A Coupled Reservoir/Wellbore Model for Calculating Pressure and Inflow Profile Along a Horizontal Well with Stinger Completion

Pressure and the flow distribution are not uniform due to the pressure drawdown in a horizontal wellbore, thus reducing the effectiveness of the toe of the well and increasing the tendency for water and gas coning at the heel. Completions have been proposed to combat this effect using a stinger that extends from the heel into the horizontal section. A comprehensive three-dimensional, anisotropic reservoir/wellbore coupling model based on the equivalent wellbore radius model and the principle of potential superposition was developed. The model is capable of handling the problem of pressure distribution and inflow profile in stinger completion. The optimal length of the stinger is obtained by solving the coupling model. For the given example, optimum stinger length is about a third of the length of the horizontal section. In this situation, the difference between the pressure along the wellbore is smaller and the reservoir influx takes a U-shaped distribution.