Casabe Mature-Field Revitalization Through an Alliance:
A Case Study of Multicompany and Multidiscipline Integration
The achievements of an alli- Fast-Track
Fast-TrackStudies Studies ance between Ecopetrol S.A. and Field FieldStudy Studyand andFRP FDP Schlumberger to revitalize the Casabe FDP field, a mature field in Colombia, are Execution Executionand Evaluation &&Evaluation Evaluation highlighted. Challenges were multi- Time Data Gathering faceted in this mature complex field. and Database Some related to the heterogeneous Construction Phase PhaseII Phase IV PhaseIV nature of the reservoirs, limited sand Phase II PhaseII Phase V PhaseV continuity, unfavorable mobility for the ongoing waterfloods, associat- Static Static Phase III PhaseIII Phase VI PhaseVI ed sand production, and wells lost Modeling Modeling because of collapses. Reservoir Evaluation Evaluation Description and& Res. Descrip. Introduction Dynamic Modeling DynamicModeling Well Behavior Well Behavior The Casabe field, discovered by Shell in 1941, is in the Mid-Magdalena Execution Execution Fast- Fast- Track Valley basin in Colombia and con- Formulation Formulationof tains 1,120 wells. Cumulative pro- Forecasting Forecasting track Studies ofStrategies Strategies duction was 284 million bbl of oil FRP Pilots Pilots as of December 2007. The produc- FDP KSDs tive-formation depths range from Economic and Risk Economic& Risk KSDs Analyses Analyses 2,200 to 5,500 ft. The production peaked at 46,000 BOPD in 1953 and achieved a primary recovery factor of 13% under natural mechanisms. Fig. 1—The FRP workflow for the Casabe alliance. KSD=key strategic Since 1985, the field has been under decision. waterflood, which increased recovery to 19.8%. Waterflooding has been a challenge because of the very het- Since 2004, the alliance has worked Casabe Field: History vs. Future erogeneous nature of the reservoirs, to revitalize this mature field to Initially, the Casabe field was under- sand-continuity complexity, oil vis- increase its value by use of field man- saturated and produced under pri- cosity, sand production, and wells lost agement. A joint team was assembled mary mechanisms (mainly natural to collapses. to determine key factors related to the depletion) until the mid-1980s when past behavior. This method provided a waterflood was initiated. Most of This article, written by Senior Technology the best way to improve future man- the gas had already been produced, Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights agement practices and increase pro- and oil rates were down to 10 BOPD/ of paper SPE 122874, “Casabe Mature- duction. Key factors to be managed well. The waterflood tripled the per- Field Revitalization Through an Alliance: in the Casabe field are the waterflood- well oil production, but many ineffi- A Case Study of Multicompany and ing behavior, casing-collapse mecha- ciencies remained, which made it dif- Multidiscipline Integration,” by L. nisms, and sand-production prob- ficult to obtain better performance. Marquez, SPE, J. Elphick, SPE, and J. lems. The team developed analytical The field had been declining steadily Peralta, Schlumberger, and M. Amaya and numerical models to understand at 7%/yr since its secondary-production and E. Lozano, Ecopetrol S.A., prepared these issues. Some of the models were peak of 14,000 BOPD in the early 1990s. for the 2009 SPE Latin American and complemented with laboratory analy- Water-injection-rate peaks occurred in Caribbean Petroleum Engineering ses along with well tests. All areas are 1986 and 1991. These peaks corre- Conference, Cartagena, Colombia, 31 integrated within the reservoir-man- spond to the waterfloods in the north May–3 June. The paper has not been agement philosophy, which means and south areas, respectively. Common peer reviewed. they are all interrelated. to each injection peak was a sudden
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52 JPT • JANUARY 2010
production-rate drop that occured 2 • Production/injection technology pay zones mask and reduce the net-pay to 3 years after the peaks. These drops • Facilities quantification that is based on conven- corresponded to the end of fill-up peri- • Data collection tional logs). od after the free gas had been mostly • Quality, health, safety, and envi- displaced from the injection region. ronmental Results to Date Injection loss was also a result of chok- • Economic improvement The main achievements of the alli- ing back injection because of water ance through December 2008 were as channeling, sand production, and lost FRP Work Packages. After all the deci- follows. wells from casing collapse. Casabe is sions were made, field-work packages • The OOIP estimate was increased heterogeneous and highly layered, and were identified. A work package is a set by more than 20% after a large static water moves preferentially through the of activities with common features that field study that used the latest sedi- most conductive sands. can be