SPE-179833-MS

Key Learnings from First 2 Years of a Full Field CSS Development in Oman
Solenn Bettembourg, Steve Holyoak, Abdullah Alwazeer, Mohammed Manhali, Mohammed Rawahi,
and Amur Habsi, Petroleum Development Oman LLC

Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE EOR Conference at Oil and Gas West Asia held in Muscat, Oman, 2123 March 2016.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s).
Contents of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not
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paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than
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Abstract
The A East Haradh formation contains a 200 m thick oil column of highly viscous oil, with viscosity
ranging from 200 to 400,000 cp. Due to the high viscosity, first production was considered only possible
using thermal EOR techniques, starting with Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS). The field has now been in
operation for more than two years, with a number of wells already into a third CSS cycle.
This paper will focus on the key learnings derived during this initial operations phase of CSS in A
East Field including, amongst others, key trial results on different well completions and artificial lift
systems combined with new insight into the reservoir architecture. In addition, reservoir performance
management is being streamlined through the development of a structured approach to the CSS planning
and using dedicated visualisation. Automated Exception Based Surveillance triggers are currently being
developed to efficiently address any deviation from the operating envelopes and further optimise the
recovery from this 81 well CSS development.
Based on the very encouraging performance to date, the company has already sanctioned a further 34
well CSS expansion of the current development with drilling scheduled to commence in 2016.

Introduction
A East Haradh reservoir was discovered in 1976, and subsequent appraisal revealed a 200 m thick oil
column in the highly permeable clastic formation. The A East structure is thought to be a compact
dome shape structure. Oil Gravity in this reservoir ranges from 8-15 API, with viscosity ranging from
200 to 400000 cp. The oil was heavily biodegraded, leading to present day viscosity increase with depth,
and the presence of a tar mat near the oil water contact. In the A field, the top of Haradh lies at a
depth of
1000-1300 m bgl, bringing an extra technical challenge to extract, lift and distribute this heavy crude.
Early production using conventional methods lead to a cumulative recovery of only 0.54% of the oil in
place, and, following a successful trial of a CSS scheme in the early 90s, the A East CSS project was
initiated in 2013.
The field development plan envisaged a CSS production for the first 5 years on 81 wells, transitioning
eventually towards a vertical steam drive. CSS operation was initiated with the use of steam by pass
Beam Lift pumps, designed to limit the intervention time and cost during CSS conversion. A CSS
start up
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Figure 1A East Development plan phase 1 CSS scheme for 5 years, followed by a vertical steam drive (9 spot inverted)

strategy was provided, to maximise the steam utilisation and downhole reservoir connectivity between
wells.

Overview of field start-up

In view of the results of a new geochemical characterisation study of the crude extracted from a core, cold
production was deemed feasible in the crestal area of the field. Viscosities at the top of the Haradh were
estimated at 200 cp, lower than previously thought and Progressive Cavity Pumps (PCPs) were installed
in 32 wells to commence a cold production phase.
Cold production started in March 2013, and lasted till end 2014, when all wells in the field were
converted to CSS. The cold production period allowed early depletion of the reservoir, and later
improvement in steam injection: a pressure drop of up to 20 bars was observed and fluid level
measurement in wells, as well as PCP pump performance suggested a good pressure communication
between the wells.
First CSS injection started in March 2014, in a non-depleted northern part of the field. Initial pressures
in this area were high, up to 106 bars, leading to poor or challenging steam injection. First injection in
wells with steam by-pass pumps (SBPP) revealed a design problem, and possible challenges in the steam
bypass pump. As a result with the SBPP not working as intended, the CSS wells had to be manually
attended with Flush-By Units (FBUs) to convert the wells between steam and production cycles. This
doubled the time of conversion for the wells, and impacted the CSS planning. A lean project was carried
out, to streamline the manual CSS conversion process and define triggers for conversion based on
defined well performance operating envelopes.
Despite some of the early teething problems, first CSS production was very promising, and, within a
few months ramped up to 70% of the targeted CSS field peak oil rates. Some of the wells production was
higher and longer than expected. Well test frequency was enhanced to adapt to the CSS production type
curve, and capture the full volume of oil produced.
The following sections will discuss in detail the CSS planning strategy and toolkit, based on the
learning from the reservoir surveillance and work on enhancing the completion design.
SPE-179833-MS 3

Figure 2Overview of production in A Field. Cold production started in March 2013Thermal production started in April 2014, and
ramped up since.

