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Abstract

As the concept of intelligent fields mature, field operators expand on the installation and utilization of downhole instrumentation in a quest for higher oil and gas recovery and net present value. Permanent downhole monitoring systems (PDHMS) are some of the intelligent field implementation enablers, which provide continuous monitoring and surveillance of wellbore/reservoir performance in addition to their recognized operational safety enhancement through elimination of well intervention operations for data acquisition. The advanced analysis of the data provided by this equipment forms the key to unlocking their full utilization potential and recognizing the value of the information that they provide. A remote field located in Saudi Arabia commenced its production from a thin oil column lying between a large gas-cap and a water aquifer. The gas-cap gas breakthrough and production from the producing wells have increased gradually; resulting in an increase in the wells gas-oil ratio (GOR) from an average of 880 standard cubic ft/stock tank barrel (SCF/STB) at the start of the field production to 1,536 SCF/STB. The production of these wells is currently controlled using the surface and subsurface control valves to maintain the gas production and GOR at acceptable levels. The wells connected to rate testing facilities are delivering non-accurate gas rate measurements because of frequent malfunctioning in the Coriolis meters. This problem is being mitigated in several fronts such as replacing the testing facilities; however, a method to estimate the GOR in the wells is needed until all the old testing facilities are replaced. An innovative technique to identify the onset of gas-cap-gas production and estimate its value using the downhole sensors has been developed to provide early notification of the free gas breakthrough and improve its control. This technique can provide an estimation of the wells’ GORs and can be used as a validation method to the testing facility GOR measurements. This paper proposes an approach to estimate the GOR using Matlab code that helps in the calculation of the pressure drop between the PDHMS and matching it with the actual readings at the estimated GOR. This technique was tested on three wells with healthy rate and PDHMS information.

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/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609-pdb.395.IPTC-17509-MS
2014-01-19
2024-03-29
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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609-pdb.395.IPTC-17509-MS
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