SPE 93240

Fiber Optics Used To Support Reservoir Temperature Surveillance in Duri Steamflood

D.K. Nath, Halliburton Energy Services Inc.

Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2005 Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and
Exhibition held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 5 7 April 2005.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in a proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to a proposal of not more than 300
words; illustrations may not be copied. The proposal must contain conspicuous
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract
In thermal fields, temperature profiles usually are acquired
as part of a sound reservoir surveillance plan to manage heat
in the ground. The conventional method used to acquire a
temperature profile is to run a wireline log across the interval
of interest, usually through tubing or casing in observation
wells.
In Duri Steam Flood (DSF) production wells, it is not
possible to run conventional temperature logs in producers
without pulling out tubing pumps due to the complexity of the
completion. One alternative to the real-time temperature
profile in DSF producers is to use an optical fiber enclosed
inside a steel tube strapped onto the outside of the tubing
string and passed through the tubing hanger and top flange at
the wellhead. The tubing hanger must be modified to
accommodate the pre-installed fiber-tube installation.
The survey will collect temperature data that can be used
to determine the temperature and extent of a steam chest and
the temperature gradient in both overburden and underburden. This information is necessary to set steam injection
target rates using the Vogel and Neumann methodologies. The
data are also useful in mitigating steam breakthroughs and
eruptions, and to identify bypassed oil.
Introduction
The DSF field is a multi-billion-barrel, heavy-oil-producing
field that lies on the central Sumatra basin, Indonesia (Fig. 1).
It is operated by Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI), a
ChevronTexaco affiliate. The field consists of 4,114
producers, 1,610 steam injectors, and 450 temperature
observation wells. Thermal-enhanced oil-recovery (EOR)
methods are implemented to reduce oil viscosity, improving
oil recovery from this heavy oil bearing formation.
The current total production of the field is approximately
215,000 BOPD, making the average production per well about
60 BOPD. With 35,000 acres total, the field is divided into 13

smaller areas, and areas 1 to 11 have been fully developed and

placed under an extensive steamflooding program.
Active steam flooding began in 1985, and typically, one
steam injector well is surrounded by a pattern of producing
wells. One temperature observation well is often set in the
pattern to monitor formation temperature response to the
steamflood.
The DSF field has three primary oil producing sands,
namely the Rindu sand, the Pertama sand and the Kedua sand.
The Rindu sand is the shallowest interval produced in DSF.
The deeper Pertama and Kedua (PK) sands have a combined
pay thickness of approximately 140 ft and range from 400- to
700 ft in true vertical depth (TVD). These two sands are the
principal oil-bearing sands, accounting for approximately two
thirds of the original oil in place (OIP). These two sand layers
are the primary steam injection targets.
The producing sands are unconsolidated with formation
liquid permeability ranging from 100 to 4,000 mD. Formation
porosity ranges from 15- to 45%. The crude oil is heavy with
an API gravity ranging from 18 to 22API at 60F.
Because of the highly unconsolidated formations of the
DSF field, completing the wells with sand-control equipment
is standard. The conventional completion methods used to
control sand production are cased-hole gravel packs (CHGP),
openhole gravel packs (OHGP), and cased-hole frac pack
(CHFP) (Fig. 2). In each completion, a 6 5/8- or 4-in. screen
liner, depending on the casing size, is installed prior to
performance of the gravel pack or frac-pack treatment.
With all enhanced recovery techniques, breakthrough of
the injected fluid at a producing well is major issue. This
problem is detrimental to the individual wells production.
Uneven radial flooding of multiple-producing zones within a
steamflood can become costly to the operator. In DSF, steam
management is critical to the economic operation of all
steamfloods. As the areas mature and start their ramp down,
careful attention must be paid to injection rates, or there will
be a significant loss in value.
The process for determining heat requirements for patterns
is complicated, especially with low-density observation wells.
Setting injection rates too low will lead to slow steam-chest
growth, possible collapse of the steam chest, loss of reserves,
and overall lower production. However, setting injection rates
too high will lead to wasted heat in the casing, higher fuel
costs, sanding problems in producers, liner failures, pump
failures, and overall lower field reliability in the casing vapor
collection systems, well test stations, and central gathering

