A Novel Inflow Control Device Design Philosophy of Optimizing Horizontal Well Performance

Abstract

Abstract Horizontal wells in bottom-water reservoir equipped with inflow control devices (ICDs) are a proven technology of delaying influx of water to help maximize oil production by creating additional pressure drop, adjusting horizontal wellbore pressure distribution, and thus, achieving an even influx profile. Owing to completion risk and investment venture, especially offshore field, it’s essential to design ICDs (number, location, type, size, etc.) effectively in order to improve production and net present value (NPV), otherwise the ICDs even would be overlooked. Conventional ICDs design is aiming to attain equal influx along the horizontal wellbore, which would delay water production, as well as oil potential production, unfortunately. This paper will use reservoir simulation to study four production strategies and analyze the benefits of delaying water and improving oil production. The four strategies considered are (i) no ICD, (ii) stinger water-control completion, (iii) ICD (conventional design), (iv) ICD (design based on the principle of maximizing oil production). The simulation results and analysis will show the disadvantage of conventional ICDs design method. This paper will develop a novel ICD design philosophy on the basis of maximizing oil production before water breakthrough. In this paper, we will evaluate an offshore field case, which suffers from water coning, to compare the novel design philosophy with conventional one. The actual role of conventional ICDs design in delaying water coning will be found in this paper to sacrifice oil production reduction, which has negative impact on horizontal well performance and eventually results in ultimate oil recovery decrease. Instead, ICDs based on the novel ICD design philosophy presented in this paper will be proven to be more effective to improve oil production, while water coning from bottom-water reservoir can be delayed.