Published Mar 4 2010 by The Oil Drum, Archived Mar 5 2010
by JoulesBurn
The Haradh III development at the southern tip of the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia, completed in 2006, has been portrayed by the national oil company Saudi Aramco as the turning point in the battle between geological adversity and engineering prowess. The poorest reservoir rock in Ghawar has succumbed to the latest in well and drilling technology. Aided by 3D Seismic images showing fracture locations, well sites were optimized and drills were guided by remote control from Dhahran. Smart completions were standard (did they ever call them "dumb" completions?), and something called an "iField" was set up. Maximum-reservoir-connectivity wells (MRCs) were fitted with monitoring electronics and valves on individual laterals such that they could be throttled back as needed to minimize water encroachment. Testing was done, adjustments were made as needed, and everything rolled out ahead of schedule. Goals for individual well productivity of 10,000 barrels/day were met, and projections indicated smooth sailing for ten years or more. Lots of glowing articles were published, and the man in charge eventually rode off in glory to solve the rest of the world's oil production problems.
Funny thing, though. When you look at a satellite photo and count the number of producer wells they ended up drilling, it adds up to quite a few more than they have been claiming -- about 60% more.
There must be a reasonable explanation. Perhaps they simply miscounted.
Faux Pas in the Desert
OK, so what's the big deal? After all, what are a few extra wells? But Saudi Aramco has been rather consistent, as well as thorough, about the development details:
The Haradh III project came on stream in February 2006, adding 300,000 B/D of Arabian light crude production capacity to Ghawar, the world’s largest oil field. The project’s main significance, however, derives from the fact that it sets a milestone for smart technologies at a scale and complexity unprecedented for Saudi Aramco and, arguably, for the industry. Haradh III might be regarded as the entry point to a new era in upstream projects and specifically into the domain of real-time reservoir management. The project spanned a period of 21 months. It entailed construction of a grassroots surface-facility network, integrated with a complex subsurface development program. Maximum-reservoir-contact (MRC) wells, smart completions, geosteering, and i-field features provided the four main technology components.
From the table at below left, taken from the above paper, it seems that the new era features a lot more acronyms:
A key figure is the number of producers (32). Also interesting is that the figures of 300,000 barrel/day flow and 2% depletion of reserves implies 5.475 billion barrels reserves in Haradh III(of course, this oil is not really physically separate from the rest of Haradh oil).
The well placement map (above right) from the same paper shows how these wells were positioned to drain the field, aided by water injection from the periphery. The map also indicates 32 producers and 28 injectors, but with 15 instead of the 12 observation wells (EV/OBS) enumerated in the table.
The above article was written by Nansen Saleri, the former Reservoir Manager for Saudi Aramco. He leveraged the success of this project to kick-start his new career as a reservoir engineering consultant. He later authored another article on Haradh-III, with a title invoking Matt Simmons' book "Twilight in the Desert" (egad!):
Dawn in the Desert
Against a backdrop of many international upstream projects straining to achieve their target production levels and intended plateaus, Haradh III reached its planned production capacity of 300,000 barrels per day well ahead of schedule, and the field’s performance more than 18 months since its start-up exceeds virtually all pre-project goals.
Source: http://www.energybulletin.net/node/51829
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