Effective Uncertainty Management Strategies to Successfully Deliver Horizontal Well in Changbei Gas Field

Abstract Multi-lateral horizontal wells are being applied in field development extensively, especially in unconventional oil and gas reservoir in order to maximize economic development of it. Uncertainties are always present and are very significant in unconventional oil and gas reservoir. These uncertainties could be Geology-related and Engineering-related or exist in the available data. Industry has been using uncertainty analysis to identify, address and mitigate risk. Horizontal well objectives in Changbei Field are to drill 2kmdual lateral wells into thin reservoir while maximizing production and minimizing well cost. One of prime challenges was to land and drill in <10m reservoir in channel margin by using conventional tool under limited budget, this was particularly challenging in Changbei's braided channel complex with high reservoir heterogeneity. By classifying all uncertainties available during delivering horizontal well, this paper takes Changbei tight gas field as an example to discuss an integrated application of the workflow performing uncertainty analysis on geological and engineering parameters and identify the effective uncertainty management strategies based on it. The proposed uncertainty management strategies have been applied to tens of horizontal well in Changbei gas field, and the operation result show that it reduced the associated risks or uncertainties substantially compared to the pre-applied case and improved horizontal wells planning and placement efficiently and economically.