Under this climate of oil price and energy uncertainty, it is mandatory to limit the non-productive time (NPT) and achieve the highest levels of operational excellence. This is a key factor toward overcoming the evolving economic challenges, reducing budget and spending, and optimizing the return on investment. Worldwide, stuck pipe and borehole problems represent one major contributor into the NPT while drilling, reaming, tripping, casing and running completions. This NPT category becomes even more critical when dealing with shaly formations. Saudi Aramco constantly deal with offshore shaly formations in Saudi Arabia where stuck pipe and borehole problems contribute with over 24% to the overall drilling and workover NPT. Establishing best practices to minimize or prevent these problems will enhance the overall drilling performance and result in significant operating time reductions and cost savings. The major offshore re-entry operation challenges are first screened: formation instability, hole size, well trajectory, bottomhole assembly and experience and communication. The shaly formation rock nature is analyzed to understand the stressed shale instability root cause: mechanical and/or chemical. This diagnostic step establishes the formation shale properties and behavior. In relation to this information, three basic stuck pipe mechanisms (pack-off and bridging, differential sticking, and wellbore geometry) are discussed where the major contributing factors for each category are identified. This leads to the establishment of proactive recommendations and best practices. These practices will tackle the problem from different angles to construct an integrated solution. This includes drilling fluid design (rheology, filter cake, filtrate volume and properties, etc.), hole cleaning (rate of penetration, sweep pills, bottoms-up volume, etc.) and drilling parameters (trend analysis, flow rates, string motion, etc.). This paper will highlight the recommended practices and provide actual well examples where stuck pipe tendency was reduced in shaly formations.

Horizontal wells have provided operators a way to maximize reservoir contact, improve sweep efficiency and well productivity. Conventionally completed horizontal wells present a high risk of gas cusping and water coning that can significantly affect the well's effectiveness. Preventing early unwanted fluid breakthrough is key to the well's success, hence it is critical that an even production influx profile along the entire wellbore is achieved. The production profile along the wellbore is affected by various parameters, including: heterogeneity with respect to the permeability and reservoir pressure along the wellbore, the presence of fractures, and frictional effects. Inflow control devices (ICDs) were developed to delay gas/water breakthrough, maximize sweep, and reduce — even potentially eliminate — future well intervention. ICDs have become a mainstream completion tool in Saudi Arabia. With each ICD completion deployment, a better understanding is gained with respect to deployment and installation of the lower completion, as well as a greater insight to how to achieve optimum reservoir management. Analysis gained from the previous wells has helped capture a substantial amount of best practices and lessons learned. This paper intends to capture the lessons learned after more than 10 years of deployment of inflow control completions in Saudi Arabia. The main topics that are to be discussed are: ICD types, the optimum operating envelope, and new technological advancementsOptimum ICD design approachOpen hole packersDeployment systemsBest operational practices and their potential impact This paper provides a guideline for designing a well with ICD completions, and explains how the advancement in technology impacts cost, time and reservoir management.

The most challenging aspect of reservoir management in a highly fractured carbonate reservoir is determining a completion that has the ability to control the production flux and prevent early unwanted fluid breakthrough while maintaining the production. Throughout the years, Saudi Aramco has made much advancement in the field of reservoir optimized completions, by continuously implementing new technology and techniques that enhance the design and deployment of these completions.When designing an ICD completion, it is critical to design a completion that is best able to provide production flux control while meeting production requirements, as well as considering key operational factors such as, safety, cost and the time required completing the design.

Off-bottom cementing (OBC) operations are unique to Saudi Arabia and also represents one of the most challenging types of drilling and workover operations, when deployed in combination with inflow control devices (ICDs) across horizontal sections. In a conventional ICD system, an inner string with packer setting tools is required for setting open hole packers, and to have 100% circulation at the bottom of the completion, to wash down any tight spots. As a consequence, this introduces additional issues such as health, safety and environment, logistics and additional rig time. The inner string also increases the ICD completion string weight, while deploying the system in the horizontal section, creating more drag and increasing the risk of getting stuck. The multitasking valve (MTV) feature in the upgraded ICDs offers safe, simple and cost-effective deployment operations. The MTV allows the system to be deployed without the need for an inner string. This will positively impact the deployment by simplifying the complexity in the rig operation while achieving 100% circulation at the shoe. Besides, all the hydraulically activated equipment, such as the liner hanger packer, open hole mechanical packers, etc., can be pressurized and set simultaneously. Furthermore, the ICD completion will weigh less in the horizontal section, resulting in less friction and drag to reach total depth (TD). The MTV feature provides an opportunity to deploy the ICD system and the OBC liner system together in one trip. This paper will discuss the first deployment of a combined ICD system with an OBC system for a workover operation, in a historical oil well producer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The merged system was successfully deployed to depth, then cemented off-bottom, saving approximately 40 hours of rig operation time.

Off-bottom cementing (OBC) operations are unique to Saudi Arabia and also represents one of the most challenging types of drilling and workover operations, when deployed in combination with inflow control devices (ICDs) across horizontal sections. In a conventional ICD system, an inner string with packer setting tools is required for setting open hole packers, and to have 100% circulation at the bottom of the completion, to wash down any tight spots. As a consequence, this introduces additional issues such as health, safety and environment, logistics and additional rig time. The inner string also increases the ICD completion string weight, while deploying the system in the horizontal section, creating more drag and increasing the risk of getting stuck. The multitasking valve (MTV) feature in the upgraded ICDs offers safe, simple and cost-effective deployment operations. The MTV allows the system to be deployed without the need for an inner string. This will positively impact the deployment by simplifying the complexity in the rig operation while achieving 100% circulation at the shoe. Besides, all the hydraulically activated equipment, such as the liner hanger packer, open hole mechanical packers, etc., can be pressurized and set simultaneously. Furthermore, the ICD completion will weigh less in the horizontal section, resulting in less friction and drag to reach total depth (TD). The MTV feature provides an opportunity to deploy the ICD system and the OBC liner system together in one trip. This paper will discuss the first deployment of a combined ICD system with an OBC system for a workover operation, in a historical oil well producer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The merged system was successfully deployed to depth, then cemented off-bottom, saving approximately 40 hours of rig operation time.