Oilfield Review

Winter 2008/2009

Advances in Magnetic Resonance

Coiled Tubing with Fiber Optics
Remote Sensing
High-Temperature Stimulation
Twenty Years of the Oilfield Review
More than 50 years ago Schlumberger started an in-house
publication called The Technical Review. Its objective was
to distribute articles and guidelines on wireline techniques
of value and use to the company’s technical community
around the world, including the engineers in the field.
Over time, Schlumberger added products and services in
domains beyond wireline logging. In 1989, The Technical
Review evolved into the Oilfield Review to reflect a broader
outlook; this new journal was available to our clients from
the first issue. Today’s publication is still doing what its
founders intended—conveying technology and experience
from expert to practitioner and vice versa. I am delighted
to be writing this introduction to the 20th anniversary issue.
Regular readers know that Oilfield Review articles
come from a wide cross section of authors who represent
Schlumberger clients, research institutions and the world
of academia. This powerful amalgam provides a broad per-
spective on technology, in keeping with the nature of the
industry. For example, today’s reservoir engineers do more
than run reservoir models. Most have a working knowledge
of geology, seismic processing, drilling, completions and
more, so they can interact effectively with experts outside
their field. For that very reason, Oilfield Review articles
typically combine contributions from individuals represent-
ing several disciplines.
The past 20 years have seen substantial technological
progress in the E&P industry, as articles in Oilfield Review
bear witness. “Logging While Drilling,” the first article in
the first issue of 1989, is a perfect example. It describes
how measurements behind the bit provided a first look at
the formations crossed by the well. Today, new tools devel-
oped in that same technology area look ahead into the for-
mations about to be crossed by the bit. We have moved from
seeing where we are to seeing where we’re going.
That same first issue also presents an intriguing story of
seismic techniques in West Africa. In 1989, that area was
just opening to offshore exploration, but now it is a major
producing region. The article describes an analysis of 2D
seismic data that changed the industry’s view of the Douala
basin. Compare that with the seismic technology of the 21st
century that provides the resolution and the fidelity to map
fracture corridors in 3D.
I would like to highlight one final example from that
issue, “The Earth’s Heat.” Like many similar scientific
articles published over the years in Oilfield Review, it adds
context to the physical world in which our industry operates.
Our industry is cyclical, and this anniversary issue
appears at a time of reducing activity following the tremen-
dous expansion of the past five years. Yet the technology
that our industry develops takes longer to perfect than the
period of one cycle. Commitment to continued develop-
ment is therefore essential, and I regard the Oilfield
Review as part of that commitment: Its articles describe
new technology in a way that is both technically accurate
and accessible to the broad population of technical profes-
sionals that form the backbone of E&P activity today.
The future of the industry will likely be one of disinte-
grating barriers. The divisions that have separated the
geotechnical disciplines have been shrinking over the past
decade and will continue to do so under the pressure of
increased collaboration. A growing number of operations
will become digital, and the location of the person with the
expertise needed to solve a problem will become almost
irrelevant. At the same time, the subsurface expertise of
the industry will help the world access new forms of energy,
such as geothermal, while also helping solve part of the
carbon problem through the long-term storage of carbon
dioxide in deep saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas
reservoirs. As the world and our industry change, I look for-
ward to the next 20 years of Oilfield Review continuing to
provide that critical insight into the technologies that the
industry will demand.
Andrew Gould
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Schlumberger Limited
Andrew Gould is Chairman and CEO of Schlumberger Limited, a position he
has held since February 2003. He started his career at Ernst & Young, where
he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. His career at Schlumberger began in
1975 in Paris. Andrew is a member of the boards of directors of Schlumberger
Limited and of Rio Tinto plc. He serves on the commercialization advisory
board of the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London,
and is a member of the Advisory Board of the King Fahd University of Petro-
leum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He is a patron of the Permits Foun-
dation, an international industry initiative to improve work permit regulations
for the spouses of expatriate employees. Andrew received a degree in eco-
nomic history from the University of Wales. He holds an honorary Doctorate in
engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, USA, and is an hon-
orary Fellow of Cardiff University, Wales.
1
 Schlumberger

Oilfield Review
Executive Editor 4 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Comes
Mark A. Andersen Out of Its Shell
Advisory Editor
Lisa Stewart
Nuclear magnetic resonance logging provides basic information
about reservoir fluids. Newly developed techniques offer
Senior Editor improved fluid information and in situ fluid properties, including
Matt Varhaug
oil viscosity. Two-dimensional NMR maps can be generated
Editors that give petrophysicists a powerful new tool to better under-
Rick von Flatern stand reservoir rocks and the fluids they hold.
Vladislav Glyanchenko
Tony Smithson
Michael James Moody

Contributing Editors
Rana Rottenberg
Glenda de Luna
David Allan
24 Shining a Light on Coiled Tubing

Design/Production In the oil field, optical fiber isn’t just for monitoring pumps
Herring Design and production. Fiber-optic technology is now used in a wide
Steve Freeman range of coiled tubing applications, delivering downhole
Illustration measurements in real time and tying them to depth. With
Tom McNeff this capability, operators can better respond to deviations
Mike Messinger from their treatment plans.
George Stewart

Printing
Wetmore Printing Company
Curtis Weeks

34 Downhole Temperatures from Optical Fiber

For more than a decade, fiber-optic technology has slowly been
integrated into an expanding array of oilfield applications. In
addition to being a medium for transmitting data and commands,
optical fiber is an intrinsic thermometer that can be sampled
along its entire length. This article describes how operators
use pulses of light to monitor downhole temperature and
thermal processes.

On the cover:

Remote sensing utilizes satellite images

to evaluate the Earth’s surface. In the
E&P industry, this technique helps
assess risk factors for seismic survey
acquisition in remote areas. Here, a
Landsat 7 satellite scans the surface of
Egypt’s Western Desert, using visible Useful links: Address editorial Address distribution inquiries to:
and infrared sensing bands to discrimi- correspondence to: Tony Smithson
nate lithology. The Landsat 7 satellite Schlumberger Oilfield Review Oilfield Review
graphic is provided courtesy of the US www.slb.com 5599 San Felipe 12149 Lakeview Manor Dr.
Geological Survey. Houston, Texas 77056 USA Northport, Alabama 35475 USA
Oilfield Review Archive (1) 713-513-1194 (1) 832-886-5217
www.slb.com/oilfieldreview Fax: (1) 713-513-2057 Fax: (1) 281-285-0065
E-mail: editorOilfieldReview@slb.com E-mail: DistributionOR@slb.com
Oilfield Glossary
www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com

2
 Winter 2008/2009
Volume 20
Number 4

40 Satellite Sensing: Risk Mapping for Seismic Surveys Advisory Panel

Abdulla I. Al-Kubaisy
One of the most significant challenges in modern onshore seis- Saudi Aramco
mic interpretation is understanding near-surface effects and Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia
correcting their impact on subsurface data. Remote sensing Dilip M. Kale
using satellites enables 3D mapping and discrimination of sur- ONGC Energy Centre
Delhi, India
face features and lithologies, from which risk maps for logistics
and data quality can be developed. Case studies involving Roland Hamp
Woodside Energy, Ltd.
desert terrain and glacial moraines illustrate this technique. Perth, Australia
George King
Independent consultant
Houston, Texas, USA
Eteng A. Salam
PERTAMINA
52 Options for High-Temperature Well Stimulation Jakarta, Indonesia
Acidization to improve well performance is often constrained Jacques Braile Saliés
by reservoir temperature. New techniques now allow operators Petrobras
Houston, Texas
to perform acidization at elevated temperatures in sandstone
and carbonate reservoirs without damaging results or undue Richard Woodhouse
Independent consultant
costs. These advances in well stimulation include new chemical Surrey, England
agents and procedures. This technology is illustrated by a variety
of examples from Africa, the USA, the Middle East and Asia.

63 Contributors

66 Coming in Oilfield Review

67 New Books

68 Annual Index

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3
 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Comes Out of Its Shell

Ridvan Akkurt Advances in measurement technology, along with improved processing techniques,
Saudi Aramco
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia have created new applications for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging. A new
NMR tool delivers conventional NMR-based information as well as fluid-property
H. Nate Bachman
Chanh Cao Minh characterization. These NMR data identify fluid types, transition zones and production
Charles Flaum
Jack LaVigne potential in complex environments. Placing this information into multidimensional
Rob Leveridge visualization maps provides log analysts with new insight into in situ fluid properties.
Sugar Land, Texas, USA

Romulo Carmona
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
Caracas, Venezuela

Steve Crary
Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia Petrophysical evaluation involves a lot of science
and a bit of art. The scientific basis of a new
Eric Decoster measurement technique often develops from step
Barcelona, Venezuela
changes in technologies. The art of application
sometimes plays catch-up while interpretation
Nick Heaton
Clamart, France tools are developed to fully exploit new measure-
ments. Attempts to integrate new forms of data
Martin D. Hürlimann into existing workflows may be met with
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA resistance by those skeptical of the added value of
the new information. In addition, the learning
Wim J. Looyestijn curve inherent in adopting new concepts is often
Shell International Exploration steep, which can be at odds with the time
and Production B.V. demands of busy geologists and petrophysicists.
Rijswijk, The Netherlands Nuclear magnetic resonance logging is an
example of the physics of measurement—the
Duncan Mardon
science—being understood and developed before
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co.
Houston, Texas petrophysical analysis—the art—integrated the
measurements into standard workflows. Although
Jim White NMR was initially introduced in the 1960s, it took
Aberdeen, Scotland 30 years to develop an NMR acquisition tool that
could deliver the information that physicists
Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4. knew was available. The first successfully
Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger.
AIT, CMR, MDT, MR Scanner, OBMI and Rt Scanner are
deployed pulsed-NMR tool was introduced in the
marks of Schlumberger. early 1990s by the NUMAR Corporation, now a
MRIL (Magnetic Resonance Imager Log) is a mark of subsidiary of Halliburton. Equipped with
Halliburton.
permanent, prepolarizing magnets, these logging
tools use radio frequency (RF) pulses to
manipulate the magnetic properties of hydrogen
nuclei in the reservoir fluids. Schlumberger
followed soon after with the CMR combinable
magnetic resonance tool.
In general, NMR measurements were not
accepted enthusiastically because the data did
not always assimilate well with existing inter-
pretation schemes. However, early adopters
found applications for the new measurement,
and, as tools evolved, petrophysicists established
the value of NMR logging to the interpretation
community—creating an expanding niche in the
oil and gas industry. Today, most service
companies offer some form of NMR logging tool,
and LWD NMR tools have been developed to
provide reservoir-quality information in real time
or almost real time.
Magnetic resonance tools measure lithology-
independent porosity and require no radioactive
sources. They also provide permeability estimates
and basic fluid properties. Initially, the fluid
properties were limited to free-fluid volume and
immovable clay- and capillary-bound fluid

