Abstract: Horizontal Openhole Well Displacement Practices: Effect of Various Techniques on Well Productivity, Operational Complexity, and Overall Project Economics

MATHIS, STEPHEN, Baker Oil Tools

Openhole gravel pack completions can have many advantages over comparable cased-hole completions. This is especially true for horizontal well applications. However, because no perforations are present to penetrate the filtercake, borehole conditioning prior to gravel packing is critical to ensure good well productivity. To address this issue various borehole cleanup techniques have been developed. These different techniques have been adopted to address specific reservoir and economic conditions. Various levels of success have been realized for these techniques, with development of them leading to an improved understanding of the steps that should not be eliminated from any technique, and the steps can be successfully altered to meet local needs.

This paper reports the findings of an evaluation made of well performance results from wells completed in THUMS development in the Wilmington Field. In addition, techniques applied elsewhere in Southern California, as well as worldide will also be reviewed. The conditions that must be met in all displacement techniques to insure a successful completion will be outlined, as will the benefits and drawbacks of each of the commonly applied methods. Guidelines for selecting a wellbore cleaning procedure to employ in specific situations will be provided.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90911©2000 AAPG Pacific Section and Western Region Society of Petroleum Engineers, Long Beach, California