Abstract
The Arun gas field is a giant hydrocarbon resource in Indonesia and has been supporting Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) sales to the Asian market since 1978. The ultimate gas recovery is expected to be about 94% of initial gas in place, and the ultimate condensate recovery is expected to be a very high 87% of initial condensate in place. As the field has matured, reservoir pressure has declined and well productivities have declined. Mechanical wellbore failures have increased because of increased downhole stresses.The lower reservoir pressure has also increased the water vapor content in the gas, and producing wells have started to loadup as flow rates have decreased.
The application of new technologies has generated numerous opportunities to extend field life. Recent work has focused at maintaining productivity despite declining reservoir pressures. This paper presents a summary of Arun history and examples of recent resource management practices, including compression upgrades to reduce wellhead pressures, under-balanced drilling into a pressure-depleted reservoir and problem well restarts.