SIBBURMASH Group of Companies

Secondary Completion with AICDs

A technology based on Bernoulli's principle: “The sum of static pressure, dynamic pressure and friction losses along the flow direction remains constant.”

Advantages

  • Selective inflow control. AICDs allow production from different sections of the wellbore to be managed independently. They restrict the influx of unwanted fluids (gas or water) while stimulating oil inflow from less permeable or poorly drained zones. As a result, the inflow profile along a horizontal or multilateral wellbore is evened out.
  • Mitigating breakthroughs and coning. The devices help delay or soften gas breakthrough from the gas cap or water from bottom water, preventing the formation of “cones” — local zones of sharp fluid-contact change that drastically reduce production efficiency.
  • Extending the well life cycle. Instead of drilling a new well, an AICD assembly is run into an existing horizontal or multilateral borehole. This “revives” a well whose oil rate has dropped and gas-oil ratio has grown due to uneven inflow or early breakthroughs.
  • Higher oil recovery factor (ORF). By bringing previously poorly drained reservoir intervals into production, the technology increases the total volume of recoverable reserves.
  • Economic effect. Secondary completion (running into an existing borehole) is cheaper than building a new well. Moreover, careful selection of the number and type of AICDs through modeling helps optimize costs.
  • The devices operate on their own, without continuous surface control, adapting to changes in fluid flow in real time.

Specifications

  • filtration fineness: 05 to 1.0 mm
  • number of AICDs per filter: 1 to 4
  • filter element length: 500 to 6000 mm
  • filter element type: mesh or wire-wrapped
  • size range (liner): 60 to 89 mm

Application area and experience

  • Development of thin oil rims in sub-gas zones. This is one of the most typical applications: when there is a developed gas cap but a relatively thin oil layer, AICDs help operate the well steadily, preventing rapid gas breakthrough.
  • Horizontal and multilateral wells. In such wells different sections of the borehole may have significantly different permeability or fluid saturation. AICDs make it possible to segment the wellbore (using packers) and individually tune inflow in each segment.
  • Mature fields. The technology is relevant for extending the life cycle of already producing wells, where water and gas problems grow over time.
  • Complex geological and field conditions. For example, when oil, water and gas intervals alternate within the reservoir, or when fractures and zones of increased fracturing are present.