Engineering Approach to Utilize Fiber Optics Telemetry Enabled Coiled Tubing in Well Testing and Sand Stone Matrix Stimulation - First Time in the World

Abstract

For the last several years, viscous pills, polymer based, were used to kill the wells during the workover operation in the tronian formation existing in the eastern desert of Egypt. These polymer pills have negatively affected the wells productivity by blocking the pore throats and reducing the permeability. As an example, the well A-1 was producing 300 bpd (Gross) which declined dramatically after a workover operation which included the viscous polymer pills to produce only 20 bopd. An engineering study was carried out to identify the main reason for the decline in the production. Several experiments were performed in the lab in order to simulate the filter cake using formation samples and evaluate the effect of the polymer being injected on the sandface permeability. An engineered solution was designed to break the polymer subsequently pumped in the formation and stimulate the matrix in order to recover and enhance the oil production. The remedial work was executed using a Fiber Optics Telemetry Enabled Coiled Tubing (FOTECT) system to optimize the treatment leveraging on downhole real time measurements. This paper describes the first application of FOTECT in sandstone formations, involving: The sandstone matrix stimulation operation.Measuring both bottom hole pressure and temperatures at static and dynamic conditions during the entire operation.Accurate depth correlation to achieve optimum placement of the treatment fluidsMonitor the chemical reactions in real time of the engineered treatment fluid.Monitor the diversion performance during Sand Stone stimulations and the timing required for efficient reactions.Qualitative production allocation of the interval as a response to the treatment fluidsEvaluation of the skin value real-time while executing matrix stimulation.Pressure transient analysis in real-time enabling the standard output of a well test (permeability, skin, Pressure, and reservoir boundaries). The experience demonstrates that use of real-time downhole measurements during the CT treatment allows: a) the evaluation of the well performance before and after the treatment, b) enables optimization of the treatment as it is executed, based on the formation response, enhancing the chance for a successful intervention, and c) provides an added alternative to perform a well testing operation right after the treatment, thus, obtaining valuable information to update the reservoir model.