Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), said it has deployed its downhole intelligent wet-mate system, which enables real-time production monitoring and control of the completion system across the entire wellbore in multi-trip completions.
Deployed for operator BP in the Clair Ridge development offshore Scotland, the SureCONNECT system is engineered to allow operators to make data-driven decisions to optimize reservoir performance and proactively mitigate risks, BHGE said.
The deployment, which marks the world’s first multi-trip completion installation with fullbore fiber-optic capability, represents a milestone along BP’s path to improve surveillance data and well-performance functionality, with the goal of ultimately introducing fiber-optics in subsea wells.
The Clair Ridges operations resulted in mating six optical fibers—each the size of a human hair—between the upper and lower completions, more than a mile below the earth’s surface. The data gathered will be used in parallel with conventional well surveillance data to provide a better understanding of fracture performance in real time, BHGE said.
“The SureCONNECT system gives operators the ability to respond to changing reservoir conditions and drive full asset characterization,” said Toby Begnaud, president, BHGE Completions and Well Intervention. “Distributed fiber-optic technology has reached a level of maturity where the industry recognizes its ability to provide reliable and valuable insight into reservoir performance.”
Multi-trip completion designs often used in offshore, subsea and other complex wells reliably get the completion assembly to depth without damaging the reservoir. While this addresses the associated risks, it also restricts the ability to run fiber, electronic and hydraulic lines across the full wellbore, BHGE said, adding that the SureCONNECT system addresses this by enabling connection and re-connection of the upper completion components and lower completion. It offers a modular approach, connecting hydraulic, electronic and/or fiber with one system design, further driving reliability and consistency across applications.
BHGE said operators utilizing the SureCONNECT system can achieve fiber-optic, real-time distributed temperature sensing and distributed acoustic sensing measurements simultaneously—across the entire well, for the life of the well—in these complex well designs.
The information gathered is processed at surface and turned into actionable, data-driven solutions. This includes actions like shutting off water and gas-dominant zones through remotely actuated sliding sleeves to optimize production in real time.
The SureCONNECT system also allows workover operations to be completed without retrieving the lower completion, such as installation or retrieval of an electrical submersible pump or repairing a safety valve.