Intelligent Well Completions as a Production Optimization Strategy for Oil Rim Reservoirs

Abstract

Water and gas coning and breakthrough are the most common of the
numerous difficulties faced in the development of oil rim reservoirs.
Water and gas breakthrough are caused mostly by the heel-toe effect
and differences in reservoir permeability. This paper demonstrates the
value of Inflow Control Devices (ICDs) in reducing the heel-toe
problem encountered during production from an oil rim reservoir.
The reservoir was modelled using the Multi-segment well model in
Schlumberger ECLIPSE reservoir simulator. Two case situations
were simulated to evaluate the performance of the Inflow Control
Devices: A traditional horizontal well completed without Inflow
Control Device and a horizontal well completed with Inflow Control
Device. The simulation results revealed that in the absence of Inflow
Control Devices, the Production Logging Test (PLT) plot suggested
that only around 15% of the well length was contributing to flow. The
heel-toe impact caused early water and gas coning, as well as a low
oil recovery of 21%. The use of Inflow Control Devices resulted in
more uniform fluid inflow (100%) over the entire length of the well, a
one-year delay in water and gas breakthrough, an improvement in
well operational life, and an increase in oil recovery of 22% (which is
reflected in a cumulative oil production of about 3.65 MMSTB).