D.K. NATH

stations. In some cases, higher rates may contribute to surface

steam eruptions.
Based on these challenging problems, periodic temperature
surveys need to be taken throughout the field. Fiber-optic
application is one surveillance tool that can be used to
improve heat management and ultimately improve
profitability by knowing which sands are actually producing
steam.
Technology
Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) provides a technique to
measure temperature distribution along a fiber-optic line at
any time. A laser light pulse traveling along the fiber length
excites the atoms on the lattice structure, causing them to emit
small bursts of light pulses that travel back along the same
fiber. An instrument box analyzes the backscattered light
pulses to determine the temperature of the point from which
these lights are emitted. As the light is backscattered
continuously along the fiber length, a temperature profile is
obtained. Since the laser light pulse moves along the fiber
length with a constant velocity, measuring time from the
incident pulse to the time the backscattered light reaches the
instrument box, it determines the position of the recorded
temperature along the fiber length.
As the backscattered light reaches the instrument box, it is
normally weak and has poor signal-to-noise ratio. By pulsing
the laser light pulse at a high rate, the returning signals can be
stacked to achieve better signal-to-noise ratio, and hence,
better resolution. Thus, the resolution is dependent upon the
fiber length and time taken for the log.
As stated above, the back-scattered pulse represents
temperature. These pulses return in the form of a wave. The
components of waveform have wavelengths as that of incident
wave, wavelength above and below the incident wavelength.
The strongest wave component is called the Raleigh band and
is used for quality control and is filtered. The next waves are
called Brillouin lines, are caused by lattice vibration, and are
difficult to isolate, as they are close to Rayleigh bands. The
weakest of the backscattered waves are the Ramon bands.
The Ramon bands are used for temperature evaluation.
These bands have wavelengths that differ greatly from the
Raleigh peak and Brillouin peaks and are easily isolated. The
Ramon signal has two bandsstrokes and anti-strokes
having higher and lower wavelengths. The ratio of the area or
energy of the anti-stroke to that of the stroke band gives the
temperature of the fiber optics line at the depth these signals
are generated.
Application
There are three primary ways that fiber-optic cable is used in
well surveys in the Duri Steam Flood. The capillary tubing is
clamped along the production tubing, then, on to the tubing
pump and plugged off at the bottom. The wellhead is modified
to allow the passage of the capillary tubing. On the surface, a
high-pressure release valve is installed, and the well is put on
production. The release valve is closed and acts as a safety
device in the event that steam breakthrough occurs through the
capillary tubing. When production has been stable for a few
days, the fiber (in form of a flexible rod) is inserted into the
capillary tubing by means of a specially designed box until the

SPE 93240

end of the capillary tubing and the DTS box are connected to
the fiber. Data are recorded continuously from the start of the
base line, the cooling down period, and following the
production period. Since the wells are high-temperature wells,
reaching temperatures close to 350F, this method was
developed to facilitate retrieval of fiber optics sensing device
(fiber rod) upon completion of the survey and can be inserted
again for another survey. In this way, the fiber optics material
will not be exposed to a high-temperature environment for a
long time, increasing life of the fiber optics material. The fiber
rod is then available for a survey at another well, reducing
significant cost and time. Using this procedure, temperature
data can be acquired at a relatively low cost.
The second most common method uses a 0.156-in-OD
steel tube with pre-installed multimode fiber material. The
physical dimension of the fiber is a 50 micron core surrounded
by a 125 micron cladding or jacket. The preinstalled fiber tube
is used as a retrievable survey in production wells with openended tubing and pressure equipment. The fiber tube is
spooled back into a cable drum like wireline and moved from
one location to another as required. The retrievable fiber tube
is also used for surveys in observation wells.
The fiber pumping method, the third method of deploying
fiber, is where the fiber optics material is pumped through
capillary tubing. The check valve installed below the capillary
tubing allows pumping of the fiber once the capillary tubing is
placed as a semi-permanent or permanent (cemented in place
with casing), either as a single-ended or double-ended. In this
type of installation, the fiber is left in place after it is pumped.
Candidate Selection for Fiber Optic Installation
For optimizing the fiber-optic survey budget, every area in
DSF has developed a guideline for selecting well candidates to
run fiber-optic surveys in both observation and production
wells.
The surveys in observation wells are simple temperature
surveys. Temperature surveys are normally run twice per year
in observation wells, once as a fiber-optic (FIBO) survey and
once as a service provided with TDT/TMDL logging.
Four candidates in producer wells were selected based on
the following criteria:
Steam breakthrough, where oil production has dropped
due to breakthrough. The rule of thumb for identifying
steam breakthrough is WHT > 250F and/or casing
pressure > 50 psi.
High frequency failure, with pump stuck due to
overheating > 3 times/year. FIBO data should be acquired
in these wells to facilitate executing steam isolation jobs.
Low confidence in determining steam zones using the
existing available surveillance data.
Multiple zone sand production, used for identifying crossflow and lost circulation.
Shallow hazard indications, such as bubbling at surface,
wellhead dancing, or steam anomaly based on seismic
data.
Example 1 shows the base-line temperature while the well
is on production. This is followed by temperature data
retrieved during wellbore cool down when cold water (about
40 bbls @ 2 bpm) is pumped through the casing and tubing

