Can we get away with just shutting wells in? Should we expect them to flow at the same rate following shut in? Is this time dependant?

Premier Corex have extensive experience and have performed many shut-in studies looking at various scenarios.

Suspension is common before production, and we have seen that things like the operational fluid cakes and suspension fluid can be central to potential issues here. When a producing well is suspended, there can be a diverse range of issues including scaling, compatibility, interaction with reservoir minerals/fines, water breakthrough/separation, and more. With longer exposure times we have seen both positive results or, more commonly, exacerbation of damaging mechanisms.

In low-perm, fractured, and unconventional reservoirs there are other considerations, as drilling and completion may not be key: geomechanics, stress cage changes, relative permeability and capillary effects, water reaching fracture faces and more.

Why do some wells not come back on when others do? When wells are being shut-in, are we thinking about the impact to the reservoir, and how we can avoid or reverse it when we want to start flow again?

Identify and Avoid Problems

We are seeing stories of wells being shut-in while the oil price is low or due to overproduction and lack of storage. This makes Premier Corex think about all the examples we have seen where shut-in has had an impact on productivity; many unexpected factors can mean that a well comes back after suspension at a much lower (or zero) rate. Time is a component that is often not considered in studies.

The good news is that it is possible to identify many of these potential problems through coreflood simulations, and use the information gathered to help avoid problems (before wells are suspended) or identify treatments to remove damage (during/after suspension). 

Using the downtime when wells are shut in to identify potential problems at restart is a way to add future value to wells when they are doing nothing.

Contact Premier Corex Formation Damage Experts for a FREE 30-minute online consultancy session to run you through some of our case studies. 

Tel. +44 1224 770434   l   info@pofg.com

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Premier Corex

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