A Tracer Technology Applied for Inflow Profiling While Monitoring Individual AICD/ICD Performance. A Case Study from Offshore Horizontal Wells in the South China Sea

Abstract

A tracer technology system was integrated with AICD/ICD completions in 2 horizontal offshore wells with a dual objective to assess performance of each individual inflow control device and to obtain long-term dynamic data of the well inflow profile. As a measure of water control, ICD (Inflow Control Device) technique is widely applied in the eastern oilfield in the South China Sea, AICD (Autonomous Inflow Control Device) technology is also gaining wider recognition. At the same time, it is very difficult to evaluate the application effect of ICD/AICD, and there is no unified evaluation criteria and methods. This solution assumes equipping each inflow control device with a set of marker indicators (tracers of unique signatures) enabling to obtain inflow profile in numerical terms with unique identification of a source of water breakthrough (specific ICD/AICD) in the horizontal lateral of the well. Selected technologies showed good compatibility. The design of ICD/AICD allows easy incorporation of tracer material. Inflow profile can indicate each individual device working condition over a long period. The tracer analysis provides quantitative data showing the flow composition and each liquid phase contribution from every device. The large number of unique marker signatures allowed to trace every single device (25 with ICD and 37 with AICD in the study wells). Data combined from the performance of all ICDs/AICDs within one zone of the well horizontal section (3 zones in total of the study well) shows production profile of the well and helps with reservoir characterization to provide recommendations for improving field development management efficiency. The key feature of the method is the possibility to measure the performance of each inflow control device and production contribution and phase composition coming from each zone of the well. Being a long term interventionless monitoring solution the combination of technologies (ICD/AICD + marker monitoring) allows to understand what impact different operational modes and working regimes of AICD have on the production and zonal contribution and select the most optimal regime to achieve production goals.