Smart completions enable physical measurements over space and time, which provides large volumes of information at unprecedented rates. However, optimizing inflow control valve (ICV) settings of smart multilateral wells is a challenging task. Traditionally, ICV field tests, evaluating well performance at different ICV settings, are conducted to observe flow behavior and configure ICVs; however, this is often suboptimal. This study investigated a surrogate-based optimization algorithm that minimizes the number of ICV field tests required, predicts well performance of all unseen combination of ICV settings, and determines the optimal ICV setting and net present value (NPV). A numerical model of a real offshore field in Saudi Arabia was used to generate scenarios involving a two-phase (oil and water) reservoir with trilateral producers. Multiple scenarios were examined with variations in design parameters, mainly well count, placement, and configuration. Eight discrete settings were assumed to match the commonly installed ICV technology, where all possible scenarios were simulated to establish ground truth. The investigation considered three major algorithmic components: sampling, machine learning, and optimization. The sampling strategy compared physics-based initialization, space-filling sampling, and triangulation-based adaptive sampling. A cross-validated neural network was used to fit a surrogate (in this case, machine learning algorithm) dynamically, whereas enumeration was adopted for optimization to avoid errors arising from using common optimizers. This study evaluated two sampling techniques: space-filling and adaptive sampling. The latter was found superior in capturing reservoir behavior with the smallest number of simulation runs (i.e., ICV field tests). Algorithm performance was evaluated based on the number of ICV field tests required to exceed an R2 threshold of 90% on all unseen scenarios and match the optimal ICV settings and NPV. Surface and downhole flow profile prediction and optimization were achieved successfully using this approach. To determine the diminishing value of additional ICV field tests, the triangulation sampling loss was used as a stoppage criterion. When running the algorithm on a single producer for both surface and downhole oil and water flow prediction, the algorithm required only 6 and 11 ICV field tests to achieve 80% and 90% R2 across the different cases of this real reservoir model. Fishbone wellbore configurations were found to pose a more challenging task because changes in any ICV pressure decrease affects multiple laterals simultaneously, which increases the level of interdependence. The resultant surrogate was used to decide on the optimal settings of ICV devices and effectively predict the NPV. Surrogates, in this approach, are statistical proxies of the targeted ground-truth production function. Further improvement was accomplished through adaptively sampling and fitting surrogates to predict NP
{"title":"Surrogate-Based Prediction and Optimization of Multilateral Inflow Control Valve Flow Performance with Production Data","authors":"M. Aljubran, R. Horne","doi":"10.2118/200884-pa","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/200884-pa","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Smart completions enable physical measurements over space and time, which provides large volumes of information at unprecedented rates. However, optimizing inflow control valve (ICV) settings of smart multilateral wells is a challenging task. Traditionally, ICV field tests, evaluating well performance at different ICV settings, are conducted to observe flow behavior and configure ICVs; however, this is often suboptimal. This study investigated a surrogate-based optimization algorithm that minimizes the number of ICV field tests required, predicts well performance of all unseen combination of ICV settings, and determines the optimal ICV setting and net present value (NPV).\u0000 A numerical model of a real offshore field in Saudi Arabia was used to generate scenarios involving a two-phase (oil and water) reservoir with trilateral producers. Multiple scenarios were examined with variations in design parameters, mainly well count, placement, and configuration. Eight discrete settings were assumed to match the commonly installed ICV technology, where all possible scenarios were simulated to establish ground truth. The investigation considered three major algorithmic components: sampling, machine learning, and optimization. The sampling strategy compared physics-based initialization, space-filling sampling, and triangulation-based adaptive sampling. A cross-validated neural network was used to fit a surrogate (in this case, machine learning algorithm) dynamically, whereas enumeration was adopted for optimization to avoid errors arising from using common optimizers.\u0000 This study evaluated two sampling techniques: space-filling and adaptive sampling. The latter was found superior in capturing reservoir behavior with the smallest number of simulation runs (i.e., ICV field tests). Algorithm performance was evaluated based on the number of ICV field tests required to exceed an R2 threshold of 90% on all unseen scenarios and match the optimal ICV settings and NPV. Surface and downhole flow profile prediction and optimization were achieved successfully using this approach. To determine the diminishing value of additional ICV field tests, the triangulation sampling loss was used as a stoppage criterion. When running the algorithm on a single producer for both surface and downhole oil and water flow prediction, the algorithm required only 6 and 11 ICV field tests to achieve 80% and 90% R2 across the different cases of this real reservoir model. Fishbone wellbore configurations were found to pose a more challenging task because changes in any ICV pressure decrease affects multiple laterals simultaneously, which increases the level of interdependence. The resultant surrogate was used to decide on the optimal settings of ICV devices and effectively predict the NPV. Surrogates, in this approach, are statistical proxies of the targeted ground-truth production function. Further improvement was accomplished through adaptively sampling and fitting surrogates to predict NP","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2118/200884-pa","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46970538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kurniawan S. Suminar, I. Gavrielatos, Ramin Dabirian, R. Mohan, O. Shoham
