Heavy Oil Development: Summary of Sand Control and Well Completion StrategiesUsed with Multilateral Applications

摘要

Multilateral drilling technology has been used in many heavy-rnoil developmental projects to achieve maximum reservoirrnexposure from a single surface location. The wellborerngeometry and completion strategies for multilateral wells arernplanned and customized to fit the known reservoirrncharacteristics and sand distribution qualities. Typically,rnheavy oil reserves are found in unconsolidated sandstonernreservoirs that require some form of sand exclusion strategyrnacross the reservoir as well as at the lateral mainbore junctionrninterface. In heavy-oil sand, effective sand-control strategiesrnmust be carefully planned since one of the difficult problemsrnto address in heavy-oil targets is their natural tendency tornsuspend formation solids, often referred to as Basic Solids andrnWater (BS&W) solids. An effective sand control strategyrnshould allow these solids to be produced to surface andrnseparated by the production facility. The remainder of thernsolids can be controlled, based on the sand-distributionrnqualities. If the formation sand is uniform, liner-onlyrncompletions can be used for effective sand exclusion withoutrnsacrificing rate. If the formation sand is non-uniform, gravelrnpacking will be required. For this reason, regardless of thernwell scenario, the gravel pack or liner only completion shouldrnallow BS&W solids to pass through and be produced to thernsurface.rnMost heavy oil development areas use artificial lift such asrnPCP and ESP pumps. All multilateral completion strategiesrnmust always consider the lift strategy, the ID requirements forrnpump deployment as well as necessary sand exclusionrnrequirements for the pump.rnThe paper examines successful multilateral completionrnstrategies used in heavy-oil development projects in Canada,Trinidad and Venezuela. It will also explore new synergisticrntechnologies that will impact future development strategies.