4 Oilfield Review
 Gas
Water
Oil
volumes. Although physicists were aware that
much more information about the fluids could be
coaxed from NMR data, downhole tools capable
of providing more advanced acquisition and
processing techniques were needed to extract
fluid properties in a continuous log.
This article discusses developments in mea-
surement techniques that provide NMR-based in
situ formation-fluid properties. A recently intro-
duced downhole tool capable of making these
measurements in both continuous and stationary
modes is described, along with NMR logging theory
applicable to these new measurements.1 With
these new NMR capabilities, fluid-characterization
measurements resolve interpretation ambiguities
as demonstrated by case studies from South
America, the North Sea, the Middle East and
west Africa.
Winter 2008/2009
A Bit of Science
All NMR tools share some common features. They
have strong permanent magnets that are used to
polarize the spins of hydrogen nuclei found in
reservoir fluids. The tools generate radio
frequency pulses to manipulate the
magnetization of hydrogen nuclei and then use
the same antennas that generate those pulses to
receive the extremely small RF echoes
originating from the resonant hydrogen nuclei.
Because of their magnetic moments,
hydrogen nuclei behave like microscopic bar
magnets. Upon exposure to the static magnetic
field, B0, of the NMR tool’s permanent magnets,
the hydrogen’s magnetic moments tend to align
in the direction of B0. Exposure time is referred
to as the wait time, WT, and the time required for
polarization to occur is influenced by various
formation and fluid properties. The buildup in
the resulting magnetization is represented by a
multicomponent exponential curve, each
component of which is characterized by a T1
relaxation time.
1. For more on NMR theory and logging:
Kenyon B, Kleinberg R, Straley C, Gubelin G and
Morriss C: “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging—
Technology for the 21st Century,” Oilfield Review 7, no. 3
(Autumn 1995): 19–33.
Allen D, Crary S, Freedman B, Andreani M, Klopf W,
Badry R, Flaum C, Kenyon B, Kleinberg R, Gossenberg P,
Horkowitz J, Logan D, Singer J and White J: “How to
Use Borehole Nuclear Magnetic Resonance,” Oilfield
Review 9, no. 2 (Summer 1997): 34–57.
Allen D, Flaum C, Ramakrishnan TS, Bedford J,
Castelijns K, Fairhurst D, Gubelin G, Heaton N, Minh CC,
Norville MA, Seim MR, Pritchard T and Ramamoorthy R:
“Trends in NMR Logging,” Oilfield Review 12, no. 3
(Autumn 2000): 2–19.
5
 A B C D
Echo TE
Antenna
South
N N T2 decay

N
S

S
N S
S
N N T1 buildup
N
N S S
S
S
N N
N S S
S N N
S S

North
WT CPMG sequence
> Basic NMR theory. Hydrogen nuclei behave like tiny bar magnets and tend to align with the
magnetic field of permanent magnets, such as those in an NMR logging tool (A). During a set wait
time (WT), the nuclei polarize at an exponential buildup rate, T1, comprising multiple components (C).
Next, a train of RF pulses manipulates the spins of the hydrogen nuclei causing them to tip 90° and
then precess about the permanent magnetic field. The formation fluids generate RF echoes between
successive pulses, which are received and measured by the antenna of the NMR tool (B). The time E
between pulses is the echo spacing (TE) (D). The amplitudes of the echoes decay at a superposition
of exponential relaxation times, T2 , which are a function of the pore-size distribution, fluid properties,
formation mineralogy and molecular diffusion (E). An inversion technique converts the decay curve
into a distribution of T2 measurements (F). In general, for brine-filled rocks, the distribution is related Total porosity
to the pore sizes in the rocks (G).

Amplitude
Small pores
Large pores

After a given WT, a train of electromagnetic
RF pulses manipulates the magnetic moments of
the hydrogen nuclei and tips their direction away
from that of the B0 field. The process of sending
long trains of RF pulses is referred to as a CPMG
sequence.2 A key feature of this sequence is
relaxation times representative of the fluid-filled
pores in the reservoir rock (above).4 Time
When the fluid in the sensed region is brine, F
the T2 distribution is generally bimodal,
particularly in sandstones. Small pores and
bound fluid have short T2 times, and free fluids

alternating the polarity of the received signal to
eliminate electronics-related artifacts. During
the CPMG measurement cycle, the hydrogen
nuclei in the formation generate detectable RF
echoes at the same frequency used to manipulate
them.3 The echoes occur between RF bursts. The
time between bursts is the echo spacing, TE.
The amplitude of the echoes is proportional
to the net magnetization in the plane transverse
to the static field created by the permanent
magnets. The amplitude of the initial echo is
directly related to the formation porosity. The
strength of the subsequent echoes decreases
exponentially during the measurement cycle.
The exponential decay rate, represented by the
Amplitude
in larger pores have longer relaxation times. The
Inversion
dividing line between bound and free fluid is
referred to as the T2 cutoff. Oil and gas in the
pore spaces introduce a few complications into
the model.
The three primary mechanisms that Time
influence T2 relaxation times are grain surface
relaxation, relaxation by bulk-fluid processes and
relaxation from molecular diffusion.5 Grain
surface relaxation is a function of pore-size
distribution. Relaxation effects from molecular
G
diffusion and bulk-fluid properties are directly
related to the type of fluid in the pores. Clay- Capillary- Free water
bound bound water
Tar has an extremely short relaxation time water
and may not be measurable with downhole NMR
Amplitude

relaxation rate, T2, is primarily a function of pore
size, but also depends on the properties of the
fluid in the reservoir, the presence of
paramagnetic minerals in the rock and the
diffusion effects of the fluids. In typical cases,
the decay of the echo amplitudes is governed by
a distribution of T2 times, similar to the T1 times
found in the buildup curve. An inversion
technique fits the decay curve with discrete
exponential solutions. These solutions are
converted to a continuous distribution of
tools. Heavy oils have short relaxation times,
similar to those of clay- and capillary-bound
fluids, but may also be too short for NMR
acquisition (next page). Lighter oils have longer
T2 times, similar to those associated with free
fluids. Gas has an even longer relaxation time T2
than oil. During the measurement process, oil
and gas signals are detected along with signals
from movable and irreducible water. While the T2
times from the oil and gas signals may have no
relationship to the producibility of the

6 Oilfield Review
 Brine T2 Distributions Oil T2 Distributions Total Distribution

Clay- Capillary- Free water Tar Heavy oil Intermediate oil Light Tar + Heavy oil + Intermediate oils + Light
bound bound water oil clay- capillary- free water oil +
water bound bound water free
water water

T2 cutoff

Pore size Viscosity and composition

> The effects of oil on T2 distributions. For brine-filled pores, the T2
distribution generally reflects the pore-size distribution of the rock. This
distribution is often bimodal, representing small and large pores (left ). The
small pores contain clay- and capillary-bound fluids and have short
relaxation times. The large pores contain movable free water and have
longer relaxation times. The dividing line between bound and free fluids is
the T2 cutoff. When oil fills the reservoir pore spaces, the measured T2
distribution is determined by the viscosity and composition of the oil
(middle). Because of their molecular structure, tar and viscous heavy oils
have fast decay rates, or short T2 times. Lighter oils and condensate have a
spectrum of T2 times, overlapping with those of larger brine-filled pores.
Mixed oil and water in the reservoir result in a combination of T2 times
based on both pore size and fluid properties (right ).

