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Figure 2.9: Correlation between API gravity and
OFA-derived crude oil optical property (COP)
Advanced reservoir
monitoring technology
in the Ghawar field
The main objectives of obtaining MDT*
Modular Dynamics Formation Tester
data in the Ghawar field are:
to establish the vertical pressure
profile
to obtain fluid samples in partly swept
zones, and establish water salinity and
movable oil fraction
to measure the in-situ permeability for
use in reservoir simulation models.
Obtaining the vertical pressure
distribution is a primary focus because
this information clarifies the
communication between the super-
permeability, thin beds and the
surrounding high-porosity zones, as well
as the communication between high-
and low-porosity zones towards the
base of the reservoir.
Quantitative measurement of water
saturation is essential in understanding
water movement in the reservoir,
evaluating flood sweep efficiency, and
choosing future well locations.
The injection water in the Ghawar
field is very low salinity compared with
the connate water. The openhole,
electric wireline logs drilled behind the
flood front are impossible to interpret
quantitatively without a knowledge of
the R
w
. Figure 2.10 shows a vertical
pressure profile and the salinities
determined from MDT samples.
The MDT is able to pump fluids from the
formation until uncontaminated formation
fluid is observed (Figure 2.11). The R
w
determined from the sample can be used
in quantitative evaluation of wireline logs
to determine true water saturation.
The graph for the lowest zone in
Figure 2.11 also indicates that the truer
measured water cut from the MDT
sample, which is uncontaminated by
mud filtrate, shows unswept movable oil
that is not indicated by conventional
sampling methods.
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WC: 48%
Sal: 100 kppm
(60 kppm)
WC: 0%
Sal: 70 kppm
(60 kppm)
WC: 0%
Sal: 130 kppm
(60 kppm)
WC: 92-96%
Sal: 170 kppm
(60 kppm)
WC: 50%
0%
Sal: 300 kppm
(200 kppm)
4050 (psi)
Formation pressure
4200
NPHI
0 0.5
1 : 400
(ft)
6950
2A
2B
3A
3B
4
7000
7050
7100
7150
(ft
3
/ft)
NPHI
0 0.5
1 : 400
(ft)
6950
2A
2B
3A
3B
4
7000
7050
7100
7150
(ft
3
/ft)
WC: 100%
300 600 900 1200
Elapsed pump-out time, sec
1500
1.0
0.6
0.8
0.4
0.2
0
WC: 9296%
600 1200
Elapsed pump-out time, sec
1800
1.0
0.6
0.8
0.4
0.2
0
WC: 50% (filtrate)
Actual WC: 0%
600 1200
Elapsed pump-out time, sec
1800 2400
1.0
0.6
0.8
0.4
0.2
0
600 1200 1800
Elapsed pump-out time, sec
2400
WC: 48%
1.0
0.6
0.8
0.4
0.2
0
Figure 2.10: Vertical pressure profile also showing
the actual salinity measurements obtained by the
MDT tool. Figures in parentheses indicate salinity
values previously used for saturation computations
Figure 2.11: Water cut measured using
the MDT in dual-packer mode. Note that
the lowest graph clearly shows the
significantly reduced water cut
measurement due to prolonged pump-out
eliminating filtrate in the sample
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In the Ghawar field, pressure and
saturation monitoring have been key
factors in achieving the overall reservoir
management objective of maximizing
recovery at the lowest cost.
Saudi Aramco is currently surveying
key, new wells drilled behind the flood
front using the MDT tester to obtain
pressure measurements, perform interval
tests, and take fluid samples along the
wellbore (see box page 18). The
primary objective of the surveys is to
establish whether the super-permeability
beds, as well as the lower porosity zones,
are introducing differential pressure
depletion. The answer to this will directly
influence the completion and production
strategy of the field.
Obtaining fluid samples across the
reservoir zones is also a key part of the
surveys. This will establish water salinity
and movable oil fraction in zones such as
those with breakthrough, where the
injection and formation waters are mixed.
Determining the fraction of movable oil in
the lower porosity zones, where the
conventional openhole log results are
uncertain, is crucial in optimizing
recovery. It is also a powerful method for
evaluating the sweep in the matrix of the
lower zones where diffused fracture
density is higher and assists the dynamic
interaction between the two systems.
