Single-Trip Completion as a Catalyst for Brownfield Rejuvenation: A Case Study from Offshore Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Field development for brownfields nearing their economic thresholds is always challenging, especially in offshore environments. As an operator, innovative approaches are necessary to reduce capital expenditures (CAPEX) and create attractive projects. A marginal cluster consisting of three fields, namely PN, NL, and PR, is expected to reach its economic limit in the next 2 years. This paper elaborates on single-trip completion technology as a catalyst for drilling one infill well in the PR field development project.

In 2017, one appraisal well was drilled in a western area of PR field to validate the presence of oil. The scope of work included evaluating reservoir productivity and acquiring bottomhole fluid samples. A drillstem test with four multirate tests was executed for this reservoir. A horizontal development well named PA-02 was proposed and categorized as an extended-reach drilling well because of the drilling complexity. Most offshore wells in shallow-water environments are completed with a conventional well completion run that takes two or more trips, which normally takes more than between 5 and 8 days. Given expensive daily rig rates, the ability to reduce completion installation time was deemed vital to the economics of the project. If the installation incurs additional unnecessary project costs, it can cause the project to be economically unattractive. Using a collaborative approach, an interventionless, single-trip sand control system was designed and selected as the optimal completion solution to meet project demands. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is one of the key enablers for the single-trip completion as it offers the utmost flexibility in both activation and contingency methods to deliver the necessary project cost reduction.

At a time of uncertain global crude oil prices, the RFID-enabled single-trip completion concept discussed in this paper has become a beacon of light for operators in an otherwise dark period by allowing previously marginal or sub-economic projects to become viable. This technology has resulted in operational time savings of at least 27% compared to typical conventional two-trip completions in Malaysia offshore environments. Minimizing operational risk is also foreseen by reducing installation to a single integrated upper and lower completion trip. Selecting this RFID-enabled completion facilitated full deployment in one trip in the high-angle well, which eliminated the deployment of a tractor service for a 67% cost savings in this aspect alone. This method represented a paradigm shift in operational efficiency and will now be the operator’s strategic completion methodology when developing marginal fields.

The deployment represents the first application of a single-trip completion in an economically challenging brownfield in the Malaysian offshore environment. The reduction in operational time and resultant savings in CAPEX proves that a single-trip completion offers an exceptional alternative to conventional methods in the shallow-water offshore environment.