hydrocarbons, they do help characterize the fluid
type. Techniques have been developed to exploit
the fluid response and identify the presence and
type of hydrocarbons.
In the past, there were two primary tech-
niques by which NMR data were used to identify
fluids: differential spectrum and enhanced
diffusion.6 The differential spectrum technique
combines measurements with two different wait
times. Short WTs underpolarize formation fluids,
such as gas and light oil, which have long buildup
and decay times. Measurements from fluids with
short relaxation times are not affected by a
change in WT. Differences between sequential
logging passes identify the presence of light
hydrocarbon, making the differential spectrum
technique most effective in gas or condensate
environments. Logging sequences have also been
developed that acquire the data in a single pass.
Enhanced diffusion exploits changes in fluid
response that occur when different echo spacings,
or TEs, are used.7 Water and oil generally have
similar relaxation times when measurements are
2. CPMG refers to the physicists who successfully deployed
the RF pulse sequence used in NMR devices—
Herman Carr, Edward Purcell, Saul Meiboom and
David Gill.
3. During the CPMG sequence, hydrogen atoms are
manipulated by short RF bursts from an oscillating
electromagnetic field. The frequency of the RF pulses is
the Larmor frequency.
4. Freedman R and Heaton N: “Fluid Characterization Using
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging,” Petrophysics 45,
no. 3 (May–June 2004): 241–250.
5. Kleinberg RL, Kenyon WE and Mitra PP: “On the Mechanism
of NMR Relaxation of Fluids in Rocks,” Journal of
acquired using short TEs, but water often relaxes
faster than oil when longer TEs are used. To
isolate the oil signal, a measurement with a short
TE is compared with an echo train with a longer
TE, chosen to enhance the diffusion differences of
the fluids in the formation. The water signal
decreases with longer TEs, leaving primarily the
oil signal. This diffusion sensitivity provides a
qualitative indication of the presence of oil,
although the measurement may sometimes be
quantitative as well.8
Both differential spectrum and enhanced
diffusion rely on traditional T2 relaxation
measurements to identify hydrocarbons. This
limits the results to a one-dimensional aspect of
the fluids, and fluid type can only be inferred, not
directly quantified. Also, prior knowledge of the
expected fluids is necessary to choose the correct
acquisition parameters. The primary limitation of
the relaxation dimension is the difficulty in
distinguishing water from oil (see “Dimensions in
NMR Logging,” next page). But, the fact that oil
and gas signals are included with the water signal
Magnetic Resonance 108A, no. 2 (1994): 206–214.
6. Akkurt R, Vinegar HJ, Tutunjian PN and Guillory AJ:
“NMR Logging of Natural Gas Reservoirs,” The Log
Analyst 37, no. 6 (November–December 1996): 33–42.
7. Akkurt R, Mardon D, Gardner JS, Marschall DM and
Solanet F: “Enhanced Diffusion: Expanding the Range of
NMR Direct Hydrocarbon-Typing Applications,”
Transactions of the SPWLA 39th Annual Logging
Symposium, Houston, May 26–29, 1998, paper GG.
8. Looyestijn W: “Determination of Oil Saturation from
Diffusion NMR Logs,” Transactions of the SPWLA 37th
Annual Logging Symposium, New Orleans, June 16–19,
1996, paper SS.
in the total distribution introduces an exploitable
dimension to the relaxation distributions. Remove
the water contribution and only the hydrocarbon
signal remains.
Molecular diffusion is the key to unlocking
fluid properties from the NMR data. Gas and
water have characteristic diffusion rates that can
be calculated for given downhole conditions. Oil
has a range of diffusion values based on its
molecular structure. This range can also be
predicted from empirical data derived from
dead-oil samples.
The T2 measurement provides the total
volume of fluid—bound and free. The addition of
diffusion discriminates the type of fluid present.
A graphical presentation—the diffusion-T2, or
D-T2, map—displays these data in a 2D space
formed by the diffusion dimension and the
relaxation dimension. The water signal can be
separated from that of the hydrocarbons. The
intensity of the components in the D-T2 map
provides fluid saturations. Maps can also be
generated using T1 relaxation data.
This quantification of diffusion is made
possible by a new acquisition technique,
diffusion editing (DE), which alleviates the
limitations of previous methods, such as
enhanced diffusion and differential spectrum.
Distinguishing water and hydrocarbon by their
diffusivity differences not only permits the
(continued on page 13)

Winter 2008/2009 7
 Dimensions in NMR Logging

T2 component. In practice, a 2D inversion

directly transforms the original echo dataset
to a 2D T1-T2 distribution, sometimes referred
WT (n)
to as a T1-T2 map (next page, top left).3
WT (3) For many fluids, T1 and T2 distributions are
Polarization

WT (2) very similar since they are governed by the

same physical properties. Under typical
Full CPMG (n)
WT (1) Full CPMG (3) measurement conditions the T1/T2 ratio for
Full CPMG (1) Full CPMG (2)
water and oil ranges between 1 and 3.
However, an important difference between
the two relaxation times is that T2 times are
Time
affected by molecular diffusion whereas T1
> T1 logging. Traditional NMR CPMG sequences measure T2 distributions and begin after a times are free of diffusion effects. In NMR
sufficient WT for polarization of hydrogen nuclei. For T1 acquisition, a succession of short CPMG measurements, diffusion causes a reduction
cycles with WTs selected over a range of values is used. In a departure from earlier T1 acquisition in echo amplitude and therefore shortens T2
methods, the MR Scanner tool acquires full T2 echo trains for each chosen WT value, and thus times. The magnitude of the diffusion effect
the resulting data can be subjected to a multidimensional inversion and provide both T1 and T2
distributions. T1 logging is especially useful in low signal-to-noise environments and for fluids is a function of the molecular-diffusion
with long polarization times, such as are found with light hydrocarbons and in large pores. In constant of the fluid, D, and the echo
addition, T1 distributions, unlike T2 distributions, are free of diffusion effects and provide more- spacing, TE. TE is an adjustable
accurate results in highly diffusive fluids.
measurement parameter defining the time
between consecutive radio frequency (RF)
pulses in the measurement sequence.
Diffusivity is an intrinsic fluid property,
Humans generally visualize in three dimensions, The T1 relaxation measurement, from the depending only on the fluid composition,
and geometric relationships are understood buildup of polarization, also provides a 1D temperature and pressure. Once quantified, it
as adding levels of complexity with each distribution. A single echo (or a small number identifies the fluid type.4 For water, D is
dimension. For instance, a 1D image may have of echoes) is acquired for a series of different primarily related to temperature, and for
length, 2D adds width, 3D adds depth, and 4D wait times, WTs.2 The observed increase in natural gas, it is determined by both tempera-
adds the element of time.1 Analogous to echo amplitude with increasing WT is the ture and pressure. Crude oils exhibit a
spatial relationships, NMR measurements can polarization buildup, which is governed by the distribution of diffusion rates governed by the
be described using dimensionality, with each distribution of T1 relaxation times (above). molecular composition, temperature and
dimension adding a degree of complexity. With a mathematical inversion similar to the pressure. Diffusion, therefore, is the key to
The 1D NMR distribution refers to T2 one employed to derive T2 distributions from identifying fluid type with NMR. For example,
transverse relaxation time measurements. T2 echo-decay signals, the T1 distribution is T2 relaxation times for gas are much shorter
distributions are obtained by inverting raw extracted from the polarization buildup. than T1 times because of diffusion. By
NMR echo-decay signals. The distributions During the T1 acquisition, a full T2 echo- identifying the difference between T1 and T2
contain information about both fluid decay signal can be acquired for each WT, measurements in a gas reservoir, the
properties and pore geometry. However, rather than a single echo or a short series of hydrocarbon type can be inferred.
signals from different fluids often overlap, echoes, and thus a 2D dataset can be Diffusion distributions are determined by
and it is not always possible to distinguish generated with T2 and T1 data. The individual measuring echo-amplitude decays for echo
water from oil, or water from gas purely on echo-decay signals are inverted to obtain a trains acquired with different echo spacings,
the basis of the T2 distribution. separate T2 distribution for every WT. Each T2 TEs. However, increasing the TE to allow
component follows its own characteristic diffusion to take place comes at a price. The
buildup with increasing WT, governed by the increased time between echoes means there
T1 distribution (buildup) associated with that

8 Oilfield Review
 TE

Water
Oil

T1 T2 TE

Oil
> Two-dimensional NMR data. The 2D nature Water
of T1-T2 maps is highlighted by overlapping
signals from the two sets of distributions. The 2 x TE t TE
crossplotted signals are at maxima, indicated
by the color variation from blue to dark red, in
the center and right of this plot. The data
converge along the center line in the middle—
their agreement indicating similar fluid
measurements from both T1 and T2. But,
divergence of the longer time components of
the two sets of data, resulting from molecular Diffusion (D) Transverse relaxation (T2)
diffusion, moves the plot away from the center
line at the right corner. If there were no
> Diffusion editing. With traditional CPMG sequences and short echo spacing (TE), oil (green)
diffusion effects, the crossplot would be
centered along the dividing line. and water (blue) signals relax, or decay, at similar rates (top ). Lengthening the TE value (middle )
enhances the diffusion effect preferentially for the fast-diffusing water compared with slower-
diffusing oil. However, long TEs correspond to fewer echoes and a lower signal-to-noise ratio.
Diffusion editing (bottom ) is a variant of the multi-TE CPMG method, where only the first two
echoes are lengthened to enhance the diffusion effect, while maintaining the advantage of the
short TE for better signal-to-noise ratio.

are fewer echoes over an equivalent time

span, reducing the data density. This also
results in more rapid signal decay—T2 times
are shorter—because of the diffusion effects.
The end result is a reduction in the amount of
usable data, and the inversion becomes more
challenging because of the lower signal-to-
noise ratio.
The diffusion-editing (DE) technique
overcomes these limitations by combining two
long initial TEs—during which diffusion is
effective in reducing the NMR signal—
followed by an extended train of short TEs,
during which diffusion effects are minimized
(above right). A large number of echoes can
be acquired, and the effective signal-to-noise
ratio is maximized.
Analogous to the T1-T2 measurement
described earlier, a 2D experiment can be
designed to extract diffusion information.
1. Beyond classical physics, there are other applications
that describe four dimensions and beyond. String
theory, for example, predicts 10 dimensions, including
a zero dimension.
2. The wait time is the time allotted for the alignment
of protons within the static magnetic field of the
permanent magnet of an NMR logging tool during the
measurement cycle.
Rather than acquiring echo trains for a
number of sequential WTs, an echo train is
acquired with different initial long TEs. The
data are subjected to the inversion processing
and can then be used to generate D-T2 maps,
3. Song YQ, Venkataramanan L, Hürlimann MD, Flaum M,
Frulla P and Straley C: "T1–T2 Correlation Spectra
Obtained Using a Fast Two-Dimensional Laplace
Inversion,” Journal of Magnetic Resonance 154, no. 2
(February 2002): 261–268.
4. Freedman and Heaton, reference 4, main text.

