The problem
Grid simulators are too slow for concept screening
Full-physics 3D reservoir simulators remain the gold standard for late-stage design. Their data requirements, grid-construction effort, and run times make them poorly suited to the wide-ranging screening that defines pre-FEED and conceptual studies.
By the time a grid model is built and tuned for one completion concept, the project has often moved on. The decisions most expensive to get wrong, such as inflow control strategy, number of laterals, and compartment layout, are made before 3D simulation catches up.
The IQL approach
Analytical well-and-reservoir model coupled to a tubing outflow model up to surface
Variable k·h description along the wellbore resolves along-hole heterogeneity, no full grid required
Rank concepts by true surface deliverability, honouring backpressure, breakthrough, and lift constraints
Carry only the strongest two or three concepts into full 3D simulation
What IQL screens
Four decisions, screened in a day
IQL is built for the questions that typically sit unanswered at pre-FEED because the analytical toolchain is too crude and the numerical toolchain is too slow.
Rank passive vs. active inflow control
Test whether ICDs, AICDs, AICVs, or passive completions deliver the strongest performance for the reservoir in question. See the outcome in terms of surface rates, water cut, and cumulative production, not idealised sand face numbers.
Nozzle sizing and compartment length sensitivity
Bracket how sensitive recovery and water cut are to nozzle size and packer spacing. Understand where the design has headroom and where it is knife-edge before carrying it forward.
Sand-control and completion-type trade-offs
Compare stand-alone screens against cased-and-perforated or frac-pack alternatives under the same reservoir and production conditions. Quantify the cost-benefit trade before committing.
Additional laterals and extended reach
Quickly bracket the value of adding a second or third lateral, extending reach, or repositioning the wellbore in the reservoir. Weigh the value against the incremental drilling and completion cost.
What the tool delivers
A coupled system, not an idealised sand face
The value of advanced completions only shows up when the model honours the full system: reservoir deliverability, annulus physics, the flow restriction imposed by ICDs or AICDs, frictional pressure drop in the liner, and the tubing and lift constraints that connect the well to surface. IQL solves the whole chain so completion ranking reflects real surface performance, not an isolated assumption.
- True surface deliverability, reservoir, completion, and tubing solved as one coupled system, up to the wellhead or separator
- Variable k·h description along the wellbore, captures heterogeneity without a full 3D grid
- First-order completion physics: reservoir deliverability, frictional pressure drop in the liner, and imposed flow restriction from ICD, AICD, or ICV
- Water cut, gas breakthrough, and lift constraints honoured, the benefits of advanced completions only appear when these are in the model
- Iterative with subsurface, completions, and facilities engineers in one session
Talk to us
Screening a new completion concept?
IQL is available today as a consulting engagement. Early access to the in-product workflow opens later this year for existing Insight partners.