Maximum Reservoir Contact Wells Research Articles

SPE Board Announces Nominees for 2024 President and 2023 Directors

2024 SPE President Terry Palisch is the vice president of technology and engineering at CARBO Ceramics in Richardson, Texas. He began his career with ARCO, during which he served 4 years in Algeria and 10 years as a senior petroleum engineer in Alaska. Palisch joined CARBO in 2004 and in his current position leads a team of technologists developing and championing new products and services and advising clients on completion and fracture optimization. Palisch has been an active SPE member serving in various roles, including past chairman of the SPE Dallas Section, past chair of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) technical program and former SPE Completions Technical Director. He is an SPE Distinguished Member and received the award for Distinguished Service, as well as the SPE Mid‑Continent Regional Completions Optimization and Technology Award and the Regional Service Award. In 2013, he was named one of the Top 15 Best Engineers by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, and in 2015 he was named the SPE Dallas Section Engineer of the Year. He has authored more than 50 SPE technical papers and holds several patents. Palisch holds a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from University of Missouri‑Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology) and was recently recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus. North America Regional Director Robert C. Martinez is president and CEO of Titan Rock Exploration & Production and president of Alpine Gas. He has more than 23 years of experience developing and optimizing oil and gas assets throughout the US, including conventional assets, unconventional horizontal development programs, and enhanced oil recovery projects. Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Mohamed Al Marzouqi is senior vice president of development at ADNOC Upstream Directorate. He has been with ADNOC since 2005. He joined ZADCO (ADNOC Offshore) as a petroleum engineer in field development to head the maximum-reservoir- contact (MRC) well-design team during which first production began through MRC wells from an artificial island. As a senior manager for reservoir development at ZADCO, he developed reservoir management strategy to redevelop a multibillion-dollar project in the Upper Zakum field through artificial islands. He led the team in the development of integrated reservoir management for ADNOC Group. Drilling Technical Director Robin Macmillan is the chief sales officer at Data Gumbo. He was previously senior vice president for business development at NOV, manager of Schlumberger drilling and measurements in Canada, and president at drill-bit company ReedHycalog. In his early career he worked in offshore and onshore drilling operations in several countries across North and Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. He is the current vice president of drilling services and a member of the Executive Committee at the International Association of Drilling Contractors, where he is also Chair Emeritus of the Advanced Rig Technology Committee and a member of the Drilling Engineering Committee. Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Technical Director Susan (Sue) Staley is the sustainability director for vPSI Group LLC where she leads the company’s sustainability practice. Prior to joining vPSI, she was the general manager of soil and groundwater technology at Shell and held various positions there during her 18-year tenure. Prior to Shell, she worked as a consultant at ERM. Staley has been an environmental and safety engineer for 30 years.

Integrated field development plan optimisation of waterflood multiple complex carbonate reservoirs

This paper describes a step by step work flow to optimise field development plan of three vertically adjacent complex carbonate reservoirs by using multiple strings in a given well to access them. It also provides an innovative view on how to develop multiple vertically separated, adjacent complex reservoirs from artificial (man-made) island with maximum reservoir contact (MRC) wells to get economically viable production. The focus was to revise the development plan of the major reservoir and use the future development wells of this reservoir to access other vertically adjacent minor reservoirs that are within the drilling reach from different artificial islands. The study addresses optimised well spacing, completion layers of well placement, well drill sequence, well type; and number of economic infill well placement and sectorisation strategies for optimal production. This study also includes assessment of the value of infill wells, dual-lateral, dedicated lateral and single-lateral wells to target more than one reservoir. An optimised integrated field development plan of major and minor reservoirs is formulated with new long horizontal MRC wells which include both single and dual-lateral wells accessing one, two or three reservoirs depending upon location and accessibility. [Received: September 1, 2017; Accepted: July 30, 2018]

Integrated Field Development Plan Optimization of water flood Multiple Complex Carbonate Reservoirs

