INFLATABLE ENABLES SUCCESSFUL WATER SHUT-OFF IN HIGH ANGLE WELLBORES IN GHAWAR FIELD

Mohammed I. Al-Umran

Mohammed M. Saudi

Yehya M. Al-Tameimi

Al-Umran received a BS Degree in Petroleum Engineering from King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 1996. He joined Saudi Aramco in Dhahran in 1997. He is currently serving as Workover Engineer through the Workover Engineering & Technical Services Division of the Drilling & Workover Engineering Department. His experience is primarily based in short radius horizontal wells and engineering support of all Workover applications within Saudi Aramco fields. Saudi holds a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt in 1970. He joined Saudi Aramco in October 1980 as a production engineer. Currently, he is a specialist in production engineering with over 25 years of experience in oil and water well treatment. Al-Tameimi holds a BS Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla. His primary experience is in cementing, acidizing and coiled tubing applications. He started in the oilfield in 1994 as an Equipment Operator. In 1997 he joined Dowell Schlumberger as a Cementing Field Engineer in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2000 he joined BJ Services as the District Engineer for the West Texas Region. He is now the business development manager for BJ Services, Saudi Arabia.
ABSTRACT
A major challenge in todays oil field industry is to minimize the amount of water produced. Fortunately, many strategies and solutions are currently available; some involve mechanical tools while others use chemicals to manage unwanted water production. This paper describes the successful application of rigless water shut-off in highly deviated wellbores using inflatable plugs set by coiled tubing and with cement

placed on top to reduce excessive water production. This technique was successfully employed to reduce water production and revive dead wells in Hawiyah area of the Ghawar field. The primary focus of this paper is to highlight the challenges and share Saudi Aramcos experience in performing cost-effective mechanical water isolation in highly deviated wells. It is critical that the nature of the water production problem be fully understood to achieve successful water isolation. Horizontal or deviated wells might die or produce excessive water after initial completion or after a short period of production due to high water flow intervals. A rigless solution was successfully performed on three dead wells utilizing inflatable plugs. The plug was run in hole using coiled tubing and then was capped with cement. The jobs yielded excellent results in reducing water production and re-activating these wells. The payout period for each job was less than one day. Based on these results, many additional candidates are now being evaluated for possible application. The challenges and risks encountered in previous unsuccessful water isolation attempts included premature setting of the plug in tubing nipples, failure to disconnect from the CTU after setting, or the well remaining dead after the job. This paper describes how a fit-for-purpose solution was planned to overcome these challenges through careful collaboration with the service company to develop the optimum procedure for the job. Also described are the benefits that resulted from this process, including well intervention without pulling the completion, elimination of kill fluids to minimize formation damage, and workover rig cost savings.

Fig. 1. Thru-Tubing Inflatable Bridge Plug

INTRODUCTION
The Hawiyah area of the Ghawar field produces from the Arab-D reservoir. The Arab-D reservoir consists of four zones that have different permeabilities, are highly fractured and faulted, and are in communication via fault planes and vertical fractures. The field is under pressure maintenance using seawater injection from the flanks. Pre-mature water injection breakthrough into the mid-field areas, through high permeability zones and fractures, caused some wells to die, leaving trapped oil behind and affecting reservoir sweep efficiency. The field is being developed by drilling highly deviated and true horizontal wells. Many of these wells died right after drilling or after a short period of production due to excessive water production from high flow intervals. Water isolation in such wells is both a challenge and expensive. The challenges include understanding the mechanism of water movement in the reservoir horizontally and vertically that might enable communication of the water from the lower zones to the upper zones through the

reservoir after the water zone isolation in the wellbore. They also include the proper selection of the rigless technique to be used for the water isolation and management of the risk involved in the job procedure. There are several different methods for mechanical shutoff of unwanted water production. Some analysis is required. The first order of business is to determine the source of the influx, leading to the most cost-effective solution selection.

Fig. 2. Well Cross Section

54 SAUDI ARAMCO JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY SUMMER 2005

JOB PLANNING
In designing the jobs, it was decided to: Have a long cement cap (100 ft.-200 ft.) to ensure adequate vertical fill up with cement (Fig. 2) given the high deviation angles. Kill the well with water before pumping the cement for stabilization to prevent cement loss into the formation and or movement of cement upward in the wellbore.

R E S U LT S A N D D I S C U S S I O N
The three jobs were successfully performed without any operational problems, resulting in the following: Livening of the three wells. Substantial reduction in water cuts. Total oil gain of 20,000 bbls/day.

Fig. 3. FAL Analysis - Well A

In an attempt to reactivate these dead wells, an extensive discussion with service companies was conducted to find a water shut-off technique suitable for highly slanted and true horizontal wells. A through tubing, coil tubing deployed retrievable bridge plug was evaluated and selected for trial.

