SPE 69848 Application of Advanced Heavy-Oil-Production Technologies in the Orinoco Heavy-Oil-Belt, Venezuela

Jorge Robles/Petrozuata, C.A.

Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2001 SPE International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil Symposium held in Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela, 12-14 March 2001. This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee 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 meetings are 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 be copied. 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.

Abstract The successful application of state of the art drilling technologies such as horizontal and multilateral wells for the development of Zuata field in the Orinoco Belt demands improvements in the areas of artificial lift, fluid gathering and fluid treatment. The economic production of wells with initial potentials beyond 3,000 nbpd challenges both equipment and process.. This paper summarizes the latest experiences of Petrozuata C.A. in the Zuata field in the use of electric submersible pumps, and progressive cavity pumps, as well as the application of state of the art instrumentation for monitoring of production parameters. Introduction Petrozuata C.A. is a strategic association between Conoco Inc. (50.1 %) and Petrleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA, 49.9%). Its main objective is to integrate downstream, upstream, pipeline and marine operations in order to process 120,000 bpd of extra heavy crude to produce about 102,000 bpd of synthetic crude for 35 years. The strategy chosen for this development is cold production through multilateral horizontal wells drilled from clusters, combined with the use of diluent for lift and transport purposes. Petrozuata initially used Mesa-30 oil as diluent. This will be changed to Naphtha when the upgrader starts to operate. In the current scheme the Mesa-30 blend is exported. Once the upgrader operations begin, a distillation tower will recover the Naphtha, which will be sent back to Zuata field through a pipeline. Figure 1 shows field location and pad distribution, including existing and future installations.

Petrozuata has approximately 110 producing wells with a total production of 100,000 barrels of extra heavy crude oil per day. Figure 2 illustrates the field production over time. Petrozuata expects to reach 120,000 bpd of extra heavy oil at the end of year 2000. The diluent change over (from Mesa 30 to Naphtha) is planned for the 4th quarter 2000. Reservoir Characteristics The Oficina Formation was deposited during the Miocene, when sedimentation took place from south to north over the southern flank of the Eastern Venezuela Basin, near the Guayana Shield. Zuata is one of the three major prograding/aggrading depositional pulses identified within the Orinoco Belt. This channel depositional system created a complex reservoir architecture, as younger fluvial systems down-cut, erode and re-distribute sediments from earlierdeposited fluvial systems. Table 1 summarizes Reservoir characteristics Well Description Due to the complexity of the reservoir and as a result of a continuous effort to improve the efficiency to contact the oil in place, well geometry varies from single horizontal wells to very complicated multi-lateral arrangements, including dual gull wings, stacked dual and triple laterals, and combinations of all these with the addition of fishbones, as illustrated in Figure 3. The production-casing diameter is 9 5/8, with tangent sections at 75 to 87 from vertical. Typically the pump tangent section is placed above the upper lateral window. As shown in the previous figures, the final completion typically uses 7 inch slotted liner in the horizontal section. Well Potential Assessment and Lift Selection Strategy Petrozuata uses a correlation derived from core data and based on resistivity logs to estimate permeability of the different zones. Based on the flow capacity (permeability x length) and other geometrical restrictions the lifting method is selected and the system is sized. (See Figure 4) Petrozuata initially targets drawing down wells to 250 psi of Pump Intake Pressure (PIP). In some multilateral wells the initial productivity is so high that even at 3,000 bpd the PIP remains high for several months.

