Mathematical Modeling of Prediction of Horizontal Wells with Gravel Pack Combined with ICD in Bottom-Water Reservoirs

Abstract

During the development of horizontal wells in bottom-water reservoirs, the strong heterogeneity of reservoir permeability leads to premature bottom-water breakthroughs at locations with high permeability in the horizontal wellbore, and the water content rises rapidly, which seriously affects production. To cope with this problem, a new technology has emerged in recent years that utilizes gravel filling to block the flow in the annulus between the horizontal well and the borehole and utilizes the Inflow Control Device (ICD) completion tool to carry out segmental water control in horizontal wells. Unlike conventional horizontal well ICD completions that use packers for segmentation, gravel packs combined with ICD completions break the original segmentation routine and increase the complexity of the production dynamic simulation. In this paper, the flow in different spatial dimensions, such as reservoirs, gravel-packed layers, ICD completion sections, and horizontal wellbores, is modeled separately. Furthermore, the annular pressures at different locations are used as the solution variable for the coupled solution, which realizes the prediction of oil production, water production, and the water content of gravel packs combined with ICD completion of horizontal wells. The model is used to calculate the effects of different crude oil viscosities, different reservoir permeabilities, different permeabilities of gravel-packed layers, and different development stages on the water control effects of gravel packs combined with ICD completions and conventional ICD completions under field conditions.