Current State of the One-Trip Multizone Sand Control Completion System and the Conundrum Faced in the Gulf of Mexico Lower Tertiary

摘要

This paper provides perspective on the current state of multizone completion technology and issues encountered in the industry with developing a system that offers increased capabilities to meet the ever-increasing challenges presented by the Lower Tertiary formation in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Since the introduction of the first-generation multizone system approximately 35 years ago, the technology has continued to evolve to meet new well and reservoir challenges. The Lower Tertiary formation in the GOM is currently driving the need for further evolution of the current-generation multizone system. The Lower Tertiary reservoir requires deeper well depths, higher zone pressures, higher bottomhole temperatures (BHTs), and higher production rates as well as reservoir monitoring and reservoir control for improved reservoir management. These are just a few of the technical challenges for developing the next-generation multizone completion system. In the intervening 7 years after its introduction, the fourth-generation multizone system was successfully deployed in multiple ultra-deepwater wells in the GOM, along with dry and wet tree completions in the Asia Pacific area. This paper presents information on the associated demands for improved technologies, which will assist the industry understanding of the technical challenges related to drilling, completing, and producing in the Lower Tertiary formation. The paper discusses which requirements are optional and mandatory for future development and evaluation and how this will affect well architecture in the future. The multizone technology has proven to be an enabler for cost-efficient completions in the shallow well environment and a true enabler in the high-cost ultra-deepwater environment requiring high-rate fracture stimulation treatments. Similar to previous systems, this fifth-generation multizone system is expected to have a significant impact on production and reservoir management. The proven technology will help operators overcome the completion challenges presented by the Lower Tertiary formation.