Rethinking the Flow Management Strategy: Introducing Advanced Lower Completion as a Sustainable Technology in Brownfield Asset.

Abstract

Horizontal wells has been used across fractured reservoirs for field development, in presence of ununiformed water/gas saturation, introducing challenges for reservoir management. Premature water/gas production cause a higher bypassed oil, impacting its recovery and the business profitability. Wells performance can be enhanced through advanced and sustainable technologies, conveying in the use of integrated lower completion (i.e. ICV, ICD/AICD, DHPG, PPL). This paper discusses well/reservoir criteria, completion design and impact of incorporating these technologies in the Reservoir 1 development plan. Early water/gas breakthrough, zonal isolation, cost, well productivity, complexity of deployment, and material availability have been part of the essentials to be considered in the process workflow from planning, execution and deployment phase. Dedicated Steady-state numerical solutions inflow parameters such as permeability and water-cut profiles modeling were carried out to provide the most suitable lower completion design. The simulation was performed for separate scenarios where Flow control devices (FCD) and Intelligent Completion IC were incrementally implemented. The outcomes were compared in terms of well cumulative oil and water/gas production thru the scenarios and their value quantified. This opportunity screening and lower completion design (LCD) workflow have recently been applied at Reservoir 1 development plan. Based on the simulation cases outcomes, Six (6) new wells drilled in 2020-2022 are provided with FCD, IC, PPL expecting an incremental oil production and oil recovery with less gas and less water production consequently prolonging the well life. In Addition with the environmental benefits associated with less emissions that are achieved by reducing un-wanted fluids production. There is a planned to be drilled three (3) more wells with LCD in the next five years as part of the new field development strategies that will improve the sweeping efficiency and oil recovery tackling the production of undesired fluids in a proactive manner. Less associated emissions – The environmental benefits are achieved by reducing gas and water production, which supports company's commitments to emissions reduction target within their total production operations.