Winter 2008/2009 9
 T2, which contains important complementary
T2 (or T1) distributions information about composition, such as
gas/oil ratio (GOR) and pore-size information
for water, cannot be measured. This limitation
Gas is overcome by invoking a third dimension to
combine with diffusion, T1 relaxation times.6
Oil
The 3D NMR measurements acquire echo-
Water
train data at multiple WTs (for T1) and
Diffusion distribution multiple TEs (for diffusion). Sufficient
information is then available to create 3D
Gas diffusion maps of D-T1-T2, in which the T2 axis refers to
Gas
coefficient a transverse relaxation time with diffusion
effects removed (next page, left). The map is
therefore a 3D correlation of intrinsic fluid
properties for T1, T2 and D. In practice, NMR
Water diffusion
Water fluid maps are typically presented in a 2D
coefficient
format, plotting D with either T1 or T2, or on
t
en occasion plotting T1 with T2.
f f ici D
e n
co atio Overlain on the maps are default fluid-
s ion rrel
iffu co
response lines for the D of gas and water
l d ity
Oi cos computed from their diffusion coefficient at
vis
formation temperature and pressure. The oil
line is derived from the estimated dead-oil
Oil response at downhole conditions.
The fourth dimension in NMR logging, the
T2 radial distance from the borehole wall, results
from acquisition at multiple depths of
> D-T maps. Diffusion plotted with T2 (or T1) provides 2D reservoir-fluid maps that can resolve oil, investigation (DOIs). Data from two or three
gas and water. In this example, the diffusion dimension (right ) is the key to identifying the fluids,
DOIs are simultaneously inverted. Results
which otherwise overlap in the T2 dimension (top left ). The amplitudes of the signals along one
direction of the two-dimensional map result in 1D distributions, which then can be converted to from the shallow DOI are used to correct data
fluid saturations. As an aid to interpreting the 2D maps, fluid-diffusion coefficients are from deeper DOIs, improving the outputs
superimposed on the map (bottom left ). The gas line (red) is computed using downhole pressure affected by missing information and poorer
and temperature inputs. The water line (blue) is calculated using the downhole formation
signal-to-noise ratios.
temperature. The oil line (green) shows the position of oil at different viscosities, with the lower
left being heavy oil, trending to light oil and condensate at the upper right. The interpretation of NMR logging tools acquire data from a
this map is that the reservoir contains gas, oil and water. region often affected by filtrate invasion,
which alters the original fluid distribution.
The 4D NMR processing is based on the
which are a graphical means to identify fluid fluids, such as gas, condensate or water at assumptions that bound-fluid volume and
type and quantify saturations (above).5 high temperatures. The problem arises immovable hydrocarbon volume are invariant
Although the two-dimensional D-T2 because diffusion can dominate the T2 to DOI. The shallow-measurement data are
measurement is effective in separating the oil relaxation mechanism for these fluids, even at used to constrain the inversion for the deeper
signal from that of the water, it is less robust the shortest echo spacing available from the measurements by fixing the bound-fluid
for distinguishing between highly diffusive logging tools. The underlying “diffusion-free” components. (For examples of 4D NMR
processing, see pages 16 and 17.) Diffusion
5. Hürlimann MD, Venkataramanan L, Flaum C, Speier P, and McLendon D: “Planning and Interpreting NMR
Karmonik C, Freedman R and Heaton N: “Diffusion- Fluid-Characterization Logs,” paper SPE 84478, and T1 (or T2) data from 4D NMR are used to
Editing: New NMR Measurement of Saturation and presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference produce fluid maps at multiple DOIs. Fluid
Pore Geometry,” Transactions of the SPWLA 43rd and Exhibition, Denver, October 5–8, 2003.
Annual Logging Symposium, Oiso, Japan, June 2–6, changes that take place as filtrate invades the
8. For more on wettability: Abdallah W, Buckley JS,
2002, paper FFF. Carnegie A, Edwards J, Herold B, Fordham E, Graue A, reservoir rock are graphically displayed and
6. Freedman and Heaton, reference 4, main text. Habashy T, Seleznev N, Signer C, Hussain H, Montaron B
7. Cao Minh C, Heaton N, Ramamoorthy R, Decoster E, and Ziauddin M: “Fundamentals of Wettability,”
White J, Junk E, Eyvazzadeh R, Al-Yousef O, Fiorini R Oilfield Review 19, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 44–61.

10 Oilfield Review
 T1-T2 map

Amplitude
D

Deep

DOI

T2 T1
Shallow
D-T2 map D-T1 map T2

> Three dimensions of NMR. Diffusion, T1
distributions and T2 distributions presented in
a 3D format provide intrinsic fluid properties.
The cube is used to identify diffusion effects
and may aid the interpreter in deciding which
model best describes the fluid properties.
> NMR in four dimensions. The fourth dimension of NMR logging is depth. Bound-fluid volumes,
associated with both clay- and capillary-bound fluids (yellow), do not generally change when
filtrate from the drilling fluid invades the reservoir. Tool or measurement limitations, however, can
result in changes in computed fluid properties that do not represent the true fluid distributions.
Constraining the volumes of bound fluid measured by deeper-reading shells to be equivalent to
that of the more-precise shallower shells and reapportioning the total porosity across the fluid
spectrum provide more-accurate fluid analysis. Use of 4D NMR processing is especially
beneficial in interpreting data from heavy-oil reservoirs.

allow petrophysicists to detect oil mobility,
wettability effects and fluid interactions
(above right).
Although the interpretation of maps created
from 3D or 4D NMR data might seem simple,
complications do exist. The results rely on a
forward-model approach that assumes the
fluid and the reservoir meet certain criteria.
When nonideal fluid properties or atypical
reservoir conditions are encountered, the
response deviates from the model, and
conflicting or erroneous results may ensue.7
In some cases, nonideal effects can be
detected and even quantified by inspection
of the D-T maps. Relevant parameters in the
forward model can be adjusted once these
effects are identified.
In another problem, when diffusion of fluid
molecules in small pores is restricted, the
measured values of diffusion are reduced
from those of the ideal model (next page).
While the signal from fluids in large pores
appears as expected in the D-T maps, fluids
in the small, poorly connected pores may plot
at lower diffusivity values. The problem is
most common for water diffusion in fine-
grained carbonate rocks. If the effect is not
identified, the calculated oil saturation may
be overly optimistic. However, once the
restricted-diffusion effect is detected, model
parameters can be adjusted according to the
observed 2D map results and fluid-saturation
estimations corrected.
Another anomalous effect results from
internal magnetic-field gradients caused by
paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials in
the rocks, either in the matrix or coating the
grains. These are often associated with high
chlorite content and create significant
localized field gradients, resulting in faster
relaxation times. Because the inversion model
is based on the tool’s fixed magnetic-field
gradient, the D-T map responses of the fluids
in these rocks are shifted to higher diffusion
rates, the opposite of the restricted-diffusion
effect. For example, water signals may appear
above the water line. Fortunately, it is usually
possible to identify these effects by inspection
of the maps, and model parameters can then
be adjusted to provide correct interpretations.
The wettability state also affects D-T maps.
Under water-wet conditions, the oil viscosity
determines the position of the oil signal along
the oil line of the map. The trend is from
heavy oil at the bottom left to lighter oils and
condensate at the top right of the line. Oil-
wet rocks and those with mixed wettability
tend to have shorter relaxation times because
of the additional surface relaxation of the
hydrocarbon in direct contact with the pore
surface. Although this can compromise the
accuracy of oil viscosity estimated from the
NMR data, it can also be a useful
measurement for petrophysicists in
understanding the nature of the reservoir.8

Winter 2008/2009 11
 Internal gradient High GOR

OBMF
with gas Native
Bound
water oil
Gas
Internal gradient

High GOR
Water

Unrestricted
diffusion
Restricted diffusion

l
Oi

Mixed wettability
Restricted Mixed wettability
diffusion

> Interpreting the maps. After inversion, two-dimensional crossplots of
the data identify the presence of oil, water and gas. When the plot of
the response from formation fluids (shown as color contours) conforms
to the interpretation model, the response will fall on or near the
expected gas, oil or water lines. This affords a straightforward
interpretation. Water falls on the water line as shown (middle ).
However, signals frequently fall off the lines as a result of competing
petrophysical effects, which include internal gradients, restricted
diffusion, wettability and high gas/oil ratios (GOR). Because internal
gradients shorten the relaxation times, the plots tend to shift upward
(top left ). Restricted diffusion causes the measured diffusion rate to
increase, and, as a consequence, the plots will trend down and away
from the expected fluid line (bottom left ). Plots from oil-wet reservoirs
tend to shift to the right of the oil line, as do reservoirs with mixed
wettability (bottom right ). The maps from oil-wet and mixed-wet
reservoirs tend to have a spectrum of responses, which produce a
broader image. Because the model is built with dead-oil responses,
maps from high-GOR oil reservoirs may not respond as expected. These
plots are shifted away from the oil line toward the gas line (top right ). In
a reservoir that contains only gas, OBM filtrate may mix with the native
gas and produce a response similar to that of high-GOR oil. Deeper
measurements often help experts refine their interpretation of these
maps because filtrate generally diminishes away from the wellbore and
gas response increases.

