Canada-based Packers Plus Energy Services recently worked with operator Dubai Petroleum Establishment to install and stimulate an offshore carbonate reservoir using an open hole multi-stage ball-drop system.

The operator used proppant as the treatment method - a first for offshore completions in the Middle East - in place of the typically used acid method for carbonate formations.

The completion trialed the use of proppant in order to maximize production and was paired with the StackFRAC Titanium XV system, a high pressure/high temperature system designed for wells in which differential pressures exceed 10,000 psi (69 MPa) and extreme bottom hole temperatures can be encountered.

 "The completion solutions engineered and implemented by Packers Plus and Dubai Petroleum for the placement of these offshore multi-stage proppant fracture stimulations, targeting Shilaif tight carbonate source rock, have allowed DPE to unlock a very significant volume of reserves in the Dubai acreage and possibly in the whole region," said Juan Pablo Freile, DPE Exploration & Production director.

Packers Plus president Ian Bryant, said, "We embraced the challenge to find an alternative stimulation method to acid that would increase recoverable reserves and optimize the completion, and look forward to continuing to work closely with Dubai Petroleum in finding effective solutions."

The open hole method proved advantageous over the traditional plug-and-perf method with its ease of installation and for its ability to provide a continuous pumping operation that effectively stimulates isolated zones along the entire length of the wellbore. This resulted in substantial time savings and reduced costs for the operator.

All balls landed and shifted their respective sliding sleeves, events which were verified by both monitored pressure at surface and independently using the award-winning ePLUS(TM) Retina Monitoring System,  an innovative technology which allows for event verification without a pressure signature. – TradeArabia News Service