Optimizing Production in Brown Fields Using Re-Entry Horizontal Wells

Abstract

Reviewing of some Niger Delta oil field reservoirs indicate that most of them are brown fields, thereby vulnerable to challenges such as; coning due to reduced size of the oil column, low oil production and lack of access to the residual oil trapped between existing wells of the brown field. Due to coning occurrences in the Niger-Delta brown oil field, most wells have been shut-in and a lot of recompletions are being made in order to combat this problem. To proffer solutions to these technical challenges of these brown oil fields, this study seeks to review the potentials of re-entry horizontal well technology and its viable application to optimizing oil production from brown oil field. Re-entry horizontal well Technology involves a method of converting an existing vertical well into an horizontal well to save cost as oppose to drilling a fresh horizontal well from the surface. The object of the re-entry well is to reduced cost, especially in areas where drilling costs are very high. The re-entry horizontal in this research was represented by a virtual horizontal well to study the potentials of producing brown fields. The simulation paradigm studied was Black oil with light oil type variation of 32^O API. This article is therefore aimed at suggesting the conversion of existing vertical wells in the Niger-Delta into re-entry horizontal wells as a measure to optimize oil productionof these brown oil fields.