Frac-Packing Openhole Completions: An Industry Milestone

Saldungaray, Pablo; Troncoso, Juan C.; Sofyan, Muhammad; Santoso, Bambang T.; Parlar, Mehmet; Price-Smith, C.; Hurst, Gary; Bailey, William J.

doi:10.2118/73757-ms

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…83 In the Widuri field in the Java Sea, a deviated open-hole completion was successfully frac-packed with good results. The Talang Akar sandstone is very high perm (1000 -2000 md) at a depth of 3500 ft. Poor sand consolidation mandates sand control techniques.…”

Section: Comparison Between Frac Packs and Alternate Completionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Proving It - A Review of 80 Published Field Studies Demonstrating the Importance of Increased Fracture Conductivity

Vincent

2002

Proceedings of SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractMany engineers disregard laboratory reports demonstrating that the pressure losses across proppant samples are substantial. Similarly, it appears that the modeling studies warning of substantial productivity losses due to inadequate fracture conductivity have not been universally convincing.Perhaps many practical frac engineers simply object to the theoretical nature of these arguments, when they quote one of the more influential orators of our time, Shania Twain, 1 stating, "That don't impress me much."Instead, many Petroleum Engineers prefer to see the economic benefit demonstrated in real reservoirs, and seemingly borrow a quotation from the film Jerry Maguire, 2 stating, "Show me the money!"The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of over 80 field studies where well productivity was improved by increasing the fracture conductivity. The benefit of increased conductivity has been demonstrated in oil, condensate, and gas reservoirs in 50 regions around the globe. This benefit was documented by 250 authors representing over 70 companies. Increased conductivity has been shown to be beneficial in oil wells producing 2 bopd to 25,000 bopd, and in gas wells producing less than 1 MMCFD to over 100 MMCFD. Higher conductivity fractures were proven to improve the cash flow in carbonates and sandstones at depths of 2800 to 20,000 feet, and in low rate coal bed methane wells shallower than 1500 feet.This review of industry experiences in a wide variety of reservoirs is not presented as a substitute for a comprehensive optimization study in a specific location. Instead, the following summary demonstrates that well productivity and profitability can frequently be improved with redesign of hydraulic fractures, despite the failure of many existing production models to predict those benefits.These studies are presented to satisfy the following goals: 1) To verify that the extreme pressure losses observed in the laboratory and predicted by current fluid flow theory are real, i.e., "Proving It". 2) To provide a list of fields, encompassing a wide variety of reservoir types, to assist engineers searching for results from an analogous field. 3) To provide a number of field studies to which production models can be calibrated. 4) To summarize the collective experience of over 250 authors, and incorporate what they have learned into future fracture designs. 5) To demonstrate the relationship between fracture conductivity, well productivity, and cash flow, i.e., "Show me the money!"

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Section: Comparison Between Frac Packs and Alternate Completionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Proving It - A Review of 80 Published Field Studies Demonstrating the Importance of Increased Fracture Conductivity

Vincent

2002

Proceedings of SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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“…Sand management techniques include oriented and/or selective perforating, 1 formation consolidation, 2 stand alone screens, 3 expandable screens, 4 fracturing for sand control, 5 cased-hole gravel-packing 6 or frac-packing, 7 open-hole gravel-packing 8 or frac-packing, 9 or some combination of these methods. 10 These techniques have been applied in other basins based on a variety of drivers for a given project and with varying degrees of success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of Chirag Field Completions Performance—Offshore Azerbaijan B

