Abstract
The Tight Gas Reservoir (TGR) top structure is well defined in seismic data and can be interpreted across the entire area of North Oman. It is being identified as an extremely tight, disconnected, low porosity, low permeability and High Pressure – High Temperature (HPHT) reservoir, and thus presents unique challenges to harness its full production potential. Therefore, to optimise the subsurface location and ensure placing a successful well, the following approaches were implemented.
Firstly, full 3D geological model was generated to reproduce the reservoir heterogeneities and sedimentological behaviour of the TGR. Secondly, sweet spot identification techniques were used due to the heterogeneity nature of TGR properties in order to locate the optimum subsurface location. Lastly, a well completion strategy centred on hydraulically fractured cased-hole wells with immediate production to mitigate formation damage was implemented. This is achieved via abrasive jetting and thermal conductivity techniques to induce micro fractures that vastly enhanced the fracture efficiency, with velocity strings combined with depletion compression.
Furthermore, the characterization and simulation efforts are aimed to test the longevity of the wells in an Early Production System (EPS) to evaluate the optimal well count and spacing for the full Final Development Plan (FDP). Also, the interference between the wells in this tight formation has been studied. Data gathering activities encompasses formation evaluation logs, core analysis data and well test data.
The surface development concept is based on staged field development, with long term testing as the first milestone. EPS have been selected to provide long term production data gathering opportunity for assessing the reservoir and well performance behaviour in order to aid in defining the FDP.
This paper will highlight the success of unlocking tight, unconnected gas and describe methodologies applied to aid fully integrated subsurface loop development. Reservoir characterization, model creation and simulation challenges linked with the appraisal results will also be discussed.
