Summary
The OilVoice Newsletter reported on April 26 that Saudi Aramco’s Extreme Reservoir Contact (ERC) Wells Project moved forward. The company’s Advance Research Center recently disclosed two new key developments. Wireless control technology and downhole power generation was demonstrated to the company’s professionals. Both systems had passed tests under simulated downhole conditions. Both are vital components for Extreme Reservoir Contact wells. Such wells could have up to 50 laterals. Today’s Maximum Reservoir Contact wells have greatly increased efficiency and reduced costs. But they are limited in the number of laterals because of the necessity of running control lines to operate valves. The demonstration showed that an electric current can be generated by fluid flowing through the casing of the well. A telemetric system based on a radio frequency transmitter and receiver demonstrated that wireless communication was possible to open and close valves.
Analysis
While the demonstrations show promising results and no one doubts that new technology will allow completion of more advanced wells, the Extreme Reservoir Contact wells may not quickly replace existing technology. Even with the generation of electric power by upward fluid flow in the casing of the well, the system may run into limitations long before fifty laterals can be added. Similarly radio frequency operation of valves in a fifty well system will require complicated electronics. The text of the article suggests that a smaller, second string of tubing or casing will be required for connection to a prime mover that actually pumps the fluid that generates the electricity. This would quickly become complicated plumbing. None of this is to deny the potential of the technology. The first thought that comes to my mind is that diameters of the main oil strings will have to become much larger to accommodate the increased fluid flow. The reason for having downhole valves is to shut in a lateral when it goes to water, thus permitting uncontaminated crude oil flow from the remaining ones. When well arrays of this type are planned, the hope and expectation is that each lateral will produce dry crude oil for some extended period of time, say two years. But in the event, as experience with Maximum Reservoir Contact wells has shown, the period of dry production can be as short as six months. In a system with 50 laterals, the expectations of dry oil/lateral may have to be further reduced because of proximity. Still, it is to early in the day to pick potential holes in the idea. Ten years ago, some engineers scoffed at multilateral completions. None of that goes on today. Engineers are faced with lowering production costs and if they can’t do it, worldwide crude oil production will decline even faster than it is doing right now. That cannot be accepted.