treated and evaluated indepen- mentological input from cores and by dently (e.g., new waterflood projects in use of rock typing to link petrophysical Field-Redevelopment Plan (FRP) certain areas or appraisal wells). properties and facies. The FRP assembled the findings, solu- Forecasts were prepared with ana- • The reservoir doubled its produc- tions, and strategy in an organized lytical, numerical, or empirical sim- tion rate, peaking at 12,200 BOPD. manner and planned its implementa- ulations, depending on the quantity Production would have decreased to tion. The FRP was the main product of and quality of the data available. All 3,800 BOPD had the field continued to the integrated field study. Fig. 1 shows simulation output was collected in a decline as it had been before the alli- the general workflow. proxy model, which was validated and ance was formed. For Casabe, fast-track studies were a adjusted for those areas in which fore- • Determining reservoir saturations key component to prove concept ideas casts were off match. helped identify oil reserves behind pipe and enhance the model. Pilot tests and the remaining oil saturation for helped accelerate the learning curve New Technologies recompletion purposes. and incorporate knowledge into the for New Reserves • Nonproductive time was reduced process to advance the project. Three concepts were applied by the for drilling and workover rigs. The FRP consolidated plans for the alliance to find undeveloped reserves. • Deferred production has decreased redevelopment of the field in an orga- These were attic oil, bypassed oil, and through closer monitoring and imple- nized and sequential fashion. The FRP low-resistivity pay. Attic oil is oil that mentation of automated monitoring encompassed the following. is not recovered because well locations in the 50 best producers in the field. • Data acquisition (e.g., 3D-seismic did not reach the higher structural posi- This technique allowed reducing the data) tions. Seismic interpretation enabled deferred production by more than • Analysis and improvement of cur- positioning new wells in key positions 5,000 BOPD. rent reservoir-management practices to access the attic oil. Bypassed oil is the • Processes have been standardized. • Work packages (e.g., drilling new result of poor sweep efficiency. New • The reserves-replacement ratio has producers, including appraisal or injec- testing and logging technologies helped increased. Field reserves incremented tor wells) identify and quantify bypassed oil. by some 14 million BO, and the expec- • New development (e.g., waterflood- Oil quantification was crucial for tations raise them to more than 50 extension projects) the re-evaluation of the mature field. million BO. • Future analyses needed for the field Resistivities are affected by the lami- • New wells were redesigned to avoid (e.g., enhanced-oil-recovery screening) nated formations with dispersed clays, casing collapse. • Solutions to specific problems (e.g., leading to underestimation of net pay • The water-injection rate increased selective completions) with conventional tools. Use of a mag- from 24,000 BWPD to more than • Basis of designs (e.g., new wells netic-resonance tool in combination 60,000 BWPD. and completions) with the traditional log suite (induc- • Seismic data were managed in an • General strategies (e.g., sand con- tion resistivity and nuclear tools) was integrated fashion, including all phases: trol, artificial lift) crucial for identifying and estimating design, acquisition, processing, inter- • FRP updates as results are com- movable-oil volumes in intervals with pretation, and inversion. New oil areas pared against plans low sweep efficiency. A tool that deter- were identified. All these aspects were considered mines true resistivity was used to evalu- • Well-construction challenges (e.g., within an economical-project perspec- ate the effect of clay laminations in oil stuck-pipe problems and long tripping tive, aiming at yielding profits for the sands. Results suggested that net pay times) were overcome. alliance. is 8 to 10% thicker than estimated • Waterflooding has been re-engi- originally by use of only induction/ neered. Key Strategic Decision. Before creat- nuclear tools. The result was a signifi- • Improvements for the local com- ing a final plan, the following strategic cant change in the original-oil-in-place munity included improved local job decisions were formulated focusing on (OOIP) calculation. opportunities, a school for students solving the most effective issues of the The new resistivity tool was applied from preschool through fifth grade, field. to identify laminated formations in and an emergency response plan that • Focus on fields and/or reservoirs which conventional horizontal-resis- was designed for the local commu- • Waterflooding (reservoir perspec- tivity measurements are affected by the nity in case of events such as flooding tive) shoulder effect (i.e., shales near thin or fire. JPT