Greater Plutonio is BP's largest subsea development with a planned first phase of 43 high rate subsea development wells of which 34 have been drilled. A relatively low level of classical field appraisal was performed because of high costs coupled with the fast project pace. Innovative subsurface management has therefore been required to reduce substantial uncertainty during the development phase. The start-up of Greater Plutonio achieved several firsts for BP using real-time capabilities. Extensive learnings from reservoir interference data from rig-based tests influenced the drilling order and enabled early understanding of reservoir connectivity. Appling applicable technology included 100% reliant on subsea multi-phase flow meters for well testing; downhole flow control for selective zonal water injection; and extensive use of remote sensing technologies. Real-time data has been relayed to desktops in Angola, UK and elsewhere. The data is integrated with well models to facilitate immediate well and reservoir management. The first 4D seismic survey was acquired 16 months after first oil. Successful subsurface and wells management demonstrated sufficient production potential to allow field rates of greater than 200mbd after just 3 months of operations. Over 300mmscf/d of gas injection potential and greater than 300mbwd of water injection were achieved within a year of first oil. Injection has been into every producing reservoir zone. The remote access to real-time data is enabling operations to make better decisions faster and reducing the numbers of field staff. Full voidage replacement in 2009, to allow sustainable plateau production, is ahead of plan. The enhanced reservoir understanding from the pre-first oil and ramp-up data reduced subsurface uncertainties during the early phase of the Greater Plutonio development and will continue to play a crucial part in increasing ultimate field recovery.

Greater Plutonio is a 5 field subsea, deepwater project, located offshore Angola. Development began in 2005 and 38 wells have now been completed in highly permeable but poorly consolidated Oligocene reservoirs. Production commenced in October 2007 and is supported by injection of over 350mbd of water into 21 water injectors, predominantly completed with Stand Alone Screens. As the fields have multiple stacked reservoirs, dual zone downhole flow control (DHFC) is advantageous in many water injectors as it allows better control of injection conformance and / or a reduction in well count. During the design phase, it was recognized that although much of the hardware for DHFC systems for water injectors was field proven, the ability to create a long term seal between zones with openhole completions, especially in the deepwater environment, was a significant challenge that had not yet been addressed by the industry. The key challenges were: High differential pressure rating (3000psi). Achieve a robust seal in non-circular wellbores. Large axial load resulting from temperature reduction and differential pressure (>400,000lbs). Large number of injection and shut-in cycles occur over life of well. Large changes in temperature and consequently axial loading occur with each cycle. Following a technical evaluation, a novel dual cup packer concept with integral sliding movement joint and openhole packer slips was selected. This was followed by a 2.5 year rigorous design and qualification period prior to field installation1. 8 DHFC water injection wells have now been installed in Greater Plutonio, and downhole pressure data shows that the cup packers are providing robust high pressure seals after 3.5 years of high rate water injection. The cup packer system has produced a step change in openhole packer technology that has facilitated installation of reliable DHFC water injection wells at scale in the deepwater environment.