Ongoing monitoring in the Ghawar field
has shown that there is good vertical
communication in the higher quality zones
at the top of the reservoir, including the
super-permeability, thin beds. However,
local and reservoir-scale barriers as well as
differential depletion have been observed
towards the base of the reservoir.
Locating and identifying the lateral extent
of barriers between zones are among the
main reservoir management challenges in
the Ghawar field.
These barriers have resulted in poor
sweep efficiency leading to the
development of zones containing
bypassed oil. In areas where barriers are
present, dual completions with a
horizontal lateral are proving very
effective in maximizing recovery.
Low-shock sampling technique
P
P
Open valve
Closed valve
Resistivity
CQG
Strain gauge
Contamination
bubbles
Pressure
test chamber
Formation
fluid
Sample
chamber
Pump up/down
module
Sample fluid
Wellbore fluid
at hydrostatic
pressure
OFA
Figure 2.12: The
low-shock
sampling technique
limits pressure
drawdown during
fluid sampling
operations
The low-shock sampling technique was
developed to limit pressure drawdown
during fluid sampling operations. This
would, in turn, avoid phase separation
due to the pressure dropping below the
fluids bubblepoint. The shock is
minimized by pumping formation fluids
into the MDT tool against piston
chambers held at borehole pressure,
as opposed to drawing formation fluid
into the chambers at atmospheric
pressure (Figure 2.12).
This technique is frequently used for
sampling in unconsolidated sands,
where a typical problem is breakdown
and mobilization of sand grains. This
problem can be overcome by using a
single large-diameter probe and a
gravel-packed filter screen with a
large zone of the reservoir packed off.
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Density porosity
Depth, m
X100
X125
X150
Neutron porosity
p.u. 45 -15
Borehole
in. 6 16
GR
API 0 150
T
2
log mean
ms 0.1 1000
CMR Timur/Coates
permeability, md
Clean core
permeability, md
Induction
ohm-m
T
a
r
z
o
n
e
s
0.1 1000
TCMR
porosity, p.u. 40 0
CMR-FFI, p.u.
CMR 3-ms porosity, p.u.
Core porosity, p.u.
Density porosity
T
2
cutoff
ms 0.3 3000
T
2
distribution
Five-level averaging
on CMR data
Figure 2.13: CMRMDT
tool combination used to
sample in a North Sea well
Lessons from Ghawar
Conventional tools for pressure and
saturation monitoring have limitations in
certain situations, and should be
integrated with other dynamic and
geological data when evaluating sweep
efficiency. MDT fluid identification
stations, using dual-packer, optical fluid
analyzer, and sampling, can effectively
quantify the amount of remaining
movable oil. Remaining movable oil
saturations of 57%, have been measured
by the MDT in swept areas of the field,
supporting the current reservoir
management practice of allowing water
production to improve sweep.
The existence of a super-permeability
layer can improve well productivity and
drainage (due to its large exposure) if it
is communicating vertically with the rest
of the reservoir layers. Localized
barriers are a very important factor in
vertical reservoir conformance.
Integrated answers
maximize sampling
efficiency
Wellsite efficiency is substantially
increased when MDT sampling depths
are guided by CMR results. The
in-situ dynamic MDT measurements
complement the CMR continuous
permeability log, and help confirm the
presence of producible hydrocarbons.
Modeling fluid flow 1
Figure 2.14: MDT in multiprobe mode
Rig time spent pumping and cleaning
up to minimize contamination has to be
kept to a minimum. Given that the probe
has properly penetrated the mudcake,
that the mudcake provides a good seal
from the borehole, and knowing the
depth of invasion from a resistivity
profile, a good estimate can be made of
how long it will take to remove the
filtrate layer in front of the probe.
To address this challenge and
develop better sampling strategies,
some companies have developed 3D
models to examine what happens to
the formation fluids in the region of the
sampling probe. The effects of various
parameters such as viscosity,
anisotropy and relative fluid
permeability were analyzed by
simulation and verified by sampling
field data. Modeling in this way
suggested a number of practical
methods to reduce cleanup time and
lower contamination levels.
In many wells, the zone of interest is
located between two closely spaced
shale beds. These provide a barrier
that prevents filtrate from flowing
vertically and recontaminating the
sample zone, so formation geometry
provides the solution.
