Abstract

The industry has clearly embraced the role of intelligent well completions in improving reservoir management, optimizing production and recovery, and minimizing well intervention. The recent uptake of intelligent wells, both on land and in frontier offshore areas with varying degree of complexity, is a clear indication of a sustainable belief in the ability of the technology to deliver on its promises in an ever-challenging environment. The barrier to adoption is reduced, as operators, small and large, are now more confident in the technological advances made to improve systems reliability and economies.

Going forward, industry demands have not changed significantly. Firstly intelligent wells need to be truly intelligent, with increased requirements for dynamic information to enable the downhole control and reservoir management processes. This is particularly important for subsea wells where data flow is lower than dry-tree wells. Secondly, system and component reliability remains the primary concern, as more effort is directed towards reducing the rate of infant mortalities following installation. And thirdly the legitimate demand remains for component and system level pre-qualification processes to ensure a-life-of-well first time installation success.

The paper will provide a review of various intelligent well completions configurations summarizing these concepts for different production environments. It will present a combination of technologies and processes aiming at addressing the industry's most pressing concerns above. The combination of electrical and fiber-optic sensors, along with innovative connectors and downhole controls, has significantly contributed to flexibility, reliability, and improved well economies. The paper will also discuss the role of dedicated real-field drilling and completion facilities to aid engineering and operations efforts in the integrated testing and pre-qualification of complete intelligent completion systems.

The paper will conclude on the remaining challenges and future technologies offered to enhance reliability, minimize costly well interventions, and maximize asset value through reservoir and production management.

Introduction

The definition of intelligent wells can be sought in numerous papers. A well should have certain characteristics to be considered intelligent:

  • Controlling flow from one or more intervals

  • Capable of gathering production information

  • Capable of using production information to make informed decisions that have a positive impact on a field's Net Present Value

The term intelligent well is often associated with a well capable of downhole inflow profile control without intervention. Although this is one embodiment of the term, intelligent wells have a broader scope. In fact intelligence is often associated with information gathering, think of the implication of ‘market intelligence’. In this context intelligence deals with the gathering of information to allow a certain course of action to be chosen. Taking this into account the scope of intelligent wells should include wells that are capable of optimizing production and/or field recovery by making permanent measurements of the producing conditions - acquiring intelligence on downhole performance. Timely acquisition of judicious amounts of data and their continual evaluation are foundational to sound reservoir management1.

Keywords:
intelligent completion, artificial lift system, completion, installation, production monitoring, gas injection, information, real-field drilling, artificial intelligence, valve
Subjects:
Artificial Lift Systems, Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring, Gas lift, Production logging, Completion Monitoring Systems/Intelligent Wells
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2006. Offshore Technology Conference
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