Production Experience of ICD/AICD for Heavy Oil at Peregrino Field

Abstract

Abstract The Peregrino Field is an accumulation of 13-16° API oil in the Carapebus Formation in the Campos Basin and is thereby one of the heaviest oil offshore developments in Brazil. The field was discovered in 1994 and in 2007 Statoil became a Peregrino partner followed by Peregrino operatorship in 2008. The field has been in production since 2011 by using two well head drilling platforms and one FPSO in water depth ranging between 95 to 135 m. There are 45 production and injection wells drilled so far and 15 remaining slots on the platforms. The Peregrino recovery mechanism is mainly based on reservoir depletion and rock compaction combined with aquifer pressure support and produced water reinjection in the water and oil zones. The viscosity difference between oil and water at Peregrino gives an unfavorable mobility ratio, and water flows with a higher velocity than the oil. Any means to limit the water flow from the wells may enable an optimization of oil production. In 2013, a technology qualification program was conducted to qualify both Inflow Control Devices (ICD) and Autonomous Inflow Control Devices (AICD) technologies for use at Peregrino. Since then 2 wells have been equipped with ICDs and 7 with AICDs. The production experience from those ICD/AICD wells shows that the device is best suited in areas with good pressure support, high productivity index (PI) and heterogeneous reservoir. The paper will cover a comprehensive evaluation done for the ICD/AICD wells in Peregrino focusing on subsurface data challenges and performance predictions.