An experimental and theoretical investigation of surfactant-stabilized oil/water emulsion characteristics was carried out under water sweep (WS) and oil sweep (OS) conditions. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfactants were used, with concentrations less than and more than the critical micelle concentration (CMC). Experimental data were acquired for detection of the phase-inversion region, which was measured simultaneously by several independent methods. These include a circular differential dielectric sensor (C-DDS), a rectangular differential dielectric sensor (R-DDS) (both sensors accurately detect the phase-inversion region), a pressure transducer, and a mass flowmeter. The addition of an emulsifier surfactant to an oil/water mixture generated a stable emulsion, which resulted in a phase-inversion delay. For water-continuous to oil-continuous flow, a hydrophilic surfactant was a better emulsifier, while for oil-continuous to water-continuous flow, a hydrophobic surfactant was a better emulsifier for creating more stable emulsions. The surfactant/oil/water emulsion resulted in an increase of the dispersed-phase volume fraction required for phase inversion, as compared to the case of oil/water dispersions without surfactant. For emulsions with surfactant concentrations above CMC, the presence of micelles contributed to further delay of the phase inversion, as compared to those with surfactant concentrations below CMC. The phase-inversion region exhibits a hysteresis between the OS and WS runs, below CMC and above CMC, which was due to the difference in droplet sizes caused by different breakup and coalescence processes for oil-continuous and water-continuous flow. This research shows that the DDS is an efficient instrumentation that can be used to detect the region where the emulsion phase inversion is expected to occur. Moreover, the experimental results and the pertinent analysis and discussion provide useful insights for a more informed design of surface facilities (including emulsion separators) in oil and gas production operations.
{"title":"Detecting Phase-Inversion Region of Surfactant-Stabilized Oil/Water Emulsions Using Differential Dielectric Sensors","authors":"Kurniawan S. Suminar, I. Gavrielatos, Ramin Dabirian, R. Mohan, O. Shoham","doi":"10.2118/205018-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/205018-PA","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 An experimental and theoretical investigation of surfactant-stabilized oil/water emulsion characteristics was carried out under water sweep (WS) and oil sweep (OS) conditions. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfactants were used, with concentrations less than and more than the critical micelle concentration (CMC). Experimental data were acquired for detection of the phase-inversion region, which was measured simultaneously by several independent methods. These include a circular differential dielectric sensor (C-DDS), a rectangular differential dielectric sensor (R-DDS) (both sensors accurately detect the phase-inversion region), a pressure transducer, and a mass flowmeter.\u0000 The addition of an emulsifier surfactant to an oil/water mixture generated a stable emulsion, which resulted in a phase-inversion delay. For water-continuous to oil-continuous flow, a hydrophilic surfactant was a better emulsifier, while for oil-continuous to water-continuous flow, a hydrophobic surfactant was a better emulsifier for creating more stable emulsions.\u0000 The surfactant/oil/water emulsion resulted in an increase of the dispersed-phase volume fraction required for phase inversion, as compared to the case of oil/water dispersions without surfactant. For emulsions with surfactant concentrations above CMC, the presence of micelles contributed to further delay of the phase inversion, as compared to those with surfactant concentrations below CMC. The phase-inversion region exhibits a hysteresis between the OS and WS runs, below CMC and above CMC, which was due to the difference in droplet sizes caused by different breakup and coalescence processes for oil-continuous and water-continuous flow.\u0000 This research shows that the DDS is an efficient instrumentation that can be used to detect the region where the emulsion phase inversion is expected to occur. Moreover, the experimental results and the pertinent analysis and discussion provide useful insights for a more informed design of surface facilities (including emulsion separators) in oil and gas production operations.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43298662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Husveg, R. Husveg, Niels van Teeffelen, R. Verwey, Peter Guinee
In hydrocarbon production and processing, choke and control valves mix and emulsify petroleum phases. The consequence is often that the efficiency of separation processes is affected and finally that the quality of oil and water phases is degraded. Over the last few years, low-shear valves targeting petroleum processes have emerged on the market. This paper presents four separate live-fluid experiences from low-shear valve installations, each surveyed and documented by an independent third party. Three of the installations refer to choke valves, whereas the fourth installation refers to a control valve. For each installation, standard choke and control valves were used as reference valves. In terms of downstream separation efficiency, the low-shear choke valves reduced oil-in-water concentrations respectively by 70, 45, and 60%, by total average. In the control valve application, the low-shear valve, which was located between the hydrocyclones and a compact flotation unit, reduced the oil-in-water concentration by 23%. In sum, the field installations have demonstrated that low-shear valves significantly and consistently reduce oil-in-water concentrations and thus improve the produced water quality. The results signify that low-shear valves may be used in debottlenecking separation and produced water treatment processes, reducing the environmental influence from produced water discharges. Because the low-shear technology enables processing of petroleum phases with less effort, energy, and chemicals, it also reduces emissions to air.
