High Water-Cut Production Remedy by Inflow Control Solution in Challenging Intermittent Channeled Sands Oil Recovery in Gulf of Thailand Offshore

Abstract

Oil Production in Gulf of Thailand Offshore has always been hijacked by high water-cut. Field recovery suffers with most sand RF<10% due to premature water breakthrough and by-passed oil. Connecting sand pockets of varying sand quality and huge heterogeneity contrast for commingled inflow has further worsened non balanced production, especially in the progressive development towards horizontal wells' production. However, the deployment of downhole flow control (ICD) in Field-BY as pilot, has revolutionised conventional surface-choke controlled production towards downhole nozzles' inflow and drawdown control. The ICD's pilot, BY-A is selected based on its strategic comparison-value to an existing horizontal well, i.e. BY-B, completed with sand-screen standalone, SAS in the same sand and about the same horizontal length. An 'apples-toapples' evaluation comparison over the same production time-lapse between ICD-case and the SAS base-case post-job production demonstrated that the ICD's pilot has prevailed in many production factors and completions strategy as such:i.ICD's well BY-A with ~2 months delay of water breakthrough, unlike BY-B of instantaneous water breakthrough with 40% water-cut in the same period.ii. BY-A has produced >50,000 barrels more oil than that of BY-B for the first 7-months iii. ICD's application has freed up conventional surface choking-back control upon breakthrough. Instead, more liquid rates are pumped at controlled water-cut that transformed previous production to more rates with more oils.iv. ICD's design and modeling, updated with LWD-derived data near real-time, has optimised the completions cost. Effectively, lower ICD's screen completions are applied only at sand-contact.In brief, the entire ICD's design and support together with the post-job production monitoring and optimisation will be discussed. This work provides an insight into transforming an otherwise ordinary horizontal well with typical high water-cut constraints into one of the guiding successful ICD's well that has warranted more ICD's application in the operators other nearby field developments. Field Introduction and Production ChallengesField-BY is located in Block 5/27 offshore Gulf of Thailand, on the northern flank of the Pattani Basin as shown in Figure 1. It is operated by Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand). In most reservoirs, the shallower sands are fluvial channels while the deeper layers are lacustrine deposits. The resulting reservoir geometries are complex in lateral extent and vertical heterogeneity intertwined with shoreface, stacked and extended channels and/or individual channeled sand pockets, for example the targeted TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax +1-972-952-9435