Fluids with a high GOR tend to plot above
and to the left of the oil line. This can be seen
in native fluids and gas-bearing zones invaded
by oil-base mud filtrate (OBMF). OBMF
should plot as a moderate to light hydrocarbon.
The response of OBMF mixed with native gas
from the reservoir plots between the oil and
water lines.
The D-T maps are powerful tools for inter-
preting fluid types in the reservoir. In many
cases the interpretation is straightforward, but
consideration must be given to external factors
that lead to nonideal behavior and mislead a
novice interpreter. For this reason, it is
important to rely on experts adequately trained
in processing and interpreting NMR data.
A surgeon relies on a trained radiologist to
interpret MRI images. A clean break of a bone
is easy to spot, even by a novice user, but
experience helps a radiologist differentiate
between bone fragments and calcification.
The differences may be indistinguishable to
the untrained eye. In a similar manner, the
log analyst may easily determine the presence
of water or gas in a D-T map, but there are
occasions when a skilled NMR expert should
be called in to help analyze the results. With
the aid of fluid maps and an understanding of
the measurement physics, the petrophysicist
can diagnose conditions that are hidden from
the inexperienced observer.

12 Oilfield Review
computation of fluid saturations, but also helps 10
infer fluid viscosity from the T2 contribution of
T2 (TE = 0.2 ms)
the fluid (right).
T2 (TE = 0.32 ms)
Diffusion-editing sequences from the new 1
MR Scanner service supply a water-saturation T2 (TE = 1 ms)
output that is independent of that traditionally T2 (TE = 2 ms)
derived from resistivity and porosity measure- 0.1
ments. In contrast to a saturation derived from

T1 or T2, s
T1
Archie’s equation, NMR-based saturation
measurement techniques are useful in fresh
0.01
water or formation waters of unknown salinity. T1
Wettability can also be inferred from NMR data.
One drawback to using NMR measurements for T2
0.001
fluid characterization is that the measurement
comes from a near-well region referred to as
the flushed zone, where mud-filtrate effects
0.0001
are strongest. 0.1 1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
Viscosity, cP
The MR Scanner Tool > Viscosity transform. The T2 (or T1) relaxation time for crude oil is a function
Although NMR measurements may come from of viscosity. The relaxation time can be converted to viscosity using an
only a few inches into the formation, they can still empirically derived transform. Because of diffusion effects, the viscosity
provide formation-fluid properties. To measure measurement for heavy oils below 3 cP [0.003 Pa.s] is influenced by the echo
continuous in situ fluid characteristics— spacing (TE) of the measurement. Thus, T2 times may be tool dependent for
heavy oils if the tool is not capable of shorter TEs. As a consequence of
including fluid type, volume and oil viscosity— diffusion, T1 and T2 values in light oils diverge above 100 cP [0.1 Pa.s].
much more information is needed than was
provided by previous-generation NMR tools.9 For
this reason, fluid characterization was a key driver
in the development of the MR Scanner service.
In the past, there were two basic designs for
NMR tools: pad-contact tools and centralized
concentric-shell tools. The pad device, represented
by the CMR tool, measures NMR properties of a
cigar-sized volume of the reservoir fluids at a
Sensed region
fixed depth of investigation (DOI) of approxi-
mately 1.1 in. [2.8 cm]. The NUMAR MRIL
Permanent magnet
Magnetic Resonance Imager Log tool measures
concentric cylindrical resonant shells of varying
thickness and at fixed distances from the tool,
with the DOI determined by hole size and tool
position in the wellbore.
The MR Scanner design offers the fixed DOI
High-resolution
of a pad device with the flexibility of multiple antennas
DOIs of resonant shells.10 It consists of a main
antenna optimized for fluid analysis and two Antenna
shorter high-resolution antennas best suited for Main antenna
acquiring basic NMR properties (right). The
main antenna operates at multiple frequencies
corresponding to independent measurement
volumes (shells) at evenly spaced DOIs.

9. Heaton NJ, Freedman R, Karmonik C, Taherian R, > MR Scanner service. The MR Scanner tool has three antennas. The main antenna operates at
Walter K and DePavia L: “Applications of a New-
Generation NMR Wireline Logging Tool,” paper multiple frequencies and is optimized for fluid-property acquisition. The sensed region consists of
SPE 77400, presented at the SPE Annual Technical very thin shells that form arcs of approximately 100° in front of the 18-in. [46-cm] length of the antenna.
Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, The thickness of the individual shells is 2 to 3 mm. The two high-resolution antennas are 7.5 in. [19 cm]
September 29–October 2, 2002. long and provide measurements with a DOI of 1.25 in. [3.17 cm]. The MR Scanner tool is run eccentered
10. DePavia L, Heaton N, Ayers D, Freedman R, Harris R, with the antenna section pressed against the borehole.
Jorion B, Kovats J, Luong B, Rajan N, Taherian R,
Walter K, Willis D, Scheibal J and Garcia S: “A Next-
Generation Wireline NMR Logging Tool,” paper
SPE 84482, presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Denver, October 5–8, 2003.

Winter 2008/2009 13
 Borehole rugosity and thick mudcake can invali-
DOI date shallow NMR measurements but rarely affect
Decreasing B0 strength the readings from the deeper shells. NMR porosity
from a deep shell has been used as a substitute for
formation density porosity when that measure-
ment was compromised by borehole rugosity.
Fluid-property changes resulting from mud-
filtrate invasion may also be observed and
Borehole
ƒ0 quantified using radial profiling. Often more than
just filtrate from the drilling mud invades the
Magnet

Shell formation. Whole mud and mud solids can

No. 1 Shell
No. 4 Shell
No. 8
Main
antenna 1.5 in. Distance from magnet
2.7 in.
4.0 in.
> Gradient tool and DOI. The MR Scanner tool is referred to as a gradient
tool because the magnetic-field strength (B0 , blue) from the permanent
magnet, although uniform over the sample region, decreases monotonically
away from the magnet. The tool’s magnet extends along the length of the
sonde section. A constant, well-defined gradient simplifies fluid-property
measurements. The DOI is determined by the magnetic-field strength and the
frequency of RF operation, f0 . Although multiple frequencies are available
from the tool, standard operating procedure is to acquire data from the 1.5-in,
2.7-in. and 4.0-in. DOI shells, referred to as Shell No. 1, Shell No. 4 and
Shell No. 8, respectively. Three shells are shown, with their respective DOI-
related operating frequencies. The frequency associated with Shell No. 1 is
shown in green.
Although multiple frequencies are available [3.8-cm, 6.8-cm and 10.2-cm] DOIs, respectively.
from the main antenna, the three most A recently introduced three-shell simultaneous
commonly used are Shells No. 1, No. 4 and No. 8, acquisition mode eliminates the need for multiple
which correspond to 1.5-in., 2.7-in. and 4.0-in. passes to acquire data from all three DOIs.
Profiling Fluid Properties
Shell No. 8 The three primary frequencies commonly used by
Shell No. 4
the MR Scanner tool correspond to three
independent DOIs, providing measurements at
Shell No. 1 discrete radial steps into the formation. The
frequency of the RF pulse, along with the field
strength of the magnet, determines the DOI of
the shell (above). A key advantage of the MR
Scanner shells is that the measurement comes
from a thin cylindrical portion of the formation—
.
4.0 in an isolated slice—and is not generally affected by
.
2.7 in
1.5 in
. the fluids between the tool and the measurement
0 in.
volume. This allows interpretation of near-
DOI wellbore fluid properties in a manner that is
> Radial profiling. The MR Scanner tool senses unique in formation evaluation.
fluid from multiple, thin DOI shells. The spacing is Multiple DOIs introduce new concepts for
optimized to avoid shell interaction. Fluid NMR logging—radial profiling and saturation
properties vary in the first few inches into the profiling (left). Profiling incorporates
formation as a result of flushing by mud filtrate.
measurements from successive DOIs to quantify
Deeper shells are less affected by filtrate, mud
invasion and borehole rugosity than are shallow- changes in fluid properties occurring in the first
reading shells. few inches of formation away from the wellbore.
replace existing fluids in the near-wellbore
region. NMR-derived porosity and permeability
may be reduced by the presence of these solids,
but the effects diminish deeper into the
formation. Radial profiling identifies and
overcomes these effects.
Saturation profiling delivers advanced fluid-
characterization measurements such as oil, gas
and water saturations, fluid type and oil
viscosity—all at discrete multiple DOIs. One
application of saturation profiling is the
evaluation of heavy-oil reservoirs.
Viscosity and Rugosity
Of the world’s known reserves, 6 to 9 trillion
barrels [0.9 to 1.4 trillion m3], are found in the
form of heavy- or extraheavy-oil accumulations.11
This is triple the amount of world reserves of
conventional oil and gas combined. Heavy-oil
reservoirs pose serious operational concerns for
proper evaluation of fluids and production
potential. Sampling with wireline-conveyed tools
or drillstem tests may not be possible because
of the difficulties in getting the oil to flow.
NMR measurements can provide essential
information on in situ fluid properties to evaluate
heavy-oil reservoirs.
Located south of the Eastern Venezuelan
basin, the Orinoco heavy-oil belt holds an
estimated 1.2 trillion barrels [190 billion m3] of
heavy oil. NMR logs have been an integral part of
evaluation programs of the wells drilled in this
region, but with recognized limitations.12 The
relaxation times of high-viscosity oils are very
short and may not be fully measurable using
NMR tools. Also, borehole conditions in the
Orinoco basin are often poor, with rugosity that
affects pad-contact tools.
Although the early introduction of NMR fluid
characterization with the CMR tool showed
promise, the measurements were limited to a
single, shallow DOI. Techniques were developed
to use NMR data to estimate the oil viscosity
throughout a sand interval based on the
logarithmic mean of T2 distributions. Encouraging

