Summary
The Colville River field represents the first widespread and successful
application of horizontal openhole completions on the North Slope of Alaska,
and one of the first in the world. The purposes of this paper are to examine
why this completion technique was selected and identify key parameters that
favored its successful application in the Colville River field. The optimal
completion technique for a candidate well is determined by reservoir
properties, geologic setting, rock mechanics, development plan, and completion
design. In this paper, we will review the unique advantages and disadvantages
of horizontal openhole completions in the Colville River field.
Three key parameters were critical to the success of horizontal openhole
completions and could be applied broadly in other situations. Using these three
criteria, other major North Slope reservoirs were evaluated to determine their
potential for horizontal-openhole-completion applications. Focus areas in this
evaluation include in-situ reservoir parameters, development plans, fluid
contacts, and wellbore geometries. The results show that only one other major
field on the North Slope could have benefited from horizontal openhole
completions.
The results of this paper are meant to provide guidelines for future
application of horizontal openhole completions on the North Slope of Alaska and
elsewhere.
Introduction
From the early 1970s through the 1990s, engineers have been drilling and
completing wells on the North Slope of Alaska with conventional cemented and
perforated liners. Wells drilled in Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Lisburne, and
numerous other fields are protected with casing and cement to maintain wellbore
stability, ensure reservoir access, restrict solids, and provide conformance
control for various reservoir fluids. Although technological advances ushered
in the "horizontal-multilateral-well" age, conventional cemented liners
remained the accepted default completion in the 1990s.
In 2000, the Colville River field, often referred to as the Alpine field,
was developed without conventional wellbore isolation or protection. What key
factors contributed to successful development of the Colville River field with
horizontal openhole completions? Understanding why horizontal openhole
completions were applied successfully at Colville River is the starting point
to examining potential applications in other North Slope fields and is the
purpose of this paper.
We will examine the advantages, limitations, and unique requirements for
applying openhole completions. Major issues evaluated include fluid isolation
and coning, damage remediation, fluid mobility and conformance control, sand
control, and surveillance. Failure to address these issues properly can result
in surface-facility and processing problems from uncontrolled water, gas, and
sand production.
This evaluation is presented in three sections. First, an overview of the
Colville River field provides background information on the pioneering
application of horizontal openhole completions on the North Slope of Alaska.
Second is a critical evaluation of the key parameters instrumental to the
success of horizontal openhole completions at the Colville River field. In the
third section, the characteristics identified in the Colville River field are
used to evaluate other major producing fields on the North Slope of Alaska to
understand which characteristics would aid or impair the application of
horizontal openhole completions in offset fields.
This paper provides a basis for engineers to recognize new applications and
potential shortcomings of this cost-saving well-completion method.
© 2008. Society of Petroleum Engineers
View full textPDF
(
2,524 KB
)
History
- Original manuscript received:
6 July 2005
- Meeting paper published:
9 October 2005
- Revised manuscript received:
26 December 2007
- Manuscript approved:
19 January 2008
- Version of record:
20 August 2008
View Cart
