Summary
Openhole packers have been shown to be very effective in many different
applications, including curing losses, controlling high-permeability zones and
fractures, improving equalization in passive- and active-inflow-control-device
(ICD) completions, and, most importantly, controlling water and gas production.
The use of these tools has increased exponentially in the last few years and
will continue to grow. This paper summarizes the most important findings and
lessons learned about the role of zonal isolation in advanced horizontal
completions.
More than 12 years of experience using reservoir-optimized completions,
including passive or active ICDs and openhole packers, in more than 1,000 wells
and several tens of different fields around the world has led to the
accumulation of best practices and rules of thumb. The approach for openhole
packers has changed markedly with time, along with the industry learning about
the importance of these tools in advanced horizontal completions.
Important considerations have been generated to design horizontal
completions under different fluid properties, reservoir uncertainties, and
optimum operational considerations allowing for equalization of flow along the
entire length of the horizontal section. These best practices came from
extensive run history and lessons learned, and it has been found that openhole
packers often play the most critical role for a completion's success. The
availability of a wide range of new zonal-isolation tools makes it easier for
operators to obtain the best and most-cost-effective solution for each
application.
Openhole packers for compartmentalization are key for success in many
applications and offer benefits for inflow and annulus flow control. An
extremely important consequence is the ability to control gas or water after
breakthrough. This has been proved from analyzing a significant amount of
production logs post-installation. Actual well-performance data and simulations
will be shown to support the discussion and illustrate concepts and
findings.
© 2012. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
17 December 2010
- Meeting paper published:
18 October 2010
- Revised manuscript received:
11 December 2011
- Manuscript approved:
20 December 2011
- Published online:
9 March 2012
- Version of record:
15 March 2012
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