Digital Well Completion Solution to Complement Extreme Reservoir Contact Drilling
Authors: Goh Kim Fah Gordon , Gottumukkala Varma , Dyer Stephen , Basak Debasmita , Taor Christopher , Musayev Rashid 
Published: January 2020

The drilling records of Extreme Reservoir Contacts (ERC) like Extended Reached Drilling (ERD) and Multi-Lateral wells(ML) continue to be broken. From the initial limit of MD 10,000ft to now almost 50,000ft with extended reach depths and from dual-lateral to quad-laterals’ with 40,000-50,000ft reservoir contact. Completions rule of engaging with this type of wells continues to play ‘catch-up’. As a result, getting the full potential out of these extreme wells with limited completions options had always been a challenge. Recent innovation in "wireless electric connect/disconnect" technology combined with all electric integrated intelligent completions architecture has addressed these challenges. The well completion design is an all electrical system that provides a multi trip connect/disconnect system enabling seamless communication between upper and lower completions enabling permanent downhole monitoring and control, at the sand face. The highlight of this digital edge solution and deployment architecture enables completions to deploy in ERC wells meeting targeted drilled depths and achieving reservoir goals. The digital enablement provides real time downhole data for permanent production logging and zonal well testing capability while producing. Production and reservoir management is at finger tips of the end user.

A new innovative down hole electric telemetry enabled data transmission and power to be distributed across multiple sensors like pressure, temperature, water cut and electric flow control valve. Run on a single electrical cable, this digital completion technology with its induction coupling capability continue to complete record-drilling wells and makes today's completions limitations a history. It is now a reality for fully-digitalized Intelligent Completions solution, which can support any well type scenarios; multi-zones, horizontals, multi-laterals and extended reached drilling (ERD), including subsea completions. Each zone can be equipped with a permanent downhole infinite position valve-control, flowmeter, water-cut sensor and/or pressure/temperature gauges. This allows real-time reservoir measurement and supports ‘Dial A Rate’ flow control. Conventional flow control valves depend on hydraulic actuation system, although the technology has worked for decades, it has some inherent limitations such as need for multiple control lines limiting the number of zones, maximum depth of deployment as well the response time of hydraulic systems for very long completions. Electric valves are free from these limitations by design and provides lot more flexibility in the hands of the completion engineer. The multiple sensors measurement and data integration is achieved with a single surveillance, monitoring, diagnostics and valve-optimization production software to ensure real time data streaming, management and bringing insights to production and reservoir engineers for production optimization through remote valve control.

This digital solution of Intelligent Completions technology can finally claim that completions is no longer the limiting factor, effective reservoir management with intelligent completions can follow wherever the drill bit can go. It has been deployed worldwide from the Middle East to the open Sea in Pacific to enable zonal production-control and reservoir management. Its borderless completions architectures and standardization of modular system is the answer for Digital Oilfield and Data driven continual production optimization and reservoir management without intervention.

For the first time in Completions history, extended drilling records are matched with completing the entire well to Measured Depth (MD) with fully digitized solution of multi-zone measurements, infinite-control valves and real time data enabled production optimization system.