JORGE ROBLES

SPE 69848

Depending on the local reservoir quality and the contacted OIP, there is a wide range of initial productivitys and declination rates. Figure 5 shows an example of a gull wing well where the desired drawdown was achievable from the beginning of the production history. In other cases, like the one shown in Figure 6, the capacity of the artificial lift limits the initial production, however this is a transient restriction which disappears as the oil is produced and the pressure decrease, reaching the target conditions. Assessment of well potential is a critical issue, due to the compromise that exists between undersizing (production artificially limited by the lifting method) and oversizing (Idle capacity, which increases CAPEX). Another element that complicates this task is the wide range of declination behaviors, which may turn an initially suitable design into an oversized one in just a few months. Constant learning from accumulated experience has been the most effective approach to overcome these difficulties. Electric Submersible Pumping System The use of ESPs to lift heavy crude from horizontal wells is a rather recent application. It is well known that centrifugal pump performance is severely affected by high viscosity fluids. In addition, the flowing conditions around the assembly (high viscosity fluid at low velocities) restrict the cooling of the downhole motor. However, considering the limitations in rate and running life observed in other fields with the use of PCPs, at the beginning of this project ESP was selected as the most reliable system to lift the 1,500 bpd expected from horizontal wells. Previous field and lab experiences demonstrated that this range of production was achievable and that downhole diluent injection was a key factor to obtain the expected performance. Three different designs are currently in use in Petrozuata as shown in Table 2. In all the cases 4 " tubing, 1.3 " downhole diluent line and #4 round cable are used. An example of a typical completion is illustrated in Figure 7. With these designs the mean time between failure (MTBF) is currently around 14 months. Non hardened pump internals have shown acceptable abrasion resistance to produced fines. The optimum amount of downhole diluent injection for the ESP systems has been established at 20 % of the resulting blend, although the optimum value is determined for each individual well. The efficiency of the larger pumps (ESP-HR) seems to be affected more by the high viscosity of the crude. Downhole rotary gas separators were tested in few completions with no success. This agrees with previous experience in PDVSA with the use of these devices in heavy oil application. The main limitation for the use of this equipment in Zuata field is the effect of high viscosity and the inclination of the pump settling section, which increases the chance of having severe recirculation of the gas. The use of NPSH stages has improved overall pump performance while maintaining moderate power consumption. Field data demonstrate that 3,000 bpd rates are achievable with the ESP-HR design at high intake pressures (500 psi). In

Figure 8 the points for low GOR (<100 scf/b) corroborate this. A clear negative effect of higher GOR values can also be observed. Assuming a simple linear relationship between net production and intake pressure allows to illustrate separately the effect of GOR. While the effect of PIP (Figure 8) seems to be close to linear (at least in this range), the effect of GOR (Figure 9) shows a logarithmic trend. Progressive Cavity Pump System Although the PCP has been a recommended method for high viscosity applications, only recently have manufacturers offered models capable of handling rates above 1,000 bpd with the head required by Orinoco Belt wells. Figure 10 includes a schematic of a typical PCP completion and Table 3 summarizes the four designs that cover the range from 100 bpd to 2,500 bpd. Initially 4 tubing was used for the high rate range (PCPHR) and a diluent line for downhole injection was required. Petrozuatas current standard design uses 5 tubing and 1 rods (slim hole), which does not require diluent injection but operates at higher torque. Although Petrozuata does not have enough failure history to perform a meaningful statistical analysis of the effect of high torque on pump life, to date no problems have been experienced operating at high torque ranges (above 90%). In our designs the motor is the torque limiting element, therefore, there is an implicit safety factor built-in in the rod string design which reduces chances of rod failures. Petrozuata tested a number of different surface drive systems. After technical and economic evaluation, Petrozuata standardized the use of one single drive head model for all the applications. This has given excellent results in terms of cost, performance and simplicity. After problems of slippage of drive belts with the 100 HP system, it was decided to use dual motor arrangement for high torque applications. With the current design, systems are run at up to 500 rpm without any slippage. Although no early failures have been caused by high speed, the long-term effect of this operation in run life is still under evaluation. In the high rate PCP system the use of a 1 upset polished rod allows higher torque. Petrozuata uses a higher quality upset polished rod for its high rate design, but uses a conventional 1 polished rod for all the other cases. This captures the benefits of reduced costs and standardization of the rod BOP valve. Downhole Pump Performance Running at speeds approaching 500 rpm, Petrozuata can pump 2,500 bopd in wells with high inflow performance. Figure 11 illustrates the effect of lower intake pressures on the performance of the pump. In a positive displacement pump the effect of free gas at the intake of the pump is predictable. Figure 12 shows how the volumetric efficiency of the PCP-HR is linearly proportional to the liquid fraction at the pump intake. The fact that the proportionality factor is greater than one (1.2) could be interpreted as an indication that some natural gas separation

