Are Multilateral Wells Really Effective To Control Water Coning? Available to Purchase

Non-conventional wells, combining the features of multilateral wells and these of intelligent completions provided by the new technology, are claimed to optimise oil recovery whenever water coning phenomena cause a significant productivity reduction. The present study was aimed at evaluating the effective advantages provided by the new well options in oil-bearing formations with strong water drive for a wide range of possible scenarios. Homogeneous and heterogeneous petrophysical distributions were considered to simulate different depositional environments. Several multilateral well geometries and completions were adopted for different production rates. The research was particularly focused at the evaluation of the productivity increment that could be achieved with respect to vertical wells and to the more conventional horizontal wells. The oil and water production profiles were calculated with the aid of a commercial software for numerical simulation of the dynamic behavior of black-oil reservoirs. Results showed that, generally, multilateral wells can be effective to increase the drainage area and control the water coning in homogeneous or slightly heterogeneous reservoirs only if the interference effects between the lateral drains and the main bore from which they depart can be avoided, or at least reduced, by adoption of suitable completion options. Additionally, in certain circumstances such as in the presence of heterogeneous reservoirs with high-permeability streaks, the lateral drains can significantly improve the well productivity by intersecting a larger number of producing channels with respect of a horizontal well