Multilateral Jetting Technology Results in Increased Production in Offshore Field

Abstract

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper IPTC 21959, “Multilateral Jetting Technology Results in a 150% Uplift in Production During a Second Offshore Application in Abu Dhabi Offshore Field,” by Salman Farhan Nofal, SPE, Fazeel Ahmad, SPE, and Ahmad Shmakhy, SPE, ADNOC, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2022 International Petroleum Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. A well offshore Abu Dhabi was deemed a success despite deployment challenges during the lower completion phase. Opportunities to address these challenges existed for a succeeding well, and in the search for improvement to the productivity index (PI), multilateral acid-jetting technology was adopted as a more-effective approach than typical drainage methods. Following successful adoption of this technology, the well has been producing for 1 year at the time of writing with positive results. Introduction The subject reservoir consists of a carbonate multilayer formation with differing porosities and permeabilities. The conventional method to inject or produce from these layers is by drilling slanted or horizontal holes followed by acidizing using conventional 15 or 28% hydrochloric acid (HCl). These holes sometimes do not meet the target because of low productivity (high drawdown) caused by tight reservoirs with less surface contact even after acidizing because the acid tends to propagate more in the highly permeable streaks than in the low-permeability ones. The new approach aims at addressing this problem by increasing the surface contact in the low-permeability streaks and connecting different thin separated layers to improve productivity using expanding metal needles. Challenges This reservoir consists of multiple thin, low-permeability layers separated by dense layers. Completion of wells in all sublayers with slanted holes did not lead to efficient production, and high drawdown led to low bottomhole flowing pressure. Completion of wells in one or two sublayers using horizontal stepdown was considered, but some wells were still not able to produce against the sea line, leading to the conclusion that the reservoirs suffered from a low ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability (kV/kH).