HARADH-III: Industry's Largest Field Development Using Maximum Reservoir Contact Wells, Smart Well Completions and I-field Concept

Abstract

Abstract The development of Haradh-III in the Southernmost area of Ghawar represents a major shift in paradigm in terms of the combination of the technologies. The field development combines four main technology features which include maximum reservoir contact (MRC) wells, smart completions, extensive use of real-time geosteering and I-field initiatives. This paper describes the motivation, implementation, and post-production evaluation of this unique field development. In the case of Haradh-III, field development with smart MRC wells delays water encroachment, improves flood front conformance and recovery, lowers water production and long term development and operating costs. Bottom water encroachment into the wellbore is mitigated as down-hole Internal Control Valves (ICV), as part of the smart completion, are adjusted. This in turn lengthens the life of the well, allows sweep and recovery to take place in the reservoir below the horizontal wellbores through the most effective sweep process: the replacement mechanism by gravity. The objectives of the development are accomplished utilizing a reduced number of wells, minimizing the accompanying infrastructure therefore lowering the capital expenditure while reducing the operating cost by maintaining, on a long-term basis, a low-water producing system, all occurring in real-time and within the I-field environment. Introduction Production from Haradh-III development started in February 2006. The project included a combination of MRC wells, smart completions, geosteering, and I-field concept which provides real time access to down hole information. The efficient integration along with understanding of the fluid flow mechanisms in the reservoir was the key to the success of the project. Haradh field locates at the Southernmost portion of the Ghawar complex and covers an area 75 Km long and is 26 Km at its widest section (Fig. 1). The field consists of three sub-segments of approximately equivalent reserves, with an aggregate Oil Initially In Place in the order of tens of billions of barrels. Initial production from Haradh-I started in May, 1996, followed by Haradh-II and Haradh-III in April, 2003 and February, 2006, respectively. The field developments, occurring over a span of a decade, offer a unique opportunity in gauging the impact of technologies. Haradh-I was developed exclusively by utilizing vertical wells, whereas horizontal completions provided the primary configuration for producers/injectors in Haradh-II. Haradh-III, the main focus of this paper, was developed by relying mainly on smart MRC completions (Fig. 2) within an I-Field framework. The total Haradh production capacity is 900 MBD, with equal contributions from the three respective sub-segments I, II and III with key statistics for Haradh-III as shown in Table-1.1