Abstract
On February 2004, Arquimia gas field was discovered with vertical well number 1 drilled at 2,200 m and completed using cemented tubingless and perforations. Upper Miocene formation is high permeability and porosity sandstone, thickness is about 30 m with OGIP estimated to be 80 BCF. The areal extension of reservoir is close to 4 squared kilometers. According to development planning 4 development wells were completed, 1 vertical and 3 horizontal using different completion techniques, such cemented tubing and expandable tubulars. Optimum horizontal section was defined as 350 m. Each drilled well was designed to be more efficient in terms of pressure drop throughout reservoir- completion-tubulars system.
On April 2005, horizontal well number 41 was completed using 4¾" expandable screen and 5" tubing, producing 87 MMSCFD at its maximum potential, setting a record as the highest gas production from a single gas well in Mexico. Exposed area to flow using screens is higher than area for perforated completions even for horizontal wells, thus higher deliverability is achieved.
Due to accelerated gas recovery, despite the field is in pipeline construction stage, Arquimia field will increase Veracruz basin dry gas production to 570 MMSCFD being an economic success for Pemex E & P, North Region, estimating benefit to cost ratio about 10. Once on production, vertical wells will be Fractured (Frac and Pack) to improve flow efficiency. Veracruz basin has experienced a continuous growth in its Exploration and Production activities, increasing the dry gas production from 45 MMSCFD on 1997 to 450 MMSCFD on April 2005. The key to this successful growth has been the team approach applied, that includes all the value chain activities: 3D seismic, geologic modeling, directional drilling with real time monitoring, reservoir engineering, facilities construction and well operation.
This paper presents the way Arquimia field was developed applying the newest technology.
