Autonomous Inflow Control Valves Enable Better Water Control in Peru Oil Field
Authors: Carpenter Chris 
Published: October 2024

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This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 218074, “Making Better Wells With Autonomous Inflow Control Valves for Water Control in the Flank of the Bretaña Norte Oil Field, Peru: A Case Study,” by Willy Garcia, SPE, J. Antonio Zegarra, SPE, and Edwar Bustamante, PetroTal Peru, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

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Bretaña Norte is a heavy oil greenfield in a remote area of northeast Peru. The field development strategy was designed around horizontal wells and advanced completions with autonomous inflow control devices (AICDs). As a part of a technology evaluation program, autonomous inflow-control-valve (AICV) technology was selected for field trials because of its ability to autonomously shut off water based on fluid properties. A reservoir simulation study was conducted, and the expected performance of AICV was compared with other AICD technologies installed in the field, indicating potential benefits related to better reservoir management.

Field Description
Bretaña Norte is an onshore field in the Peruvian Amazon. The Vivian formation is the main reservoir of the Bretaña Norte field and consists entirely of fluvial deposits composed of massive, moderately sorted, fluvial sandstones with thicknesses ranging from 40 to 200 ft. The Vivian formation is subdivided into Vivian S1 and Vivian S2, but only the Vivian S2 formation has been exploited to date. Heavy oil is produced from the Vivian S2 formation (18–19 °API and 25 cp), which features reservoir permeability ranging from 1 to 4 darcies.
An active bottom aquifer of greater than 400-ft thickness was encountered under the60-ft oil column of the reservoir, posing a difficult production challenge to the operator: how to handle high volumes of water production that must be reinjected into a different formation.
The Bretaña Norte field began production in 2018 with a few initial deviated wells with electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). The first horizontal well completed with standalone screens (SAS) experienced early water breakthrough. Thus, the operator opted for advanced completions with screens and AICDs in 2019. Between 2019 and 2023, 11 wells were completed with different AICD technologies. Even though initial results were positive, such outcomes have been highly dependent on the structural position of the wells. In 2022, a trial well was completed with the AICV technology in the flank of the reservoir, significantly closer to the oil/water contact (OWC), to evaluate its performance under challenging conditions.

AICV Technology
The AICV is an AICD designed to modify its open-flow area according to the properties (viscosity and density) of the fluids flowing through it and to choke flow progressively as water cut or gas-volume fraction values increase. The AICV is fully reversible, meaning that, if changes in the fluids flowing through the valve occur, it will reopen or reclose accordingly. The AICV consists of two flow paths, the main flow path and the pilot flow path, with an approximate flow distribution of 97 and 3%, respectively. Fig. 1 presents a schematic of the AICV, including a heat map showing the pressure distribution across the different flow paths.