Multilateral Horizontal Well Productivity

Multilateral Horizontal Well Productivity Turhan Yildiz Turhan Yildiz Colorado School of Mines Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Europec/EAGE Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain, June 2005. Paper Number: SPE-94223-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/94223-MS Published: June 13 2005 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Yildiz, Turhan. "Multilateral Horizontal Well Productivity." Paper presented at the SPE Europec/EAGE Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain, June 2005. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/94223-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Europec featured at EAGE Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractThis paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations of multilateral/duallateral horizontal well performance in areally anisotropic reservoirs.The investigation is based on a 3D analytical solution. The analytical solution considers an arbitrary orientation of the multilaterals/duallaterals in horizontal plane.Experimental study was conducted on an electrical analog apparatus. Experimental data was compared with the results from the analytical productivity model. Excellent agreement was obtained between the results.The multilateral well model was also compared against a model presented in the literature and verified.IntroductionDuallateral completion is the most common practice of multilateral drainhole technology. It is generally believed that the productivity of horizontal wells is proportional to the well length. However, as the well length increases, drilling and well control become more difficult. Additionally, transportation of large volumes of fluid along a long horizontal borehole results in considerable pressure losses in the wellbore.Wellbore pressure loss yields a decrease in well productivity. Multilateral wells provide an alternative to drilling long single horizontal wells. The advantages of multilaterals are;More contact area with reservoirAccelerated productionBetter well control compared to a long single lateralLess drill sitesLess drilled footageMinimization of wellbore pressure lossesBetter reservoir coverage and definitionImproved control over flooding patternsMany publications on the modeling of the flow into multilaterals have appeared in the literature. The previous work could be grouped in three categories; productivity models[1–6], transient-flow models[6–14], and field applications.[15–19] Prediction of production performance of multilateral wells has been discussed by Brand et al.[1], Salas et al.[2], Economides and co-wrokers[3–5], and Madden and Vo.[6]The works on transient-flow models investigated the transient pressure and derivative responses of and rate distribution along multilateral wells. Karakas et al.[7] used a numerical simulator to analyze the well test data from a duallateral well in a carbonated reservoir in Middle East. Using a semianalytical procedure, Raghavan and Ambashta[8] computed the pressures and derivatives of various multilateral well configurations. A heuristic discussion of the flow regimes and the corresponding slopes of the pressure vs. time plots are also provided in the same study. Later, Ozkan et al.[9]investigated the characteristics of pressure, derivative, and rate distribution in duallateral horizontal wells. Some later studies[10–14] concentrated on the transient rate responses as well as transient pressure behavior of multilateral wells.Case studies on the evaluation of multilateral well performance have also been presented by Madden and Vo[6], Karakas et al.[7], Hall[15], Longbottom[16], Lee et al.[17], Stalder et al.[18], and Yaliz.[19]As discussed in the literature, duallateral/multilateral wells exhibit complicated flow characteristics. In some cases, responses of duallateral horizontal wells are analyzed by using an equivalent single horizontal well. This approach can be valid for certain phase angles and anisotropy ratios but may lead to significant errors in estimation of well productivity for many duallateral/multilateral well configurations.The objectives of the current study are 1) to develop a 3-D model to predict the productivity of multilaterals, 2) to verify the model against the experimental data, and 3) to investigate the productivity of multilaterals under steady state flow conditions. Keywords: sala, upstream oil & gas, lateral, directional drilling, steady state flow, reservoir, configuration, drilling operation, duallateral, experimental study Subjects: Drilling Operations, Directional drilling This content is only available via PDF. 2005. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.