This paper describes a step by step work flow to optimise field development plan of three vertically adjacent complex carbonate reservoirs by using multiple strings in a given well to access them. It also provides an innovative view on how to develop multiple vertically separated, adjacent complex reservoirs from artificial (man-made) island with maximum reservoir contact (MRC) wells to get economically viable production. The focus was to revise the development plan of the major reservoir and use the future development wells of this reservoir to access other vertically adjacent minor reservoirs that are within the drilling reach from different artificial islands. The study addresses optimised well spacing, completion layers of well placement, well drill sequence, well type; and number of economic infill well placement and sectorisation strategies for optimal production. This study also includes assessment of the value of infill wells, dual-lateral, dedicated lateral and single-lateral wells to target more than one reservoir. An optimised integrated field development plan of major and minor reservoirs is formulated with new long horizontal MRC wells which include both single and dual-lateral wells accessing one, two or three reservoirs depending upon location and accessibility. [Received: September 1, 2017; Accepted: July 30, 2018]

Effect of Sand Content on the Filter Cake Properties and Removal During Drilling Maximum Reservoir Contact Wells in Sandstone Reservoir

The drilling mud program contains many tests such as filtration rate and filter cake properties to select the proper drilling fluid additives that yield the standard ranges of the viscosity, filtration rate, etc. However, the physical and chemical changes in the mud composition during the mud circulating will cause changes to the filter cake properties. The changes in the filter cake properties should be considered in the mud design program to prevent the problems associated with the change in the drilling fluid properties. For long horizontal wellbores penetrating plastic formations, the two sources of solids in filter cake are drilling chemical additives and formation cuttings (sand particles in the case of sandstone reservoir). This study focuses on the effect of introducing sand particles from the drilled—formations on the filter cake properties. Real drilling fluid samples from the field were collected at different location during drilling a 3600 ft of the horizontal section of a sandstone formation. Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) was used as weighting material in this filed. The drilling fluid samples were collected at two different points: the flow line coming from the well after shale shaker and the flow line going to the well to verify the effect of separation stages on filter cake properties. The primary drilling fluid properties of the collected samples were measured such as density and rheological parameters. High pressure high temperature (HPHT) filter press was used to perform the filtration and filter cake experiments at 300 psi differential pressure and room temperature (25 °C). The mineralogy of the external filter cake formed by fluid loss cell is determined using SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction). Finally, solubility test was conducted to evaluate the effect of sand particles on filter cake removal (containing Calcium Carbonate as weighting material) using chelating agent: glutamic diacetic acid (GLDA) at pH 4. The results showed that for long horizontal sections, the effect of introducing sand particles to the composition of the filter cake can cause significant change to the properties of filter cake such as mineralogy, thickness, porosity, and permeability. For instant the thickness of filter cake increased about 40% of its original thickness when drilling sandstone formation in horizontal well due to fine sand particle settling. The filter cake porosity and permeability increment in the first 2000 ft part of the horizontal section was observed clearly due to the irregular shape of the drilling particles. However for the points after the first 2000 ft of horizontal lateral, the porosity and permeability almost remained constant. Increasing the sand content up to 20% degrade the dissolution rate of calcium carbonate in the GLDA (pH = 3.8) to 80% instead of 100%.

