion and this made it so easy to understand.

[@abdulmalikmuzahmi2795]

great video! can you explain more about the open hole packer ? it isolates the wellbore fluids from coming into the well right or there more to it ?

[@AaronBurton]

Thank you, Abdulmalik! The openhole packers isolate the annulus between the drilled hole and the casing installed. For each stage, there will be an OH packer above and below the frac sleeve, which forces the fluid to remain in that stage and not go to the toe or heel of the well through the annulus.

[@dmitriimedvedev6350]

thank you, Aaron! very clear explanation of the multi-stage system

[@AaronBurton]

Thank you, Dmitrii! I'm glad you found the video useful!

[@chuanyaozhong1158]

Pretty clear, thanks a lot!

[@AaronBurton]

No problem!

[@drewmcculley540]

I have a question. I’ve seen the frac guys drop a ball before but only at the beginning of the frac. So I guess my question is if they use the frac sleeve and ball system like in the video, do they still have to plug and perforate ?

[@AaronBurton]

Hi Drew. Just to clarify, are you saying they are dropping the ball at the beginning of every stage? If so, they do not have to plug-and-perf. With this type of system, the ball and ball seat would have the same function of providing wellbore isolation as the frac plugs, and the openings that are exposed on the frac sleeves have the same function of accessing the formation as the perforations. If they are only dropping a single ball at the beginning of the frac, but not every stage, then they are using the ball to activate some tool at the toe of the well. That could be a variety of tools, but I can't think of anything commonly used in unconventional applications.

[@drewmcculley540]

@@AaronBurton I’ve only seen them drop one ball at the very beginning before I stab the lubricator for the very first time. They plug and perf after that. Thanks for responding and answering my question. I’m a crane operator and I’m always on zipper fracs. This helps understand what’s going on

[@AaronBurton]

@@drewmcculley540 Absolutely! I'm glad it was useful! That sounds like an interesting application you're referring to. My best guess is that it is one of these types of sleeves installed at the toe of the well in a wet shoe (unset cement at the toe of the well) application. If they opened one of these sleeves, that should give them a higher pump rate to be able to pump down guns easier for the first stage. I've heard of this option discussed before, but don't know of anyone actively doing it. I'll have to keep a lookout for what this might be and please let me know if you find out any more details.

[@drewmcculley540]

@@AaronBurton I’m definitely going to ask the wireline guys more about this on my next job. I have a different question 🙋‍♂️. I used to set tubing heads and master valves for Conoco in the Permian. After I’d set them they’d hook up a pump truck to the well to “open the shoes” and if they couldn’t, then they’d have coil come in and open the shoes. Is there some sort of tool with a build in check valve that they’d put down there ?

[@drewmcculley540]

Im watching your videos on UOG and now understand what we were doing when we were “opening the shoes”. There’s a cement-able pressure activated frac sleeve. So if the pump trucks couldn’t open the sleeve with pressure then coil would be needed to open it. If I’m understanding this correctly

[@lancinejuniortoure5249]

hello sir, Is wireline a required service when using the ball-activated completion system? as it is done in PNP completion. or the ball is moved by the hydraulic force?

[@AaronBurton]

Hi Lancine, Wireline is not required for this system. The ball is pumped to the ball seat with the hydraulic force from the fluid flow. The balls are relatively lightweight so they move easier with the flow.

[@lancinejuniortoure5249]

@@AaronBurton get it now, thanks

[@RicardoRomeroElizondo]

Are the balls phenolic or nylon , and the ball seat as well?so evntually the balls and ball seats will be millout with Coil tubing ?

[@JM_570]

So the ID of the sleeve keeps the balls down during the frac? when you then go to produce wont the balls get cause in there next up sleeves and restrict flow?

[@AaronBurton]

The ball seats get incrementally larger as you go up the well, so the stage at the toe of the well is the smallest and the stage at the heel of the well is the largest. This allows for selectivity when opening the sleeves, and prevents the balls from getting caught on the wrong sleeve during fracturing or production. These are disintegrating balls in a lot of cases.

[@lancinejuniortoure5249]

great content btw , extremely valuable for undergraduate student like myself to reduce the gap between the classroom and reality in the industry . If we consider PNP , BACS and CTACS under which type should i put "Open-hole completion, Uncemented liner completions, cased and cemented completion, perforated completion and multi-zone completion"? thanks in advance

[@AaronBurton]

Thank you! I'm glad you're finding it useful!

[@lancinejuniortoure5249]

@@AaronBurton thanks sir If we consider PNP , BACS and CTACS under which type should i put "Open-hole completion, Uncemented liner completions, cased and cemented completion, perforated completion and multi-zone completion"?

[@AaronBurton]

@@lancinejuniortoure5249 technically all of these options can be configured these ways. For example, typically PNP and CTACS are cemented and BACS is openhole, but PNP and CTACS can be openhole and BACS can be cemented.

[@AaronBurton]

@@lancinejuniortoure5249 plug-and-perf would be the only one that uses perforations. The rest use frac sleeves.

[@lancinejuniortoure5249]

@@AaronBurton thank you so much sir

[@albertbas2837]

what if for some reason the ball doesn't opens the sleeve? can you push it mechanically to open up the window, right?

[@AaronBurton]

Yes you can, assuming you can get to that sleeve with your through-tubing intervention through the other ball seats, and get enough weight down to open the sleeve. If you can’t get down to the intended ball seat, you may have to mechanically open the smallest (and deepest) one you can get to.

[@joaquinruggeri4277]

Excuse me Aaron, if the liner or casing was cemented between heel and toe, then would the packers be unnecessary? It is not clear for me if the completion is opnehole or cemented. Thanks in advance

[@AaronBurton]

Hi Joaquin, The BACS were originally designed as openhole completion systems, and that's what I'm illustrating in this video. With this setup, the openhole packers are required for the annular isolation. However, most service companies that offer this completion system do have a cemented version as well, so you can do either of the annular isolation methods with BACS. I believe both the openhole and cemented BACS have been used in the Vaca Muerta.

[@nickrichards7212]

Great video.

[@AaronBurton]

Thanks, Nick!

[@AaronBurton]

Thanks, Nick!

[@pranzeebattulayan2191]

hey, what kind of animation website or app did you use to make this video? thanks

[@aagampatel57]

The video only shows how to open a frag sleeve. What if we want to produce alternatively from multiple zones? Is Frag sleeve and Sliding sleeve both are same?

[@AaronBurton]

Hi Aagam, The frac sleeve is a type of sliding sleeve. In this video, these are ball-activated sliding sleeves, but there are also coiled-tubing-activated sliding sleeves. Both types of frac sleeves also offer a reclosable version that allows you to reclose the sleeve. A large majority of applications for this type of system are horizontal wells within the same zone. However, you could theoretically produce alternatively from multiple zones using the reclosable sleeves.

[@SilenceAfterAll]

This liner is of course UNcemented isn't it?

[@AaronBurton]

Yes, the most common way to run this system is using an uncemented liner with openhole packers for annular isolation, which is what I used in the video. Most service companies that offer the ball-activated frac sleeves also offer a cemented version.

[@SilenceAfterAll]

thank you very much!