This paper will describe a new production technology system that enabled focusing on achieving performance objectives in addition to finding and fixing production problems. Inflow Control Device (ICD) is a new completion system that will optimize production, delay water progress, eliminate / minimize annular flow, and ensure a uniform inflow along the horizontal wellbore at the cost of a minute pressure drop. The non-uniform production profile across the horizontal hole especially in the highly heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs can result in premature water production, bypassed oil and lower ultimate recovery. The problem was identified through production logging of several horizontal wells, which indicated a non-uniform production profile across the horizontal holes. The successful implementation of this technology was achieved by the use of an integrated approach to select the appropriate technology and method for addressing the problem. A business case was developed at which all key factors comprised a successful completion strategy in both drilling of a new well and work-over of an existing well. Among these key factors the development of multidisciplinary team; matching a good intervention candidate well with the appropriate technology; properly designing the well segmentation and execution of the design with rigorous quality control. A case history will be presented where this new production technology, has resulted in significant Net Present Value (NPV), and improved production via an extended well-life cycle. The ICD Equalizer system was installed in one new and an existing well with the aim to evaluate the viability of the technique. Both installations were successful and the preliminary surface testing results of the wells performance on different rates indicated a niform production profile across the horizontal hole and a drop in the existing well water cut (from 7% to traces). Although the new well has penetrated fractures as expected, the well did not show water production since installation (Febrauary 2007) till the time of writing this paper. With field-scale implementation, the economic analysis revealed an improved NPV and an incremental recovery factor increase about 1%. Introduction Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its group of companies are considering adapting new technologies to ensure that strategic resources are optimally explored, developed and produced during the life cycle of their oil fields. Horizontal well technology has become an established method of drilling conventional wells due to their improved recovery efficiency, reservoir drainage and delayed undesirable fluids (water & gas). The realistic best-case production strategy is to produce as much oil as possible before the well waters out by increasing recovery through robust fields' development plans. However, non-uniform production profile across the horizontal hole especially in the highly heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs can result in premature water production casuing bypassed oil, lower ultimate recovery and therefore decrease in profitability. The technique of controlling the flow and establishing uniform production by allowing low- and high-permeability intervals to contribute to flow was found to be the optimum option for highly fractured reservoir compared with the existing barefoot completion. Mechanical and chemical water shut-off techniques were also investigated, but both techniques were inefficient in the highly fractured reservoirs. Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations-ADCO, decided to pioneer the introduction of the EqualizerTM in one of its fields through developing a business case investigating the available technologies in the market. A systematic scientific approach to identify the best potential candidates ensured a successful pilot application for the inflow control device (ICD) technology for the first time in UAE.
Landing a high-angle well in the very thin carbonate reservoir of the lower Cretaceous can be challenging due to heterogeneity present in thin layers above the reservoir and lack of correlatable non-porosity measurements. The use of radioactive source porosity is effective, but due to the extended trajectory and high differential pressure in over burden depleted reservoirs, the chance of becoming stuck is a considerable risk and a big concern, and thus the use of classic nuclear porosity tools are untenable. This paper is a case study illustrating the use of azimuthal sonic porosity as a highly effective method of landing the well in the reservoir.Azimuthal sonic data were acquired with a focused unipole tool which recorded the measured waveforms and computed compressional and shear velocities in 16 azimuthal bins. Real-time compressional and shear slownesses were also computed by stacking all 16 bins of data, which gave very high signal-to-noise ratios and excellent data quality -often a challenge in hard formations. These azimuthally averaged slownesses were used by the geologist to identify formation tops while drilling, and to detect the approach of the target reservoir, resulting in a safe landing in the target zone.While the azimuthally averaged real-time sonic porosities were effectively used to land in the target reservoir, the azimuthal results were examined shortly after the well was drilled to understand the additional advantages of using the azimuthal sonic porosities real-time to detect approaching beds from further away. It is clear from the results that, if the porosities from each quadrant (or even just up and down) were transmitted real-time, the reservoir could be detected an additional 1.5 ft. away (TVD). The hardware has since been modified to apply this approach, allowing for 4 quadrants of sonic compressional and shear slownesses to be transmitted in real-time to enhance the detection range. The technology has been applied in real time in the second well with success. It was proven this extended depth of detection can add an additional safety margin to enable landing the well in the reservoir at the optimal angle. Due to the higher depth of investigation the landing can further be optimized using the bottom quadrant slowness, allowing for the early detection of the soft porous layer well before penetrating it.These quadrant sonic values can be used in existing geosteering workflows to enhance the ability to detect formations, particularly when other measurements such as resistivity or gamma ray yield very shallow depths of detection due to poor formation contrast or depth of detection of the measurements. This case study builds upon previous sonic experience by investigating the range of azimuthally binned measurements versus azimuthally averaged results and shows a most convincing example illustrating the effectiveness of the method in an Abu Dhabi formation.
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