Another approach is to use a
multiprobe tool (Figure 2.14) with one
probe acting as a guard probe to
isolate the sample-taking probe from
the natural vertical flow of the invading
filtrate. The third probe is used to help
in setting the tool and to provide a
monitoring function.
Using the guard-probe technique
reduces cleanup time by up to a factor
of three, and enables sampling in
formations where single-probe
methods cannot be applied.
In the North Sea, for example, CMR
and MDT data have been acquired for
Statoil (Figure 2.13). In this case, the
reservoir had low-resistivity pay zones,
and the 35p.u. well-sorted, fine to very
fine-grained sands contained iron-rich
glauconite and chlorite clay minerals.
The microporous glauconite reduces
the reservoirs effective porosity. The
CMR tool has helped to identify mobile
oil, and to quantify irreducible water
saturation, effective porosity and bound
fluid volume. Core permeability results
available at the wellsite suggested that
the large high-porosity zone from X102
to X120m should be tested.
However, poor, free-fluid signals, the
absence of porosity and the short
relaxation decay times seen in the CMR
log identified this, and several other
smaller zones, as unproductive tar.
Without the CMR results, core studies
would have prompted multiple-sample
attempts throughout the tar zones. The
cores have been cleaned with a solvent
that removed all traces of the tar,
changing their effective permeability.
With the CMR logs, good MDT samples
were obtained, enabling the operator to
pinpoint a gas zone at X102.8m and oil
at X104.2m, just above the thick tar
zone, and to verify formation water in a
thin sand bed at X130.7m.
The impact of the CMR data in this
well was twofold. First, it provided a
better reservoir description identifying
tar and gas zones as well as irreducible
water and free-water saturations.
Second, and more importantly, it helped
guide real-time operations with respect
to formation sampling helping to
identify sampling depths and confirming
the anomalous tar zone.
Reading rainbows
in the mud
A key objective of the OFA measurement
is to distinguish between oil-base mud
filtrate and crude oil. Achieving this
objective is not as straightforward as
differentiating oil and water, where
operators can rely on readily
distinguishable absorption peaks. Oil-
base mud filtrate and crude oil have the
same base fluid saturated alkanes.
Even though synthetic, oil-base mud may
contain chemical groups not found in
crude oils, such as esters, they are
predominantly alkane. Oil-base muds
exhibit near-infrared vibrational
absorption peaks similar to those of pure
alkanes. Thus, as far as using near-
infrared spectral analysis is concerned,
synthetic oil-base mud filtrates have the
same or a similar signature. On some
occasions, crude oils are used as the base
fluid, exacerbating the difficulties
associated with differentiation.
Nevertheless, an obvious distinction
becomes apparent when looking at the
colors of different crude oils and oil-base
mud filtrates. In fact, crude-oil coloration
extends into the near infrared, some way
beyond the visible range of the human
eye; the crude-oil coloration in the visible
and near-infrared exhibits huge variation
and is readily measured. The color of
crude oils and, to a large extent, filtrates
can be characterized by a single
parameter coloration that varies over
many orders of magnitude.
The electronics in the OFA module are
designed to measure slight variations in
coloration by using detection circuitry
with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This
permits sensitive optical absorption
measurements to be made over a wide
dynamic range. In addition, several of the
spectrometer channels are devoted
specifically to measurement of color, and
the wavelength location of these channels
is optimized to enhance this analysis. As a
result, high-precision measurement of
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filtrate decreases significantly at first.
Following this, the coloration usually
exhibits asymptotic behavior over long
periods. The vertical scale on individual
color channels can be expanded to
facilitate monitoring of the asymptotic
behavior. To obtain contamination at the
few-percent level, correspondingly small
variations in coloration are necessary.
When the coloration change with time is
coloration during sampling can be used
to monitor the transition in the MDT tool
flow stream from oil-base mud filtrate to
crude oil.
During sampling in a well that has
been drilled with oil-base mud, the
initial flow of fluid from the formation is
dominated by filtrate, so the first
coloration recorded is largely the color
of the filtrate. Over time, the fraction of
crude oil in the flow increases as the
flow cleans up. The miscible mixture of
crude oil and oil-base mud filtrate
coloration simply reflects the
corresponding fluid fractions. Thus,
coloration provides a continuous
measure of clean-up.