{"title":"Reviewing Cyclonic Low-Shear Choke and Control Valve Field Experiences","authors":"T. Husveg, R. Husveg, Niels van Teeffelen, R. Verwey, Peter Guinee","doi":"10.2118/205016-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/205016-PA","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In hydrocarbon production and processing, choke and control valves mix and emulsify petroleum phases. The consequence is often that the efficiency of separation processes is affected and finally that the quality of oil and water phases is degraded. Over the last few years, low-shear valves targeting petroleum processes have emerged on the market.\u0000 This paper presents four separate live-fluid experiences from low-shear valve installations, each surveyed and documented by an independent third party. Three of the installations refer to choke valves, whereas the fourth installation refers to a control valve. For each installation, standard choke and control valves were used as reference valves. In terms of downstream separation efficiency, the low-shear choke valves reduced oil-in-water concentrations respectively by 70, 45, and 60%, by total average. In the control valve application, the low-shear valve, which was located between the hydrocyclones and a compact flotation unit, reduced the oil-in-water concentration by 23%.\u0000 In sum, the field installations have demonstrated that low-shear valves significantly and consistently reduce oil-in-water concentrations and thus improve the produced water quality. The results signify that low-shear valves may be used in debottlenecking separation and produced water treatment processes, reducing the environmental influence from produced water discharges. Because the low-shear technology enables processing of petroleum phases with less effort, energy, and chemicals, it also reduces emissions to air.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45780144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Accurate zonal flow rate determination is necessary for better reservoir behavior understanding and for making important decisions that can improve well productivity. Knowledge of the capabilities of different reservoir zones in the same well also has significant importance in reservoir performance monitoring and selection of perforation intervals in development wells. Conventional production log analysis techniques can usually yield good results only if the fullbore spinner readings are reliable. However, the fullbore spinner measurement may not be available in some wells. Examples include cases in which the fullbore spinner cannot access the well due to mechanical obstruction, or when the casing is not clean enough, causing potential plugging of fullbore spinner blades. In these situations, the fullbore flow-rate readings may not be available or at least unclear or confusing, which may lead to incorrect decisions. In many of these situations, inline spinner (ILS) data may be readily available. The ILS is often used for qualitative interpretation (i.e., determining which zones are producing), but there is not a specific method to use the ILS for a quantitative solution in the absence of surface measurements of rates. In this paper, we introduce a new method to calculate the volumetric zonal flow rate using ILS data with high accuracy. Approximately 40 oil wells are used to develop an empirical correlation to compute zonal flow rates from ILS data in casing strings. The new method was used to quantitatively interpret eight oil wells for validation. In these wells, fullbore and ILS data were significantly different. The new method for interpretation of ILS data provided results consistent with surface production tests and led to decisions that contributed to increasing production rates.
