Drilling of Arun Gas Field

Abstract

The Arun gas field was discovered in late 1971 when the discovery Well Arun A-I penetrated the thick Arun limestone reef. During the following 3 years, 12 delineation wells were drilled. Three of these delineation wells are used for observation wells, five for dry gas injection, one for condensate water disposal, and three are abandoned. Clustered development well drilling started in Sept. 1976. At this writing 40 wells have been drilled to delineate and develop the field. Drilling continues so that the growing demand from the expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is met.The problems of high temperatures, abnonnally highpressured shales, and saltwater sands overlying the lower-pressured Arun limestone have been conquered by numerous technique changes. The current techniques include the use of inverted oil emulsion muds, cements containing 35 % silica flour, high-strength heavyweight tubulars, and clear packer fluids. The evolution of drilling and completion practices are discussed in the paper.

The Arun Gas Field in Indonesia: Resource Management of a Mature Field

“…Drilling into depleted low-pressure reservoirs requires state-of-the-art under-balanced drilling technology to minimize reservoir damage. 6. Innovative methods for utilizing all existing infrastructure in the field need to be evaluated.…”

“…[6][7][8] Innovative drilling techniques were devised to handle the over-pressured Arun reservoir in the initial drilling program. As productivity decreased later in the field life, big bore wells were drilled to reduce frictional pressure losses for gas flow.…”