SPE 69848

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORINOCO HEAVY OIL BELT, VENEZUELA

may be occurring. However, due to the complex behavior of the foamy oil, it is difficult to estimate the exact amount of free gas at the intake of the pump to quantify the separation efficiency. In this case Figure 12 was created assuming that all the gas is free at the pump intake just as an illustration of the methodology. The combination of this information and the expected declination of the well is used to select the optimum rotational speed, which is a balance between high rates and maximum pump run life. Rod String Petrozuatas design is to limit dog leg severity (DLS) of wells to less than 6 degrees in the section above the pump tangent. To date, Petrozuata has not observed any problems in the area of rod and tubing wearing. A program is in place for rod and tubing inspection as completions are recovered from wells with high DLS. As part of the technology evaluation program 15 completions use continuous rod strings. The plan is to compare the performance of tubing and rod wearing in the future years to have enough information for the long term strategy. Application of State of the Art Measurement Technologies Figure 13 presents a simplified schematic of the multiphase metering system. A multiport valve allows selecting the well to be tested through a multiphase meter, while the rest of the wells remain on production, discharging to the main flow line. Ten pads have been design to have multiphase pumps (MPP). The other pads discharge to gathering lines that take the fluids to the closest MPP. Figure 14 illustrate the kind of analysis performed by combining data from the downhole sensors and the multiphase meter (MPM). The surging recorded by the MPM is reflected by the response of the PIP. Note that the pressure scale (at the right) has been reversed to highlight this. Anytime the MPM detects a decrease in the instantaneous rate, an increase in the PIP is detected as a result of the accumulation of fluid in the annulus. In this case the surges observed at surface are closely related to the performance of the downhole pump. In other cases the surging is caused by slug flow occurring in the tubing and in the flowline. This type of analysis is used to study the effect of changes in diluent injection in ESPs to avoid surging conditions in gassy wells. Conclusions The use of multilateral technology has allowed Petrozuata to develop wells with potentials above 4,000 bpd (cold production). This creates challenges for lifting technology in Orinoco Belt Application of high rate ESP systems with NPSH sections allows Petrozuata to produce 3,000 bopd at moderate intake pressures (> 500 psi). Lower PIP and higher GOR (>100 scf/b) can reduce system net capacity by up to 50%. Top drive PCP systems, with no downhole diluent can produce up to 2,500 bpd at moderate intake pressures (> 500

psi). Calculation of free gas volume at intake conditions allows an estimation of expected PCP volumetric efficiency. Combination of instrumentation and control facilities installed at Zuata field allows a high level engineering analysis of the whole production system, which will be the base for production optimization of individual wells. Acknowledgement The author wishes to thank Petrozuata C.A. and its parent companies, Conoco Inc. and PDVSA, for the opportunity to publish this paper.

JORGE ROBLES

SPE 69848

Main Station, Support Base, TCC & ZPS Phase I / II VEHOP Project Phase III Complete

Phase III Drilling Ready Phase III - Construction Started Phase III - Engineering in Progress

