Autonomous valves for enhanced recovery from oil reservoirs along with increased CO₂ storage

Background and project purpose?

InflowControl AS has developed an autonomous inflow control valve, AICV®, which can avoid or reduce recirculation of CO₂ to the well in fields using CO₂-EOR. Apache planned to install a vertical well with AICVs completion in the Midale field, Canada. The intension was that InflowControl should follow up the installation and the following testing in order to give an answer about whether the design of the valve can withstand the rough conditions during installation and clean-up.

What was the project objective?

The aim of the project is to qualify the autonomous valve for testing in horizontal wells in fields with CO₂ EOR. The aim will be achieved through the following objectives:
1. Installation and testing of the AICV in the Midale field.
2. Monitoring and reporting of production and injection results from the vertical well.
3. Use the data from the pilot in Canada and commercial simulation tools to simulate the effect of using AICV the CO₂ EOR field. Write a paper to an international conference.

What has the project done in terms of activities?
The first part:
1. Following up the installation of a vertical well in Midale.
2. Design of a well with AICV® completion and development of an installation procedure.
3. Clean-up test for horizontal well installation.
4. Installation tests (completion and drilling mud) for horizontal well.
5. Sand and erosion tests for horizontal we.

The second part:
1. Presentation of the selected trial well for installation of AICV and ICD in the Midale carbonate field.
2. Historical production and PLT data for the pilot without any flow control.
3. Early field trial results of the advanced flow control completion.
4. Comparison with historical production and PLT data without any flow control.
5. A performance comparison of AICV versus conventional ICD.
6. Suggestions for future development and improvement of AICV for fields with CO₂ EO.

The last part:
1. Simulation of the vertical trial well with ICD and AICV completion
2. Comparison simulation results with production data. 3. Paper for presentation at conference in Dubai.
4. Paper ready for submission to an international journal.

What has the project achieved?

Design and installation procedure for a horizontal well

The vertical well was successfully deployed 4. February 2016. The vertical well design and procedures have formed the basis for the design and procedures for a horizontal well installation in the same field.

Results from the trial well
The AICVs have demonstrated the ability to autonomously sense unwanted fluids and then shut off their flow until wanted fluids migrate back to the wellbore which is a significant advantage over conventional ICDs. AICVs can be designed for a wide range of fluid properties. The tests with AICVs showed significant increase in oil production and reduced WC and GOR.

Simulations

The results indicates that the oil production can be increased with more than 400% when AICV is used at high drawdown.

Papers
Two papers are written:

Paper 1
Title: “First Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (AICV) Well Completion Deployed in a Field under an EOR (Water & CO₂ Injection) Scheme”.
Authors: Ransis Kais, Apache Corporation; Vidar Mathiesen, Haavard Aakre, InflowControl; Glenn Woiceshyn, Absolute Completion Technologies (ACT); Amr Elarabi and Ricardo Hernandez, Schlumberger (SLB).
The paper was presented by Haavard Aakre at SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Dubai, UAE, September 26th -28th, 2016. Id.: SPE-181552-MS.

Paper 2;
Appendix 2 Title: “Increased oil recovery using CO₂-EOR and autonomous inflow control devices”.
Authors: Haavard Aakre, InflowControl AS/University College of Southeast Norway, Vidar Mathiesen, InflowControl AS, Britt Moldestad, University College of Southeast Norway/InflowControl AS.

Did the project achieve its objective?

Yes

Future plans?

The AICV has shown high potential in increasing the oil production and reducing the WC and GOR in fields with CO₂ EOR. However further testing and technical improvements should be done to improve the AICV performance and design for CO₂ EOR fields and increase the number of installations. The next step after the improvements will be to perform an installation in a horizontal well.