Successful Deployment of the World’s First Density-Based Inflow Control System for Improved Well Performance

Abstract Inflow control technologies have helped oil and gas companies maximize oil recovery and minimize water production by balancing production across the entire completion. To further minimize water production and maximize oil recovery, the industry started utilizing autonomous inflow control devices (ICDs) and systems that can autonomously sense the incoming fluid properties and choke if the properties match that of water and freely produce if the properties match oil. However, all autonomous inflow control devices (AICDs) available in the market to date require a viscosity contrast between oil and water to be able to choke formation water. Light oil reservoirs, which are abundant around the world, do not have sufficient viscosity contrast between oil and water. In fact, some reservoirs have ultra-light oil where the oil viscosity is even lower than water. In those reservoirs a new technology was required to operate on a fluid property other than viscosity. This paper presents the design concept, qualification and successful deployment of the world’s first autonomous inflow control system that differentiates between the downhole oil and water solely off the fluid’s density.