Offshore Field Completion Evolution Overcomes Field Challenges and Optimizes Multilateral Wells Production

Abstract

AbstractProducing from a high-permeability sandstone reservoir such as in Saudi Arabia’s offshore fields has unique challenges, which include sand production, high-water production, and early water breakthrough due to active water drive and reservoir heterogeneity. These challenges add to the difficulty in the use of artificial lift where wells in different segments of the field were recently equipped with electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). This offshore field had seen an evolution of completion practices directed to resolve each challenge independently, until recently where an optimum integrated completion design was developed to overcome all challenges and optimize production, extend the producing life of the wells, and enhance recovery for the long term.The subject wells were completed with multilaterals targeting different layers in the reservoir. Inflow control devices (ICD) were used in the open hole completion for each lateral to enhance the well’s influx balance and control/delay water production. The intelligent completions (IC) solution, which consists of inflow control valves (ICVs), permanent downhole monitoring system gauges, and multiport packers, are employed to control lateral production. In addition, a hydraulic line wet mate (HLWM) connect system is used to combine an ESP Pod system with an intelligent completion in multilateral wells. In most cases, due to the limited run life of an ESP, the pumps need to be replaced every few years. The HLWM connect system provides the flexibility to replace the ESP without having to retrieve the intelligent completion (ICVs, multiport packers, etc.), which saves cost and time.This paper describes the integrated completion design used to overcome the subject field’s production challenges and will illustrate by an example how ICDs, ICVs, HLWM, and ESPs accomplished that goal. The integrated completion system helps enhance/optimize well production, allowing for efficiently draining the reservoir; and maximizing production and recovery. This paper will also summarize adapting the IC solution to practice and field example tests of such an IC solution design.