SPE 167344

Evaluating Horizontal Well Inflow Profiles and Performance, Utilizing an Integrated Approach
of Multiphase Production Logs Coupled with Drilling, Completion and Production Data: Case
Study
Mabkhout A. Al-Harthi and Nawawi A. Ahmad, SPE Saudi Aramco

Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Exhibition held in Mishref, Kuwait, 7 October–10 October 2013.

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Abstract
Flow profiles of horizontal wells in heterogeneous or fractured reservoirs are usually nonuniform and are frequently
characterized by high flow capacity from streaks in high permeable zones or fractures. The nonuniform flow usually
causes early water breakthrough that ultimately undermines well productivity. In homogeneous reservoirs, water (or gas)
breakthrough commonly occurs at the heel of the lateral section. In either case, whether in homogeneous or
heterogeneous reservoirs, achieving uniform flow along the wellbore in horizontal wells to improve sweep efficiency and
maximize oil recovery, requires application of advanced well completions that are guided by effective reservoir
evaluation and management practices.

Optimizing inflow profiles in horizontal wells requires good understanding of multiphase flow mechanisms, where the
flow regimes are usually complicated due to stratification, slug flow, mist flow and/or other complex flow behaviors.
Achieving better understanding of this multiphase flow mechanism was facilitated with the availability of the multiphase
production logging tool (MPLT), which has been utilized extensively in this case study.

This paper presents a summary of the results of a case study of 31 horizontal wells completed in a large carbonate
onshore field, with the main objective to improve understanding of horizontal well inflow profiles and performance. For
this case study, the areas of focus are inflow profile types, production performance and temperature log response. This
paper concludes with lessons learned and practical recommendations to be considered for field development.

Introduction
Horizontal wells have the important goals of maintaining production target rates and minimizing water production.
Horizontal wells also generally provide higher production rates and a larger drainage area per well. Frequently, however,
horizontal wells are drilled in reservoirs characterized by fractures and high permeability streaks, which increase the
chance for early water breakthrough for horizontal wells that intersected these geological features. This result usually
impairs and probably undermines the well productivity if the well is not properly evaluated and appropriately completed.
In homogeneous reservoirs, water (or gas) breakthrough commonly occurs at the heel of the lateral section (Ratterman.
2006). In either case, whether in homogeneous or heterogeneous reservoirs, achieving uniform flow along the wellbore in
horizontal wells to improve sweep efficiency and maximize oil recovery, requires the application of advanced well
completions that are guided by effective reservoir evaluation and management practices.

This paper discusses the following:

  Investigation of factors affecting inflow profiles and performance of 31 horizontal wells that were logged with
multiphase production logging tool (MPLT).
 Result of integration of production logs with drilling, completion and production data, within the three focused
areas; inflow profile type, production performance and temperature log response.

Background of Case Study

This study evaluated 31 oil producers (single lateral) in a large onshore carbonate oilfield, of which 13 wells were drilled
as short radius horizontals (SRH) and 18 wells as standard horizontals (HORZ), and were completed across the top layer
of the same reservoir. All these wells were logged with a multiphase production tool (MPLT). A typical MPLT, shown in
Fig. 1 (Ahmad et al. 2013), is used to measure the velocity profile along the transverse diameter of the wellbore. It
provides measurements of mixed and segregated flow regimes and detects downhole water recirculation (Baldauff et al.
2004).
Drilling, completion and production data of these 31 wells were collected and integrated with the log data, to have a
better understanding of the results. This enabled us to draw observations and to establish judgments based on all
contributing factors.
The main points from the tabulated data of the 31 wells are summarized:
 Average reservoir contact for these wells was about 1500’ across the lateral section.
 Fifteen wells encountered loss of circulation while drilling horizontal sections.
 Three wells were drilled utilizing the under-balanced drilling technology (ABC-24, ABC-28, and ABC-30).
 Two wells were drilled in the tar mat area of the field.
 Twenty-three wells were completed as open hole and eight wells were completed with inflow control devices
(ICDs).
 Three wells were partially blanked off using external casing packers (M-Pass packers) and one well using a
plug-and-abandonment kit (P&A kit).
 Two wells have ICDs deployed during a workover (after several years of production) due to safety concern, i.e.,
wells ABC-9 and ABC-26.
 Six wells were reported to have image logs run after reaching total depth (TD) of the well.