Overview of CSS performance

A typical CSS cycle in an A East well is shown in Figure 3, using the wellhead temperature sensor as
an indicator. The cycle starts with the injection phase (A) for several weeks (initially 4 to 6). After that,
the well is closed (B) for a soaking period of a few days and then opened for free flow (C) which lasts
for up to 3 weeks. The well is intervened with a FBU (D) to prepare for production followed by starting
the beam pump (E). At the end of the production cycle, the well is stopped (F) based on end of cycle
criteria and intervened again to prepare the well for steam injection for the subsequent cycle. The overall
cycle duration for Phases A through F is typically somewhere between 100 to 300 days and is dependent
on the performance of the well against pre-set operating envelopes.

Figure 3Typical CSS cycle phases in an A East well

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During the steam injection phase, the reservoir pressure is expected to build up near the wellbore area.
Pressure data gathered as part of the surveillance activities (temperature log) measured downhole
pressures as high as 17,000 kPa during the soaking period. Also, wellbore models showed similar
expected high pressure values. The high pressure means that the CSS wells are capable to self (free) flow
for a certain duration (between 1 to 40 days). Free flowing production well test data showed production
rates during the free flow up to 30 m3/d gross rate. The length of this free flow period depends on the
initial depletion (low reservoir pressure) of the well prior to steam injection. It was observed that deep
flank wells tend to have a longer free flow period compared to shallower crestal wells. This is due to the
higher reservoir pressure in the Flank area compared to the Crestal area which had initial cold production
and resulted in lowering the reservoir pressure in the crest.
Figure 4 shows the comparison of wellhead temperature of a Crestal versus a Flank well during free
flow phase for a well in its first cycle. The Crestal well stopped free flowing after ~ 19 days whereas the
Flank well continued to flow for 40 days, although the Crestal well had higher steamin jection rate
sand steam volume (due to the lower reservoir pressure) compared to the Flank well where a smaller
steam slug is injected.

Figure 4Crestal versus Flank wells during free flow phase

The maximum free flow pressure and temperature data captured mainly in the 1 st cycle and the 2nd
cycle showed (Figure 5) a maximum temperature of 270C and a maximum pressure of 9150 kPa. This
shows the amount of energy coming out of the wells during free flow phase and emphasises the
importance of the soaking phase to dissipate the energy in the reservoir.

Figure 5Maximum Pressures and Temperatures during free flow phase (or first production phase)
SPE-179833-MS 5

Wellhead temperature in the production phase starts high in the beginning of the CSS cycle and then
declines with time. From actual valid well test data, there is a clear declining trend of the liquid and oil
rates associated and linked to the drop of the wellhead temperature. This is mainly due to cooling down
effect after back producing the injected fluid. Hence, the pump efficiency deteriorates at lower temperature
because of the high oil viscosity and this is observed in the reduction of liquid/ oil with time in the production
test data. Figure 6 shows some examples of CSS wells in A East during their 1st CSS cycle production
phase. A high liquid and water cut are observed at the beginning of the production cycle and the difference
between the liquid and oil rates is higher initially since the early production consists mainly of the
condensed steam. As the well continues producing, the difference between the liquid and oil production
reduces with time to be at its
minimum at the end of the production phase. This low water cut in the production test, indicates no
water influx from the bottom aquifer. The average well head temperature at the end of the production
cycle is between 50-60C. At these low temperatures, the oil viscosity increases and the beam pump
struggles to produce and results in a drop in the total gross production.