14 Oilfield Review
 Resistivity

10-in. Array
0.2 ohm.m 2,000
20-in. Array
0.2 ohm.m 2,000
30-in. Array
Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Permeability
0.2 ohm.m 2,000
60-in. Array Free Water Free Water Free Water Shell No. 1
0.2 ohm.m 2,000 100,000 mD 1
Oil Oil Oil
Caliper 90-in. Array T1 Distribution, T1 Distribution, T1 Distribution, Shell No. 4
6 in. 16 0.2 ohm.m 2,000 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8 Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water 100,000 mD 1
Depth RXO T1 Cutoff T1 Cutoff T1 Cutoff Porosity, Shell No. 1 Porosity, Shell No. 4 Porosity, Shell No. 8 Shell No. 8
ft 0.2 ohm.m 2,000 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000 40 % 0 40 % 0 40 % 0 100,000 mD 1

X,100

X,150

X,200

X,250

> Radial profiling with filtrate and whole-mud invasion. The interval from
X,170 to X,255 ft (red shading) is a clean water sand beneath a heavy-oil
reservoir in the Orinoco heavy-oil basin. The fluid properties from the
1.5-in. DOI, Shell No. 1 (Track 5) have spurious volumes of bound water
(light brown). Even at 2.7 in., Shell No. 4 indicates more bound fluid than
expected for a clean sand (Track 6, light brown). The differences are
attributed to whole-mud invasion. The Shell No. 8 data come from a region
beyond the whole-mud invasion and provide more-representative
information (Track 7). The total porosity measurements from the three shells
appear to be unaffected by the presence of whole mud. Permeabilities
calculated from the shallower shells (Track 8, blue, green) are lower than
that of the deepest shell (Track 8, red) because the measurements are
affected by the solids that are filling the pore spaces.

results were obtained but fell short of true in situ
viscosity. There was no calibrated transform to
link the logarithmic mean of the T2 distributions
to the viscosity at downhole conditions that would
also account for the apparent hydrogen index (HI)
of the oil.13 The importance of using HI and an
empirical transform was demonstrated by recent
laboratory work.14
The MR Scanner tool was included in a more
recent logging program, in part, to overcome some
of the limitations of the CMR measurements.
Radial profiling was found to be beneficial in
zones where rugosity affected the 1.5-in. DOI
measurement from Shell No. 1, which is
comparable to the CMR tool’s DOI. The 2.7-in.
measurement from Shell No. 4 was only slightly
11. Alboudwarej H, Felix J, Taylor S, Badry R, Bremner C,
Brough B, Skeates C, Baker A, Palmer D, Pattison K,
Beshry M, Krawchuk P, Brown G, Calvo R, Cañas Triana JA,
Hathcock R, Koerner K, Hughes T, Kundu D, López de
Cárdenas J and West C: “Highlighting Heavy Oil,”
Oilfield Review 18, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 34–53.
12. Decoster E and Carmona R: “Application of Recent NMR
Developments to the Characterization of Orinoco Belt
Heavy Oil Reservoirs,” Transactions of the SPWLA 49th
Annual Logging Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland,
May 25–28, 2008, paper VVV.
affected by rugosity. The 4.0-in. Shell No. 8 data
were not affected because they were acquired from
a region beyond the rugosity (above).
13. Carmona R and Decoster E: “Assessing Production
Potential of Heavy Oil Reservoirs from the Orinoco Belt
with NMR Logs,” Transactions of the SPWLA 42nd
Annual Logging Symposium, Houston, June 17–20, 2001,
paper ZZ.
14. Burcaw L, Kleinberg R, Bryan J, Kantzas A, Cheng Y,
Kharrat A and Badry R: “Improved Methods for
Estimating the Viscosity of Heavy Oils from Magnetic
Resonance Data,” Transactions of the SPWLA 49th
Annual Logging Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland,
May 25–28, 2008, paper W.

Winter 2008/2009 15
 Standard 2D NMR Processing 4D NMR Processing

Standard Bound Fluid 4D Bound Fluid Standard Free Fluid 4D Free Fluid Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil
Shell No. 1 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 1 Oil Oil Oil Oil Oil Oil
Caliper 50 % 0 50 % 0 25 % 0 25 % 0
6 in. 16 Free Water Free Water Free Water Free Water Free Water Free Water
Shell No. 4 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 4
Washout 50 % 0 50 % 0 25 % 0 25 % 0 Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water
Depth Shell No. 8 Shell No. 8 Shell No. 8 Shell No. 8 Porosity, Shell No. 1 Porosity, Shell No. 4 Porosity, Shell No. 8 Porosity, Shell No. 1 Porosity, Shell No. 4 Porosity, Shell No. 8
ft 50 % 0 50 % 0 25 % 0 25 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0

More More
coherence coherence

X,100

X,150

Standard 2D NMR Processing 4D NMR Processing

Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8
Diffusion

Diffusion
Oil Oil
Water Water
Amplitude

Amplitude

T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms

> 4D NMR processing. Standard processing results in a lack of coherence between bound-fluid volumes measured
by Shells No. 1, No. 4 and No. 8 (top, Track 1). The same is true for the free-fluid volumes (Track 3). Using 4D NMR
processing, the bound-fluid volumes, which should remain constant across each DOI, are constrained and the
porosity contributions are reassigned. The result is improved coherence for both the bound-fluid (Track 2) and free-
fluid (Track 4) volumes. The fluid properties are affected by hole conditions from X,120 to X,135 ft (red shading) as
evidenced by the increased porosity measured from the shallower shells (Tracks 5, 6, 8 and 9). Shell No. 8 (Tracks 7
and 10) senses from beyond the washout and provides more-accurate data. The D-T1 maps used for saturation
computation for each shell demonstrate the effectiveness of 4D processing. The standard 2D NMR processing
(bottom left panel ) results in similar fluid volumes in Shells No. 1 and No. 4. Shell No. 8 has less bound fluid, but all
three shells should have equivalent volumes because bound fluid should not change with DOI. The 4D NMR
processing (bottom right panel ) constrains the fluid volume to be the same below 30 ms. Reapportioning the
porosity to account for the bound-fluid volume delivers a more-accurate measurement from the deepest shell. As a
result, the 4.0-in. measurement furnishes fluid properties from a region less influenced by mud-filtrate invasion.

The independent measurements at various formation signals from the deeper shells are One solution to this dilemma comes in the
DOIs from the MR Scanner tool read deeper into weaker, noise has the potential to corrupt the form of four-dimensional (4D) NMR processing
the formation than the CMR tool. Not only has the processed data. Vertical resolution is degraded in which DOI is the fourth dimension.15 This
MR Scanner tool overcome rugosity problems, it because data must be averaged or stacked over a processing simultaneously inverts the NMR data
also has verified a condition—previously longer interval to overcome the noise effects. The within the portion of the relaxation-time
theorized from the CMR data—of partial- or measurement from deeper shells is also acquired distribution that should be common for all DOIs.
whole-mud invasion effects on the bound-fluid at longer echo spacings because of tool power For the Orinoco wells, the time interval to allow
volumes and permeability. These effects were limitations. The CMR tool uses 0.2-ms echo the oil signal to decay is always below 10 ms. The
especially noticeable in water zones. The mud spacing so that in 10 ms it generates 50 pulses. bad-hole and whole-mud effects begin after
solids did not appreciably alter NMR porosity, but This provides sufficient data to resolve some heavy 20 ms. Imposing a common solution on each shell
the bound-fluid measurement was too high. As an oils such as those found in the Orinoco wells. for the first 10 ms forces the deeper-reading
input to the NMR permeability calculation, However, the 1.0-ms echo spacing available from 4.0-in. shell measurement to be equivalent to the
incorrect bound-fluid volume resulted in the MR Scanner tool’s 4.0-in. shell provides only higher-resolution 1.5-in. shell reading in this
permeability outputs that were too low. 10 pulses and echoes in an equivalent time frame. common-data area. The result is improved
Deeper-reading NMR measurements overcome The result is a decrease in signal-to-noise ratio coherence between the shells and more-accurate
rugosity but have some trade-offs. Because the because there are fewer echoes to work with. readings from the deeper shell (above). This is

16 Oilfield Review
 Resistivity
10-in. Array Coal

0.2 ohm.m 2,000 Clay

20-in. Array
0.2 ohm.m 2,000 Magnetic Resonance 4D Fluid Analysis Clay Water

30-in. Array Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Quartz

0.2 ohm.m 2,000
60-in. Array Oil Oil Oil Oil
T1 Distributions
0.2 ohm.m 2,000 Free Water Free Water Free Water Moved Oil
Caliper 90-in. Array Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8
6 in. 16 0.2 ohm.m 2,000 Bound Water Bound Water Bound Water Water
Depth RXO T1 Cutoff T1 Cutoff T1 Cutoff Porosity, Shell No. 1 Porosity, Shell No. 4 Porosity, Shell No. 8 Pressure
ft 0.2 ohm.m 2,000 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000 40 % 0 40 % 0 40 % 0 700 psig 900
X,000

X,050

X,100

X,150

X,200

Depth X,040 Depth X,155

Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8
Diffusion

Diffusion

Oil Oil
Water 100 ms Water 100 ms
Amplitude

Amplitude

T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms T1, ms

> The big picture in heavy oil. The D-T1 maps from X,155 ft show bound-fluid and heavy-oil signals in the Shell No. 1
plot (bottom right ). The free-water signal above 100 ms decreases progressively from shallow to deeper DOIs. The
fluid analysis (top, Tracks 5 through 7) shows a steady decrease in free water from Shell No. 1 to Shell No. 8. The
interpretation is that the source of the water signal is the mud filtrate, which displaced heavy but movable oil in the
reservoir; the water signal would remain constant if filtrate were displacing formation water. For the zone from X,020
to X,050 ft, the interpretation is more difficult. The resistivity is lower (Track 1), and there is a water signal at each DOI.
D-T1 maps from X,040 ft (bottom left ) provide fluid information. Because the water signal from filtrate invasion is
present in Shells No. 1 and No. 4 but disappears in Shell No. 8, the interpretation is that filtrate displaced heavy oil that
cannot be measured by the NMR tool. The strong water signal present in all three shells is from irreducible water,
so the zone should produce water-free oil.