{"title":"Use of Inline Spinner for Determination of Zonal Flow Rates in Vertical and Moderately Deviated Wells","authors":"M. El-Sheikh, Ahmed H. El-Banbi","doi":"10.2118/205021-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/205021-PA","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Accurate zonal flow rate determination is necessary for better reservoir behavior understanding and for making important decisions that can improve well productivity. Knowledge of the capabilities of different reservoir zones in the same well also has significant importance in reservoir performance monitoring and selection of perforation intervals in development wells.\u0000 Conventional production log analysis techniques can usually yield good results only if the fullbore spinner readings are reliable. However, the fullbore spinner measurement may not be available in some wells. Examples include cases in which the fullbore spinner cannot access the well due to mechanical obstruction, or when the casing is not clean enough, causing potential plugging of fullbore spinner blades. In these situations, the fullbore flow-rate readings may not be available or at least unclear or confusing, which may lead to incorrect decisions. In many of these situations, inline spinner (ILS) data may be readily available.\u0000 The ILS is often used for qualitative interpretation (i.e., determining which zones are producing), but there is not a specific method to use the ILS for a quantitative solution in the absence of surface measurements of rates. In this paper, we introduce a new method to calculate the volumetric zonal flow rate using ILS data with high accuracy. Approximately 40 oil wells are used to develop an empirical correlation to compute zonal flow rates from ILS data in casing strings. The new method was used to quantitatively interpret eight oil wells for validation. In these wells, fullbore and ILS data were significantly different. The new method for interpretation of ILS data provided results consistent with surface production tests and led to decisions that contributed to increasing production rates.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43180091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Ahmed, P. Russell, F. Hamad, S. Gooneratne, N. Makwashi
In the first part of this work, the development of a capital cost optimization model for sizing three-phase separators was described. The developed model uses generalized reduced gradient nonlinear algorithms to determine the minimum cost associated with the construction of horizontal separators subject to four sets of constraints. In the second part, an experimental test rig was designed and used to investigate the effect of gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, and slenderness ratio (L/D) on the separation performance of horizontal three-phase separators. The results indicated an inverse relationship between an increase in gas and liquid flow rate and the separator outlet quality. It also indicated a direct relationship between an increase in slenderness ratio and separator outlet quality. The results also showed that the gradient change of the percentage of water in the oil outlet with respect to slenderness ratio decreased to ratios of 6:1. Hence, the separation rate increased. At ratios greater than 6:1, the separation still increases, but the gradient change in separation drops off, implying that the benefit in terms of separation is diminishing beyond this point. Therefore, the optimal slenderness ratio for technical reasons is 6:1.
{"title":"The Effects of Inlet Flow Rates and Slenderness Ratio on the Separation Performance of a Horizontal Three-Phase Separator","authors":"T. Ahmed, P. Russell, F. Hamad, S. Gooneratne, N. Makwashi","doi":"10.2118/205517-pa","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/205517-pa","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In the first part of this work, the development of a capital cost optimization model for sizing three-phase separators was described. The developed model uses generalized reduced gradient nonlinear algorithms to determine the minimum cost associated with the construction of horizontal separators subject to four sets of constraints. In the second part, an experimental test rig was designed and used to investigate the effect of gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, and slenderness ratio (L/D) on the separation performance of horizontal three-phase separators. The results indicated an inverse relationship between an increase in gas and liquid flow rate and the separator outlet quality. It also indicated a direct relationship between an increase in slenderness ratio and separator outlet quality. The results also showed that the gradient change of the percentage of water in the oil outlet with respect to slenderness ratio decreased to ratios of 6:1. Hence, the separation rate increased. At ratios greater than 6:1, the separation still increases, but the gradient change in separation drops off, implying that the benefit in terms of separation is diminishing beyond this point. Therefore, the optimal slenderness ratio for technical reasons is 6:1.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44828550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since its discovery in 1971, numerous matrix stimulations have been performed in South Pars field. However, there are still various challenges surrounding stimulation job design and evaluation methods. To tackle these issues, 16 matrix operations were selected to be analyzed from different phases of the development project of the reservoir. The objective of this study is to introduce an efficient interpretation method to determine optimum treatment volume (gal/ft), compare the effectiveness of diverters, calculate stimulation ratio (SR), and forecast post-acid production behavior from surface treatingdata.The modified inverse injectivity (Iinv) method, which is fully discussed by Safari et al. (2020), is used in this study. The obtained data were analyzed in terms of Iinv decreasing trend, Iinv humps, and pre-/post-acid Iinv during the stimulation process. In addition, pre-/post-stimulation surface testing data are gathered and analyzed. These data are coupled with post-acid Iinv to find a correlation to predict production behavior of treated wells. SR is defined as the ratio of pre-acid Iinv to post-acid Iinv of a treated well. Finally, SR values are validated with available production logging tool (PLT) data