Frequently, the initial flow in the MDT
flowline exhibits rather large changes in
coloration, indicating that the fraction of
Modeling fluid flow 2
250-cm
3
monophasic
sample
'Floating'
piston
Pressure-
charged
nitrogen
Nitrogen pressure
transmitted to
the sample
through the
buffer fluid
'Floating'
piston
Reservoir fluid
Buffer fluid
Nitrogen
Recovering downhole samples for accurate PVT and
compositional analysis can be a problem as the single-phase
fluid cools during the journey to the surface. Even though the
sample has been trapped at the downhole conditions, the fall
in temperature results in a pressure drop within the sealed
chamber and causes the sample to pass its bubblepoint and
separate into gas and liquid (Figure 2.15).
The precipitation of asphaltene and paraffin causes major
problems in recombination and requires a lengthy
repressuring process.
One solution to this involves overpressuring the sample
chambers with nitrogen after they are taken at reservoir
conditions. Sample chambers are pressurized across two
pistons with a nitrogen gas chamber. This compensates for
the temperature-induced pressure drop as the samples are
returned to surface. The pistons act on a synthetic oil buffer
that ensures the sample is not contaminated by nitrogen.
The SPMC* Single-Phase Multisample Chamber (Figure 2.16)
is designed for use with the MDT multisample module.
L
i
q
u
i
d
f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
,
%
Ambient temperature
Reservoir temperature
A. Initial reservoir conditions
B. Nitrogen-charged
D. Multiphase sample
C. Single-phase sample
Liquid
Conventional
SPMC
Multiphase zone
Gas
75%
Liquid %
50%
25%
0%
Critical point
100%
Temperature
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
Figure 2.15: Phase diagram of a typical crude oil indicating
the effects of possible sampling methods
Figure 2.16: Single-phase
sample chamber SPMC
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sufficiently small, sampling is performed.
With this method, sample contamination
levels below 10% are consistently
obtained in oil fields around the world.
Flow-stream analysis
The optical density and coloration
sampling method described previously is
used for most wells. However, in a well
drilled with synthetic, oil-base mud, the
OFA measurements show that base-oil
filtrate and other contaminants decrease
rapidly as they are pumped through the
MDT tool. In the field example in Figure
2.17, the MDT flow stream was
monitored with the OFA spectrometer.
The responses in channels 3 to 7 evolve,
indicating crude oil as the flow cleans up.
The OFA log suggests that after about
30min of pumping, little filtrate
contamination is present and the
coloration channels indicate that a
medium-gravity hydrocarbon sample is
flowing through the tool. In this well, the
optical density readings in all channels
have stabilized after 40min, indicating
that additional pumping would not
significantly reduce contamination
further. A formation sample was
collected at this time. After being
pumped into a sample chamber held at
wellbore hydrostatic pressure, the
sample fluid stayed single phase.
Laboratory analysis of the recovered
sample confirmed low synthetic, oil-base
mud contamination less than 15%.
In some cases, engineers observe
different behavior. This is related to the
optical scattering process discussed
earlier. For particle sizes that are large
compared to the wavelength of light, the
scattering is independent of wavelength.
For example, when the MDT tool is
lowered into the well, the flowline fills
with mud. The OFA module records the
maximum optical density on all channels.
No light passes through the sample
because of scattering by the mud solids.
Once the mud in the flowline has been
flushed, the filtrate and formation fluids
obtained generally do not have
suspended solids, so the scattering
gradually diminishes to zero.
The future of sampling
Although there have been many
advances in sampling technology,
reservoir engineers, production
Elapsed time, min
O
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t
i
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a
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0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Channel 3
Channel 5
Channel 4
Channel 7
60
chemists and process engineers who
use formation fluid data remain
concerned with the range and quality
of the PVT and compositional analyses
they obtain from sampling.
The main area of concern is the effect
of the level of contamination on fluid
analysis. Experts believe that they
understand what the acceptable levels
of contamination from water-base mud
and miscible, oil-base-mud filtrates are,
and that they know how to obtain
representative samples from formations
with black and volatile hydrocarbons.
With gas condensates, however, a
low level of oil-base mud filtrate
contamination can alter sample
behavior from a gas condensate to a
volatile oil. This problem is the subject
of continuing research.
Ongoing cooperation between those
who design and use equipment for the
acquisition of samples and sample data,
and the people who request and make
use of the data is the key to continuous
improvement in sampling technology.
Figure 2.17: Oil-base mud field example