Production Optimization Benefits through Application of Standardized Operating Procedures for Reservoir Monitoring

Abstract

The ultimate goal of excellence in brownfield management is to increase the value of a field through maximizing production and ultimate recovery within its remaining economic life. The ability to successfully apply reservoir management techniques is essential in meeting the challenges of optimizing late life production. Further, the standardization of operating procedures yields benefits both in terms of optimizing the use of technical resources and in successfully meeting well intervention objectives. It also facilitates and promotes an active collaboration between the operator and service provider, both during logging operations and later when the log data is evaluated and interpreted.We will demonstrate the benefits that the successful development and implementation of robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) for cased hole reservoir monitoring can have. These will be illustrated with recent examples from the Brent Field in the UK North Sea. Developing these SOP's was not a simple process, and required a detailed understanding of the rock & fluid properties, reservoir production mechanisms and contact movements, topsides constraints, and reservoir behavior coupled with experience in data acquisition & interpretation methods which are tailored to meet the specific challenges of the field.The SOPs have been applied to meet a range of specific challenges such as the identification and perforation of gas zones, differentiating reservoir fluid type (e.g. formation/injection water and oil) to access bypassed oil, contact monitoring, and identifying impairment to increase production rates. Success in the development and application of SOPs requires service company involvement and cooperation in all aspects: program design, data acquisition (including real time support and monitoring to ensure data quality), processing, presentation and interpretation. Examples will be provided of how this involvement has contributed to the successful outcome of interventions in the Brent field.