Figure 6CSS wells production test liquid/oil rates versus wellhead temperature

Steam quality impact in wells performance

Steam quality has a great impact on CSS wells performance due to the latent heat carried by steam versus
hot water. In A East, the steam is generated by once through steam generators (OTSGs) with a discharge
steam quality of about 80%. The steam is distributed through a surface network of flow lines about 2 kms
from OTSGs. The steam quality at wellhead is estimated to be 75% but is very much rate dependent.
Wellhead pressure data is used to back-calculate the saturation steam temperature at wellhead and
compared against the actual well head temperature. This is used to distinguish between hot water injection
versus steam injection at the wellhead. A comparison between two adjacent wells (under comparable
reservoir conditions) in their 2nd cycle is shown in Figure 7. Hot water was injected mainly in well E-64,
whereas in well E-66 a better steam quality was injected.
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Figure 7Wellhead temperature and pressure versus saturation temperature

As part of the surveillance plan, temperature logs are collected from the wells after the injection phase.
The data shows (Figure 8) that in E-66 a peak temperature of 180C was measured in the reservoir versus
80C in E-64, which is linked to the energy delivered through steam compared to hot water. The
production data and wellhead temperature during the production phase shows that E-66 has a higher
production start-up temperature and higher net oil production rates compared to E-64.

Figure 8Temperature logs, wellhead temperature and oil rate data from E-64 and E-66

Leveraging Emerging Changes in Geological Understanding

In terms of managing the CSS process, over the first year of production new insights into the geology of
the A East field have been playing an important role in improving the understanding of the well and
reservoir behavior, and identifying production outliers. The key elements are;
SPE-179833-MS 7

Intra-formational stratigraphy of the Haradh and its impact on reservoir property distribution
Identification of both flank and intra-field faults
A revised structural evaluation for the entire stratigraphic range, including top reservoir.
New Data Since the initial modeling work a wide azimuth (WAZ) seismic dataset has been reprocessed,
with a strong focus on multiple elimination. Although still challenging, this has improved the interpret-
ability, particularly in the flank areas. Three additional appraisal wells have also been drilled. The first
two demonstrated that top reservoir in the initial model was some 40m too deep in the mid-eastern
and northwestern flank areas.
Revised Geological Understanding
Intra-Formational Stratigraphy Review of smoothed, normalized GR logs across N-S and E-W profiles
revealed the potential to internally subdivide the Haradh at A East. A previously recognized general
increase in GR was clearly seen in the mid-Haradh, however the conditioned logs highlighted several
additional correlatable features. Figure 9 shows a north-south panel with the working subdivision.
P3 represents a general increase to higher GR levels
P1 and P1B are picked at the tops of characteristic twin GR peaks
In the north of the field the unit at P0 has low GR troughs ( high quality sands?)
The relatively thick interval between P0 and P1 is poorly correlatable on smoothed GR

Figure 9A East Internal Stratigraphy, calibrated with core

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The isopachs show that the units are relatively constant thickness across the field, i.e. layer-cake.
They also have a constant dip of around 15 degrees to the north. This work has implications for the field
development planning with respect to the fluid behavior under different development scenarios. It has
already been seen that the northern wells with the postulated high quality sands above P0 are outper-
forming relative to the expectation from the modeled oil viscosities.
Integration with Core A core description from the field identifies boundaries largely coinciding with
those described above. A coarsening upwards cycle (P2 P3) is overlain by two fining upwards cycles,
the tops of which are P1B and P1. This is shown in Figure 9. A coarse initial subdivision (dashed lines
in the figure) was subsequently refined in line with the core description nomenclature.
Smoothed GR as used for the correlation was cross-plotted against log scale core plug permeability
from two wells. This demonstrates a strong inverse correlation. Given the stratigraphic correlation of
events such as P1, P1B and P2 described above, the implication is for field-wide layering with the
potential to create baffles and flowpaths on an inter-well scale. The low GR sands in the unit above P0,
present in the northernmost wells, would be expected to have excellent permeability. The mineralogy
suggests that the finer grained sediments (e.g. top of a fining upward cycle) contain more detrital clay, and
have higher potassium content. This creates the link between higher GR and reduced permeability due to
lower grain size and possibly the clay content.
When normalized oil rate (cumulative oil divided by effective production days) is displayed as a
bubble plot against net mobility a clear pattern emerges (see Figure 10). Outliers such as the one indicated
by the red arrow are highlighted in the regular quarterly revervoir management reviews, and flagged for
further investigation to determine the root cause and potential learnings and/or mitigations.