SPE 93240

FIBER OPTIC USED TO SUPPORT RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE SURVEILLANCE IN DURI STEAM FLOOD

annulus. Upon completion of the pumping water, notice the

sudden change in temperature peak (example 2, well B). This
increase in temperature is due to the steam breakthrough into
the wellbore. This example shows the areas where steam
breakthrough has occurred.
In this example, the capillary tubing was strapped to the
outside of the production tubing in the annulus, the fiber rod
was inserted, and the temperature measurements were
retrieved.
In Example 2, the well was completed using openhole
gravel packing (OHGP). The wellbore was cooled down as
described in the first example, and temperature profile was
taken. The profile shown for this well was generated after the
water was pumped and during waiting for the change of
temperature profile to happen. However, notice the change in
the profile in the surface casing string. Further investigation
suggests that the casing was perforated (2 spf/2 ft) to do the
cement squeeze job to improve cement bond. The bonding
was improved and the well was completed with OHGP.
However, it is suspected that the bonding could have broken
down due to steam injection as the casing went through both
vertical and horizontal expansion. This unwanted
breakthrough was a source of heat loss, and if not fixed, could
lead to casing damage and to wellbore loss.
In Example 3, the temperature survey was taken during
well shut-in condition in an OHGP completion. Abnormal
temperature in a shallow interval was observed.
This well was identified as a potential shallow hazard case.
Further investigation is needed to identify the cause.
For this survey, a retrievable pre-installed fiber tube was
not used. The fiber tube was run through the production tubing
and pulled out on completion of the survey.
In Example 4, a retrievable fiber tube is used as in the
previous example to record temperature data in a steam
injector well. The basic purpose again was to determine any
shallow steam-zone presence. As in example 1 (well A), the
wellbore was cooled down by pumping water and observing
the temperature profile during shut-in condition. Notice the
high temperature peak below the casing shoe, which is above
the actual steam injection interval.
Once again, this wellbore condition requires further
investigation to identify the cause of its effects.
Economic Analysis
The survey will collect temperature data that can be used to
manage heat in the ground, mitigate steam breakthroughs,
eruption, and identify areas of bypassed oil.
The economic values of fiber-optic survey in production
and observation wells are broken down into four categories:
1. steam optimization,
2. profile improvement,
3. steam isolation, and
4. eruption/shallow hazard mitigation.
All areas in DSF use fiber optic data to identify steam zone
development and upswept zones and also to identify steam
breakthrough zones in production wells. Based on fiber optic
data and other surveillance data such as krypton and 4Dseismic, the engineers conduct on average 135-profile
improvement works (shut off steam zones and reperforate cold

zones) in injection wells and 32 steam isolation jobs in

production wells per year.
Temperature surveys are also used to prevent and control
surface eruptions of steam. During a steam eruption, nearby
observation and production wells are surveyed to identify
steam migration into shallow sand.
Conclusions
1. Fiber optic technology with a DTS system and singleended installation is applicable for determining the
realtime temperature profile in Duri Steam Flood
production wells. Use of the technology has shown a
significant improvement in understanding of steam
breakthrough zones along the pay zone interval of
production wells.
2. Fiber-optic technology through the DTS system using
fiber tube is also applicable to processes run to determine
the temperature profile in observation wells. These
surveys can identify steam zone development and
upswept zones in the pattern.
3. Survey results from this work indicated very identifiable
temperature anomalies over very small temperature
changes. Therefore, real time temperature profile with
other surveillance data provide valuable information for
steam breakthrough management on a layer-by-layer basis
and eruption mitigation. Thus, well integrity can be
maintained if remedial measures are taken in time.
Acknowledgment
The author wishes to thank the management of PT Caltex
Pacific Indonesia and Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. for
their permission and encouragement to write and present this
paper.
Nomenclature
BOPD
CHGP
CPI
CHFP
DSF
EOR
OHGP
WHT
BSPD
DTS
TVD

