Restoring Well Productivity and Transforming the Production Management System

Initial Situation

The client, an operator of a mature well stock, was facing a persistent multi-year decline in production rates. To address the issue, they required a general contractor capable of structuring the entire recovery process — from diagnosing root causes to implementing key measures and establishing a sustainable operating model.

Comprehensive Diagnostics and Root Cause Identification

The contractor’s team began the project with an in-depth audit of the technical, organizational, and process-related aspects of field operations. By the start of the project, the situation was aggravated by several critical factors:

• An outdated and inaccurate geological and technical model that no longer reflected the actual reservoir behavior.
• Unstable well performance, including irregular production dynamics, suboptimal operating regimes, and accelerated water cut.
• Low efficiency of well interventions and the reservoir pressure maintenance system, with planned activities failing to deliver expected results due to incorrect injection regimes and the absence of an integrated approach.
• Fragmented production data and outdated decision-making practices, which reduced planning accuracy and predictability.
• Uncoordinated work of contractors, lack of a unified plan, and an unmanaged operational contour, resulting in delays and rising operational costs.

A critical issue was that decisions were being made without a systemic alignment of geology, technology, and economic constraints, leading to repeated but ineffective attempts to “patch the symptoms” rather than address root causes.

Developing an Integrated Productivity Enhancement Program

The project team proposed an integrated program to restore production rates, which included:

• refinement of the geological model and additional appraisal of selected blocks;
• revision of the injection system with redistribution of volumes and pressures;
• selection of optimal candidates for complex well interventions (hydraulic fracturing, sidetracks, ESP optimization);
• development of new operating regimes to stabilize the well stock;
• implementation of an analytical system for monitoring intervention effectiveness;
• synchronization of all contractor activities within a unified master plan.

The contractor did not impose a predefined set of operations; instead, several alternative scenarios were evaluated based on ROI, infrastructure conditions, client capabilities, and the balance of short-term and long-term risks.

Coordinating All Project Participants

As the general contractor, the team established a single managed operational contour involving:

• service companies,
• drilling contractors,
• geophysical teams,
• field operations personnel,
• the client’s planning and economic units.

A system of operational control was implemented with daily and weekly management cycles, within which:

• the intervention program was adjusted;
• organizational bottlenecks were removed;
• key production data was analyzed;
• field and pad activities were synchronized.

Results Achieved

After the program was completed and processes stabilized, the client achieved:

• A commercial production increase of +18% across the cluster, with individual wells showing 30–45% growth.
• More uniform reservoir pressure impact and reduced water cut rates due to improved injection system performance.
• Up to 92% accuracy in forecasting intervention results, significantly reducing the risk of ineffective operations.
• Fully synchronized contractor performance within a unified management framework, leading to a sharp reduction in delays, downtime, and uncoordinated activities.