Saudi Aramco Takes a "Smart" Approach

Intelligent Fields Saudi Aramco’s upstream strategy aims to implement the intelligent field concept in all of its upstream operations by 2016–2017 so it can better understand reservoirs and improve efficiency. Going by the names of intelligent oil field, smart oil field, and digital oil field, the concept is an array of interactive and complementary technologies that enable companies to gather and analyze data throughout the job site. Intelligent wells provide constant data through fiber-optic sensors in the drilling apparatus about the well and its environment, which enables operators to respond to changing circumstances in real time. The intelligent field is where operators, partners, and service companies seek to take advantage of improved data and knowledge management, enhanced analytical real-time systems, and more efficient business models. In the Middle East, Saudi Aramco currently has 19 intelligent fields in operation, which enables the company to monitor reservoirs and intervene immediately in case of any damage because of the real-time monitoring system. Saudi Aramco’s first use of intelligent fields started with its Haradh III Increment project, which included multilateral wells, all equipped with smart completions and real-time data. Haradh I was developed exclusively with vertical wells, whereas horizontal completions provided the primary configuration for producers/injectors in Haradh II. Haradh III was developed by relying mainly on smart maximum reservoir contact (MRC) completions within an intelligent field framework. Total Haradh production capacity is 900,000 B/D, with equal contributions from the three respective subsegments of I, II, and III. The Haradh III development at the southern tip of the Ghawar oil field, completed in 2006, has been portrayed by Saudi Aramco as the turning point in the battle between geological adversity and engineering prowess. The poorest reservoir rock in Ghawar has succumbed to the latest in well and drilling technology. Aided by 3D seismic images showing fracture locations, wellsites were optimized and drills were guided by remote control from Dhahran. MRCs were fitted with monitoring electronics and valves on individual laterals so they could be throttled back as needed to minimize water encroachment. Testing was done, adjustments were made as needed, and everything rolled out ahead of schedule. Goals for individual well productivity of 10,000 B/D were met, and projections indicated a smooth sailing for 10 years or more. Haradh III became the first Saudi Aramco development project to be developed exclusively with MRC wells with downhole inflow control valves for flow control. Average well production rates were targeted at 10,000 B/D, compared with 3,000 B/D and 6,000 B/D for Haradh I and II, respectively. Smart completions were necessary to ensure production sustainability in the face of premature water encroachment through fault/fracture systems. Saudi Aramco said that the well requirements and relative unit costs would have been considerably higher had vertical or conventional single-horizontal wells been selected instead of MRC wells for Haradh III.

Developing Flank Areas in a Giant Carbonate Field With Horizontal-Well Placement

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 161591, ’Development of Flank Areas in a Giant Carbonate Field With Optimal Placement of Horizontal Wells,’ by Sameer Khan, SPE, Ali Al-Shabeeb, Zankar Jani, Yousef Azoug, Nguyen Minh, and Harshad Patel, SPE, Zakum Development Company, prepared for the 2012 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 11-14 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Successful development of flank areas depends on accurate reservoir characterization—in particular, water-saturation distribution—in addition to the optimal areal and vertical placement of wells. In relatively thin reservoirs, horizontal wells are generally preferred to increase reservoir contact; the proper spacing and vertical placement of these wells are critical. To test the initial concept in the field, two existing producers were converted into injectors, and pressures were monitored at the offset producers. Introduction The subject oil field is one of the world’s largest offshore carbonate reservoirs and has a production life in excess of 100 years. The field was historically developed with wellhead tower platforms made of steel structures and a combination of vertical and 1-km-long horizontal wells in a five-spot pattern. A new development plan was proposed in 2008 that deployed artificial islands as drilling centers and used extended-reach- drilling technology. In addition, well counts were significantly reduced by deploying longer (3-km) horizontal laterals, referred to as maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) wells. The development plan comprised both surface and subsurface components, which were effectively integrated to provide maximum flexibility in terms of development options as well as handling of reservoir uncertainties. Because the aquifer support for the subject field is weak, the development consists of a waterflood with line drive to be followed later by gas injection. This island-based plan was approved by shareholders in 2008, and implementation began soon thereafter. The development plan includes a comprehensive subsurface development scheme based on the available data and prediction tools. Development-plan optimization soon began as more data were being acquired and new reservoir models were built. This work is focused on development-plan optimization of two large flank areas of the largest reservoir in the subject field (south and east flanks in Fig. 1). These flank areas contain very large capillary transition zones that, although only a few hundred feet high, extend to several kilometers areally because of very low reservoir dip (1 to 2°) in a 150-ft-thick reservoir. Therefore, appropriate areal and layer placement of MRC wells in flank areas is a critical task that requires careful attention.

