Patent ID: 7350566

Claim:
A well production tubular ( 2 ) for carrying fluids from a wellbore, said tubular having a longitudinal axis ( 4 ), a generally annular cross section across the longitudinal axis, a wellhead end ( 6 ), a well bottom end ( 8 ), and a plurality of influx ports ( 10 ) opening through a sidewall of the tubular to form a plurality of flow paths from an outer surface of the tubular to an inner surface of the tubular, said influx ports being formed through the sidewall at an obtuse angle B with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tubular in the direction of the wellhead end so that substantially all fluid flowing into the tubular exits the influx ports with a substantial axial velocity component toward the wellhead end of the tubular, wherein the sidewall has a thickness and the influx ports have a diameter which is less than about 1.5 times the thickness, said influx ports opening directly toward the longitudinal axis of the tubular.