Impact of Skin Damage on Horizontal Well Flow Distribution

Impact of Skin Damage on Horizontal Well Flow Distribution John H. McMullan; John H. McMullan Louisiana State University Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Todd A. Larson Todd A. Larson Marathon Oil Company Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE/CIM International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 2000. Paper Number: SPE-65507-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/65507-MS Published: November 06 2000 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation McMullan, John H., and Todd A. Larson. "Impact of Skin Damage on Horizontal Well Flow Distribution." Paper presented at the SPE/CIM International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 2000. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/65507-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE/CIM International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology Search Advanced Search AbstractOne of the common applications of horizontal wells is the development of thin oil columns underlain by bottom water and/or overlain by a gas cap. Vertical wells are not suited in this situation due to the rapid coning of water or gas at reasonable production rates. Horizontal wells correctly positioned in the oil column, however, can produce at high flow rates with very little drawdown. The small drawdown significantly delays the breakthrough of water or gas at flow rates much higher than the flow rates possible from a vertical well.The flow distribution in a horizontal well designed to develop a thin oil column can be significantly impacted by friction losses in the wellbore. The impact of friction results in a higher drawdown at the heel as compared to the toe of the horizontal well. While this impact is insignificant in lower permeability systems, it can lead to premature water or gas breakthrough at the heel of the well in high permeability systems produced with low reservoir drawdown.Skin damage is normally undesirable due to its detrimental impact on well productivity. In high permeability systems developed with horizontal wells, however, well productivity is normally not a problem. Skin damage actually diminishes the detrimental impact of friction in horizontal wells by improving the flow distribution. This study investigates the intentional inclusion of mechanical skin damage in a high permeability, North Sea horizontal development. Reservoir simulation was used to justify and design a limited entry completion that was shown to improve flow distribution and oil recovery, at a significantly lower completion cost. The desired uniform flow rate distribution was confirmed by a PLT run in the first well, and through reservoir simulation and history matching.IntroductionHorizontal wells have been successfully applied in numerous North Sea fields. Horizontal wells have been utilized for improving well productivity, such as in the high oil viscosity Captain Field1. Another common application has been the development of thin oil columns that are overlain by a gas cap and/or underlain by an active aquifer. In this situation, horizontal wells are selected to minimize drawdown while producing at high rates to delay and minimize coning of either gas or water. This horizontal well application has been successfully applied at Alba2, Gryphon3, Harding, and Troll Fields4, to name a few. Jayasekera5 presented a recent review of the challenges of these types of developments in the U.K. sector of the North Sea.The West Brae Field was discovered in 1975 with the drilling of the second well in the Brae Field complex. While the discovery well and a successful delineation well tested at rates in excess of 4,000 BOPD from a 92 feet thick oil column, reservoir analysis indicated that a vertical well development could be expected to rapidly cone water. The possibility of a communicating gas cap was also suggested, further complicating potential coning problems. It was not until the late 1990's with the advancement of horizontal well and subsea technology that development of the West Brae Field was considered economically viable.Development plans for the West Brae Field included the drilling of several horizontal wells from a subsea template with production delivered to the existing Brae A Platform for processing and transport. Provision for incorporating the adjacent Sedgwick Field into the development was included in the planning and design. Based upon the successful development of several analogous fields, completion of the horizontal wells with screens in an open hole was chosen as the completion technique. While this technique typically employed pre-packed screens, failures were reported to be fairly common. Because of the expense and difficulty of intervention in a subsea well in the event of a failure, the decision was made to use a premium, all metal screen. Keywords: recovery, directional drilling, friction, modeling & simulation, fluid dynamics, spe petroleum society, completion efficiency, reservoir simulation, upstream oil & gas, pressure drop Subjects: Drilling Operations, Reservoir Fluid Dynamics, Reservoir Simulation, Directional drilling, Flow in porous media This content is only available via PDF. 2000. SPE/PS-CIM International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.

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