A dual-reservoir completion using Intelligent Well system together with an electrical submersible pump (ESP) in a high-rate well was recently deployed in one of the large carbonate fields in Saudi Arabia. The well was equipped with ESP to provide artificial lift to pump the oil to a centralized processing facility that is far a way from the well through a 2-zone "Smart" well completion, which remotely controls fluid inflow from each of the two laterals. This completion enables commingled production from two reservoirs while balancing flow contribution from each reservoir and avoiding cross-flow from one reservoir into the other. Commingled production from stacked reservoirs in the same field, or a single reservoir with multiple pay intervals, has many benefits during the development of a field - higher production rates per well, cost savings from reduction in the total number of development wells, flexibility in locating surface facilities as a result of minimal footprint, etc., Wide variation in reservoir properties, coupled with existence of natural fractures within an active waterflood environment in this case, prompted adoption of Intelligent Well technology to control fluid withdrawal and enhance waterflood front conformance. Additionally, there was a need to use proven conventional ESP system to lift the expected high production rates from the two prolific reservoirs. The new completion uses a re-designed downhole hydraulic disconnect tool with an integral anchor assembly, instead of other systems that have been used in the industry in the past, to connect the upper completion incorporating the ESP system with the lower completion that incorporates the Intelligent Well completion. Thus, ESP workover can be performed without the need to retrieve the Intelligent Well completion. This integrated system has enabled the two producing reservoirs to be commingled successfully and has provided the flexibility to control inflow from each reservoir in the future as the flow regimes change. This paper describes the equipment selection process, completion equipment, planning and deployment procedures of the Intelligent Well completion. Economic drivers for this robust completion as well as the reservoir management implications of successful deployment in this test case well and future expansion across the entire field are also discussed. Introduction The dual-lateral dual-reservoir well was drilled recently and completed in one of the largest multi-pay fields in Saudi Arabia. The field has several stacked oil-bearing reservoirs, which call for commingling production from some of these reservoirs to optimize field development. Additionally, pressure maintenance strategy requires the use of water injection to supplement reservoir energy for commercial exploitation. Fractures have been identified in many of these reservoirs from extensive resistivity and acoustic image logs ran across the field, as well as from the dynamic data gathered during past production periods. Small and large scale fractures present in these reservoirs are suspected to be conduits for the communication between the two reservoirs shown in Figure 1, which are separated by a thick section of fractured non-reservoir rock. Detailed review of historic pressure data shows synchronized pressure histories for these two reservoirs during past reservoir depletion, which was more concentrated at the crest and western parts of the field. This pressure performance suggests that the two reservoirs are connected hydrodynamically. Logs from both reservoirs also show concentration of fracture clusters at the crestal area and western parts of these reservoirs.
Well Completions design is continuously evolving to meet increasing requirements of down hole monitoring and control. The design of well completion has become more sophisticated as these requirements increase. Nowadays in the industry, it is rare to find a well completion that does not have some type of down hole sensor or inflow control. This paper presents overview of six different well completions designed to meet different reservoir and production requirements. Each of these design are integrations of existing and new technologies. The technologies presented in the paper range from inflow control devices and open hole packers placed in the reservoir section, multilateral junction systems, through permanent down hole sensors, surface controlled down hole valves and electric submersible pumps in the production tubing. The paper also discusses briefly the integration of the down hole equipment with surface control panels and SCADA communication systems. Different well types like oil producers, water injectors and artificial lift wells are discussed.
fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractHaradh Increment-III is Saudi Aramco's latest and most advanced developed area in Ghawar field. The area was developed with 32 multilateral wells utilizing advanced drilling technologies to reduce the number of wells and provide maximum reservoir contact at a lower cost per barrel. The complex array of 113 laterals dictates the necessity for individual lateral control for better reservoir management strategy.Twenty eight smart completions were run in Haradh Increment-III totaling in 87 downhole choke valves installations for flow regulation from different laterals. Throughout the project progress and as more smart completions are installed, Saudi Aramco's experience was ramping up through its learning curve and first-hand knowledge was being gained. The company's experience with smart completion and best practices for ensuring proper functionality of smart completions were being developed with each additional installation.Detailed project and operational planning is critical to the success of such innovative projects. Operational planning begins before the equipment is manufactured and carries through to equipment assembly, testing and surface tests prior to completions.The paper presents the experience of Saudi Aramco and the supplier in the installation of 28 intelligent wells, with reliability of 97%, through the adoption of best practices. The development stages of smart completion best practices will be illustrated citing various history cases and addressing important operational concerns.The learning discussed in this paper will provide an insight into how a large scale application of smart completion technology can be handled in a systematic way to achieve a successful conclusion.
