Successful Monetisation of an Extremely Thin Oil Rim and Slanted Contact Reservoir, Offshore Malaysia, through Emerging Technologies and Innovative Concepts

摘要

The scope of the paper is to share a case study of a successful horizontal well completed within an extremely thin oil rim of ～10ft with bottom water. This paper highlights the differentiating activities undertaken to deliver the well despite the challenges of extremely thin oil rim, strong water drive and uneven current fluid contacts. Prior to drilling this well, attempt was made to mitigate the uncertainty regarding the current gas-oil contact (GOC) and oil-water contact (OWC) by carrying out cased-hole logging in some of the adjacent wells, and re-sequencing and re-optimizing the location of two of the wells targeting the reservoirs below. This obviated the need for the pilot hole and thereby resulted in a cost saving of ～USD 1Million. Furthermore, the dynamic simulation model was updated to create a fit-for-purpose model with the latest OWC and GOC, so as to be able to test various trajectories. While drilling, the well was drilled with real-time reservoir mapping-while-drilling technology and integrated with real-time reservoir characterization, fluid typing and trajectory modification, while maintaining Dog Leg Severity (DLS) below 3 deg/100ft for the ease of completion run. Completion was then optimized with viscosity-based inflow control orifices. Post drilling, dynamic and well models were calibrated to the actual results to determine optimum production rate for the well life. The horizontal well was successfully navigated and optimally placed in the extremely thin oil column. Tilted contacts were encountered in the targeted subunits where actual current contacts came in ～20ft shallower at heel and ～10ft deeper at toe compared to prognosis. Consequently, the heel landed at a 5ft stand-off from water, and the toe landed 18ft stand-off from water and 6ft stand-off from gas. The well was successfully unloaded and tested at a controlled oil rate of 2887 bopd, 50% higher than planned target. This paper presents the entire process from well planning until well production tie-in. This was achieved through the integration of subsurface understanding with the utilization of the appropriate technology. Finally, the management's trust in the capability of the team members ensured deliverability of the target production rate and the consequent booked reserves.