Boon or Bane? A Survey of the First 10 Years of Modern Multilateral Wells

Oberkircher, Jim; Smith, Ray F.; Thackwray, Ian

doi:10.2523/84025-ms

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…In fact, junction stability and debris management are the two most common causes of failure in multilateral implementations (Brister 2000). Multilateral failures due to junction collapse or debris management have been reported in the Statfjord field in the North Sea, the East Wilmington field in California, the Gulf of Mexico, and the UK sector of the North Sea (Hovda et al 1998;Brister 1997;Oberkircher et al 2003). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Modeling of Multilateral Junction Stability in the Montney Shale Play

Mohamad-Hussein

Bakhtiari

et al. 2013

All Days

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While drilling and completing multilateral wells in unconventional shale plays, a major concern is the stability of the junction. If the junction area is to remain open while producing, the stability of the junction is essential until the end of the well life. Due to the complex geometry of the junction, numerical simulations are typically required to understand the stress concentrations and simulate the stability of the junction.A dual-lateral well was to be drilled and completed in the Montney shale play in Alberta, with the two laterals targeting Middle and Lower Montney, respectively. With the Technical Advancement of Multilaterals (TAML) Level 2 multilateral completion, one lateral would be cased and the other would remain open. Because relatively large drawdown pressures were planned for the well, understanding of the junction stability became an important consideration not only while drilling the lateral, but also while the well was producing. This paper will present a geomechanical analysis of the multilateral junction stability under two drawdown-pressure conditions, including determination of the mechanical properties and in-situ stresses, numerical simulation of the stress concentrations, and rock deformations at the junction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Modeling of Multilateral Junction Stability in the Montney Shale Play

Mohamad-Hussein

Bakhtiari

et al. 2013

All Days

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“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] The successes achieved with this well architecture justified extending its use into an oil field in Central Arabia. [1][2][3][4][5][6] The successes achieved with this well architecture justified extending its use into an oil field in Central Arabia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The First Saudi Arabian Trilateral Oil Well in Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoir

Rabaa

Abduldayem

Al-Ajmi

et al. 2009

Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference &Amp; Exhibition

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Multilateral wells to achieve Maximum Reservoir Contact (MRC) have been widely implemented in a number of new carbonate fields' development in Saudi Arabia, resulting in substantial financial improvement of these assets. The successes achieved with this well architecture justified extending its use into a sandstone oil field that has been characterized with heterogeneous and poorly consolidated sandstone formation. This paper chronicles the multi-disciplinary approach and processes employed to evaluate, plan, and execute the first trilateral well in an unconsolidated heterogeneous sandstone reservoir in Saudi Arabia. The objectives of the ML well are to maximize reservoir contact to enhance sweep efficiency and improve well productivity and to promote the ML application in this complex field to extend field's production plateau. Initial well construction involved side-tracking an idle vertical well that has been shut in due to high WC and low productivity. Prior to drilling the laterals, a deviated pilot hole was drilled across the entire reservoir which helped optimize placement of the laterals. Reentry of an existing well to successfully steer and drill three long horizontal open drain holes into the reservoir imposed several constraints and added to the list of challenges.Incorporating sand control in a multi-lateral environment poses a number of challenges, with complexity driven by the Technology Advancement Multilateral (TAML) level demanded for the junctions between the motherbore and laterals, and by overall well functionality required. Well completion involved installation of an expandable sand screen (ESS) completion in the mainbore and Premium Sand Screens (PSS) completions in the two laterals to facilitate sand-free commingled production from all three laterals. The PSS completions featured a wash-down capability in the high-build angle laterals and also incorporated swell packers positioned just inside the laterals to ensure sand-tight conditions at the TAML Level 3 junctions. Following installation of upper ESP completion, a post-rig extensive clean-up program was conducted to unload all three laterals. The well is currently producing sand-free oil at three times the rate of neighboring single-lateral wells. Following the success and capturing the lesson learned from this trial, another ML well will be drilled in the field.

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Boon or Bane? A Survey of the First 10 Years of Modern Multilateral Wells

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Numerical Modeling of Multilateral Junction Stability in the Montney Shale Play

Numerical Modeling of Multilateral Junction Stability in the Montney Shale Play

The First Saudi Arabian Trilateral Oil Well in Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoir

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