Using Dynamic Simulations to Predict and Optimize Cleanup Operation of Horizontal Gas Wells

Mahadi, Khairul Azmi; Ogbonna, C.; Jadid, Maharon Bin; Yusuf, Rahel

doi:10.2118/158026-ms

All Days 2012

DOI: 10.2118/158026-ms

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Using Dynamic Simulations to Predict and Optimize Cleanup Operation of Horizontal Gas Wells

Khairul Azmi Mahadi

C. Ogbonna

Maharon Bin Jadid

et al.

Abstract: Cleanup operations of gas wells are conducted when the well is kicked off and tested the first time. During cleanup, the drilling and completion fluids come out of the well along with the produced gas and associated liquids. The phenomena is transient in nature and minimum gas rate and time required for cleanup are key questions to be answered before embarking on the cleanup and subsequent well test operation. The knowledge of minimum gas rate and time required for cleanup can assist the engineer in deciding t… Show more

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Cited by 3 publications

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Understanding the Impact of Production Slugging Behavior on Near-Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture and Formation Integrity

Anifowosh

2018

Day 1 Wed, February 07, 2018

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Numerous studies on unconventional shale well production data have shown that downhole pressure fluctuations can exceed 300 psig during a slugging period. Such pressure fluctuation will result in very high drawdown and could lead to near-wellbore formation damage when the rock failure criterion was met. An engineering workflow was developed to investigate the impact of multiphase slugging events on cemented casing plug and perforation (CCPP)and open hole sliding sleeves (OHSS) completions. Based on transient pressure analysis and geomechanical evaluation, safety operational envelope was generated to minimize the risk of formation damage due to slugging behavior. In this study, a dynamic multiphase flow simulator was used to predict the pressure amplitude and frequency during the slugging events in both a CCPP and OHSS completion configuration. The results from the simulation were then incorporated into a geomechanical model to analyze and identify potential hydraulic fracture closure and formation damage concerns, which can compromise well performance. The results from this study show that OHSS completion is more vulnerable to damage during the downhole slugging period than a CCPP completion. However, severe formation and fracture damage could occur during downhole slugging for CCPP well if the well is operated outside the safety operational envelope. Results from the two case studies led to the conclusion that it is crucial to consider the effect of downhole slugging on near-wellbore fracture and formation integrity to avoid permanent and irreversible damage.

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Understanding the Impact of Production Slugging Behavior on Near-Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture and Formation Integrity

Anifowosh

2018

Day 1 Wed, February 07, 2018

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Knarr Field - Optimization of Wellbore Clean-Up Through Dynamic Transient Modeling

Dimude

Wane

2018

Day 1 Tue, March 06, 2018

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Optimized well clean-up planning and procedures are crucial for the effective development of offshore subsea wells and their subsequent production stage to host facilities. The objective of the well cleanup is aimed at ensuring a successful removal of the completion fluids and drill-in fluid out of the wellbore to restore connectivity with the reservoir, maximize well productivity while minimizing tensile sand failure, and properly conditioning the sand face completion (in a standalone screen scenario). To achieve this goal, the well clean-up time, bean-up procedure, rate and fluid volumes to be produced should be appropriately estimated to properly size the surface testing equipment required for the operation. Due to the highly dynamic and transient nature of the cleanup process, the use of a dynamic simulator was required to effectively capture the physics of the concurrent flow of the various phases present in the system. An extensive modelling and simulation of the unload process has been performed through the use of a dynamic multiphase simulator to assess the transient displacement of the various wellbore fluids according to several unload strategies. Potential clean-up times and volumes were assessed using flowrate ramp-up schedules designed for different completion fluid distributions in the wellbore. The constrained flowrate cases were considered to represent the constraint on the rig (restricted because of surface handling capacity issues). The well clean-up procedure was developed to minimize clean-up time, avoid formation damage, and minimize volume of formation liquids on flow back during the rig well tests. During the execution, the movement of fluids along the wellbore, surface production rates, the drawdowns and duration of clean-up to predefined targets were monitored and recorded. The acquired field data from the clean-up operation was compared against simulation prediction and validated the reliability of the predictive model. This study proves the transient multiphase simulation to be effective in capturing the physics of the multiphase flow process involved in the clean-up operation. It also demonstrates that, when appropriately done, it could be an effective tool for the planning and strategy selection for the well cleanup operation.

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Workflow for History Matching and Predicting Mud Loss Recovery from the Formation Using a Coupled Wellbore-Reservoir Transient Simulator

Yusuf

Thakur

Cristea

et al. 2016

Day 1 Tue, March 22, 2016

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Well clean-up operations are conducted when the well is kicked off after completion to remove the completion/drilling fluids in the wellbore and near wellbore reservoir area. Drilling/completion fluid losses can significantly delay well clean-up thus having an adverse impact on clean-up OPEX and well deliverability. Since clean-up is a transient phenomenon involving temporal changes in hold-up or saturations, a transient simulation tool is required to model, predict, history match and optimize the clean-up operations. This paper proposes a workflow to history match the mud loss into, and recovery from the formation for wells experiencing significant mud losses during drilling/completion. A commercial coupled wellbore-reservoir transient simulator is used in this workflow.The proposed workflow is demonstrated for a horizontal oil well where more than 30000 barrels of mud was lost during a stuck liner incident in the completion phase. The lost mud made well clean-up difficult as mud backflow from the formation loaded the well requiring coiled tubing assisted nitrogen injection for well unloading. The workflow traces the history of the well by capturing the pressure and saturation transients in the near wellbore reservoir region during the stuck liner incident, well clean-up operation and the production logging test (PLT) using a coupled wellbore-reservoir transient flow model. The workflow starts by arriving at an initial estimate of the skin along the horizontal drain using the PLT data. Sensitivity simulations for mud loss and clean-up are then conducted to identify the parameters having most influence on mud recovery using different combinations of skin, matrix permeability and phase relative permeability to match the mud recovery from the clean-up operation and oil and water flowrates in the PLT after the clean-up.Mud loss and clean-up simulations using the initially available and estimated reservoir parameters (skin, matrix permeability and phase relative permeability) under predict the mud recovery and produced oil. From the sensitivity analysis, it is revealed that phase relative permeability has the biggest influence on the mud recovery followed by matrix permeability and skin. The optimized combination of the values of the afore mentioned parameters provides not only a good match between the predicted and the measured mud volume recovered during clean-up but also the oil and water rates during the PLT after clean-up.The proposed workflow not only provides a template for history matching complex clean-up operations involving lost mud recovery but also generates a prototype for using available field or production data in predicting, executing and optimizing similar operations in future thus facilitating better and informed decision making. The workflow also brings forth the value transient simulations can add to understanding complex clean-up operations by giving an insight into the pressure and flow transients in the wellbore and near well reservoir region.

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Using Dynamic Simulations to Predict and Optimize Cleanup Operation of Horizontal Gas Wells

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

Understanding the Impact of Production Slugging Behavior on Near-Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture and Formation Integrity

Understanding the Impact of Production Slugging Behavior on Near-Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture and Formation Integrity

Knarr Field - Optimization of Wellbore Clean-Up Through Dynamic Transient Modeling

Workflow for History Matching and Predicting Mud Loss Recovery from the Formation Using a Coupled Wellbore-Reservoir Transient Simulator

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