Inflow Control Device (ICD) completions have been used widely in the energy industry to balance the inflow of produced fluids, while delaying water breakthrough. Improving the reservoir drainage results in higher oil recovery. Traditional completions are typically deployed with washpipe to provide washdown and circulation capability. This is especially advantageous for Run In Hole (RIH) through tight spots and extended-reach wells. A tailored ICD design with dissolvable materials was tested and optimized for Middle Eastern fields with the first successful installation in UAE of a washpipe-free ICD completion. The washpipe-free adjustable ICD completion utilizes a combination of permanent and dissolvable temporary ICD plugs. A range of dissolving materials were developed and tested in a variety of representative downhole conditions, including temperature and pressure variables. The dissolvable materials were tailored specifically to suit the fluid program and fluid additives, common to the Middle East. Multiple plug designs were subjected to small-scale and full-scale tests. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations evolved the design of the ICD housing to ensure that the dissolution fluid would reach the ICD plugs. The dissolution rates of the dissolvable materials were empirically established at representative downhole temperatures with field fluid samples. The degradation and pressure integrity of the materials was validated in small- and full-scale testing. Through full-scale testing, the operational sequences during RIH including displacement and filter cake breaker spotting were replicated with representative pressures, fluid rates, bottom hole temperatures (BHT), and fluid compositions used in the Middle East field. The validated ICD plugging rod technology was successfully run in the UAE in an extended-reach horizontal well. The permanent plugs allowed for customization of the completion inflow profile as per the most recent logs, while the dissolvable temporary plugs provided a completion string with pressure integrity while running in hole - capable of washdown, circulation, and filter cake treatment placement. After installation, the temporary plugs dissolved, opening the completion to production through the ICDs for improved reservoir management. The ICD with dissolvable technology allowed deployment of the completion successfully to target depth (TD) with the pressure integrity required for the displacement operations. In not running and retrieving an inner string, and achieving wellbore displacement at a faster rate, time savings for the 6000 ft OH completion were estimated between 35-50 hours, with an estimated cost saving of a half-million dollars.
The latest well completions developments for extended-reach wells include advanced techniques to improve the effectiveness of production and optimization solutions to achieve sustainable well production. Monitoring systems installed during the completion use real-time distributed temperature sensing (DTS), distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), and downhole gauge data to obtain better reservoir insight throughout the life of the well. This enables informed decision making to achieve optimal well production and gas injection. Permanent downhole gauges (PDGs) with dual sensors (tubing + tubing) are installed, along with hybrid cable as part of the upper completion string. The hybrid cable has an electrical conductor and two fiber-optic lines for DTS and DAS measurements. The cable is clamped onto the tubing at each coupling and passes through the upper completion subassemblies, which include gas lift mandrels (GLMs) and tubing-retrievable safety valves (TRSVs). An intermediate completion is run before the upper completion, which comprises a two-trip permanent packer and remote actuated barrier device (multicycle). Completions monitoring with hybrid cables provides an advantage over conventional gauge-only systems, with only a slight increase in completion costs. Using a single cable provides more run-in-hole (RIH) efficiency, fewer lines to manage, and a smaller equipment footprint. PDG data are used by production engineers, field development personnel, and subsurface personnel to determine pressure drawdown and optimize surface production choke size. Distributed fiber-sensing technology determines the effectiveness of gas lift operations to optimize injection rates, which effectively optimizes pumping rates and flow from surface. Fiber-sensing technology also helps identify tubing and annulus leaks, monitor the health of the completion during the life of the well, and minimize wellbore damage. This type of completion has been installed successfully in 64 wells (60 production and 4 injection), and all systems are operational with data accessible from all wells. This approach benefits the industry by highlighting best practices, providing advanced technology options for evaluating data and reservoir productivity, and providing completion and drilling effectiveness for extended deep-reach wells.
This Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) field re-development of a giant offshore field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) requires in most cases extremely long laterals to reach the defined reservoir targets. However, certain areas of the field show permeability and / or pressure variations along the horizontal laterals. This heterogeneity requires an inflow control device (ICD) lower completion liner to deliver the required well performance that will adequately produce and sweep the reservoir. The ICD lower completion along with the extremely long laterals means significant time is spent switching the well from reservoir drilling fluid (RDF) non-aqueous fluid (NAF) to an aqueous completion brine. To reduce the amount of rig time spent on the displacement portion of the completion phase, an innovative technology was developed to enable the ICDs to be run in hole in a closed position and enable circulating through the end of the liner. The technology uses a dissolvable material, which is installed in the ICD to temporarily plug it. The dissolvable material is inert to the RDF NAF while the ICDs are run into hole, and then dissolves in brine after the well is displaced from RDF NAF to completion brine, changing the ICDs from closed to an open position. The ability to circulate through the end of the liner, with the support of the plugged ICDs, when the lower completion is deployed and at total depth (TD), enables switching the well from RDF NAF drilling fluid to an aqueous completion brine without the associated rig time of the original displacement method. The technique eliminates the use of a dedicated inner displacement string and allows for the displacement to be performed with the liner running string, saving 4-5 days per well. An added bonus is that the unique design allowed for this feature to be retrofitted to existing standard ICDs providing improved inventory control. In this paper the authors will demonstrate the technology and system developed to perform this operation, as well as the qualification testing, field installations, and lessons learned that were required to take this solution from concept to successful performance improvement initiative.
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