Reservoir screening studies were carried out on all of ADCO’s reservoirs to determine their applicability for Underbalanced Drilling (UBD). These studies resulted in a prioritization of potential UBD candidates. The primary business benefits of UBD were determined as follows: –reduction of formation damage ○Productivity Improvement Factors (PIFs) much greater than 1 were determined in many cases;○potential elimination of complicated (and expensive) stimulation jobs.–dynamic reservoir characterization ○improved understanding of geological architecture/flow units and hence the potential for more accurate and reliable reservoir models;○improved completion designs. Some of the secondary benefits of UBD that were identified beforehand included Rate of Penetration (ROP) improvements while drilling and improved rig performance. In one field, it was demonstrated that the PIFs per well resulting from UBD would enable fewer wells to be used to develop the field by optimization of the horizontal well length and hence a significant reduction in capital expenditure. From these studies, two fields were selected to carry out initial trials. This paper describes the lessons learnt from the planning, design and subsequent implementation of UBD in the first well in ADCO, which involved a truly integrated and multi-disciplined team effort. An initial assessment of the business benefits obtained from the trial compared to the results of the initial screening studies is also provided.
Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) is a major oil producer in the Arabian Gulf with a wide portfolio of fields and reservoirs. The company is currently developing both new and existing assets to increase its production capacity. Field 'M' is one of the new assets that will contribute to this additional production.Although the field was discovered in 1975, it was categorized as a marginal development primarily due to its remote location, limited size and reservoir properties. As a result it remained undeveloped until 2011. A 3D seismic reprocessing was conducted in 2009, and significant reservoir data was gathered from an appraisal well in 2010 which reduced the subsurface uncertainties. The field became less remote through the development of a larger, neighboring field 50km away. As a result, in 2011 a decision was made to carry out a full field appraisal campaign, with the aim of putting the field on production by 2017.This paper describes the main challenges of the appraisal and development of the field, and details how they were tackled. A special emphasis is put on the value of multi-discipline integration between all the project stakeholders.
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