Technical Review of Tubing Deployed Flow Control Devices at MacKay River

Abstract

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is a complex process and often requires more control relative to conventional applications during production operations. Flow Control Devices (FCDs) have been identified as a technology that offers improved efficiency of the process while simplifying the operations. The first FCD completions were installed in SAGD wells in Canada over a decade ago with the intention of improving the steam chamber conformance and reducing the steam-oil ratio (SOR). While it is widely understood that FCD completions, for the most part, have helped achieve the desired uplift for SAGD producers, further optimization could be made on future completion designs and operation strategy by looking at actual performance data from previous installations. The objective of the study was to obtain key design parameters and considerations for future FCD completion designs. The majority of FCD completions in MacKay River were tubing deployed, installed in previously producing wellbores (retrofit). This study looks at 11 wells that were completed with a Baker Hughes FCDs. The analysis was broken down into 2 segments: production analysis and modelling. Production strategy implemented for each well was taken into account to eliminate variances. The modelling used a combination of steady state simulation (presented in this paper) and numerical simulation (to be presented in part II). The study showed that TD FCDs improve the performance of SAGD well pairs when implemented in the appropriate candidate wells. An important outcome was the development of a candidate wells’ selection criteria, to ensure the retrofit completion improved performance and did not exacerbate other problems. Furthermore, design consideration were identified to improve the performances of future TD FCD installations.

Impact of Inflow and Outflow Rate Control to Minimize Freshwater Usage: Historical Canadian Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Operations versus Numerical Simulations

“…Other than that, as a result of some operational limitations, the increase of the injection pressure and rate for wells with TDFCDs to enhance oil production in lower subcool temperatures proves to be quite challenging. ,, However, in certain situations, opting for TDFCDs might be a more cost-effective choice by postponing their deployment until challenges arise. On the other hand, this approach is often more intricate and comes with higher costs compared to the deployment of LDFCDs . It is important to highlight the notable distinctions between these approaches, and some of the prevalent challenges associated with TDFCDs are cited by ref .…”

New Design Method of a Supersonic Steam Injection Nozzle and Its Numerical Simulation Verification

“…Although nozzle-type OCD devices were employed in the field, there was a lack of relevant foundations for optimizing the design of nozzle structures . Considering the widespread application of horizontal well steam injection technology in the exploitation of heavy oil reservoirs and the notable advantages exhibited by OCDs in enhancing steam injection uniformity, conducting research on the structural design and optimization of nozzles to improve steam injection uniformity in horizontal wells carried substantial significance. , …”