Observations and Findings

Based on the available data, it was identified that this case study can be analyzed according to three focused areas: inflow
profile types, production performance and temperature response.

Inflow Profile Types

To define the descriptive judgment on the different inflow profiles observed from the logs, it was categorized into three
types:
 Uniform: If flow contribution has been provided by 75% or more of the completed or pay section and/or no high
permeable zone(s) is/are dominating the flow. This is the best inflow profile for a horizontal well, which
provides efficient sweep and maximizes productivity.
 Semi-Uniform: If flow contribution has been provided by 50 to 75% of the completed or pay section and/or no
high permeable zone(s) is/are dominating the flow.
 Nonuniform: If the contribution of the flow has been provided by less than 50% of the completed or pay section
due to one or two zones dominating the flow. The nonuniform inflow promotes early water/gas breakthrough
(Soremi et al. 2006).
In addition, for inflow profiling, both open hole and ICD-equipped horizontal wells were assessed separately. Figs. 2a
and 2b showed the type logs for uniform inflow in open hole and ICD-equipped horizontal wells respectively. Figs. 3a
and 3b showed the type logs for semi-uniform inflow profile in open hole and ICD-equipped horizontal wells
respectively. Figs. 4a and 4b showed the type logs for nonuniform inflow in open hole and ICD-equipped horizontal
wells respectively.
The discussion of the inflow profile on each completion type is described below.

Open hole Wells

This completion type represents 23 logged wells (74%), i.e., main type of completion in this case study. It is worth
mentioning that three partially blanked off wells using external casing packers were also included in this category.
The three inflow profile types also existed in this type of completion as discussed below:
Uniform inflow profile: This type of profile was observed in four wells (17% of open hole wells).
These wells did not encounter lost circulation while drilling, such as well
ABC-23.
Semi-uniform inflow profile: This profile was noticed in seven wells (31% of open hole wells). This
group of wells also did not encounter lost circulation, but some wells
penetrated high water saturation zones and were blanked-off, such as well
ABC-22.
Nonuniform inflow profile: This profile was noted in 12 wells (52% of open hole wells). These wells
mostly penetrated fractured or super permeability (super K) zones, such as
ABC-26.

ICD-Equipped Wells
This completion type existed only in eight of the 31 studied wells (26%). The three inflow profile types also existed
in this type of completion as discussed below:
Uniform inflow profile: This type of profile was noticed in three wells (37.5% of ICD-equipped
wells). One of these wells, ABC-5, penetrated the loss circulation zone
(LCZ) during the drilling phase.
Semi-uniform inflow profile: This was noticed in three wells (37.5% of ICD-equipped wells), of which all
of them experienced lost circulation while drilling, e.g., well ABC-6.
Nonuniform inflow profile: This occurred in two wells (25% of ICD-equipped wells). Both wells
penetrated fracture or super K zones while drilling, like well ABC-31.
From the analysis of the type of inflow, it is shown that open hole wells completion show more nonuniform inflow
profiles (52%) than the ICD-equipped wells (25%). This indicates that open hole wells promote early water breakthrough
than ICD-equipped wells. In addition, it is observed that installing ICDs do not guarantee a uniform flow in horizontal
wells. A well-designed ICD completion, assisted by wellbore hydraulic modeling, however, can promote production
from the entire horizontal lateral and mitigate the effect of the severe pressure gradients, eliminating cross-flows (Krinis
et al. 2009).