I N F L ATA B L E B R I D G E P L U G
The inflatable plug selected is designed for setting in irregular open holes and can be set and retrieved by e-line, CTU, or threaded pipe. It has an expansion ratio of 3 to 3.5.

T O O L D E S C R I P T I O N A N D O P E R AT I O N
The Thru-Tubing Inflatable Bridge Plug main elements are as shown in Fig. 1. The plug can be set either electrically or hydraulically by dropping a ball. If hydraulically set, pressure is then applied via coil tubing to inflate the plug.
Fig. 4. PLT log Well B

C A S E H I S T O RY- 1 ( W E L L - A )
The well was drilled and completed as a 6-1/8in. high angle open hole producer through all the Arab-D reservoir zones (max deviation 82, length of slanted hole 1,604 ft. and minimum tubing ID 2.635in.). The well produced for two months after tie-in at a water cut of 39% and then died. The Formation Analysis Log or FAL (Fig. 3) showed dry oil in the upper Arab-D zones, while the lower zones were highly fractured dolomitic limestone with high water saturation (reason for killing the well). Isolating the fractured and high water saturation section and below was the objective of the water shut-off to re-activate the well. The direction of the fractures was found to be different from the well deviation angle. A 2.5in. OD inflatable plug was run and set in the 6.5in. openhole at the top of the fracture and capped with 120 ft. of cement, leaving 346 ft. of the slanted open hole for production. After the job, the well was livened successfully by swabbing and returned to production. The well was tested

C A N D I D AT E S E L E C T I O N
The selection of the well candidate was very important and a key to ensuring an effective trial test. Some analysis was required. The first order of business was to determine the source of the influx, which then led to the most costeffective solution. All candidates were reviewed carefully by production and reservoir engineering and geologists to determine the best one. The water production mechanism and direction was determined in each well and the fracture direction with respect to the well direction was also determined from the available geological information. This was a key point to ensure that water would not communicate from the lower zones to the upper zones through the reservoir after the water zone isolation in the wellbore. Three highly deviated dead wells were selected for the application.

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at an oil rate of 5,100 bbls/day with 5.2 percent water cut. NOTE: The second well treated was virtually identical to Well A, so it is not described separately.

S U M M A RY
A Thru-Tubing Inflatable Bridge Plug run on coiled tubing was successfully used in the Ghawar field for water shutoff in highly deviated wells. The results from three wells were outstanding, with a total oil gain of 20 MBD. Careful review of the candidates was a key to success. Tools and processes exist to help with each of the following steps: Determine that you have unwanted water. Diagnose the problem source. Design a solution. Perform the treatment. Evaluate the results. But how do we then determine whether a solution is applicable before performing a treatment? How do we determine that a solution has the potential to produce a financial benefit? Today, a full range of solutions is available for virtually any type of produced water challenge. A variety of techniques and tools is available to appropriately analyze wellbore and reservoir characteristics. Most importantly, diagnose the problem so as to determine which treatment will provide the best overall technical and economical solution. By working together, service companies and customers can minimize water production effectively with an attractive economic return to the customer.

C A S E H I S T O RY- 2 ( W E L L - B )
The well was drilled and completed as a 6-1/8in. open hole high angle Arab-D producer through all the Arab-D reservoir zones (max deviation 83 and length of slanted hole 2,098 ft.). The well began production in March 1999 and was last tested in June 2003 at 25 percent water cut. The well suddenly died one month later in July 2003. Review of the PLT log run in 1999 (Fig. 4) showed a major oil entry from an interval also contributing water that was suspected to have flooded completely with water and killed the well. As a result, a decision was made to isolate this interval and below to re-activate the well. The direction of the fractures was again checked and found to be different from the well deviation angle. The inflatable plug was run and set at the top of this interval and capped with 110 ft. of cement, leaving 236 ft. of the slanted open hole for production. After the job, the well was livened successfully by swabbing and returned to production. The well was tested at an oil rate of 7,000 bbl/day with 2.8 percent water cut.

FUTURE PLANS
Based on these results, many additional candidates are now being evaluated for possible application. Saudi Aramco is planning to apply this technology in a true horizontal well. The challenge in such application is to ensure complete fill-up of the wellbore with cement behind the plug. The plans are to run two inflatable plugs and fill the space in between with cement by pumping through the second plug before disconnecting, then disconnect from the coiled tubing. Candidates are being evaluated for the first trial.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors extend their appreciation and special thanks to Battal A. Al-Dossary, Abdulhadi A. Al-Amer, and James E. Dumville from Saudi Aramco and Benn Voll from Baker Oil Tools for their contribution, support and encouragement.

56 SAUDI ARAMCO JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY SUMMER 2005