New Technology Applications for Improved Attic-Oil Recovery: Slim Smart Completions

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper IPTC 12365, "New Technology Applications for Improved Attic-Oil Recovery: The World's First Slim Smart Completions," by Stig Lyngra, SPE, Abdulkareem M. Al-Sofi, SPE, Uthman F. Al-Otaibi, SPE, Mohammed J. Alshakhs, SPE, and Ahmad A. Al-Alawi, SPE, Saudi Aramco, prepared for the 2008 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 3-5 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Smart completions, passive inflow-control devices (ICDs), and maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) wells are some recent technologies used to enhance recovery and extend the life of mature oil fields. In a Saudi Aramco field, one challenge was to maximize production from the inadequately swept attic-oil zone. Since 1995, new technology has improved oil recovery from this thin attic-oil zone. Technology deployments included recompletion with short-radius-horizontal (SRH) sidetracks, single-lateral re-entry sidetracks equipped with passive ICDs, and multilateral MRC wells equipped with intelligent completions. A slim smart completion (SSC) was run in a multilateral sidetrack enabling production optimization and control of individual laterals. Introduction This field in Saudi Arabia was discovered in the early 1940s. A pressure-support program was started after 8 years of primary depletion. During a 24-year period, the produced solution gas was reinjected as part of the reservoir-pressure-support program. Gas injection was into the primary reservoir at the crest of a high-relief dome feature. A flank water-injection program was started in the mid-1950s, and it became the main field pressure-support mechanism. After more than 60 years of production, approximately 57% of the oil initially in place in the primary reservoir has been produced. Still, the field water cut has remained less than 35%. The absence of vertical barriers, relatively long distance from injector to first-row producers, and managed production offtake have allowed gravity to play the primary role in the recovery process. The main-reservoir permeability distribution (higher permeability toward the top, excluding the top 25 ft) allowed oil production from the top section while gravity drainage occurred in the lower, poorer reservoir section. As a result, water production has been very limited. The normal production practice during the first 34 years was to shut in any producing well with crude samples containing salt. Attic-Oil Target Zone The attic-oil section is approximately 25 ft thick. Saturation logs run in 2007 in wells very close to flank injectors indicated that this interval is at original oil saturations. Fig. 1 is a schematic showing the main layering of the attic-oil interval.

Maximum-Reservoir-Contact-Wells Performance Update: Shaybah Field, Saudi Arabia

Summary This paper is an update on previous SPE technical papers (Saleri et al. 2003; Saleri et al. 2004) highlighting the results of 25 maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) wells drilled in the Shaybah field either as new wells or as part of a workover strategy to convert existing weak 1-km single-lateral wells to MRC wells with reservoir contacts ranging from 5 to 9 km. Shaybah field in Saudi Arabia, a low-permeability reservoir overlain by a large gas cap, was developed initially in 1996 with 1-km single-lateral horizontal wells to drain hydrocarbon while reducing gas coning effectively. A step-development approach of increasing reservoir contact to improve well productivity and performance was the basis for the MRC concept. To date, results from 25 MRC wells have indicated a four-fold increase in well productivities and a three-fold decrease in unit-development cost when compared to the 1-km single-lateral wells. A useful byproduct of MRC drilling is the enhancement achieved in reservoir characterization. In addition to MRC wells, smart technologies such as down-hole-flow-control systems (smart completions), expandable liners, and production equalizers were deployed in Shaybah field. These technologies have improved well performance and recovery greatly. Smart controls assisted in optimizing production from each lateral in a multilateral (ML) well in the event of premature gas or water coning. In addition, downhole smart completions improved well productivity in ML wells with a better well-cleanup process. Production equalizers that were deployed in high-gas/oil-ratio (GOR) wells reduced gas coning and improved well productivity. To date, more than 21 expandable liners have been deployed as enablers to a workover strategy to convert single-lateral wells to ML/MRC wells, thereby providing a platform for installation of downhole-flow-control systems.