from two stimulation operations.First, the obtained results indicated that optimum treatment volume (gal/ft) of acid depends on well conditions. It means that wells with high initial formation damage require more volumes of stimulation fluids. In this regard, wells treated with 27/27 gal/ft treatment volume design [27 gal/ft 28% hydrochloric acid (HCl) and 27 gal/ft 15% viscoelastic surfactant (VES)] were understimulated. Although treatment volume design of 53/53 gal/ft seems to be adequate for low-skin wells, higher treatment volume (gal/ft) would further enhance productivity of highly damaged wells. This result was confirmed by stimulation of a damaged well with treatment volume of 60/60 gal/ft. Finally, the most reliable design applied in the field so far is the 70/70 gal/ft treatment volume. Second, Iinv analyses depicted that better diversion is observed in wells with lower injectivity and higher damage. At the next step, the calculated SR values showed an average deviation of less than 10% from downhole PLT data. Ultimately, the produced results demonstrated that there is a direct relation between the post-acid Iinv and surface drawdown in this field. Therefore, production behavior of treated wells can be correlated by having access to post-acid Iinv.The novelty of this work pertains to use of surface treating data recorded during a stimulation operation to generate Iinv and its associated analysis curves to evaluate performance of matrix stimulation operations. By applying this method, optimum volume of acid and diverter, diversion effectiveness, SR, and an estimation of post-acid surface drawdown can be obtained from the simple surface treating data. The secondary-produced data could lead to a better understanding of carbonate reser
{"title":"An Efficient Interpretation Method for Matrix Acidizing Evaluation and Optimization in Long Heterogeneous Carbonate Reservoirs","authors":"H. Panjalizadeh, Alireza Safari, M. Kamani","doi":"10.2118/203411-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/203411-PA","url":null,"abstract":"Since its discovery in 1971, numerous matrix stimulations have been performed in South Pars field. However, there are still various challenges surrounding stimulation job design and evaluation methods. To tackle these issues, 16 matrix operations were selected to be analyzed from different phases of the development project of the reservoir. The objective of this study is to introduce an efficient interpretation method to determine optimum treatment volume (gal/ft), compare the effectiveness of diverters, calculate stimulation ratio (SR), and forecast post-acid production behavior from surface treatingdata.The modified inverse injectivity (Iinv) method, which is fully discussed by Safari et al. (2020), is used in this study. The obtained data were analyzed in terms of Iinv decreasing trend, Iinv humps, and pre-/post-acid Iinv during the stimulation process. In addition, pre-/post-stimulation surface testing data are gathered and analyzed. These data are coupled with post-acid Iinv to find a correlation to predict production behavior of treated wells. SR is defined as the ratio of pre-acid Iinv to post-acid Iinv of a treated well. Finally, SR values are validated with available production logging tool (PLT) data from two stimulation operations.First, the obtained results indicated that optimum treatment volume (gal/ft) of acid depends on well conditions. It means that wells with high initial formation damage require more volumes of stimulation fluids. In this regard, wells treated with 27/27 gal/ft treatment volume design [27 gal/ft 28% hydrochloric acid (HCl) and 27 gal/ft 15% viscoelastic surfactant (VES)] were understimulated. Although treatment volume design of 53/53 gal/ft seems to be adequate for low-skin wells, higher treatment volume (gal/ft) would further enhance productivity of highly damaged wells. This result was confirmed by stimulation of a damaged well with treatment volume of 60/60 gal/ft. Finally, the most reliable design applied in the field so far is the 70/70 gal/ft treatment volume. Second, Iinv analyses depicted that better diversion is observed in wells with lower injectivity and higher damage. At the next step, the calculated SR values showed an average deviation of less than 10% from downhole PLT data. Ultimately, the produced results demonstrated that there is a direct relation between the post-acid Iinv and surface drawdown in this field. Therefore, production behavior of treated wells can be correlated by having access to post-acid Iinv.The novelty of this work pertains to use of surface treating data recorded during a stimulation operation to generate Iinv and its associated analysis curves to evaluate performance of matrix stimulation operations. By applying this method, optimum volume of acid and diverter, diversion effectiveness, SR, and an estimation of post-acid surface drawdown can be obtained from the simple surface treating data. The secondary-produced data could lead to a better understanding of carbonate reser","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67779927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we study the simulation and fault diagnosis of a conventional pumping unit under balanced conditions. As the energy input of sucker-rod pumping (SRP), the motor power contains abundant information about the whole pumping cycle under SRP. It is an important step in oilfield information construction to establish a computer-aided system that is based on motor power diagnosis. Hence, we propose an SRP simulation model for generating motor power. By analyzing the working conditions of six oil wells that contain normal or insufficient liquid supply, gas lock, traveling valve leakage, standing valve leakage, and parting rod, we simulate the motor power of the six wells. In addition, we verify the simulation model using a test well with favorable performance and establish the motor power template set (MPTS) using this simulation model. To allow for computer-aided diagnosis, we propose the use of the area proportion method to extract motor power features. We establish a diagnosis model of oilwell conditions that is based on oblique decision tree and train the diagnosis model using the MPTS. Through the verification of six oil wells in the actual production of the oil field, the diagnosis model shows a favorable response. The test results show that the methods of establishing MPTS and oilwell working-condition diagnosis are feasible.