Figure 10Bubble plots of Normalised Oil vs Net Mobility and Average Perm
SPE-179833-MS 9

Identification of Flank and Intra-Field Faults The layer-cake internal stratigraphic correlation of the
Haradh has enabled the moderate to high confidence identification of intra-reservoir faults. Furthermore,
by analysing cut-outs in the overburden it can be demonstrated that some of these faults only extend to
the Base Nahr Umr or deeper, whereas others extend to (at least) Base Shammar (Figure 11). The
evidence from well tops suggests that the southern, eastern and western flanks are all faulted. A
major field bounding fault is also interpreted in the north, based on seismic data. The southern boundary
fault appears to have been re-activated, and potentially connects the reservoir to at least Base
Shammar. This has implications for reservoir management and surveillance, particularly in terms
of controlling steam injection.

Figure 11Section showing use of stratigraphic tops to identify faults. On map redblind at base Shammar, purple at Base N. Umr or
deeper

Seismic Re-interpretation Through 2015 a major effort was made to complete a structural interpretation
update using the 2013 WAZ seismic dataset. This covers an area extending across both A West and East
fields, but also incorporates surrounding fields and drilled structures. This has been supported by a major
review and cleanup of the stratigraphy. In addition the internal stratigraphic layering is being
incorporated. The interpretation is in line with the latest results from the recently drilled flank wells in
A East. A
pre-interpretation conceptual model is shown in Figure 12 below. The interpretation will form input for
a revised static model, covering A East and A West.
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Figure 12Conceptual Model, A West and A East

For the A East CSS process this updated model will further build on the current understanding
regarding the impact of layering, faults, dip and reservoir quality on the CSS process. In addition the
revised tectonostratigraphic interpretation will create opportunities for the drilling of additional CSS wells
on the flanks.

Operating the CSS in A field: Artificial lift challenges & mitigations

The initial plan for A East field was to be developed with Steam By-Pass Pumps (SBPP). However,
design constraints led the team to operate the wells as dedicated steaming through tubing without the use
of the SBPP, followed by reinstalling rods and pump for the production phase. The new approach
increased the demand for resources. The selected artificial lift covers a reasonable production range but
has some limitations as well, especially in the high viscosity range.
Steam by Pass Pump Management of change and impact on CSS operation In the initial
plan, all CSS operations were planned to use the SBPP. Due to the significant depth of the reservoir and
the need for mimimum steam quality loss downhole, the proposed efficient approach using the SBPP was
changed. The change was done by using VIT (Vacuum Insulated Tubing) which provided better steam
quality preservation. The thermal expansion of the VIT did not match the rod strings and the added length
needed to pull out the rods at surface made the SBPP less favorable for this application.
An alternative plan was implemented to utilise the VIT benefits and operate CSS with dedicated
injection and production modes completions. The early conversion took significant time. All operating
procedures, for hoist and FBU had to be adjusted and cater for the changes of operation, including a new
standardized killing procedure.
Beam pump operating envelope for highly viscous oil Beam Pumps in A East field can
operate with oil viscosity up to 5000 cp. This limitiation becomes an issue during 2 periods of the
cycle:
1. Pump start-up after conversion, when the well is killed
2. End of production in a cycle
SPE-179833-MS 11

Start of production was challenging for some wells, and a typical dyno card confirms the pumps
inability to close both standing and traveling likely related to viscosity (see Figure 13).

