Completion Planning and Execution of the World's Longest ICD Partially Cemented Production System in an Offshore Horizontal Well

Abstract Under the current downturn in the oil and gas industry, the smart design and implementation of state-of-art drilling and completion technologies are key factors toward optimum return on investment. This serves toward authority for expenditure savings, maximum productivity index (PI), and effective operational strategy with minimum risks involved. As part of these efforts, Saudi Aramco successfully deployed the world's longest 4-1/2 in., partially cemented off-bottom liner with a sandstone production equalizer system in an offshore field in Saudi Arabia. This record was achieved through close monitoring of the wellbore condition and accurate torque and drag simulation prior to the job. The 7,389 ft. open hole was horizontally drilled in a 6-1/8 in. section and carefully geosteered through the reservoir to yield a 90% net gross ratio (NGR). As soon as the target depth was reached, a reservoir model was built using the acquired petrophysical and reservoir data, and was employed for design optimization. A hydraulically-set, off-bottom liner system was utilized to spot the ICD screen completion across the desired zones in a single run. The completion liner was designed to provide the appropriate centralization and stiffness, and ensure reaching the borehole bottom. It was challenging to place the well trajectory across the target layer which was just below a gas cap. A reservoir mapping was utilized to better understand the well placement relative to the gas cap. The sandstone production equalizer system and openhole packers were designed to divide the wellbore into sections and balance influx from high and low permeability zones. Restricting flow across the desired sections through introducing higher pressure drops serves into preventing early gas breakthrough from the overlaying gas cap. This achievement was a result of the extensive engineering planning and close operational alertness during sidetracking and deployment. This paper will provide further details on the design and operation phases of this project.