valid for borehole-rugosity and thick-mudcake
effects, but heavy oil impacts the NMR
measurements even when the borehole is in
good condition.
Because heavy oils have short relaxation
times and rapidly decaying signals, NMR tools
invariably fail to measure all the heavy oil. This is
true even with the shortest echo spacings
currently available from downhole tools.
Sequences with longer echo spacings miss even
more of the heavy oil. The MR Scanner tool’s
deeper shell measurements have longer echo
spacings than those of the shallower shells.
Consequently, the volume of heavy oil that is
measured by the tool decreases with DOI. The oil
volumes will always be underestimated in these
heavy-oil environments.
Despite this shortcoming, the effects of heavy constrained to be common across all three shells
oil on the measurement can still be used to because it is assumed that bound fluid and the
understand the formation fluids. The measured heavy-oil signals are stable in this time range at
NMR porosity decreases with DOI as a result of each DOI. This is in contrast to the processing
the missing heavy-oil signal. The measured used when borehole rugosity or whole-mud
volume of immovable bound water will not invasion is a problem; here, only the first 10 ms
change with DOI. Invading filtrate will displace are constrained.
only movable water or movable hydrocarbon. Well data show the free-water signal above
Thus, the 4D inversion can be used in a manner 100 ms decreasing progressively from shallow to
similar to that used with hole rugosity, but deeper shells (above). This leads to an
the interpretation focus will be on the changes interpretation that the source of the free-water
in free fluid and total porosity rather than
15. Heaton N, Bachman HN, Cao Minh C, Decoster E,
borehole effects. LaVigne J, White J and Carmona R: “4D NMR—
The 4D processing provides a marked Applications of the Radial Dimension in Magnetic
Resonance Logging,” Transactions of the SPWLA 48th
improvement over that of conventional 3D Annual Logging Symposium, Austin, Texas, June 3–5,
inversion. The first 30 ms of the inversion are 2007, paper P.

Winter 2008/2009 17
 Depth, 823 ft However, many reservoirs contain more than one
Compressional ΔT
240 µs/ft 40 fluid type: Fluid composition may vary
Caliper continuously or discontinuously across a

Diffusion
Crossover
10 in. 20
reservoir interval. Fluid gradation is not always
Gamma Ray Deep Resistivity Density
0 gAPI 100 0.5 ohm.m 10 2.2 g/cm3 2.7
apparent with conventional well logs, and
Bit Size Depth Shallow Resistivity Neutron T1 time surprises can occur in both the early and later
10 in. 20 ft 0.5 ohm.m 10 30 % 0 stages of production.
Depth, 832 ft
A North Sea exploration well was drilled to
evaluate a reservoir that, based on an offset well,

Diffusion
Tony—Figure 10/11_1 was believed to contain gas condensate.17
Adjacent gas-handling infrastructure made the
800
prospect an inviting target. Resistivity and
T1 time
density-neutron logs clearly indicated that this
Depth, 847 ft exploration well had a significant hydrocarbon
deposit with approximately 48 feet [15 m] of net
gas pay.

Diffusion
MR Scanner data were then acquired in a
saturation-profiling mode. Diffusion and T1 distri-
T1 time butions, extracted from multiple wait time,
variable echo-spacing sequences, were derived
Depth, 874 ft from the data. T2 distributions were computed, but
850
T1 distributions proved better for analyzing the
Diffusion
long relaxation times of the fluids in this reservoir.
Water and hydrocarbon saturations at 1.5-,
2.7- and 4.0-in. DOIs were computed from the
T1 time
data acquired in two separate logging passes.
Depth, 886 ft
The D-T1 maps at sequential depths were plotted
and, although there is a clear gas signal in the
upper part of the reservoir, the NMR interpre-
Diffusion

tation concluded that a significant portion of the

reservoir contained light oil—not condensate
900 as originally anticipated (left).
T1 time
Closer analysis of the data and the D-T1 maps
> Determining fluid type. The resistivity and porosity data indicate a hydrocarbon interval from 822 to
872 ft. Mud logging during drilling suggested gas or condensate throughout the interval. D-T1 maps
identified the gas/oil contact in the reservoir, as
from data acquired from the MR Scanner tool provide a different fluid analysis. The lowest interval well as a stratigraphic feature assumed to be a
(bottom right ) contains connate water (white circle) and oil-base mud filtrate (OBMF). Successively vertical-permeability barrier. A 4D inversion
higher points indicate a transition from light oil to gas (black circles). Based on interpretation of the enhanced the deeper shell measurement. The
NMR D-T1 maps, this reservoir contains oil below 840 ft, rather than the expected condensate and gas.
1.5-in. shell data indicate a significant volume of
oil-base mud filtrate (OBMF), but the deep shell
output is less affected by the OBMF (next page).
signal is the mud filtrate and that it has in the 4.0-in. Shell No. 8 measurement, these The porosity and permeability derived from
displaced heavy oil in the reservoir, although the zones should produce water-free oil. A strong the MR Scanner data were immediately available
heavy oil is invisible to the MR Scanner tool. If water signal remains in the D-T1 maps at each to the client in the field. The acquired data were
the filtrate were displacing movable formation DOI, but its source is irreducible bound water.16 sent to a Schlumberger computing center for
water, the water signal would be constant at Based on the answers provided by the 4D advanced processing. NMR fluid-property data
deeper DOIs. processing, the operator can confidently produce were returned in time to assist in picking depths
In a lower interval, the resistivity is high, from the upper and lower sections with an for pressure and sample points. Pressure plots
exceeding 100 ohm.m, which leads interpreters expectation of little or no water production. indicated three different fluid gradients. Fluid
to conclude that filtrate displaced oil. However, Minimizing water production decreases upfront samples confirmed the presence of gas in the
for the upper zones with lower resistivity values, costs for surface equipment and, because water upper interval and oil in the lower interval.
the answer is less obvious. Lower resistivity removal and disposal are not required, reduces Unfortunately, filtrate contamination prevented
values would suggest the presence of water costs over the life of the well. an accurate PVT analysis.
rather than oil. NMR data provide the missing A two-stage drillstem test (DST), conducted
fluid information. Hydrocarbon in the form of Fluid Characterization after the well was completed, confirmed the
heavy oil was displaced by the filtrate. Because Fluid type directly affects the economic value of presence of oil in the lower interval. The NMR
the water signal from the filtrate is present in the a field, and surface facility decisions depend on data provided improved understanding of the
1.5-in. Shell No. 1 measurement but disappears an accurate understanding of reservoir fluids. complex nature of the reservoir fluids. The

18 Oilfield Review
 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 8

Gas Gas Shell No. 1 Shell No. 8

Oil Oil T1, Distribution T1 Distribution

0 63 0 63
Oil Filtrate Oil Filtrate
T1, Log Mean T1, Log Mean
Bound Water Bound Water 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000
Depth Gamma Ray Permeability Oil Viscosity Porosity, 1.5-in. Shell Porosity, 4-in. Shell T1 Cutoff T1 Cutoff
ft 0 gAPI 100 0.1 mD 1,000 0.1 cP 10 40 % 0 40 % 0 1 ms 9,000 1 ms 9,000
810

820

830

840

850

860

870

880

> Gas, oil and water. The permeability (Track 2) is consistent throughout the zone from 820 to 880 ft except for two areas with
lower permeability at 845 and 860 ft. The viscosity (Track 3) indicates light oil, but its source is the OBM filtrate. The continuous
fluid-saturation logs from Shell No. 1 (Track 4) and Shell No. 8 (Track 5) show fluid changes occur with deeper DOI. The well was
drilled with oil-base mud, and OBMF (dark green shading) displaces native fluids. In contrast, the Shell No. 8 data show more
native oil (light green) and gas (red). There is very little free water in the wet interval below 880 ft, perhaps because the free
water has been flushed by OBMF. The well has more oil than originally anticipated, and consequently, less gas.

calculated volume of gas and condensate
available for export from the reservoir was
greatly reduced. The initial objective of the well,
to develop and produce a gas reservoir, was
modified along with the development plans for
the field.
Finding the Oil/Water Contact
Laminated sand-shale sequences, referred to as
low-resistivity, low-contrast (LRLC) pay, are
familiar to log analysts. They are often over-
looked or improperly evaluated because the pay
is not obvious using conventional logging tools.
There are, however, high-resistivity, low-contrast
(HRLC) reservoirs where everything looks like
pay, and these provide an entirely different set of
challenges. In HRLC reservoirs, resistivity
changes caused by water-salinity variations and
poor resistivity contrast between oil and water
zones make determination of an oil/water contact
(OWC) extremely difficult. Correct determination
of the OWC directly affects reserves calculations,
completion designs and production decisions.
Mistakes are costly, especially when high water
cut reduces oil production while adding addi-
tional water-disposal costs.
Traditional evaluation techniques are based
on resistivity contrasts between oil and saline
formation water. Reservoirs containing fresh or
brackish water may exhibit little or no resistivity
contrast between the fluids. NMR fluid-
saturation measurements are based on the
volume of each fluid and are not dependent on
water salinity. Thus, oil and water saturations
derived from NMR data offer an ideal solution for
evaluating HRLC reservoirs and determining
fluid contacts.
In a Middle East HRLC reservoir drilled with
oil-base mud (OBM), determination of hydro-
carbon saturation and the OWC was not possible
using resistivity and porosity logs.18 The method
for finding the OWC was to use pressure
measurements from wireline-conveyed pressure-
sampling tools to determine fluid gradients. The
condition of the borehole often deteriorated during
drilling, and pressures were difficult to obtain
because of seal failures, yielding inconclusive
results. Costly and time-consuming DSTs were
then performed to pinpoint the contact.
Saudi Aramco discovered the subject field in
the 1960s, but there had been no recent
16. Irreducible bound water in the reservoir remains in
place during production, and hydrocarbons alone
are produced.
17. White J and Samir M: “Continuous Characterization
of Multiple Fluids in a North Sea Gas Condensate
Reservoir by Integrating Downhole NMR with
Downhole Sampling,” Transactions of the SPWLA 49th
Annual Logging Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland,
May 25–28, 2008, paper X.
18. Akkurt R, Ahmad NA, Behair AM, Rabaa AS, Crary SF
and Thum S: “NMR Radial Saturation Profiling for
Delineating Oil-Water Contact in a High-Resistivity
Low-Contrast Formation Drilled with Oil-Based Mud,”
Transactions of the SPWLA 49th Annual Logging
Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25–28, 2008,
paper Y.