Figure 13Viscosity distribution in A East field. During cold production, viscosity range was smaller. CSS allows sweeping heavier
oil, however, killing procedure is hindering the start-up of the pump

To mitigate the challenges of starting up the pumps, different methodologies were tested:
1. Solvent injection (light crude injection)
2. Hot water circulation in the annulus
3. Prolonged shut-in time after killing the wells, to allow the hot fluids from the near wellbore to
warm up the well.
4. Slow start-up of the wells
The most reliable method was starting at very low speeds for a 24-hour period. Although the low
speeds are not recommended due to gear box lubrication concerns, it is set for a maximum of 24 hours
until the fluid temperatures rise and viscosity increases for improved fillage and pump performance. For
wells which were extremely difficult to start even at lower speeds, annulus steam injection at low
temperature and pressure was deemed effective (~200 C and ~ 3000 kpa).
The end of production cycle also presented a challenge as the well cools down and viscosity increases.
This viscosity increase impacted pump performance. The plot in Figure 12 indicates problem areas in the
production phase. A review on Artificial Lift selection for future ALE development is planned to address
the current limitations. It is worth noting that Metal To Metal PCP (M2MPCP) has been approved for trial
in 2016 as an alternative to beam pumping.
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Figure 14Impact of production temperature on pump performance in the end of cycle. Production temperature in the end of a cycle
typically falls below 55 C, leading to highly viscous oil

WRM challenges of CSS operations CSS operations require a high level of planning and managing
of interfaces. In the A East field, the wells are fully converted: the full production completion is
pulled out, stored, and reinstalled later after steam injection has occured. To maximize the efficiency of
a CSS cycle, the full process was mapped, the interfaces between teams defined and roles and
responsibilities assigned. That included the re-definition of custodianship for the material by the well
intervention units, and the reinforcement of tracking pump tear down and reports. The change
had to be made to accommodate the operational shift from SBPP to dedicated modes.
Some challenges were experienced during surveillance activities. The activities were impacted by the
high column of viscous fluids in the well made worse by the well killing procedure. This problem was
mitigated by changing the intervention times to be around 3 days right after injection termination date.
This allowed for logging while the well was hot and at much lower viscosity, as well as standardizing the
acquisition of the logs for time lapse analysis.
Steam and Oil metering were also reviewed: steam metering was drastically improved through a
multi-disciplinary project, involving Petroleum Engineers, Instrumentation and SCADA specialists as
well as the Operation team. The volumetric steam rates are measured using a coriollis meter. Those
meters were sized to accomodate steam rates expected when the CSS process allows for good quality
steam injection. Due to the high initial reservoir pressure, steam injection rates at start-up were below the
meter threshold. However, recent performance improvement in injectivity allows a more accurate
volumetric steam metering. Mass steam rates are calculated from the measured volumetric rates,
assuming a steam quality. The logic for the mass rate calculation was reviewed, and adapted to
scenarios where hot water is known to be injected in the well.
Automatic Well Tester (AWT), once commissioned, was assessed against a mobile 3 phase test
separator. This equipment was fully validated after 6 months of monitoring and now delivers more than
90% of the well tests in this field. The AWT is a small size vessel; Oil is measured using a coriollis and
SPE-179833-MS 13

Capacitance meter, and a vortex meter measures gas flow rates. A well test typically last 2 hours, allowing
a minimum well test frequency of around 2 days. Statistically, the small volume sampled is compensated
by the frequency of the testing. High frequency testing is a key requirement for the A East field, in
view of the high viscosity and sharp decline and changes of regime in the production cycle.
Stuffing box leaks have been prevalent and a successful trial using new packing and stuffing box units
was conducted and resulted in no leaks over the full production duration of 6 months or more compared
to an average two weeks failure experienced using the previous material. The new packing and stuffing
box units will be installed in the A East field.
Optimization: future of CSS in A East Optimization in a CSS field is extremely challenging as it
requires the integration of different parameters, and is highly dependant of where the well is in the cycle.
The team has successfully managed more than 700 optimization changes in A East in 2015 requiring
significant analysis time and decision making in a dynamic system.