Haradh-III: Industry's Largest Field Development With Maximum-Reservoir-Contact Wells, Smart-Well Completions, and the iField Concept

Summary The development of Haradh-III in the southernmost region of Ghawar represents a major shift in paradigm in terms of the combination of the technologies. The field development combines four main technology features, which include maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) wells, smart completions, extensive use of real-time geosteering, and iField initiatives. This paper describes the motivation, implementation, and post-production evaluation of this unique field development. In the case of Haradh-III, field development with smart MRC wells delays water encroachment, improves flood-front conformance and recovery, and lowers water production and long-term development and operating costs. Bottomwater encroachment into the wellbore is mitigated as downhole internal control valves (ICVs), as part of the smart completion, are adjusted. This, in turn, lengthens the life of the well, allowing sweep and recovery to take place in the reservoir below the horizontal wellbores with the most effective sweep process: the replacement mechanism by gravity. The objectives of the development are accomplished by use of a reduced number of wells that minimize the accompanying infrastructure, which lowers the capital expenditure while reducing the operating cost by maintaining, on a long-term basis, a low-water-producing system, all in real time and within the iField environment.

Remotely Operated Smart-Well Completions

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 112226, "Intelligent Wells to Intelligent Fields: Remotely Operated Smart-Well Completions in Haradh-III," by Ibrahim H. Al-Arnaout, SPE, Saad M. Al-Driweesh, SPE, and Rashad M. Al-Zahrani, SPE, Saudi Aramco, and Zuhed Abdul Rahman, SPE, and Suresh Jacob, SPE, WellDynamics, prepared for the 2008 SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 25–27 February. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Multilateral wells with smart-well completions and permanent monitoring systems were integrated with an advanced supervisory control and data-acquisition (SCADA) system that enables real-time remote monitoring and control of downhole and surface equipment from the control room. The design and installation of the automated system was a multidisciplinary project integrating subject experts and tools from well completions, production engineering, facilities, instrumentation, and communications. The system enables an operator in the control room to operate the downhole valves in all the multilateral smart wells remotely through the SCADA system. Introduction The Haradh-III field is in the southernmost part of the Ghawar complex, approximately 100 km west-southwest of Dharan, Saudi Arabia, and has been developed with 32 maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) multilateral wells, with intelligent completions installed in 28 wells. This arrangement reduces the required well count and achieves higher productivity from each well. Studies showed that developing the Haradh-III field with MRC wells and smart-completion technology would delay water encroachment, improve flood-front conformance and recovery, and reduce water production and operating costs. The concept of intelligent fields was incorporated into the field design to enable continuous monitoring of key reservoir-performance parameters and real-time data transmission from downhole to the engineers' desktops. The surface infrastructure was designed with the communication and power facilities required to connect all the wells to the field SCADA system. The field communication infrastructure was designed as an open architecture to integrate the intelligent-well controls as an independent subsystem of the field-control system. System Overview The Haradh-III-field communications network is a scattered/distributed layout linking all wellsites to the gas/oil separation plant (GOSP). The field-control-sys-tem architecture uses a remote-terminal unit (RTU) at the wellsite connected to a central SCADA application in the GOSP by means of a fiber-optic communications network. In addition to intelligent-completion technology, each well in the field is provided with downhole point-pressure and -temperature sensors and a surface multiphase-flow meter. The field SCADA application acts as a single interface point for all field control. Data hand-off to the field historian occurs at the GOSP. The application also is the integration point for intelligent-completion systems. Fig. 1 shows the field communications network linking the wellsites to the control-room terminal.

Shaybah-220: A Maximum-Reservoir-Contact (MRC) Well and Its Implications for Developing Tight-Facies Reservoirs

Summary This paper presents drilling, completion, well-performance, and reservoir-characterization results of a recently drilled maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) well in the Shaybah field with a total of eight laterals and an aggregate reservoir contact of 12.3 km (7.6 miles). The well was drilled as part of a pilot program to evaluate both the practical challenges and the reservoir performance impact of MRC wells. The results to date on eight MRC wells in Shaybah indicate significant sustainable gains in well productivities as well as reductions in unit-development costs. A useful byproduct of MRC drilling is the enhancement achieved in reservoir characterization. These benefits point to MRC wells as disruptive technologies (DTs)1,2 that have positive implications for developing tight-facies reservoirs.

The Expanding Role of the Drill Bit in Shaping the Subsurface

The Expanding Role of the Drill Bit in Shaping the Subsurface