The Agbami Intelligent Well: Examples of Active Reservoir Management

Abstract

Abstract Agbami is a deepwater oil field located offshore Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea. The field has been online since July 2008 and has produced over 275 MMBO to date. The Turbidite depositional setting has lead to a complex stratigraphic architecture with reservoirs being broken into distinct subunits. Although initially in thermodynamic equilibrium they posed dynamic challenges of conformance control and differential depletion. For this reason, Intelligent Well Completions (IWC) were installed throughout the field in both injectors and producers. The field development currently consists of 39 completions across 21 wellbores which are individually isolated and controlled via Interval Control Valves (ICV). Combined with multiple downhole pressure/temperature sensors and inline flowmeters the Agbami IWC provides the real time surveillance and control necessary for optimization of field performance and recovery. During development planning, identifying the potential value from the installation of IWCs and deciding on or recognizing their possible applications is often not a trivial one. The value can be hard to quantify where the information impacts multiple decisions, there is limited in-house experience or where robust forecasts are difficult to generate. The objective of this paper is to bridge some of these gaps through providing an overview of the application of the IWC within Agbami from the workstation of the Production Engineer. Although often overlooked at the early stages of field development, IWCs can provide significant value to the Production Engineer who focuses on the short to midterm field performance and long-term completion reliability. The paper will cover specific examples of value added in relation to production performance over the last three years of field history. IWCs are used actively by the production engineering team with the objective of prudent reservoir management through integration of their capabilities into surveillance plans, production management practices and production optimization efforts. The expanding employment of IWCs for existing or new field developments warrants further literature which shares detailed examples of IWC practices and benefits. The intention of this paper being to focus on the production engineering aspects and values of the IWC as it has been utilized within Agbami at the operations level to improve reservoir management.