Abstract
Smart wells are being used recently to add operational flexibility to petroleum production. Considering offshore fields with water injection, smart wells can be very useful to control water production and to improve oil production. The advantages of smart wells are that they have devices like valves and sensors are able to monitor and control production, in real time, adding flexibility to the operation.
However, the effect of smart wells on the net present value (NPV) of the project has to be carefully quantified because of the additional investments. The expected gain is a function of several parameters, especially operational controls and economic parameters. Therefore, a fair comparison between these two wells requires a methodology of production strategy optimization especially designed to capture the details in the performance of these wells. The differences are even more complicated to be quantified in the presence of uncertainties.
Therefore, the objective of this work is to present an example with a comparison between smart and conventional wells, considering uncertainties in the geological and economic models.
A methodology of production strategy optimization, presented in a previous work (Silva and Schiozer, 2009), considering the availability of different production capacities, is used in this work. The main parameters altered are: position and number of wells, water cut and schedule of well's drilling.
The results showed small differences between the two alternatives. Smart wells were able to improve oil production and reduce water production but, in most cases, the NPV indicated that the use of conventional wells was slightly more advantageous. Also, the operational conditions, such as platform capacities, have a high impact on the results. The results are also very dependent on the economic model and additional investments required to use smart wells.
