Saudi Aramco, WellDynamics to jointly develop new technologies for advanced multilateral intelligent completion system

"This joint development project is part of Saudi Aramco's overall vision to develop Extreme Reservoir Contact (ERC) wells," said Amin Nasser, Vice President of Petroleum Engineering & Development, Saudi Aramco. "ERC wells are intelligent multilateral wells that do not require individual control lines from the wellhead to each lateral or zone, and therefore, theoretically allow an unlimited number of intelligent laterals," added Nasser.

"We are delighted to expand our relationship with Saudi Aramco as we undertake this important project," said Derek Mathieson, Vice President of Business Development and Technology, WellDynamics. "We anticipate that jointly developing new intelligent completion systems for in-lateral monitoring and control will prove to be another significant milestone in our successful history of working together," added Mathieson.

Saudi Aramco pioneered intelligent Maximum Reservoir Contact (MRC) wells, which attain more than 5 km of contact with the reservoir through intelligent laterals off the main wellbore that can be partially or fully opened and closed from the surface. Saudi Aramco's most recently developed field, Haradh Increment III, completed in early 2006 with a production capacity of 300,000 bbls/day, relies on 32 intelligent MRC wells that utilize WellDynamics' SmartWell intelligent completion technology.

"Intelligent MRC wells can only have a limited number of laterals (four to five), because each downhole control valve requires a mechanical control line to the wellhead. ERC wells would relax this requirement. We envision ERC wells of fifty to one hundred smart laterals that would efficiently drain the reservoir and ultimately maximize economic recovery," explained Muhammad Saggaf, Manager of Saudi Aramco's EXPEC Advanced Research Center (ARC).

"This project is an illustration of Saudi Aramco's aggressive pursuit of R&D initiatives that include collaborative technology development of next-generation tools and completions," added Saggaf. The development project will be executed by a technical team comprised of researchers from Saudi Aramco's EXPEC ARC and WellDynamics.

The project consists of the development of a unique telemetry system coupled to a subsurface control module which will control flow and transmit data from and to each "smart" lateral to the main bore, and ultimately to the surface. The system reduces technical risk by taking advantage of field-proven WellDynamics' SmartWell products for basic monitoring and flow control functions within the laterals.