Evaluation Of Horizontal Well Production

SPE 59062 Evaluation of Horizontal Well Production
R. Leon-Ventura, G. Gonzalez-G. and H. Leyva-G./Pemex-E&P.

Copyright 2000, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2000 SPE International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Mexico held in Villahermosa, Mexico, 1–3 February 2000. This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE ProgramCommittee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetingsare subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not becopied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

increase the contact area with the reservoir and therefore, to improve the productivity of the well. In general terms, the horizontal wells are effective in reservoirs of small thickness, in naturallyfractured formations, in thick reservoirs and with problems of water and gas coning. It has been demonstrated that one horizontal well behaves in equivalent form to a vertical well with a totally penetrating fracture; therefore, actually a horizontal well instead of fracturing a vertical well could be contemplated3. In a naturally fractured reservoir, a horizontal well will cross several fracturesand then it will drain more effetively to the formation. On the other hand, an stimulation can increase the production of a vertical well, but after a time the rate declines quickly. In general, the production rates of horizontal wells are significantly higher that those of stimulated vertical wells. Therefore, the behavior of its production has improved considerably the economic view andsupports the development of the reservoirs exploitation4. In this decade the interest of the application of horizontal wells has been accelerated which had mainly to improve of drilling and completion technologies, which has allowed to increase the efficiency and the economy in the hydrocarbons recovery1-3. The horizontal drilling can be applicable in any stage of hydrocarbons recovery: primary,secondary and enhanced5. At this moment the reservoirs exploitation by means of horizontal wells has a great strategic value and offers benefits, such as: fast recovery of investments, increase of recoverable reserves, reduction of the production costs and minor number of wells or platforms by field. This work has like main objectives, to emphasize the excellent aspects that govern the design of thehorizontal drilling wells, to make a comparative study of the conditions of different horizontal well production and specially, the evaluation of the present conditions of production of horizontal wells developed in Mexico.

Abstract When drained volumes want to be increased or to reduce investments with additional drilling wells, we can use horizontal wells as a good alternative for optimumexploitation of the oilfields. This is supported because the horizontal wells productivity becomes higher than in a vertical, due to that they communicate a large area of the producing formation, cross natural fractures, reduce pressure drops and advances of water-oil or gas-oil contacts are delayed. In Mexico, several horizontal wells have been drilled in different kinds of formations, which initially...