OTC 15191 Case History Of A 5 Zone Multi-Drop Hydraulic Control Intelligent Offshore Completion In Brunei

O. Skilbrei, Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd; R. Chia, Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd; K.Schrader, WellDynamics; D. Purkis, WellDynamics
Copyright 2003, Offshore Technology Conference This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2003 Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 58 May 2003. This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Offshore Technology Conference or officers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented.

to produce each zone alone or commingle production without subsequent well intervention to shut-off zones after water breakthrough or high GOR production. These capabilities will be shown to improve the overall reservoir recovery. Introduction The oil and gas industry is the primary contributor to Bruneis economy. The exploration and production of Bruneis hydrocarbon reserves is undertaken with great care to extend the income from this natural asset for future generations. To this effect, Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) is an early adopter of new technology in this region, to solve technical challenges and improve economics and reserve recovery. Examples of this include the use of innovative directional drilling technology1, the integration of intelligent completion equipment with expandable sand control technology2 and use of solid expandable tubulars3. A high level of local experience in Brunei contributes to the development of the Iron Duke field and neighbouring field such as Ampa and Champion. The Iron Duke field is located offshore, 50 km from the Brunei coast. Iron Duke came online in 1992 with reserves estimated at 17 million m3 of oil (105 MMbbl) and 27 billion m3 of gas (950 bcf) in the Upper Miocene shallow marine sandstones. Current production from 7 producers is 3000 m3/day liquids and 2.5 million m3/day gas. In the Iron Duke area, 25 wells have been drilled during a major development drilling campaign. The Iron Duke structure is an anticlinal dome dissected by a large number of collapse faults. A long strike of the collapse fault structure, the phenomena of fault flipping is observed. The faults are often sealing and define a large number of blocks within the field. Vertical sealing capacity may vary due to the sand shale sequence. The drive mechanism in Iron Duke is predominately gas cap expansion with limited aquifer support; thus wells are targeted close to the oil water contact (OWC) to delay gas breakthrough. Well ID-19 is one of several development wells targeting five main strategraphic units located over several fault blocks as shown in Figure 1. The initial well concept was a co-mingled monobore completion. Early in the campaign, it was recognized that the reservoirs were more

Abstract Description of the Proposed Paper Describe the background and history of a producing well leading up to a workover decision and installation of a multi-zone intelligent well completion system. State the guidelines used to design and complete an offshore horizontal five zone well with intelligent completion equipment. State the success and/or problems seen during the installation. Highlight the lessons learned during design and installation and show benefits of such a completion during the production life of the well. Application: Offshore completions in development wells targeting multiple stratigraphic units located over highly compartmentalized fault blocks with distinctly separate fluid contacts and pressure regimes. Control of water breakthrough and GOR management on multi-zone oil producers. Safe completion of complex horizontal wells. Results, Observations, and Conclusions: Installation was done successfully and safely. The defined completion successfully worked as designed. Significance of Subject Matter: The use of multi-zone intelligent completion equipment to optimize the reservoirs is critical to the economic success of this type of field. The technology used provided the capability

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compartmentalized than anticipated and had separate fluid contacts and pressure regimes. Success with Intelligent Well Technology (IWT) in the Champion and Ampa fields made this technology an ideal candidate to develop this field. However, the timing for delivery of an intelligent completion system exceeded the expected production start-up date, and the well was initially completed with a 7 liner and a single perforated zone, to allow for future flexibility (Figure 2). Challenges Initial production rates from the well were in excess of 1000 m3/d (6300bbl/d). An initial rapid decline in oil production and an increasing GOR was observed after production start-up and reservoir simulation showed that control of the GOR at a reservoir unit level was required to enable improved reserve recovery. Several IWT systems were analysed to determine suitability to meet the particular challenges of this well. ID-19 was drilled with an inclination of 130 deg at TD and has a long fishhook shaped horizontal section. Five isolated zones were targeted for this area of the well, and future intervention required to be minimised to avoid the added substantial risk and operational expense of coiled tubing intervention. In addition to this challenge, a five zone IWT completion with pressure and temperature monitoring had not previously been installed, and this projected a higher level of importance on the risk and project management for this well. Typical IWT systems use one or two control lines per device, to operate down-hole interval control valves (ICVs). The additional requirement for a down-hole Tubing Retrievable Subsurface Safety Valve (TRSSV), independent pressure and temperature monitoring of each zone and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) meant that the completion would require at least eight penetrations in the wellhead to accommodate the control lines. This amount of control lines is extremely difficult to handle operationally, and it was determined that such a large number of wellhead penetrations would impact the overall completion reliability. The use of an all-hydraulic multi-drop IWT system was investigated. Reliability was of the highest importance in system selection, to ensure that future intervention requirements were minimised. Completion Design Overview The ID-19 completion consists of five zones, isolated by retrievable packers with bypass for up to five control lines. The system is controlled by a hydraulic multi-drop intelligent completion. ICVs are positioned in each zone to provide on/off remote control of flow from the reservoir. In addition, each zone contains a Permanent Down-hole Gauge (PDG) with sensors measuring pressure and temperature. For higher resolution, the DTS system has been included to effectively see into the wellbore using optical fibres and determine future water encroachment in the reservoir. The use of DTS in conjunction with IWT has been previously proven as an effective reservoir management tool4.