= Barrel Oil per Day

= Cased Hole Gravel Pack
= Caltex Pacific Indonesia
= Cased Hole Frac Pack
= Duri Steam Flood
= Enhanced Oil Recovery
= Open Hole Gravel Pack
= Well Head Temperature
= Barrel Steam per Day
= Distributed Temperature Sensing
= True Vertical Depth

References
1. D.O Johnson, Pruett Industries and Riki Sugianto, Caltex Pacific
Indonesia: Identification of Steam Breakthrough Intervals
Using DTS Technology, paper SPE 77460 presented at the
2002 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in
San Antonio, Texas, 29 September-2 October 2002.
2. Sigit, R., Satriana, D., Peifer, J.P., and Linawati, A.: Seismically
Guided Bypassed Oil Identification in A Matured Steamflood
Area, Duri Field, Sumatra, Indonesia, paper SPE 57261
presented at the 1999 SPE Asia Pacific Improved Oil Recovery
Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25-26 October
1999.

D.K. NATH

SPE 93240

Malaysia

Singapore

Future Wells

Existing Area on
Steam Flood
Sumatra

Java

N
Figure 1 - Duri Steam Flood Location Map

SPE 93240

FIBER OPTIC USED TO SUPPORT RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE SURVEILLANCE IN DURI STEAM FLOOD

Figure 2 Conventional Completion methods used to control sand production

D.K. NATH

SPE 93240

400
Base Line
09:58

300

Wellbore during cool

down by pumping water
through the annulus
and casing

Base-line Temp
taken while well is
on production

10:02

10:03

10:05

200

10:06

10:08

10:10

647 -

csg shoe @ 243'

567 -

549' -

375' -

100
355' -

Temperature (oF)

10:04

10:14

0
0

100

200

300

400
Depth (ft)

Example 1 Well A

500

600

700

SPE 93240

FIBER OPTIC USED TO SUPPORT RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE SURVEILLANCE IN DURI STEAM FLOOD

400
10:15
10:16
10:19
10:21
10:23
10:26

Steam breakthrough
interval

300

10:29
10:34

10:45
10:49
10:55

200

11:00
11:10
11:19
POP 11:21
11:25
11:30

100
647 - 666

567 - 596'

549' - 562'

csg shoe @ 243'

375' - 392'

355' - 361'

11:40
11:45
11:50
12:00
12:20
12:45

0
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Depth (ft)

Example 2 Well A

350

10:44
10:45

Steam breakthrough from

squeeze perforation interval
(used for improving bonding)

10:46
10:47
10:49
10:51
10:54
10:58

250

11:01
11:04

Temperature (oF)

11:14
11:16
11:20
11:24
11:31
11:36
11:48

150

12:02
12:26
12:50

PBTD 731'

TBA @ 463'

Temperature (oF)

10:40

POP 13:06
13:10
13:18
13:20
13:34

50
0

100

200

300

400

500

Depth (ft)

Example 2 Well B

600

700

800

D.K. NATH

SPE 93240

Base Line

6:11

Abnormal temperature
profile at a very
shallow interval in a
producer well.

250

6:39

Temperature (oF)

6:49

9:35

9:42

9:48

150

9:51

9:55

6:46

6:49

50
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Depth (ft)

Example 3 - Well C Base Line & Shut-in Survey

700

800

SPE 93240

FIBER OPTIC USED TO SUPPORT RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE SURVEILLANCE IN DURI STEAM FLOOD

550
17:36

17:37

17:38

450

Shallow Steam zone

below casing shoe in
an injector well

17:39

17:40

17:42

17:44

17:45

250
17:46

17:47

150

17:48

PBTD 540'

Perforation
584'-595'
595'-602'
616'-624'
624'-630'
643'-647'
652'-663'
664'-675'
675'-687'
689'-690'

Temperature (oF)

17:41

350

17:49

17:50

17:52

50
0

100

200

300

400

500

Depth (ft)

Example 4 - Well D

600

700

800