Development options in marginal fields are sometimes limited, driven primarily by economics, license period, size of asset and regulatory constraints. The Operators objective is to economically develop the reserves from multiple zones with fewer wells, whilst maintaining mandatory reservoir surveillance and accounting. Intelligent or smart completions are at various level of maturity, depending on the well architecture, application, and measurement & control devices. The concept of using smart completions within the marginal field environment has historically been limited. The conventional completion practices in marginal fields with stacked reservoirs are mostly multistring or selective designs. A strong driver for smart wells in a marginal field is the desire for simultaneous exploitation of multiple reservoirs, lower capex (fewer wells), reduced opex, smaller footprints and effective zonal control. Remote zonal control is desirable, due to the locations accessibility, which makes intervention prohibitive and with increased health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks. This paper will focus on the application of an intelligent completion technique in Okporhuru, a partially appraised field in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria comprising stacked reservoirs. The field is classified marginal due to limited data, low first pass initial oil volume and remoteness from production facilities, amongst others. This paper will detail the modelling technique, flow control valve (FCV) design philosophy, and requisite monitoring to meet target zonal flow contributions. Application of a compact, modular, multi-zonal smart completion solution (IZC), pre installation design, deployment considerations and production allocation methodology will highlight the considerations for selection of a unique sand control technique in this partially appraised field.
Dual zone gravel pack completions, mostly the preferred sand control mechanism of choice in unconsolidated stacked reservoirs, can be quite expensive in marginal field environment, particularly in the Niger Delta region due to high logistics and security costs associated with rig costs. This cost escalation (Rig spread, logistics, security and associated costs) progresses from land to swamp and ultimately offshore locations. Conventional techniques for such completions involve multiple trips in and out of the hole with gravel pack and isolation tools, with pumping stages and a wireline trip to set the sump packer. This process typically takes between 12-14 days and has often resulted in border line economics, when this technique is applied in a marginal field.In this paper, we present a different sand control technique for carrying out a cost-effective completion for a two zone well in a marginal field, situated in the Niger Delta. This technique involves the use of Multi Mesh Screen (MMS) and can eliminate the use of gravel pack pumping treatments for several applications. It has specific design criteria for enhancing sand control and has found great application as standalone screen in cased hole.The proposed system involves the combination of a special MMS with engineered electric-line deployed perforating technique. The entire deployment of a two zone completion required only about four days of rig time. Post completion, the deeper interval has been producing at an average oil rate of 220 bopd and associated gas production of 0.35 MMscf/d while the shallow interval has average production of ca. 500 bopd with associated gas production of 0.35 MMscf/d. Both intervals have performed at an order of magnitude higher than the predicted sand-free production rate without any or other conventional sand control methods. Overall, the use of this adaptive completion technique resulted in some 50% cost savings to the operator compared to the conventional gravel packing of both zones. This has greatly enhanced the economics of the well. The details of the installation design, field procedures along with an analysis of the production data and an economic comparison to the alternatives are presented herein.
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