Efficient Horizontal Wellbore Placement and Completion with Geosteering and Zonal Isolation in a Reservoir on Waterflood: A Case Study of Western Offshore, India

摘要

Infill drilling is an integral part of brown field management for exploiting un-drained areas with good oil saturation. In a matured field on water-flood, the primary objective is optimized wellbore placement of infill wells in areas with better petro-physical characteristics, bypassing flooded region. It is also important to design a robust completion strategy to safeguard the longevity of these wells by curtailing produced water. This approach assists in dramatic increase in production by isolating water charged sections and thereby restricting rise in water production. The use of advanced Logging-While-Drilling techniques during horizontal drilling provides an opportunity for effective well planning. Real-time Logging-While-Drilling instruments during directional drilling gives us the opportunity to acquire information pertaining to the reservoir in a single run. Interpretation from the real-time data acquisition boosts the planning during wellbore drilling. This paper discusses a case study of a field in western offshore, India, which focuses on the applications of geosteering and the use of swell packers for zonal isolation to augment oil production. In this study, two wells have been deliberated where the real-time information has been extracted and included in the decision making process. The bottom-hole assembly used in this case, comprised standard Logging-While- Drilling services such as gamma ray, resistivity, neutron porosity, density and density imaging services and also formation pressure testing. Since the field under study is a carbonate reservoir that has been on waterflood for the last twenty eight years, chances of early breakthrough of water in the infill wells has posed a high risk in spite of the presence of good bypassed oil saturation. Geosteering has enabled to restrict the horizontal section safely within the desired zone of better oil saturation and geological features, as interpreted from the Logging-While-Drilling data. Further isolation of suspected water bearing zones with swell packers have assisted in healthy well completion by diminishing chances of sharp rise in water cut in the infill wells.