Well completions with downhole inflow control technologies are used to defer and control water or gas breakthrough thereby maximizing recovery. Active and passive inflow control devices dominate this technology. The paper presents the performance of these technologies in different well conditions and provides recommendations on their selection. Passive inflow control devices (ICDs), combined with compartmentalization of the wellbore, balance inflow along the wellbore by creating a desired pressure regulation and prevent high-permeability sections from dominating the inflow. ICDs delay water and gas breakthrough and extend well life. Active inflow-control completions consist of well equipment with multiple downhole packers and valves that segment the wellbore into multiple sections. The valves can be operated during the life of the well to regulate or shut off inflow from the section(s) that experience water or gas breakthrough while producing the remaining sections. The active valves may range from conventional sliding side doors to intelligent completions with remotely operated downhole valves and sensors. Hybrid Completions integrate active control features with passive device systems within a single wellbore to leverage the value for both technologies to enhance well performance. Simple static wellbore analysis and advanced transient analysis coupling of reservoir simulators to wellbore models was performed to review the performance of different completion technologies. The simulations cover different completion options from a base design of screens in barefoot completions to more advanced passive, active, and Hybrid Completions. Different reservoir and well conditions were simulated to analyze the performance of the completion systems. The proposed methodology will help in selecting a fit-for-purpose completion design for the life of the well ensuring that the performance objectives will not only be achieved, but also that the completion type selected has not been " over-designed?? for its intended purpose. INTRODUCTION The completion design for a horizontal well begins with an inflow control requirement at the sandface. Typical reasons for inflow control are significant permeability contrasts, presence of lost circulation or fracture zones, high frictional losses, and thin oil columns bounded by water and gas zones with high coning tendency and/or significant viscosity/mobility variations along the zones. In newer, undeveloped reservoirs, the inflow control is selected by analytical, semi-analytical assessments or based on parametric sensitivity-based modeling. Alternatively, in developed fields, inflow control requirements are more accurately determined by field experience, from the historical performance of adjacent wells. Several papersi (Al-Khelaiwi et.al, 2010 and Birchenko et.al 2009) have presented methodologies for selecting inflow control technologies based on factors like bore hole size, production rates, number of zones etc.
TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 1.972.952.9435. AbstractThe Haradh Increment-3 (HRDH Inc-3) development, commissioned in March 2006, has added significant volumes to Saudi Aramco's daily production capacity. The development has 73 wells comprising of 28 water injectors, 13 observation and 32 producers. 28 of the 32 producers are intelligent completions in multilateral wells. The Maximum Reservoir Contact (MRC) wells with multilateral systems improve the reservoir contact while reducing the drawdown on the reservoir. The intelligent completion system allows the inflow from each lateral to be controlled from the surface without well intervention. The combination of the multilateral and intelligent completion system is expected to enhance field recovery by preventing/delaying water coning and improving sweep efficiency. HRDH Inc-3 may be considered as a milestone in the industry where the field development is focused on the "Smart Multilateral Systems" Application of cutting edge technologies like rotary steerables system (RSS), realtime drilling data transmission, Geosteering, non damaging fluids, multilateral systems and intelligent completions have helped in achieving maximum effective reservoir contact and delivering the wells ahead of schedule.The producer wells were drilled with three or four laterals depending on the location of the well. Each of the laterals has around 4,000 ft of reservoir contact and the average reservoir contact for each well is over 14,000 ft.The wells are constructed as Technology Advancement in Multi-Lateral (TAML) Level-2 system where openhole laterals are drilled out of the motherbore that is cased and cemented. The intelligent completion system comprises of pressure and temperature sensors, production packers and hydraulically operated downhole valves that can be controlled from the surface. The downhole valves are placed in the motherbore to control inflow from each lateral.The paper presents details of the field planning, drilling and completion practices. The challenges faced in drilling and completing these complex multilateral MRC wells within a tight schedule and the important lessons learned will also be covered in the paper
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