Abstract
Due to the ever-increasing demand for oil and gas, it is becoming more evident that getting the most out of the reservoir is crucial. For years, wells were drilled vertical or deviated, but horizontal and extended-reach trajectories are gaining more prominence. While the objective is to gain more access to the reserves, often the past methods of completions simply were not viable. In deviated wellbores, cased and cemented liner applications are difficult to obtain a good cement bond with the formation, and the inherent near-wellbore damage associated with cementing can lead to costly workover and stimulation treatments. Thus, open-hole completions are becoming more acceptable as the primary completion of choice.
This paper will discuss the benefits of gaining as much contact with the reservoir as possible to create maximum drainage. It also will cover completion solutions (turnkey) that have been deployed around the world to better optimize recovery. Case histories will be provided that include multi-stage fracturing with swellable packers, inflow control devices with mechanical-set packers, geothermal hook-ups with openhole anchor, and multilateral completions with sand control and zonal isolation.