Production Performance
The objective is to determine the water production trend and eventually compare the performance of open hole wells to
the ICD-equipped wells. Production data was analyzed carefully by choosing wet-oil wells that had the following two
reservoir parameters: having reasonable standoff (vertical distance) from the water interval and penetrated fractures while
drilling. A total of eight wells fit these criteria. On these wells, the water cuts against cumulative oil production were
plotted, to eliminate the effect of time and bring all wells to the same reference.
Figs. 5 and 6 showed the graphical plot of the performance of four wells completed as open hole and four wells
completed with ICDs respectively. From these graphs, we have observed the following:
 Open hole wells either showed a high water cut at initial production, as in wells ABC-26 and ABC-32 or a rapid
increase in water cut, as in well ABC-25 (Fig. 5). Conversely, the ICD-equipped wells showed increasing water
cut in the beginning but almost constant water cut was maintained at later stages of production (Fig. 6).
 In the ICD-equipped wells, water production is controlled. Therefore, oil production is accordingly maintained.
This was not achieved in open hole wells, such as in wells ABC-26 and ABC-32.
The production performance of selected horizontal wells data confirm that open hole completions promote early water
breakthrough.
Temperature Response and Water Production
As part of the integrated data analysis, considerable attention was paid to the temperature log responses, which is part of
the MPLT string. The temperature log provides useful data to distinguish between inflow from intersecting fractures,
super K or the reservoir matrix. It was observed that temperature change during flowing survey in oil well is usually
associated with intersecting fractures or faults (Fig. 7). There is no major increase in temperature change at the fracture
zone during shut-in survey. In matrix influx, there is only a minor impact on the temperature changes (Fig. 8). The
existence of fractures or faults is confirmed by acquiring an image log, of which only six wells have this type of log in
this case study, of which an example is shown in Fig. 9.

The water entry mechanisms of the case wells are classified below as:
 Fractured or super permeability (super K) zones: This is where the water (and other fluid) mainly entered, as
these fractures create permeability variations across the lateral length.
 Matrix: This is where the water (and other fluid) flowed through the permeable layer in the reservoir.

For wells that have water production, attempt was made to identify over which part of the completed section (for both
open hole and ICD-equipped wells), the location of water entry interval. It was identified that water producing zones
were mostly identified over the middle and toe ends of the completed section.

Miscellaneous Issues Affecting Horizontal Wells

Other important issue factors that are observed in this case study include:
 Early water coning was observed in wells that crossed fracture corridors that were not isolated, as demonstrated
by wells ABC-26 and ABC-32. The first production on well ABC-26 and ABC-32 showed a 94% WC and a
56% WC respectively.
 ICDs can effectively control the flow along horizontal laterals and subsequently delay water production,
provided that optimum design was ensured and good sealing was achieved. Other observations related to ICD
include:
 In some wells in which ICDs were utilized, water entry points are found near the M-pass packers where
LCZ was isolated. This may suggest poor sealing of the packers or lack of proper evaluation of the
extent of the fracture (if any), such as in wells ABC-4 and ABC-6.
 Running ICDs on ABC-26 and ABC-9 improved well performances. In well ABC-26, the water cut
was reduced from 93% during pre-ICD to 9% during post-ICD installation.
 Existence of a tar mat could affect the inflow profile of the well. For example, in well ABC-15, a considerable
portion of the horizontal section shows no flow and only the heel is contributing to production.

Conclusions
 Open hole well completion shows more nonuniform inflow profiles than the ICD-equipped wells.
 Production data confirm open hole well completions promote early water breakthrough. Conversely, the ICD-
equipped wells showed increasing water cut at the start of production but almost constant water cut and uniform
profile were maintained at later stages of production.
 Temperature log, run together with the MPLT, provides useful data to distinguish between inflow from
intersecting fractures, super K and/or matrix.
 Fractures or super K zones comprise the main water entry mechanism.
 Water producing zones were mostly identified over the middle and toe ends of the completed section.

