Maximising Productivity of Standalone Screen Completions in Complex Multi-Lateral Wells

Abstract

Abstract The Vincent project is a heavy offshore oil field developed by subsea multilateral wells with sand control. This paper will provide an insight into how completion practices were developed to maximize well productivity and how they were balanced against risks for constructing multilateral (ML) junctions. The fluids used for drilling and cleaning up open-hole laterals can have a significant impact on well productivity in standalone screen applications, especially with respect to sand screen plugging. This paper details the development of open-hole fluid selection and clean up practices for completing long 2000m+ horizontal laterals with standalone screens. The Vincent wells are more complex due to drilling tri-lateral wells that include two TAML level 5 ML junctions requiring open-hole connections. The paper identifies the key risks for installing the ML junctions in a weak formation including risks imposed from clean up practices. The paper reviews the lessons learned during execution, how the ML junction installation risks were mitigated and how the Vincent wells were delivered with a well performance meeting expectation.