The completion schematic of the final installation is shown in Figure 3. Multi-Drop Intelligent Completion System The multi-drop intelligent completion system (Digital Hydraulics) selected for ID-19 had successfully completed substantial system reliability analysis using Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and qualification testing as shown in Figure 4. Using three hydraulic control lines, the Digital Hydraulics system is capable of independently controlling up to 6 flow control devices (the system can be expanded using additional control lines). For ID-19 this would reduce the required control lines and subsequently wellhead connections to six, for the entire completion. Digital Hydraulics is a closed loop, all-hydraulic well control system. The patented digital hydraulic concept uses the logical presence of pressure or the logical absence of pressure to communicate between a surface controller and the down-hole tools. Any pressure greater than 2000 psi represents a 1 and any pressure less than 500 psi represents a 0. In this way a digital (binary) code is transmitted to the tools within the hydraulic system. Each flow control device has an associated decoder than detects its predetermined code but rejects all other pressure codes and sequences. A graphical representation of this is shown in Figure 5. The communication link is very robust and continues to operate where temperature changes, long control lines, viscous fluids and leaks cause other hydraulic communication methods to fail. Once the decoder is activated, each tool can be hydraulically pressurised from the surface in either direction, open to close or close to open, giving the advantage over current technology that no down-hole springs or gas charges are necessary. If required the system can deliver a force of over 40 000 lbs in either direction ensuring scale build up, sand, debris or other obstructions are crushed. Production and Isolation Packers A high performance, retrievable, cased hole packer is used as both the production and isolation packers in this well. The packer has bypass facilities for up to five hydraulic or electric control lines without the requirement for splicing. The packer incorporates an anti-preset mechanism to prevent the packer from being accidentally set during RIH. The unique slip configuration and body lock ring design mean that the packer is capable of withstanding higher loads than standard production packers. ICV The Interval Control Valve (ICV) is a remotely operated control valve used to control flow in to or out of an isolated reservoir interval. In a Direct Hydraulics application, control lines are installed from surface and are fed directly into the activating piston of the ICV. For control of a single ICV two control lines are run from surface. One control line is attached to the open side of the piston, and the other control line communicates to the close side of the piston. Pressure applied in one line rather than the other drives the piston to the

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corresponding position. Since the piston is rigidly attached to the opening mechanism of the ICV, movement of the piston positions the valve. In a Digital Hydraulics application, the two control lines to the activating piston are connected to the Digital Hydraulics decoder. Five ICVs are used in ID-19 to allow independent or commingled production from each zone. PDG ID-19 has a seven Permanent Down-hole Gauges (PDGs) incorporating pressure/temperature sensors measuring data from each zone and commingled flowstreams. The data can be monitored real-time or used for pressure build-up analysis from a shut-in interval while the other zones are flowing. DTS The system used on ID-19 used the frictional drag of a liquid to install a fibre in a control line. The line is run from surface, through a turn around sub at TD and back to surface in a loop, enabling one continuous optical fibre to be deployed. The principles of optical fibre DTS are based on optical time-domain reflectometry4. The distributed measurement system assists in the identification of the change in fluid properties along the wellbore. This can be correlated to depth, and thus each individual zone in the completion. Implementation The DTS system involves the installation of an optical fibre in a loop from surface to TD. Two control lines were specified to have an extra smooth bore to assist the fibre deployment. A critical issue was compatibility of the hydraulic fluid with the fibre and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) necessary for the fibre deployment phase. The completion was designed with the minimum use of cross overs and additional equipment to simplify installation. All IWT components were manufactured from 13% Chrome to prevent corrosion caused by the existing down-hole conditions. The Inconel control lines were encapsulated into flat-packs for protection and ease of installation. The flat-pack was designed with colour coding, in order that each line could be identified during installation. Cross coupling clamps were used at every joint to protect and support the control lines. All packers and ICVs were designed to protect and support the four control lines for the IWT and DTS and the additional electric line for the multi-drop PDG system. To minimize rig time, the sub assemblies were assembled and tested onshore, taking into account the maximum lengths allowed for transport and safe handling on location. All control lines, hydraulic connections, ICVs and control manifolds were functionally tested and installed using the same hydraulic fluid, to eliminate contamination. All control lines and splices were specially prepared to ensure that burrs were removed to prevent damage of the optical fibre during the pumping process.