Recommendations
 For optimal well completion while the rig is onsite, drilling strategy requires acquiring image and caliper logs to
accurately set the intervals of isolation with mechanical or swell packers at least 100 feet away from the
fractures. Alternatively, for wells not completed at the time of drilling, a MPLT job should be considered for
determining the appropriate remedial action.
 Run conventional PLT on dry wells or low water cut wells for base profile and to run a multiphase production
logging tool (MPLT) on a wet-oil well to determine the appropriate recompletion strategy.
  The MPLT is to be run at two choke settings, either fully opened or restricted, to determine the effect of flow
rate on water production when no harmful effect or high risk is induced.
 Wells with open hole completions in a mature area should be choked at the initial production to arrest coning
and reduce the expected increase in water cut.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Saudi Aramco Upstream Management for permission to present and publish this paper.

Nomenclature
BP Bridge Plug PEQ Production Equalizer System
HORZ Standard Horizontal Well P&A Plug-and-abandonment
ICD Inflow Control device SHR Short radius horizontal wells
FMI Formation Micro Image Log Super K Super Permeability
LCZ Loss Circulation Zone TD Total Depth
MPLT Multiphase Production Logging Tool UBD Under Balance Drilling
PDHMS Permanent Downhole Monitoring System WC Water cut

References
Ahmad, N., Mushrafi, N., et.al. 2013. Integrated Solution for Emulsion Diagnosis in Horizontal Production Logs. Paper
SPE-166532-MS presented at SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisana, USA, 30 Sept-
2 October 2013.

Baldauff, J., Runge, T., Cadenhead, J., et.al. 2004. Profiling and Quantifying Complex Multiphase Flow. Oilfield
Review, Autumn, 16 (3): 62-68.
Krinis, D., Hembling, D., Dawood, N., et. al. 2009. Optimizing Horizontal Well Performance in Nonuniform Pressure
Environments Using Passive Inflow Control Devices. Saudi Aramco Journal of Technology, Spring.

Ratterman, G. 2006. Uniform Flow Profiles Improve Horizontal Wells. Drilling Contractor Journal, March/April.
Soremi, Y., Hembling, D., et. al. 2006. Equalizer Performance Evaluation. Saudi Aramco Internal Report.
Figures
5 Minispinners
6 Electrical Probes
GR
CCL 6 Optical Probes Turbine Spinner
Pressure Conveyance 1 Arm Caliper 4 Electrical Probes
Temperature Monitoring Sonde Tool Bearing X-Y Caliper

Fig. 1—Typical multiphase toolstring run in horizontal wells.

Fig. 2a—Type log of uniform inflow profile in open hole horizontal well.

Fig. 2b—Type log of uniform inflow profile in ICD-equipped horizontal well.

Fig. 3a—Type log of semi-uniform inflow profile in open hole horizontal well.

Fig. 3b—Type log of semi-uniform inflow profile in ICD-equipped horizontal well.

Fig. 4a—Type log of nonuniform inflow profile in open hole horizontal well.
 Fig. 4b—Type log of nonuniform inflow profile in ICD equipped horizontal well.

Open Hole Wells

ABC-14 ABC-25 ABC-26 ABC-32
WC %

Cumulative Oil Produced, (STB)

Fig. 5—Production performance of open hole horizontal wells.

ICD Equipped Wells

ABC-4 ABC-11 ABC-29 ABC-31

WC %

Cumulative Oil Produced, (STB)

Fig. 6—Production performance of ICD-equipped horizontal wells
 Shut-in Temperature

Δ T > 1˚ F Fracture

Flowing Temperature

Fig. 7—Temperature response of fluid influx associated with an intersecting fault in well ABC-25.
 Shut-in Temperature

Δ T < 0.3˚ F

Flowing Temperature

Fig. 8—Temperature response of fluid influx associated with the reservoir matrix in well ABC-16.
 Fracture corridor

Fig. 9— Snapshot of part of a Formation Micro Image (FMI) log of well ABC-32.