Production Field Development Progress December 2000

Pads with multiphase pumps

DF14

Water Dispos al Well

BC17

20 Diluent & 36 Blend Pipelines

Gas Well II17G
FG-19 FG19

JK14

Gas Well 79X

DF17

JK17

LM-21 LM17
NO18 LM19

BC20 BC22

Water Dispos al Well

DE20

* *

HI19

JK20

Utility Route
FG-19 FG22 HI22

LM-21 LM21

NO21

DE22

100%
San Diego de Cabrutica BC24 DE24 FG25 BC26 DE26

JK23

LM23

*
LM25 LM-25

MAR CARIBE JOSE BARCELONA / PUERTO LA CRUZ

Utility Route

GH-25 MPP

HI25

JK25 IJ27

GH27

Cabrutica Bridge

GH29

*
Atascosa Bridge

IJ29
KL32

GH31

IJ31

ZUATA
GH33

Figure 1.- Field location and pads distribution

Daily Production
200,000 180,000 160,000

Bbl per day

140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Jul-98

EHCO

Blend

Oct-98

Jan-99

Apr-99

Jul-99

Oct-99

Jan-00

Apr-00

Jul-00

Oct-00

Date

Figure 2.- Evolution of Field Production Table 1.- Reservoir Parameters

PARAMETER Vertical Depth (Feet) Reservoir Temperature (F) Reservoir Pressure (Psi) Absolute Permeability (md) Oil Viscosity at Reservoir Conditions (cp) Oil Specific Gravity (API)

RANGE 1,720 2,400 108 122 578 895 700 14,000 1,200 3,000 8.1 10.3

SPE 69848

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORINOCO HEAVY OIL BELT, VENEZUELA

Stacked fishbone well

20.000-35.000 ft total footage in horizontal section

Triple Crows foot well

Multilateral wells from adjacent clusters

Single and stacked dual wells in one cluster

Figure 3.- Examples of actual multilateral wells.

25

20 PI_Average 2nd months

15

10

0 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 100,000 LxKave (md-ft)

Figure 4.- Correlation used to determine well potential from flow capacity

JORGE ROBLES

SPE 69848

PERFORMANCE OF A GULL WING DUAL WELL

3000

700 600 500

PIP (PSI)

2500

OIL RATE (BPD)

2000

400 1500 300 1000 200

500

BOPD PIP (PSI)

100

0 0 28-Aug 17-Oct 06-Dec 25-Jan 15-Mar 04-May 23-Jun 12-Aug 01-Oct DATE

Figure 5.- Example of productivity of a gull wing well producing at its full potential.

PERFORMANCE OF A GULL WING FISHBONE WELL

2500

900 800

2000 OIL RATE (BPD)

700 600 500 400 BOPD PIP (PSI) 300 200 100 PIPI (PSI)

1500

1000

500

0 06-Dec

25-Jan

15-Mar

04-May DATE

23-Jun

12-Aug

0 01-Oct

Figure 6.- Example of a well with an initial limitation in the production due to the artificial lift capacity.

Table 2.- Summary of different ESP Standardized Designs

RATE RANGE (BPD) 800 - 1600 1600 - 2500 > 2500

PUMP lower tandem

PUMP upper tandem

MOTOR 190 HP 250 HP 300 HP

VSD 260 KVA 325 KVA 390 KVA

ESP for NPSH (16 stg) ESP-LR: 58 stg, 4100 bpd at 60 Hz, at maximum efficiency point ESP for NPSH (16 stg) ESP-MR: 65 stg, 6100 bpd at 60 Hz, at maximum efficiency point ESP for NPSH (16 stg) ESP-HR: 89 stg, 8200 bpd at 60 Hz, at maximum efficiency point

SPE 69848

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORINOCO HEAVY OIL BELT, VENEZUELA

79 joints (2510 ft)

DRAIN VALVE @ 2511 ft 3, 4 1/2 TBG JTS

CHECK VALVE @ 2607 ft

3 FT, 4 1/2 PUP JT DUAL CLAMP @ 2671 ft

ESP-LR @ 2689 ft

SEAL SECTION

133 HP MOTOR @ 2712 ft

P&T-SENSOR @ 2717 ft

DILUENT LINE @ 2776 ft

Figure 7.- Schematic of a typical ESP completion

JORGE ROBLES

SPE 69848

Effect of PIP on ESP-HR performance

Frequency Range: 55Hz - 66 Hz
3500 3000 . 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 100 200 300 PIP (PSI) 400 500 600

GOR<100 scf/b GOR>100 scf/b

OIL RATE (BPD)