{"title":"Complete Simulation and Fault Diagnosis of Sucker-Rod Pumping (includes associated comment)","authors":"Bin Zhang, Xian-wen Gao, Xiangyu Li","doi":"10.2118/204215-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/204215-PA","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we study the simulation and fault diagnosis of a conventional pumping unit under balanced conditions. As the energy input of sucker-rod pumping (SRP), the motor power contains abundant information about the whole pumping cycle under SRP. It is an important step in oilfield information construction to establish a computer-aided system that is based on motor power diagnosis. Hence, we propose an SRP simulation model for generating motor power. By analyzing the working conditions of six oil wells that contain normal or insufficient liquid supply, gas lock, traveling valve leakage, standing valve leakage, and parting rod, we simulate the motor power of the six wells. In addition, we verify the simulation model using a test well with favorable performance and establish the motor power template set (MPTS) using this simulation model. To allow for computer-aided diagnosis, we propose the use of the area proportion method to extract motor power features. We establish a diagnosis model of oilwell conditions that is based on oblique decision tree and train the diagnosis model using the MPTS. Through the verification of six oil wells in the actual production of the oil field, the diagnosis model shows a favorable response. The test results show that the methods of establishing MPTS and oilwell working-condition diagnosis are feasible.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67780080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Accurate prediction of fracture initiation pressure and orientation is paramount to the design of a hydraulic fracture stimulation treatment and is a major factor in the treatment's eventual success. In this study, closed-form analytical approximations of the fracturing stresses are used to develop orientation criteria for relative-to-the-wellbore (longitudinal or transverse) fracture initiation from perforated wells. These criteria were assessed numerically and found to overestimate the occurrence of transverse fracture initiation, which only takes place under a narrow range of conditions in which the tensile strength of the rock formation is lower than a critical value, and the breakdown pressure falls within a “window.” For a case study performed on the Barnett Shale, transverse fracture initiation is shown to take place for breakdown pressures below 4,762 psi, provided that the formation's tensile strength is below 2,482 psi. A robust 3D finite volume numerical model is used to evaluate solutions for the longitudinal and transverse fracturing stresses for a variable wellbore pressure, hence developing correction factors for the existing closed-form approximations. Geomechanical inputs from the Barnett Shale are considered for a horizontal well aligned parallel to the direction of the least compressive horizontal principal stress. The corrected numerically derived expressions can predict initiation pressures for a specific orientation of fracture initiation. Similarly, at known breakdown pressures, the corrected expressions are used to predict the orientation of fracture initiation. Besides wellbore trajectory, the results depend on the perforation direction. For the Barnett Shale case study, which is under a normal faulting stress regime, the perforations on the side of the borehole yield a wider breakdown pressure window by 71% and higher critical tensile strength by 32.5%, compared to perforations on top of the borehole, implying better promotion of transverse fracture initiation. Leakage of fracturing fluid around the wellbore, between the cemented casing and the surrounding rock, reduces the breakdown pressure window by 11% and the critical tensile strength by 65%. Dimensionless plots are employed to present the range of in-situ stress states in which longitudinal or transverse hydraulic fracture initiation is promoted. This is useful for completion engineers; when targeting low permeability formations such as shale reservoirs, multiple transverse fractures must be induced from the horizontal wells, as opposed to longitudinal fracture initiation, which is desired in higher permeability reservoirs or “frac-and-pack” operations.
