A new well logging/perforating challenge arose from a High Slanted (HS) exploratory well that was drilled in Colombia. The HS exploration well (75 degrees inclination) was drilled in the "Llanos Area" to 18,040 ft MD. Available logging and perforating technologies were reviewed. Tubing Conveyed Perforating (TCP), using a combination of Drill Pipe (DP) / tubing string, and Coiled Tubing (CT) perforating technologies, was considered as part of the evaluation, but the selected method was an electric line well tractor to deploy the logging tool and perforating assembly. Using tractor conveyance saved significant time and associated rig costs over pipe conveyance to perforate a new well, and set two Latin American regional records for tractor-conveyed tools in one well. Based on site-specific experience, the operator concluded that each well intervention with drill pipe would require 48 hours per trip. In August 2011, after a formal risk analysis and systems integration testing (SIT), the operator mobilized a down-hole robotics-solutions provider and successfully tractored a cement evaluation log to 11,079 ft. A regional record was set for longest tractor-conveyance during the first perforating run of 12,095 ft. A second perforating run of 11,037 ft was successful and set a regional record for longest cumulative tractor-conveyed distance in a single well at 34,211 ft. The cement evaluation and perforating runs were completed in less than 40 hours versus more than 96 hours, which was the estimate with pipe conveyance. The results of operations in the HS Llanos well are presented. Lessons learnt from these operations are part of this study.
The La Cira Infantas field is located in the Middle Magdalena basin in the Santander region of central Colombia. This oil-producing development is under secondary waterflood using five-spot and inverted seven-spot patterns. The reservoir has high vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, and there was concern about effectively draining the reservoir. A new hydraulic fracturing design was deployed for the first time in Colombia (and South America) to improve drainage and surveillance. With over 1200 producers and 500 injectors, the La Cira Infantas waterflood is well established. Waterflood surveillance indicated less-than-optimal recovery due to near-wellbore skin in the injectors and suspected poor height coverage. A novel proppant technology was incorporated into the fracture design allowing for consolidation of the proppant pack in the fracture with low bottomhole temperature and minimal stress on proppant, enabling long-term undamaged injectivity. This technology also incorporates an inert tracer into the proppant grains, which provides propped height determination after the treatment using a neutron log. This multi-faceted proppant technology was successfully deployed on one well, and additional wells are planned in 2020. This paper will first review the background of the field development including current completion techniques, along with the challenges being faced with the waterflood recovery. It will review the self-consolidating proppant technology and show the benefits of its use in this application to promote high-conductivity fractures and minimize damage to injectivity. The companion tracer technology will be presented along with plans to perform neutron logging and identify propped fracture height. This information can be fed into fracture propagation models to determine the fracture geometry, which is then used for reservoir and waterflood surveillance analysis. The technique allows for meeting the goal to improve injectivity into both high-skin and low-permeability reservoirs. Although this proppant technology has been used in other frac pack applications, this is one of the first case histories of the technology being used on land for improving injectivity and waterflood coverage in Colombia. This paper will be useful for reservoir and completion engineers working on waterflood fields that contain vertically and horizontally heterogeneous formations, and wish to maintain undamaged injectivity, improve waterflood sweep efficiency, and monitor the proppant pack over time.
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