Horizontal wells drilled in Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) targeting tight carbonate Mishref reservoir in West Kuwait Minagish development fields provided increased reservoir contact area leading to higher production rate and wider access to available hydrocarbon reserves. Large wellbore radius in these open hole horizontal laterals have resulted in increased friction losses during production phase. Later, with flow equalizing completion techniques, ultimate recovery from the reservoir increased and stable production was achieved during the early phase of the reservoir. However, accessing these long horizontal laterals was a challenge and coiled tubing acidizing treatments helped achieve permeability improvements only upto a certain extent. Majority of the reservoir sections with lower permeability were unaccessed and left untreated. Limited pumping rates through coil tubing could achieve few inches of radial penetration into the formation due to limited amount of acid dosage in the stimulation design. It has also been observed that bullheading treated only the heel section of the horizontal well, especially in the case of carbonate formation where acid stimulation is considered for productivity improvement. Studies carried out via Production and Temperature logging concluded that large sections of the open hole lateral were not contributing to the production due to inefficient distribution of acid across the lateral. Hence there was a need for a completion system which could target those unaccessed, relatively low permeable and untreated zones by providing positive mechanical diversion. With this completion technology, formation treating fluids can be pumped effectively and at maximum desired rates. As a part of the ongoing production strategy, Open Hole Multistage Completion (OHMSC) systems consisting of multiple frac sleeves flanked by open hole packers were deployed in multiple appraisal wells and achieved higher productivity in reduced time. This paper will present details on challenges encountered during wellbore preparation and techniques implemented to deploy OHMSC system in Minagish field. The lessons learnt after executing the project and performance improvement to encounter more challenging reservoir and hole conditions in future are discussed in detail.

The oil and gas industry has experienced multiple market surges and declines over the past decades. The latest downturn further assures the industry's nature of ‘change.’ Technology plays a key role in the management of change, allowing operators to maximize Return on Investment (ROI) through Cost per Foot (CPF) minimization. The adaptive drill bit was introduced to meet a major drilling operator's increasing demand for enhanced drilling efficiency and Non Productive Time (NPT) reduction. The ‘adaptive drill bit’ embodies a hydro-mechanical apparatus and is entirely autonomous, requiring no input from surface as the system takes action to adapt downhole. Prior to the introduction of this exclusive technology, drill bits have been static devices, incapable of altering their characteristics in response to changes in formation or downhole loading conditions. The smart feature mitigates drilling vibration and hence improves drilling efficiency. In the subject application, the 12.25-in. intermediate curved section is formed of challenging interbedded lithology [20-30K UCS], known to induce high drilling vibration levels. The high drilling vibrations typically jeopardize tools/rig components reliability and reduce drilling energy efficiency, leading to delayed section delivery and NPT. A diverse international team was appointed to develop an optimized solution for this market opportunity. The team introduced the adaptive drill bit and a premium technology Rotary Steerable System (RSS) combined solution to overcome the high torsional vibrations challenge and improve drilling energy efficiency. In Kuwait, the first field deployment of the optimized solution reduced vibration levels by 33% and raised Rate of Penetration (ROP) by 42% from average field performance. The adaptive drill bit and RSS drilled at an average ROP of 44.3 ft/hr through approximately 2,500 feet building from 0 to 35 degrees at minimal steer force, offering 14% ROP leverage from competitor's best. The section was safely delivered one day earlier than offsets with zero NPT. Furthermore, the operator has requested for the technology utilization in three new drilling applications.

In one of the prolific fields in Kuwait, achieving zonal isolation posed a big challenge mainly due to setting the production liner shoe close to the oil-water-contact zone. Cement bond logs from the primary cementing jobs were not acceptable due to contamination from intruding water leading to a high water-cut in the produced oil. We review the first implementation of a self-sealing Cementing System in Kuwait to improve zonal isolation and cutting the water production. A comprehensive pre-job study was executed to engineer a suitable cementing system containing a swellable elastomer for oil-water-cuts with proper test in Lab. A novel HPHT multi-function test cell apparatus and procedure were utilized to measure in-situ ability of fractured cement specimens to seal oil-water-flows under the given simulated downhole conditions. Shrinkage or expansion of the set cement was also verified under pressure and temperature with a continuous test method run over several days. Thorough lab tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were run to enable a fit-for-purpose and robust cement slurry design ensuring proper placement of the cementing system in the well. This paper will describe how this cement was designed and engineered in laboratory. It will also describe how the set up was made simulating a crack in cement specimen and injecting water cut oil reacts and provides desired results. A calculated cement engineering approach was adopted to ensure better cement slurry placement and reduce the chances of slurry contamination. The test conditions were staged to replicate the most appropriate downhole conditions of pressure, temperature and simulated micro channel in the cement sheath. After the successful implementation of the self-sealing cementing system along the 7-in production liner in 2 wells, the corresponding cement bond log images showed hydraulic isolation and the production data from the wells indicated a reduction of nearly 50% in the water cut thus allowing a favorable oil production. This technology is applied in other wells of this field and other fields also with good results. This is being continued to use in critical wells.