Champion East: Low-Cost Redevelopment of Shallow, Stacked, and Faulted Heavy-Oil Reservoirs

Abstract

Summary The Champion East area offshore Brunei Darussalam consists of approximately 50 stacked, shallow, and intensely faulted heavy-oil reservoirs. These reservoirs have been under development since 1975 and have to date produced just 9% of the oil initially in place. Over the period 1998–2003, Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) is embarking on a major redevelopment with the aim of converting a further 30 million m3 of oil-in-place volume into commercial reserves. An overview will be given of how new technology is adding value to the total redevelopment, supported by actual application results and learning points. The primary development of Champion East is now nearing completion. The use of existing facilities and ultrashallow, long-reach horizontal wells—with innovative sand exclusion and down-hole intelligence—has achieved a 60% unit cost reduction over previous drilling campaigns in the area. The only way to unlock another 5 to 15% of the oil-in-place volume is to start secondary recovery through water injection, in combination with the use of electric submersible pumps (ESPs).