Figure 8.- Effect of pump intake pressure on ESP performance

Effect of GOR on ESP-HR performance

Frequency Range: 55Hz - 66 Hz 8 7 6
SLOPE = BPD / PIP

5 4 3 2 1 0
0 100 200 300 GOR (sfc/b) 400 500 600 700

y = -1.8589Ln(x) + 13.804 2 R = 0.5183

Figure 9.- Effect of GOR in ESP performance

SPE 69848

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORINOCO HEAVY OIL BELT, VENEZUELA

75 joints, 5 1/2 LT&C tubing @ 2389 (ft)

TEC Cable

5 1/2 LT & C Drain valve @ 2390 ft 3 jts , 5 1/2 LT&C tbg joints

5 1/2 LT&C x 4 1/2 EUE Pin, XO

3 ft, 4 1/2 EUE pup joint @2488 ft

PCP- HR, 4.5 OD PCP @ 2518.7 ft.

3 ft, 4 1/2 EUE pup joint

4 1/2 EUE box x 4 1/2 EUE pin slotted sub Torque Anchor, 9 5/8 x 4 1/2 EUE @ 2528 ft

4 1/2 EUE box x 4 1/2 NUE pin, perforated Pup @ 2543 ft

4 1/2 NUE Pin x 1.9 NUE Pin, XO @ 2547 1.9 tubing

Figure 10.- Schematic of a typical PCP completion

10

JORGE ROBLES Table 3.- Summary of PCP designs

SPE 69848

RANGE=> Pump Elastomer VSD Motor Drive head Polished Rod Rod String Tubing

50-300 300-600 600-1000 >1000 bpd bpd bpd bpd PCP-LR, 20 stages, PCP-MR, 22 stages, PCP-HR, 30 stages, PCP-VLR, 24 6.2 bpd/rpm, max 5 bpd/rpm, max stages, 2.4 bpd/rpm, 4.2 bpd/rpm, max head = 2250 psi head = 2200 psi max head = 2400 psi head = 2000 psi HIGH NITRILE 40HP 40HP 60HP 60HP B1505 - SINGLE MOTOR 1 1/2" Conventional 1 " conventional rods 4 1/2"
EFFECT OF PIP IN PCP CAPACITY
PCP-HR, RPM : 440 - 500, GOR : 50 - 250 SCF/B
3000

75HP 75HP

120HP 2x60HP B1505 - DUAL MOTOR 1 1/2" UPSET

1 1/4" slimhole rods 5 1/2 "

2500 EXTRA HEAVY OIL RATE (BPD)

2000

1500

1000

500

0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 PUMP INTAKE PRESSURE (PSI)

Figure 11.- PCP rate performance as a function of intake pressure

EFFECT OF LOCAL GVF IN PUMP EFFICIENCY
120% y = 1.2188x 2 R = 0.7817 700

100% VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY (%)

600

500 80% PIP (PSI) 400 60% 300 40% 200 20%

Vol Efficiency PIP

100

0% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% LIQUID FRACTION AT PUMP INTAKE (%) (BEFORE SEPARATION)

0 90%

Figure 12.- Effect of free gas at the intake of the PCP in its volumetric efficiency

SPE 69848

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORINOCO HEAVY OIL BELT, VENEZUELA

11

MULTIPHASE METER TEST LINE

MPM
MULTIPHASE PUMP MULTIPORT VALVE

MPP

LINES FROM WELLS

Figure 13.- Schematic of Multiphase Metering Arrangement.

2500

500

Total Rate (bpd)(*)

2000

510 520 530

Pump Intake Pressure (psi)

(*) Total Rate = (Liquid + Gas) @ downhole conditions

BPD,GAS (mfc)

1500

540 550 PIP (psi)

1000

560 570

500

580 590

0 6/9 9:00

600 6/9 15:00 6/9 21:00 DATE/TIME 6/10 3:00 6/10 9:00

Figure 14.- Example of close correlation between surface rate reading and downhole pressure.