Interest in hydrocarbon-bearing carbonates as well as emerging extended-reach horizontal well technology for sandstone reservoirs has caused the need for reliable zonal isolation to receive substantial attention. Solutions for isolating more permeable sections of the reservoir from those less prone to produce in an economically favorable flow rate in a horizontal well often employ swell packers, whose major drawback is a long inflation period. This paper presents the successful installation of thirteen remote set packers in an offshore well for a major IOC in Brazil.Twelve of the packers were set in openhole and one was set near the 9 5/8-in casing shoe. The device encompasses a programmable electronically controlled setting mechanism that includes a pressure sensor, temperature sensor and a countdown clock. Utilization of the new technology enabled the operator to set the packers faster than swell packers, saving 2 days of rig time.The completion design comprised setting the packers sequentially from heel to toe, only a few minutes apart, by holding pressure inside the string against the openhole wall. Using actual drilling data, the packers were programmed with the desired pressure and temperature parameters prior to running in the hole. Upon reaching the setting depth, the work string pressure was increased and monitored through the cement unit. In less than one and a half hours, all thirteen devices were successfully set and observed through real-time monitoring of the cement unit's pressure transducer.The paper presents the device concept, describes the complete sequence of pre-job preparation and reveals the installation outcomes.

The global demand for energy is on the rise daily, this puts a heavy burden on Oil and Gas companies as the drilling and production challenges are increasing. Efficient and cost-effective solutions are always sought. Drilling multilateral horizontal wells is considered as one of the optimum solutions to maximize recovery with minimal cost in terms of wells drilled. The production from multilateral wells imposes it is own challenges, such as flow distribution and contribution from laterals. Installing smart completions in multilateral wells was a huge breakthrough and revolutionized the industry. The idea behind smart completions is to continuously monitor and control the production from each lateral individually. With the current configuration of downhole packers, the number of interval control valves (ICV) installed per well is four at most, which limits the number of effective laterals in a well. Considering the primary objective of minimizing drawdown and hence maximizing sweep efficiency from each well, it was studied and simulated that some reservoir compartments have an optimum number of five laterals, which makes it complicated to control and optimize the production. This paper exhibits the deployment of the first "5-Zone Smart Completion" technology in a five lateral well, to control the flow contribution from each lateral. Each completion section installed is comprised of a gauge carrier, a hydraulic flow control valve, a packer with feed-through ports and a sub to accommodate and secure control line splices. The technology enabled the control of the flow rate from five different zones and the measurement of pressure and temperature from each compartment. The completion design included another two pressure and temperature sensors downstream of the flow, only a few hundred feet above the gauge of the upper zone, utilizing a single electric cable to power up and communicate with the surface panels. All hydraulic valves were successfully tested and fully cycled in place and the packers installed at the programmed depths upon installation. The technology enhancement that supported five zones completions ranges from material technology, which permitted enough metal to be removed from the packers, where seven, quarter-inch bores, have to be drilled for control lines to be run to accommodate electronics and telecommunications. This development enabled up to 16 sensors to be connected by one single electrical conduit. The paper presents the production string concept, the technology used to achieve seven bores in the packer, while maintaining the packer's integrity, the complete sequence of pre-job preparation, and the installation outcomes, with its impact on the downhole flow controls.

During the past years, Brazil has been experiencing a significant oil boom, mainly due to its successful and technologically challenging deep offshore exploration campaign, namely the "pre-salt" area. Furthermore, after a five-year halt on bidding rounds, Brazil held two bidding rounds last year: one aimed at on-shore unconventional exploration, as an attempt to stay current on the abroad shale revolution, the other being the first pre-salt PSC bidding for the super-giant field of "Libra". In fact, Brazilian authorities have stated that they expect to nearly double its domestic production within the next five years [1].Both of these exploration frontiers represent not only innumerous financial, technological and logistical challenges, but the success will be dependent and profoundly driven by the availability of the country's petroleum-industry workforce resources involved; specifically, its ability to supply the sudden and critically arising demand. In addition, turning the scenario even more complex is the fact that Brazilian law [1] requires a substantial share of local content, including workforce, must be employed in any of those projects.In face of such a scenario, the SPE Brazil Section, along with several nation-wide company and university representatives, developed and proposed a new unified petroleum engineering program course, aimed at all Brazilian universities. It is on such report that this paper is based.The extensive report indicates that existing academic programs must undergo some changes, if they are to adapt to modern industry requirements and standards. For instance, it concluded that only one-third of a program should be composed of basic courses, with more than half of them on specific-petroleumoriented courses, together with one-tenth on professional-applied courses. In summary, the report indicates that the Brazilian approach on scientific education must be improved and re-thought, combining a theoretical approach and practical considerations.