Open-Hole Horizontal Drilling and Gravel-Packing With Oil-Based Fluids - An Industry Milestone

Wagner, Michael R.; Webb, Tamara; Maharaj, Matthew; Twynam, Allan; Green, T.; Salamat, Golchehreh; Parlar, Mehmet

doi:10.2118/87648-ms

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Two of these completions were discussed in detail elsewhere, one involving the very first successful application of an oil-based carrier fluid after drilling the reservoir with a reversible oil-based fluid system 14 and the other involving the use of an HEC carrier fluid subsequent to reservoir drilling with a biopolymer/starch/ CaCO 3 fluid. 9 Discussed below are three of the applications in Kapok and the Cannonball wells, where an industry milestone was achieved with the installation of the first ever ISO V0 rated combination gravel pack/production packer.…”

Section: Open-hole Shunt Packsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of Completion Techniques for High-Rate Gas Wells Offshore Trinidad

Cooper

Akong

Krieger

et al. 2007

Proceedings of European Formation Damage Conference

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fax 01-972-952-9435.Abstract BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) has been developing highrate gas fields in Trinidad & Tobago since 1999, and has six high rate gas fields currently on production, with several more in planning stages. All of the wells require sand control and this has resulted in five sandface completion types (Open Hole Gravel Pack, Cased Hole Frac Pack, Cased Hole Gravel Pack, Stand Alone Screen and Orientated Perforating). Based on the experience and field performance, open-hole gravel packing has become the preferred option. The techniques used in completing these high rate gas wells as open-hole gravel packs have included both water-packs and shunt-packs. The experiences gained from these operations have now become part of BP's open-hole gravel pack best practices.The paper details the completion evolution in BP's offshore Trinidad and Tobago high rate gas fields and the relative performance of these completion types from sand control and well productivity standpoints. Characteristics of bp Trinidad & Tobago's High-Rate Gas FieldsCurrently, there are six high rate gas fields that are being operated by bpTT in Trinidad & Tobago: Amherstia, Flamboyant, Immortelle, Kapok, Mahogany, and Cannonball. There are three other fields in the planning phase. The six producing gas fields contain multiple stacked and faultsegmented reservoirs with recoverable reserves ranging from 80 bcf to 1.5 tcf. 1 Detailed discussions of the reservoir characteristics for most of these fields can be found in several earlier publications. 2,3 The reservoirs in these fields are generally characterized as fine sand, with D 50 varying from 50 to 125 microns, uniformity coefficient (D 40 /D 90 ) of 4.5 to 15, sorting coefficient (D 10 /D 95 ) of 23 to 95, and fines content (D < 44 microns) of 14 to 47%. From a sand size distribution standpoint, based on available guidelines in the literature, gravel packing and frac packing are the preferred sand control techniques. 4,5 As of mid 2006, approximately 50 high-rate gas wells were completed in these six fields, with 10 cased and perforated (no sand control), 2 standalone screens, 8 casedhole frac-packs, 9 cased-hole gravel packs and 23 open-hole gravel packs. These completions are reviewed below, with some examples for each in detail. Additional relevant information to BP Trinidad & Tobago field developments maybe found in the literature. 6-14 Cased and Perforated (C&P) CompletionsThis technique was applied in deeper reservoirs with relatively high strength, UCS in the range of 1,600 to 2,000 psi. A total of ten C&P completions were performed in high rate gas wells, four in Amherstia, four in Flamboyant and two in Immortelle fields.

