The Optimization Process Of Inflow Control Device Completion For Horizontal Well

Horizontal wells are often utilized to maximize reservoir contact and improve both hydrocarbon recovery efficiency and total well productivity.However,horizontal wells create non-uniform flux profiles due to variations in formation characteristics and frictional effects in the wellbore that can limit the useful length of the horizontal section and shorten productive well life.Maximizing reserve recovery by minimizing water-or gas-coning risks can be reached by optimizing the placement and operational settings of the Inflow Control Device(ICD).Installation of ICDs is an advanced well completion option that provides a practical solution to the challenges normally encountered by conventional wells.The objective of this thesis is to provide an automated,comprehensive model to identify the optimum ICD segmentation and ICD parameters for each segmentation design that ensures an optimum well performance throughout the well's and field's life.This study starts by describing the history of ICD and other AWC types development with emphasis on the(near and)fully commercially available types and their areas of application.This allows provision of guidelines on how to model ICD technologies performance.The benefits of ICD application can,by and large,be attributed to reduction of the following two effects detrimental to horizontal well performance: Inflow profile skewing by frictional pressure loss along the completion(heel-toe effect)and inflow variation caused by reservoir heterogeneity.These variations often negatively affect the oil sweep efficiency and the ultimate recovery.ICDs are a mature,well completion technology that can make the inflow profile more uniform by restricting the high specific inflow rate segments of the completion.The thesis presents a reservoir-wellbore coupling model for effective reduction of the inflow imbalance caused by the second of the above mentioned reasons,that is reservoir heterogeneity.The model addresses one of the key questions of the ICD technology application — the trade-off between well productivity and inflow equalization.The flowchart of the ICD optimization process for the heterogeneous reservoir will be illustrated.Results indicate that the effect of the water control of ICD completion can be maximized with a reasonable selection of the target inflow profile.The practical utility of the comparison of open-hole completion,constant ICD completion and optimal ICD completion are illustrated through a synthetic case study.