Splice subs were used at the top of each assembly to enable pre-installation of the control lines. This minimised the amount of flat-pack that required to be stripped and simplified installation, reducing rig time by an estimated three days. Prior to running the completion, particular attention was given to well clean up to remove debris caused by milling during the retrieval of the initial completion and perforating. Care was taken during RIH, particularly during installation of the IWT equipment into the horizontal section. This was done to protect the control lines from damage during Run in Hole (RIH), especially at the liner hanger area and across producing zones. A specially designed no-go sub with control line bypass capability was used to tag the top of the liner and assist in space out, which was complicated due to the deviated well trajectory and close proximity of zones. This use of this sub eliminated the requirement for a wireline or coiled tubing correlation. Different companies supplied the IWT equipment, PDG, DTS and ancillary completion equipment. Close co-ordination between service companies and the operator and synchronization on the interface issues was essential to ensure project success. Regular safety meeting held with all personnel during installation ensured that the operations were carried out safely and without incident. CONCLUSIONS The installation of the IWT in ID-19 was a great success, and was completed in less than eight days, well ahead of schedule. The installation is believed to be one of the first wells in the world having surface control and monitoring in all five zones. All five packers were set successfully, the five ICVs and all pressure and temperature gauges were operating after the production tree and surface control lines were connected. ID-19 started production in mid July 2002. Three zones have been tested individually and commingled using the IWT capability. All equipment is functioning as required and specified. The initial performance expectations of the IWT technology against the base case are shown in Figure 6 and indicates that an additional 1.57 mmboe over six years can be achieved. Although current production data is not released, the value of implementing IWT in ID-19 has been proven. The well is currently undergoing a well testing campaign. An extension to the drilling jacket was installed to allow the planned addition of a fully remote controlled surface data acquisition and control system on the unmanned platform. The surface control and data acquisition system is currently being installed and this will enable real time access to the reservoir data and automated control of the ICVs. This capability will further enhance the reservoir management capabilities for this well, enabling the reservoir and production engineers to manage the huge amount of data available and remotely reconfigure the well to react to changes in reservoir condition.

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Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the personnel of all the suppliers, service companies, consultants, and drilling contractors, whose effort made this project possible. We would also like to thank the owners of Brunei Shell Petroleum for permission to publish this work. The Expro Group were the suppliers of the Exal PDGs for this completion and Schlumberger supplied the Sensa DTS. References 1.
Ruszka J., Vos A., Otter B, Othman O., The True Value Of Automated Rotary Directional Drilling Technology is Demonstrated on a Well Offshore Brunei, SPE paper 52839, presented at the 1999 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference. Saeby j., De Lange F., Aitken S., Aldaz W., The Use of Expandable Sand Control Technology as a Step Change for Multple Zone Smart Well Completion A Case Study, SPE paper 68634, presented at the 2001 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition. Journey To the Center of the Earth Via SET Technology Oil and Gas International December 2002. Tolan M., Boyle M., Williams G., The Use of Fiber-Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing and Remote Hydraulically Operated Interval Control Valves for the Management of Water Production in the Douglas Field, SPE paper 71676, presented at the 2001 ATCE.

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Figure 1: ID-19 Well Path

Figure 2: ID-19 Original Completion Schematic

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Figure 3: ID-19 IWT Completion Schematic

Figure 4: The Development Process

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Figure 6: Analysis of cumulative oil production and gas rate - IWT completion against the base case

Figure 5: Digital Hydraulics Operation