Kurt Leutwyler, Baker Oil Tools, Inc.
Completions for thermal recovery installations are closely related to the many new and sophisticated approaches to well design which have come of age during the last decade. This writer likes to compare them with completions in the 15,000 - 20,000 ft range, to high pressure gas completions in corrosive environments. perhaps to wells on platforms in deep water or completed by TFI methods. This comparison is made not because the magnitude of engineering difficulty in each instance is equal, but because the total probIem content of each of these completion techniques represents a distinct engineering challenge and required unique solutions. Finding these solutions in turn required the use of classical methods and theories mixed with original thinking. Let us then examine why thermal recovery wells qualify for a position amongst difficuIt and sophisticated technological accomplishments