This presentation will demonstrate how the BP flux guidelines have been used to develop off-take guidelines for the Na Kika deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico. These guidelines, which give the maximum safe operating rates for sand control completions, allow wells with excellent completion quality to produce at twice the rate of wells with lower completion quality.

Before field start-up, BP estimated completion quality by reviewing 20 different elements of completion design and operations. They used these estimates to set the initial off-take limits for each zone. As the wells started producing, they performed pressure build-ups to measure the actual completion quality (skin), and adjusted the maximum operating rates accordingly. As the field matured, they also monitored for increasing skin to assure that the wells did not exceed the guidelines. They also performed a parametric analysis to see which aspects of the completion contributed to the mechanical skin for these wells. They found that higher net pressure gain after the on-set of tip-screenout, higher proppant-placed per foot of pay, and higher acid volumes per foot all correlated with lower skin.