Figure 15Required variable for optimisation

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In order to minimize the time spent on optimization and reducing reaction times, all wells in the A
field were equipped with Variable Speed Drive (VSD). The wells can self optimize. And there is an on
going trial in 4 wells known as the BLADE project (Beam Lift Automated Delivery Evolution). The
programmable logic looks at the preset dead band variable and increases Strokes per Minute (SPM) or
reduces SPMs depending on changing conditions. The typical duration to review and execute an
optimization request is about 1 week; however, the BLADE well can do the change in minutes.
Implementation of the BLADE project is anticipated for 2016 on all the wells inA East. The project team
is looking into linking the optimization signal to the well test fieldware, to ensure the capture of the
optimised volumes.
Leveraging effects of CSS conversions on production, maximizing the
asset value
The Well Reservoir & Facility management strategy for the CSS period is focusing on Steam distribution,
Vertical and Areal sweep and overall pressure depletion of the reservoir to reach target vertical steam
drive operating pressure. In order to achieve both the WRFM and production targets, all processes had to
be reviewed, and non productive time minimized.
In order to maximize the future recovery of the reservoir and minimize the impact of the initial start-up
on the overall steam and production distribution, the full CSS cycle was reviewed, and criterium for
conversion or end of cycles were defined. A new toolkit was built to cater to the need of short term
reservoir monitoring and exception surveillance, and a new workflow and interface to operations was
built to ensure a smooth and efficient process. This lean project is set to deliver the following:
1. Exception based surveillance to maximise oil banking and facilitate planning
2. Cross discipline Triggers for conversion that maximise medium term oil recovery
3. KPI Visualisation toolkit to support CSS planning and short / medium term reservoir monitoring
4. CSS workflow, to minimise lost time in well conversion activity
Exception based monitoring With a total of 81 wells in the A field, exception based surveillance
(EBS) allows efficient resource and skill assignments. The basis for EBS is the definition of CSS Wells
operating envelopes in the PDO WRFM toolkit. Wells operating outside the defined operating envelopes
are flagged in Real Time and the responsible engineer / programmer is automatically alerted and can
quickly analyse the reason for any deviation in performance. Different views of key data and data trends
also support the well diagnostic (See Figure 16).

Figure 16PDO WRFM tool kit: Diagnostic page for the CSS wells
SPE-179833-MS 15

Maximise the asset value- Closing the loop One key aspect of the A East CSS project is to ensure
the Banking of the oil in the corporate Hydrocarbon Accounting system, by adapting the well test
frequency to the highly dynamic CSS production curve. As part of the facility design, the field is
equipped with AWT (Automatic Well test Units), which allows high frequency testing of the wells. A
daily monitoring tool has been created to easily screen and prioritise wells on their performance and
data, including latest well test. Wells recently converted to production are tested once to twice a
week to capture the CSS improvement (See Figure 17).

Figure 17well test frequency enhancement, to capture the CSS improvement. Some well tests are updated twice a week, to capture
the ramp up in oil

