Development and Field Trial of the Well-Lateral-Intervention Tool

Abstract

Summary Wells with extended-reach multilaterals have improved reservoir contact and have opened the opportunity for well-placement and -drilling optimization. Since the early 2000s, the number of maximum-reservoir-contact wells has increased substantially, and the benefit of these wells is being realized at the early implementation stage. To enhance the performance of these multilateral wells, intervention operations in the laterals are required. Stimulation, data acquisition, and other operations are required to optimize the production from the laterals; however, accessing the lateral of any wellbore for intervention in a reliable manner is still a challenge. The present paper describes the development of an intelligent, real-time controllable tool, the well-lateral-intervention tool (WLIT), that can identify a lateral junction and steer an intervention/surveillance string into it. The WLIT is designed to be deployed by use of either coiled tubing or e-line (with the help of a well tractor for extended-reach horizontal deployment) for logging and/or stimulation purposes. This application provides the ability to increase the quantity and quality of information collected from the entire well—main bore and the multiple laterals individually—to obtain the best answer. The discussion is dedicated to the development stages of the tool and field-trial-test results. The WLIT has two versions. The first version is called “wired,” which accommodates specific logging tools that are compatible with the WLIT design, whereas the second version, “wireless,” allows the use of all types of logging-tool strings from any third-party provider. The test results highlight both versions of the tool. The WLIT sensory equipment and the control environment are described, and results from the field-trial tests are presented.