{"title":"A Semianalytical Modeling Approach for Hydraulic Fracture Initiation and Orientation from Perforated Wells","authors":"Andreas Michael, I. Gupta","doi":"10.2118/204480-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/204480-PA","url":null,"abstract":"Accurate prediction of fracture initiation pressure and orientation is paramount to the design of a hydraulic fracture stimulation treatment and is a major factor in the treatment's eventual success. In this study, closed-form analytical approximations of the fracturing stresses are used to develop orientation criteria for relative-to-the-wellbore (longitudinal or transverse) fracture initiation from perforated wells. These criteria were assessed numerically and found to overestimate the occurrence of transverse fracture initiation, which only takes place under a narrow range of conditions in which the tensile strength of the rock formation is lower than a critical value, and the breakdown pressure falls within a “window.” For a case study performed on the Barnett Shale, transverse fracture initiation is shown to take place for breakdown pressures below 4,762 psi, provided that the formation's tensile strength is below 2,482 psi. A robust 3D finite volume numerical model is used to evaluate solutions for the longitudinal and transverse fracturing stresses for a variable wellbore pressure, hence developing correction factors for the existing closed-form approximations. Geomechanical inputs from the Barnett Shale are considered for a horizontal well aligned parallel to the direction of the least compressive horizontal principal stress. The corrected numerically derived expressions can predict initiation pressures for a specific orientation of fracture initiation. Similarly, at known breakdown pressures, the corrected expressions are used to predict the orientation of fracture initiation. Besides wellbore trajectory, the results depend on the perforation direction. For the Barnett Shale case study, which is under a normal faulting stress regime, the perforations on the side of the borehole yield a wider breakdown pressure window by 71% and higher critical tensile strength by 32.5%, compared to perforations on top of the borehole, implying better promotion of transverse fracture initiation. Leakage of fracturing fluid around the wellbore, between the cemented casing and the surrounding rock, reduces the breakdown pressure window by 11% and the critical tensile strength by 65%. Dimensionless plots are employed to present the range of in-situ stress states in which longitudinal or transverse hydraulic fracture initiation is promoted. This is useful for completion engineers; when targeting low permeability formations such as shale reservoirs, multiple transverse fractures must be induced from the horizontal wells, as opposed to longitudinal fracture initiation, which is desired in higher permeability reservoirs or “frac-and-pack” operations.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67780434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reserves estimation is an essential part of developing any reservoir. Predicting the long-term production performance and estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) in unconventional wells has always been a challenge. Developing a reliable and accurate production forecast in the oil and gas industry is mandatory because it plays a crucial part in decision-making. Several methods are used to estimate EUR in the oil and gas industry, and each has its advantages and limitations. Decline curve analysis (DCA) is a traditional reserves estimation technique that is widely used to estimate EUR in conventional reservoirs. However, when it comes to unconventional reservoirs, traditional methods are frequently unreliable for predicting production trends for low-permeability plays. In recent years, many approaches have been developed to accommodate the high complexity of unconventional plays and establish reliable estimates of reserves. This paper provides a methodology to predict EUR for multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells that outperforms many current methods, incorporates completion data, and overcomes some of the limitations of using DCA or other traditional methods to forecast production. This new approach is introduced to predict EUR for multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells and is presented as a workflow consisting of production history matching and forecasting using DCA combined with artificial neural network (ANN) predictive models. The developed workflow combines production history data, forecasting using DCA models and completion data to enhance EUR predictions. The predictive models use ANN techniques to predict EUR given short early production history data (3 months to 2 years). The new approach was developed and tested using actual production and completion data from 989 multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells from four different formations. Sixteen models were developed (four models for each formation) varying in terms of input parameters, structure, and the production history data period it requires. The developed models showed high accuracy (correlation coefficients of 0.85 to 0.99) in predicting EUR given only 3 months to 2 years of production data. The developed models use production forecasts from different DCA models along with well completion data to improve EUR predictions. Using completion parameters in predicting EUR along with the typical DCA is a major addition provided by this study. The end product of this work is a comprehensive workflow to predict EUR that can be implemented in different formations by using well completion data along with early production history data.
