This course provides techniques for testing, diagnosing, preventing and treating near wellbore formation damage problems. These problems include: drilling induced damage, near wellbore problems associated with completion operations, fines migration, inorganic scales, paraffin and asphaltene precipitation, sand production, perforation plugging and clay swelling. Near wellbore problems due multiphase flow, injectivity impairment in water injection wells and formation damage issues in stimulation operations are also discussed. The mechanisms of damage and the methods used to test and diagnose problem wells are emphasized.

This semester a particular emphasis will be placed on hydraulic fracturing (unlike past semesters). This is an area I want to learn more about. Hopefully we can learn together. Students will be expected to write a simple hydraulic fracture code that will be based on a 2-dimensional fracture model discussed in class.

Course Philosophy:

• It is very difficult to make a complex subject easy to understand. It is much easier to leave it complex and incomprehensible. My goal in this course is to make difficult subjects easier to understand.
• Once you have understood the basics (that have been made easy to understand), remember that there is a lot more to it than what you have learnt in a short period of time. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity. Admire it, learn from it and build on it.
• We will delve into one or two topics in great detail (just as an example).
• Always be confident but humble about your knowledge in an area (it is limited). If you are interested, you can plumb the depths of any topic and be surprised how much there is to it.
• The deeper you delve into the underlying science the more common links you find between diverse topics.
• Identifying the critical problem areas (asking the right questions) is almost as important as coming up with the solution.
• Don’t be afraid to explore beyond your technical comfort zone. Important technological advances are made at interfaces between disciplines when people get out of their “area of expertise” and explore other areas.