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Section: Open-hole Shunt Packsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of Completion Techniques for High-Rate Gas Wells Offshore Trinidad

Cooper

Akong

Krieger

et al. 2007

Proceedings of European Formation Damage Conference

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“…In 2000, an Industry Joint Venture was set up with BP, Chevron, Petrobras and Total under the title of Oil Based Gravel Packing JV. The intent of this JV was to drive the development of oil based fluid systems for drilling and completion of challenging openhole gravel pack wells 11 . The driver to utilize oil-based reservoir drill-in fluids (RDF) in Chirag was evident from comparison of caliper data obtained on several of the wells utilizing water based drilling fluids and those drilled with SOBM.…”

Section: Evolution Of Fluids and Displacements Designmentioning

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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“…The density of the carrier fluid is controlled through the internal phase density, as the oil: brine ratio has been fixed at 30:70 (± 5%) by volume for reasons discussed in an earlier publication. 3 The density requirement for our application was 9.6 ppg. The emulsifier concentration needed to be optimized in order to control fluid stability.…”

Section: Fluids Selection Optimization and Compatibilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wagner et al presented a case history detailing the application of an oil-based gravel packing fluid on a high-rate gas well drilled with a reversible oil-based reservoir drilling fluid. 3 Also discussed in their paper were several important lessons learned during the previous two attempts elsewhere as well as during the first attempt on the high rate gas well in Trinidad, all of which have been incorporated into the design and execution of the gravel pack treatment on the subject well in Okpoho field, Nigeria. Additional learnings from the yard tests discussed in a subsequent paper by Parlar et al 2 led to a more thorough consideration of potential screen plugging and a simple technique that made on-site screen plugging tests more of a quantitative tool in assessment of the impact on a field scale, rather than an "On-or-Off" tool, often based on an incomplete evaluation of the plugging potential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Openhole Gravel Packing With Oil-Based Fluids: Implementation of the Lessons Learned From Past Experiences Leads to the Best Producer in Okpoho Field, Nigeria

Ofoh¹,

Wariboko²,

Uwaifo³

et al. 2006

Proceedings of International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractA large majority of the recent deepwater developments in West Africa require sand control applications. Openhole gravel packing is the preferred sand control technique adopted by many operators in this region. It is considered one of the proven methods of sand control from both reliability and productivity standpoints, and allows access to larger reserves through fewer wells. Since most of these reservoirs contain reactive shale streaks, they require synthetic/oil-based drilling fluids (S/OB). Considering that the openhole gravel packing in the industry deals primarily with water based fluid environments, new challenges for gravel packing of the associated wells are thus introduced. A significant level of progress has been made in recent years towards overcoming the challenges through new developments in fluids application, tools and techniques. These developments have resulted in successful gravel packing of wells drilled with oilbased (OB) fluids, which have yielded well productivities, which, in many instances, exceeded those completed in waterbased drilling fluid environments. Currently, techniques and fluid systems are available for gravel packing with either a water-based (WB) or an oil-based gravel packing fluid. Both approaches have been practiced in various regions in the world. A common and critical element of both approaches is the proper assessment of potential plugging of the sand control screens during installation and subsequent displacement processes, since t he screen installation often must be accomplished with solids-laden fluids (conditioned oil-based mud) in the wellbore, due to logistical challenges and economics. An OB carrier fluid was recently used for openhole gravel packing of a well in Okpoho field, offshore Nigeria. The application resulted in the best producer in the field. This paper details the steps taken through the design and execution stages of the treatment, incorporating the lessons learned from two previous applications of the OB carrier fluid. A detailed description of the yard tests conducted in Nigeria and the onsite QA/QC procedures with screen samples are also included. A simple approach is proposed for quantification of the impact of screen plugging test results on field practice. This allows operators to evaluate how much, if any, screenplugging can be expected with the particular conditioned OBM as the screens are run in hole and during subsequent displacement processes, so that the operator can decide whether further conditioning, and thus the additional rig time, is worth the associated cost.

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Open-Hole Horizontal Drilling and Gravel-Packing With Oil-Based Fluids - An Industry Milestone

Cited by 12 publications

References 28 publications

A Critical Review of Completion Techniques for High-Rate Gas Wells Offshore Trinidad

A Critical Review of Completion Techniques for High-Rate Gas Wells Offshore Trinidad

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

Openhole Gravel Packing With Oil-Based Fluids: Implementation of the Lessons Learned From Past Experiences Leads to the Best Producer in Okpoho Field, Nigeria

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