{"title":"A New Approach To Estimating Ultimate Recovery for Multistage Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells by Utilizing Completion Parameters Using Machine Learning","authors":"Sulaiman A. Alarifi, J. Miskimins","doi":"10.2118/204470-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/204470-PA","url":null,"abstract":"Reserves estimation is an essential part of developing any reservoir. Predicting the long-term production performance and estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) in unconventional wells has always been a challenge. Developing a reliable and accurate production forecast in the oil and gas industry is mandatory because it plays a crucial part in decision-making. Several methods are used to estimate EUR in the oil and gas industry, and each has its advantages and limitations. Decline curve analysis (DCA) is a traditional reserves estimation technique that is widely used to estimate EUR in conventional reservoirs. However, when it comes to unconventional reservoirs, traditional methods are frequently unreliable for predicting production trends for low-permeability plays. In recent years, many approaches have been developed to accommodate the high complexity of unconventional plays and establish reliable estimates of reserves. This paper provides a methodology to predict EUR for multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells that outperforms many current methods, incorporates completion data, and overcomes some of the limitations of using DCA or other traditional methods to forecast production. This new approach is introduced to predict EUR for multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells and is presented as a workflow consisting of production history matching and forecasting using DCA combined with artificial neural network (ANN) predictive models. The developed workflow combines production history data, forecasting using DCA models and completion data to enhance EUR predictions. The predictive models use ANN techniques to predict EUR given short early production history data (3 months to 2 years). The new approach was developed and tested using actual production and completion data from 989 multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells from four different formations. Sixteen models were developed (four models for each formation) varying in terms of input parameters, structure, and the production history data period it requires. The developed models showed high accuracy (correlation coefficients of 0.85 to 0.99) in predicting EUR given only 3 months to 2 years of production data. The developed models use production forecasts from different DCA models along with well completion data to improve EUR predictions. Using completion parameters in predicting EUR along with the typical DCA is a major addition provided by this study. The end product of this work is a comprehensive workflow to predict EUR that can be implemented in different formations by using well completion data along with early production history data.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67780191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Low-melting-point bismuth- (Bi-) based alloys have recently been proposed for plug-and-abandonment (P&A). Previous experiments have shown the feasibility of BiSn [58-wt% Bi and 42-wt% tin (Sn)] and BiAg [97.5-wt% Bi and 2.5-wt% silver (Ag)] alloy plugs in moderate temperature wells, both across shales and across the shale/sandstone sequence. These were validated in linear and cylindrical wellbore cavity geometries for various differential setting pressures for alloy over air. Until now, all of the experiments for setting alloy plugs have been conducted with air as the wetting fluid. Given the lack of adhesion between minerals and alloy, our concept for providing bond strength and integrity has hinged on providing a bicontinuous structure through alloy penetration into the pore network. For shales, with a positive setting pressure, anchors on the surface, in lieu of pores, have proven to be adequate. With results obtained under excess alloy pressure, we have quantified the effect of setting pressure on the alloy/shale bond quality. With brine as the wetting fluid, imposing an excess pressure on the alloy has not been demonstrated previously. This paper is the continuation of our previously published papers (Zhang et al. 2020a, 2020b), and our objective here is not only to show the possibility of forming a plug under brine but also to quantify the plug’s quality with and without an excess alloy pressure. We first describe an apparatus that controls alloy and brine pressures independently through a semipermeable piston assembly and demonstrate forming alloy plugs in a brine-filled borehole cavity. Based on pressure decay tests across the plug, we demonstrate that wellbore integrity is possible only with a positive alloy pressure over that of brine.
{"title":"Testing Low-Melting-Point Alloy Plug in Model Brine-Filled Wells","authors":"Hua Zhang, T. Ramakrishnan, Q. Elias","doi":"10.2118/205001-PA","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2118/205001-PA","url":null,"abstract":"Low-melting-point bismuth- (Bi-) based alloys have recently been proposed for plug-and-abandonment (P&A). Previous experiments have shown the feasibility of BiSn [58-wt% Bi and 42-wt% tin (Sn)] and BiAg [97.5-wt% Bi and 2.5-wt% silver (Ag)] alloy plugs in moderate temperature wells, both across shales and across the shale/sandstone sequence. These were validated in linear and cylindrical wellbore cavity geometries for various differential setting pressures for alloy over air. Until now, all of the experiments for setting alloy plugs have been conducted with air as the wetting fluid. Given the lack of adhesion between minerals and alloy, our concept for providing bond strength and integrity has hinged on providing a bicontinuous structure through alloy penetration into the pore network. For shales, with a positive setting pressure, anchors on the surface, in lieu of pores, have proven to be adequate. With results obtained under excess alloy pressure, we have quantified the effect of setting pressure on the alloy/shale bond quality. With brine as the wetting fluid, imposing an excess pressure on the alloy has not been demonstrated previously. This paper is the continuation of our previously published papers (Zhang et al. 2020a, 2020b), and our objective here is not only to show the possibility of forming a plug under brine but also to quantify the plug’s quality with and without an excess alloy pressure. We first describe an apparatus that controls alloy and brine pressures independently through a semipermeable piston assembly and demonstrate forming alloy plugs in a brine-filled borehole cavity. Based on pressure decay tests across the plug, we demonstrate that wellbore integrity is possible only with a positive alloy pressure over that of brine.","PeriodicalId":22071,"journal":{"name":"Spe Production & Operations","volume":"28 1","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67780522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}