Saudi Aramco, Smart Wells: Meeting World Demand
Posted: 15 December 2004
“As the world’s demand for oil continues to increase, we must explore new ways to maximise cost-effective production from every well,” Nansen Saleri, manager of the Reservoir Management Department (RMD), told participants at the Maximum Reservoir Contact (MRC) and Smart Well Completion Workshop held recently in Bahrain.
More than 50 multidisciplinary technical experts attended the workshop from November 27-28, about 75 per cent from Saudi Aramco and the rest from service companies providing MRC and smart-well completion technology and equipment. They included Well Dynamics, Sperry-Sun, Halliburton, Enventure, Baroid and Weatherford.
The workshop was designed to open lines of communication among key players in Saudi Aramco’s MRC/smart well technology development, setting the stage for its deployment in Haradh Increment III, the next phase in the development of the Haradh field.
The year 2005 heralds a critical MRC/smart-well step for Exploration and Production (E&P), with plans moving forward for 14 MRC producers with 14 smart completions, 26 horizontal injectors, and one vertical evaluation well for Haradh Increment-III during 2005. Many MRC/smart-well applications in other Saudi Aramco fields are also on the way.
The workshop started with an evaluation of Saudi Aramco’s current MRC and smart-well completion practices as well as the presentation of a “Drill and Complete on Paper,” an analysis of Haradh development options by Saudi Aramco professionals representing various departments within Petroleum Engineering and Development. Presenters included Nabeel Al-Afaleg of RMD, Fahad Al-Bani of Drilling and Workover Engineering and Omar Al-Faraj of Drilling and Workover.
A discussion was facilitated by Paul Murray of E&P Continuing Excellence and coordinated by Al-Afaleg. Participants discussed ways to optimise quality, performance and safety using MRC and smart-well completion technologies. Throughout the first day, key ideas were captured for ongoing consideration and prioritised with input from the entire group.
“Each participant at this workshop was invited to contribute a vital element of expertise to the discussion,” said Drew Hembling of Production and Facilities Development. “Particularly with MRC/smart well, the key to good initial well design is gathering and understanding the interrelationship between as much reservoir data as possible related to permeability, porosity, saturation, stability and compartmentalization. To avoid expensive misunderstandings and environmental problems that result from improperly implemented operations, it is critical the design is derived from the interactive efforts of a multidisciplinary team working cooperatively.”
Along with additional discussions, Day 2 focused on the MRC/smart-well completion technology, equipment, and expertise provided by service companies. In a series of presentations, each participating service company discussed what is available and feasible for Haradh Increment III. Mike Konopszyski of Well Dynamics provided this pertinent observation: “There’s a lot of new technology available. The problem will be discerning between what you want and what you need, tempered by what you can afford.”
The two days of sharing knowledge and learning produced a short list of prioritised action items titled: “Who must take action to make this happen?” divided between those under operational control and those requiring management level intervention.
Representing RMD management, Saleri, in final comments at the workshop, said, “At Saudi Aramco, we are committed to smart-well technologies as we believe they hold the key to continuing our leadership position in the upstream sector.”
Senior E&P management concurs with Saleri’s statement. Fahad A. Al-Moosa, Vice President, Petroleum Engineering & Development, and Abd Allah S. Al-Saif, Senior Vice President, E&P, commended the workshop with this statement: “We view maximum reservoir contact wells and other advanced technologies, such as Smart Wells, as an integral part of our continual optimisation efforts within E&P. Workshops such as this one help us maintain our competitive advantage.”
At the workshop's closing, Adel Al-Ansari from Reservoir Characterization and Development summed up the job that lies ahead, “You've got to be smart to run Smart Wells.”
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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