The Transcend family of openhole sand management services can be used separately or in combination, according to the requirements of a well, reservoir, or project. (Image courtesy of Schlumberger)

Solutions for challenges in complex environments

Evolution in drilling technologies and the increasing number of longer, more highly deviated, and horizontal wells has expanded the market for openhole completions. With this expansion comes the need to grow sand management services that accommodate any type of openhole completion. Coupled with this growing market are challenges related to complex environments (i.e., deepwater developments, unconsolidated sands, and unstable formations with reactive shales), all of which create problems related to gravel packs that require creative solutions.

The Schlumberger Transcend family of openhole sand management services meets these challenges through a full, flexible portfolio of highly reliable instruments that facilitate reservoir management and prolong the life of the completion. These services include screens and inflow-control devices, integrated water-packing technologies, alternate path gravel-pack systems, and real-time reservoir measurements.

Completion parameters vary greatly, which is why the Reslink sandscreen portfolio includes robust sand screens for standalone and gravel pack applications as well as inflow and injection control devices for production and injection wells. Correctly applied, these devices give the versatility to complete any type of interval for optimal production success and help ensure uniform production and eliminate water and gas coning effects, which can reduce a well’s productive life.

Horizontal completions maximize reservoir exposure and increase production, but present huge challenges. The AquaPac integrated water packing system uses a combined knowledge in tools, fluids and screens to ensure full gravel pack efficiency in an openhole well. The entire cycle — design, execution, and evaluation — is supported by software with integrated modules for tool and pumping calculations, simulations, and optimal treatment in both vertical and horizontal wells.

Regardless of the cause, premature screenout leaves sections of the screens exposed and vulnerable to damage, shortening the life of the completion. The OptiPac Alternate Path gravel pack system uses shun tube technology to fill in the voids left during gravel packing and ensure efficiency even under the most extreme conditions. This system includes specially developed fluids, state-of-the-art modeling software, and pumping and tools expertise to ensure uniform gravel packing across the entire interval.

As a well is produced, reservoir conditions eventually change. Recognizing and reacting quickly to these changes in real time is necessary for maximizing well performance over time. The IntelliPac measurements in real time for openhole completions combine sand control and permanent reservoir monitoring and support reservoir management for the life of the well. Detailed measurements in real time — a crucial component of reservoir management — help identify critical changes and allow quick reactions that increase the productive life of the reservoir. www.slb.com

Cleaning tools and spacer create new wellbore cleanup standard

A joint initiative between Baker Oil Tools and Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids in Malaysia has led to the successful deployment of VACS and ULTRA-CLEAN brush sub and MICRO-PRIME spacer.

A wellbore cleanup bottomhole assembly was deployed due to the high inclination of the well, poor annular velocity and limited flow rate from surface. Sand and slug residues could not be circulated out of the well. The MICRO-PRIME wellbore clean-up spacer was deployed to enhance the effectiveness of the cleanup and to minimize potential risk during and post-completion due to poor cleaning results. MICRO-PRIME uses advanced Mesophase technology that cleans and water-wets all surfaces, even with very high levels of oil residues. Results from this application have led the operator to incorporate the joint proposal into standard operations procedure for wellbore cleanup. www.bakerhughes.com

SmartWell interval control valve introduced

WellDynamics released the HS interval control valve (HS-ICV). The valve is debris-tolerant and designed for high-pressure, deepwater environments characterized as severe operating conditions, enabling deployment of SmartWell systems in more extreme environments.

The valve’s unique features include:
• A proprietary metal-to-metal seal, allowing for the highest unloading capacity in the industry;
• A customizable flow trim; and
• Optional position sensors to provide real-time confirmation of remotely actuated valve movements.

The HS-ICV’s flow trim ensures complete metal-to-metal seal integrity when exposed to heavy wellbore debris. A one-piece valve mandrel design eliminates the potential for wellbore debris to be trapped inside the tool where it can prevent valve movement. The metal-to-metal flank seal enables the valve to unload at a maximum differential pressure of 5,000 psi — the highest unloading capacity in the industry — and has been rigorously tested for seal integrity at both low- and high-pressure differentials of up to 10,000 psi.

The valve can be used in simple intervention avoidance applications or in more versatile advanced reservoir management choking applications. For the choking
application, the HS-ICV can be accurately positioned using WellDynamics’ Accu-Pulse incremental positioning module; alternatively, in dry tree applications, it can be positioned using the company’s surface positioning technology. In either application, optional onboard position sensors track and provide real-time confirmation of the movement of the flow trim.

SmartWell intelligent completion technology includes solutions for flow control, zonal isolation, permanent monitoring, and downhole control, as well as digital infrastructure and fiber-optic systems. www.welldynamics.com

Software ensures optimal centralizer placement

Pegasus Vertex Inc. has released version 4.0 of its CentraDesign software, which calculates the required spacing for desired standoff profile or resulting standoff from given spacing. Both bow spring or solid/rigid centralizers can be modeled for vertical, deviated, and horizontal wells.

The software addresses engineers’ concerns such as:
• Can the required standoff be achieved?
• Are too many unnecessary centralizers being used?
• Are there any benefits with specificplacement of centralizer during the casing running?

The state-of-art computer program performs the sensitivity analysis on centralizer spacing and models the casing flotation for extended reach drilling wells.
Three-dimensional visualization of casing centralizer on a deviated well bore allows the engineer to see what would be otherwise invisible. www.pvicom.com

Software package manages uncertainty during Seismic Inversion

Earthworks Environment & Resources Ltd. has launched the latest version of its Seismic Inversion software, MPSI v1.2.

MPSI is a cost-effective, ultra-fast stochastic inversion software solution that allows users of existing deterministic inversion packages to extend their stochastic inversion technology capabilities. Stochastic inversion is used to understand the uncertainty in seismic inversion and allows the user to explore the impact of this geophysical uncertainty on lithology, porosity, and reservoir volumes over the 3-D seismic volume inverted.

There are several key benefits of this solution for geophysicists. High performance allows the user to routinely generate the 100+ realizations necessary to compute reliable uncertainty statistics for the inversion and allows the user to directly understand the uncertainty in the inversion process itself. Using spatially varying convergence criterion the user can control the relative importance of the seismic and well data in the final inversion and ensure the resulting deterministic or stochastic inversion will tie to the well data. During the inversion, the user can correct the impedance values for the asymmetric error term that arises due to inversion solving for reflectivity (seismic amplitudes).

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