All wells and pump performance are reviewed weekly, and wells exhibiting improvement in their
conditions are optimized and tested subsequently. Enhancement in pump conditions is often seen at the
start of the CSS cycle, or can be linked to beneficial pressure from nearby injectors.
Triggers to end a production cycle, end of steam and free flow A typical CSS cycle includes a Steam
injection period, followed by a soaking period, free flow and production using artificial lift. (See Figure
3).
End of Production Phase Conversion to steam
Oil rate only was not deemed a sufficient trigger to end a cycle. Non productive time in the field, due
to pump failures linked to highly viscous fluids seriously impacted production. Steam distribution, and
later pressure support is also a key factor in the reservoir optimization. The new geological conceptual
model supported the assumption of a good reservoir with good mobility in the central area of the field,
and the following combination of performance criterium is used to decide when to end a production
phase:
1. Latest Oil Rate, produced liquid temperature @ well head
2. CSS cycle material balance: maximise gross offtake to allow pressure depletion
3. Pump parameters, such as fillage and loads, and controller cards
4. Distribution of steam and possible pressure interference in between wells
End of Steam injection Phase
Ideally, the optimum volume of steam to be injected in the cycle would be defined, based on the
previous cycle performance and expected future performance. However, challenges with the steam
metering do not allow the accurate measurements of volume of steam injected. The main criteria for the
Steam injection phase then is time duration which is variable with previous cycles and well injection
performance.
Soaking period
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A Soaking period was introduced for wells with good injection and in advance steam cycles. Wells are
soaked for 5 days, allowing the steam energy to dissipate in the reservoir. Soaking limits the free flow
period and allows a faster conversion to artificial lift.
Free Flow period
The free flow period is necessary to reduce the energy in the well, minimizing the risk of high pressure
during the conversion to artificial lift and limiting the need of killing the well. The need for free flow
period was considerably limited with the introduction of soaking time.
Visualisation Strong visualization tools were required to facilitate the team analysis on well and
reservoir performance. To minimize data errors, a tool was built to directly link to the company database,
and gather the key parameters required to support the team decision process. The tool includes quick
identification of wells with exceptional behavior, 2D visualization of data (bubble maps) and production
distribution.

Figure 18Examples of real time visualisation of the A East reservoir. This includes bubble maps, production dashboards and
production distribution maps. All data are collected from the corporate databases, and automatically updated

CSS workflow For the A field development, one dedicated FBU is available for the wells conversion
and repair. A second FBU is shared with a nearby field. The conversions are evenly distributed and a
typical week sees 2 wells converted to steam, and 2 wells to production.
SPE-179833-MS 17

Figure 19Example of the weekly CSS plan.

The CSS plan looks into the next 4 weeks ahead. The first two weeks are frozen, to allow time for unit
planning and proposals to be fully endorsed. It is reviewed every week, when the team meets and all
disciplines (reservoir engineering, petroleum engineering and production programming) discuss the plan.
Attention is focused on:
1. The team to confirm every well entering the frozen sequence, based on latest data acquired.
2. The team to discuss the wells entering in week 3 and 4, and the data required before the well
enters the frozen sequence.
Conclusions
The CSS development in A field has been in operation for almost 2 years and significant learning has
been achieved and modifications taken onboard to optimize ongoing performance. There are a number of
challenges still being worked but within this short period of time the team has achieved a steep production
ramp-up, and has leaned the overall CSS well conversion process to maximize the efficiency of the CSS
planning and operations. New technologies are supporting the management of the wells, and integration
of production data, together with new geological and structural insights from latest seismic interpretation.
All together, these efforts are paving the way to continued success and providing the confidence to mature
plans for further field expansion.

Acknowledments
The authors would like to thank the management of Petroleum Development Oman and Sultanate of
Omans Ministry of Oil and Gas (MOG) for their kind permission to publish the paper. This paper aims
at presenting the learning and progress in the development of the A field. The authors would also like
to acknowledge the contributions from the full A field operation team, as well as well services team
and associated external contractors (Weatherford crew). Special thanks also goes to Abdulsalam
Belghache for his continuous support, Ryiadh Moosa & Wim Servaes for their help and input in the
lean project framing and implementation of the team needs in the PDO WRFM toolkit Nibras, as
well as the passionante discussions on Well, Reservoir & Facility management. Thank you to Vijay
Radhakrishnan and Parwez Akhtar for their tremenduous helps on the IT and programming side.