Changing the Game in Mature Field Development by Means of Advance Pulsed Neutron Logging as a One-Stop-Shop Solution for Formation Evaluation Behind Casing

Abstract

Nowadays, the stakes of operating hydrocarbon producing wells in mature field are getting higher. Advanced technologies are needed, and the industry must improve the cost efficiency of maturing assets to compensate for declining production and high fixed costs. One of the methods developed for efficient operation in producing hydrocarbon in mature field is one-phase-well (OPW), which is a well architecture without 9-5/8" surface casing. For safety reason, the conventional pressure temperature fluid analysis (PT-FA) logging can no longer be performed in OPW; alternative approaches are required to determine the potential of reservoirs. Pulsed neutron log (PNL) is proposed as a one-stop-shop solution to determine main reservoir characteristics and fluid status in anticipation of future OPW implementation. Latest generation PNL technology utilizes high-counting neutron generator coupled to high-resolution nuclear detectors to measure accurate oil and gas saturation by means of carbon/oxygen ratio (COR), in-situ total organic carbon, sigma, neutron porosity and novel fast neutron cross section (FNXS) measurements, while simultaneously providing accurate lithology volumes and porosity by means of advanced elemental spectroscopy combined with cased-hole porosity (TPHI). To evaluate the robustness and applicability of the method, the latest generation PNL was run in three recently drilled wells which have complete open-hole (OH) logs dataset along with fluid analysis (FA) and mudlog information. The PNL data were processed and interpreted independently, without utilizing any input from the OH log data and without the support of fluid analysis and mudlog information. A criterion based on comparison and correlation between fluid volumes and saturation defined by the PNL and the fluid analysis from FA was defined. For all the wells, the PNL interpretation results matched the hydrocarbon information from FA with success ratio higher than 90 percent over the logged interval, confirming its ability to perform accurate standalone evaluation and its value as alternative technology for effective fluid analysis. Because of the complexity of the system, conditions and potential risks must be properly analyzed case-by-case to encourage more massive application in the future.