Powers¹,

Edment

Elliott³

et al. 2006

SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control

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Chirag field was the first of three fields put into production in the Azeri -Chirag -Guneshli (ACG) megastructure, located in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea and operated by BP on behalf of Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC). Production commenced in late 1997 after completion of the Chirag A01T1 well. A number of different sandface completion types have been installed in Chirag injectors and producers during the Chirag Early Oil Project (EOP), and significant data have been collected to evaluate the performance of each completion type. Completion types include cased and perforated, open hole gravel packs (OHGP) using wire-wrapped, pre-packed and alternate path (shunttube) screen technology, stand-alone porous metal fiber premium screens, and expandable screens. To date, 29 completions have been installed in 19 of 24 available well slots in primary and sidetrack wells.Many of the producing wells are equipped with permanent downhole pressure-temperature gauges, the flowlines are equipped with acoustic sand detection devices, and an active separator production test and surveillance program has resulted in a quality data set to evaluate completion performance under initial "dry oil" (water free) conditions, and upon the onset of produced water. This quality data set has greatly assisted the completions performance analysis, which has helped shape completion decisions and technology requirements for full field development.The paper will review the completion evolution in Chirag field, the relative performance of completion types over a broad range of indicators, and will include a discussion about measures taken to improve open-hole gravel pack performance from a reservoir damage perspective, with a focus on producers.

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Efficient Cost Saving through an Appropriate Completion Design

Ouyang

Huang

Dickerson

2006

SPE Western Regional/Aapg Pacific Section/Gsa Cordilleran Section Joint Meeting

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Well completion plays a critical role in the performance of a well in its entire life. More and more advanced well completion options are available for potential deployment in new wells, especially those in deep water and offshore; however, the cost could vary significantly from one completion type to the other. Considering the fact that completion takes a substantial stake in the whole CAPEX for a new well, the cost and the impact of the well completion is too significant to be ignored. Two field case studies will be discussed in the present paper to demonstrate the possibility of cost saving through efficient completion designs. The first case study is focused on a deviated gas producer, and the second on a horizontal oil producer. The most popular completion options, including openhole gravel pack, cased-hole gravel pack, openhole, standalone screen, cased-hole frac pack, expandable sand screen, inflow control devices (ICD), intelligent well completions (DIACS), etc, will be considered in the completion selection. Other completion options such as alternating standalone screen and blank pipe that may slash completion cost without sacrifice of well performance will also be proposed and evaluated. Well performance will then be evaluated in details by assessing total well production, annular flow and flow inside the liner/tubing, pressure profiles along the annulus and along the liner, inflow from reservoir to annulus and fluid transfer between annulus and liner, and so on. Cost recovery, water and/or gas shut-off, formation damage, casing collapse, sand prevention issues associated with different completion options will be addressed. A work flow aiming at optimizing well performance while maintaining completion cost at the minimum will be proposed. Introduction Well completion plays a critical role in well design, and more importantly, the performance of the well in its entire life. With more and more advanced well completion options deployed in new wells, especially in the deep and ultra-deepwater environment, the cost and the impact of the well completion is too significant to be ignored. The major motivation for the study is to illustrate the strategy and workflow that should aid to achieve an efficient completion design in regard to both cost saving and production efficiency. The procedure will be applied to two filed examples to demonstrate its application. Literature Review As anticipated, a wide range of well completion aspects, including completion performance review, completion design, completion selection, sand control, gas and water shut-off, best practices and lessons learned, etc., have been discussed in a significant number of SPE papers. A selection of the most recent studies is briefly introduced here for reference. Powers et al[1] reviewed the completion evolution in the Chirag field, compared the relative performance of completion types over a range of indicators, and discussed measures to take to improve open-hole gravel pack performance from a reservoir damage perspective. Ouyang & Huang[2] compared the performance of horizontal and multilateral wells under different completion options. Total well production, annular flow and flow inside the liner/tubing, pressure profiles along the annulus and along the liner, inflow from reservoir to annulus and fluid transfer between annulus and liner have been evaluated.

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Frac-Packing Openhole Completions: An Industry Milestone

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

Proving It - A Review of 80 Published Field Studies Demonstrating the Importance of Increased Fracture Conductivity

Proving It - A Review of 80 Published Field Studies Demonstrating the Importance of Increased Fracture Conductivity

A Critical Review of Chirag Field Completions Performance—Offshore Azerbaijan B

Efficient Cost Saving through an Appropriate Completion Design

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