Winter 2008/2009 19
 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4
Density Correction Bound Fluid Bound Fluid
–0.2 g/cm3 0.2 50 % 0 50 % 0
Deep Resistivity Neutron Porosity Oil Oil

Bad Hole Flag

0.1 ohm.m 1,000 45 % 0 50 % 0 50 % 0
Gamma Ray Shallow Resistivity Depth Formation Density Free Water Free Water
0 gAPI 200 0.1 ohm.m 1,000 ft 1.95 g/cm3 2.95 50 % 0 50 % 0

X,100

X,200 OWC

X,300

X,400

X,500

> OWC not found. Early logging attempts with the MR Scanner tool produced inconclusive results.
In the well shown, the fluid saturations were computed using data from Shell No. 1 (Track 4) and Shell
No. 4 (Track 5). Oil (green) is indicated from top to bottom of the interval, but it is OBMF, not native oil.
Free water (blue) is also seen throughout the interval in data from both shells. A DST located the OWC
at X,204 ft. From the NMR data, its location is not obvious. The presence of free water above the OWC
was attributed to noise in the data and influenced the decision to take stationary measurements for
future wells.

production. The company reactivated the field
and then drilled evaluation wells to properly
characterize the reservoir and determine
locations for horizontal multilateral producing
wells. In the first well logged with the MR
Scanner tool, the tool was part of a logging
suite that consisted of resistivity, density
porosity, neutron porosity, acoustic and
spectroscopy tools along with a formation
pressure and sampling program.
In the past, conventional logging tools had
been unable to identify the OWC. Fluid gradients
from pressure data were not conclusive. NMR
saturations were acquired using data from the
MR Scanner tool. However, the saturations
indicated that the entire zone was pay, which was
known to be incorrect based on production from
offset wells.
The inability of the NMR tool to identify the
OWC was attributed to less-than-optimal acquisi-
tion parameters for the challenging case of this
HRLC pay. The reservoir contains low-viscosity
light oil, and NMR experts concluded that the lack
of success in locating the OWC resulted from using
a wait time that was insufficient to fully polarize
the native oil. A new acquisition sequence was
created to address the underpolarization.
In the next well, the MR Scanner tool used
this modified sequence, acquiring data from the
1.5-in. and 2.7-in. shells (above). The results
again indicated pay throughout the interval. OBM
filtrate had flushed out native water and oil
throughout the interval. Upon closer inspection of
the results, a subtle increase in the computed
water volume was observed in the water leg from
the 2.7-in. shell data compared with that
computed from the 1.5-in. shell.
The presence of OBM filtrate explained the
oil in the water leg. The 2 to 3% of free water seen
in the known oil leg was not so easily explained.
It was assumed that the signal-to-noise ratio was
insufficient for accurate volumetric calculations
and the increase in the computed water volume
was due to noise.

20 Oilfield Review
 Shell No. 1
Deep Resistivity Bound Fluid
Gamma 0.1 ohm.m 1,000 50 % 0
Ray
Shallow Resistivity Depth Oil
gAPI
0 200 0.1 ohm.m 1,000 ft 50 % 0 Shell No. 1 Shell No. 4 Shell No. 8
DOI = 1.5 in. DOI = 2.7 in. DOI = 4.0 in.

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion
T1 time T1 time T1 time

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion
X,100

T1 time T1 time T1 time

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion
T1 time T1 time T1 time
X,200 Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion
T1 time T1 time T1 time

X,300
Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion

T1 time T1 time T1 time

> Pinpointing OWC with station logs. After the inconclusive results from early attempts to use MR Scanner data
to locate the OWC, stationary measurements were used. Station logs permit stacking of data to achieve higher
signal-to-noise ratios. Continuous fluid analysis from Shell No. 1 (Track 2) shows oil throughout the interval, but
the source is the OBM filtrate. A three-DOI sequence allows Shell No. 8 data to be acquired simultaneously with
Shells No. 1 and 4. The deeper shell detects native oil when invasion is not too deep. The two top stations, at
X,103 and X,138 ft, are in the oil leg and have a clear oil signature, with little or no water signal from all three
shells. The three bottom stations, at X,142, X,165 and X,185 ft, are in the water leg, as evidenced by a strong free-
water response. The absence of movable water in the upper two maps pinpoints the OWC at X,140 ft. Formation
samples confirmed the interpretation.

In a third well, the petrophysicists acquired
data from the 4.0-in. shell, and from the two
shallower shells, using stationary measurements.
Station data can be stacked to obtain a better
signal-to-noise ratio. Continuous data were
acquired from the 1.5- and 2.7-in. shells. As
before, the data from the two shallower shells
looked similar, with a strong OBM filtrate
response. However, the stationary data from the
4.0-in. shell clearly indicated free water in the
water leg. Surprisingly, looking an additional
1.3 in. [3.3 cm] into the formation made a big
difference in identifying the OWC.
Given the success of using the stationary
measurements from the deep shell, which
clarified the fluid distributions and explained
vertical trends in the reservoir fluids, three-shell
measurements were added to the standard
logging program. A first-of-its-kind triple-shell
activation sequence to simultaneously measure
all three DOIs in stationary and continuous
logging modes was also introduced. This replaced
multiple passes and multiple stations previously
required to obtain three DOIs (above). Today, MR
Scanner data play a critical role in the evaluation

Winter 2008/2009 21
 Phisand T2 Fsand Rt Scanner Rsand
Phisand NMR Neutron Density Rv , Rh Anisotropy Distribution Fsand NMR NMR Rsand NMR Fluids HC Volume
0 0.5 1 0.4 0.2 0 0 10 100 0 5 10 15 0 10 100 1,000 0 0.5 1 0 10 100 0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4
Cutoff 3
Fshale
GR Oil Rt Scanner 10
Data
OBM
700 Water AIT Data
OBMI NMR Data 2
Shale Total 10
Porosity
Sand
Rsand

Rv, ohm.m
1 Rshale-v = 3.4
10
Rshale-h = 0.58
Shale

800
0
10
Depth, m

Pay Zones

–1
10
20 ft

–1 0 1 2 3
10 10 10 10 10
900 Rh, ohm.m

1,000

> Integration of data in an anisotropic reservoir. A laminated reservoir is with free fluid as defined by the MR Scanner tool. The NMR fluid
inferred from the OBMI image data (between Tracks 1 and 2). Processing saturations indicate oil, water and OBM filtrate (Track 8). Hydrocarbon (HC)
began by calculating sand volumes (Track 1) from density-neutron and volumes are displayed for comparison (Track 9). They are computed from
NMR data. Horizontal, Rh , and vertical, Rv , resistivities (Track 3), derived NMR data (green), the Rt Scanner data (red) and Archie’s water saturation
from the Rt Scanner tool, were used to compute the electrical anisotropy equation using traditional AIT array induction imager tool outputs derived
(Track 4, green). The shales and the laminated sand-shale intervals exhibit from the Rt Scanner data (black). Traditional Archie saturation underestimated
anisotropy. The T2 distributions from the NMR data (Track 5) indicate bimodal the HC volume throughout the interval, significantly reducing the calculated
fluid distributions in the intervals where sand is present, but not in the net pay and hydrocarbon in place. Finally, the petrophysicist identified the
shales. Free fluid is to the right of the T2 cutoff, and clay-bound fluid laminated pay intervals using a modified Klein plot (inset ) that incorporates
associated with the shale is to the left. Sand fractions were computed with Rt Scanner data, NMR data and high-resolution porosity measurements.
inputs from both the NMR and the Rt Scanner data (Track 6). Sand Productive zones are highlighted on the log (Track 3, magenta).
resistivity (Track 7) was calculated from Rt Scanner data using intervals

program of the field, and use of three-shell data of anisotropic, laminated sand-shale sequences.
has been adopted as a best practice. However, it is not possible to resolve extremely thin
However, one limitation of the MR Scanner laminations with NMR tools because of the general
tool’s ability to identify fluid type came to light requirement to stack successive measurements to
during the analysis of the data from this field. NMR achieve an adequate signal-to-noise ratio. With a
fluid properties, acquired from just a few inches CMR tool, the smallest aperture window is a 6-in.
into the formation, can be of little help in [15.2-cm] station measurement. The MR Scanner
identifying fluid contacts when invasion exceeds tool’s main-antenna measurement window is 18 in.
the 4.0-in. DOI of Shell No. 8. In these cases, MDT Recent developments demonstrate that even at
modular formation dynamics tester fluid gradients this lower resolution, NMR data are still useful in
and DSTs are required to provide the needed analyzing and interpreting laminated sequences.
information. NMR data provide complementary petrophysical
measurements of the reservoir fluid properties
Resolution Solution that resistivity and porosity measurements
The trend in log interpretation and tool design has cannot.19
been toward resolving and measuring increasingly There are three general methods used to
thinner beds. This is critical in the interpretation analyze thin-bed reservoirs using well logs.20
Traditionally, imaging logs are used to characterize
the laminations, separating sand from shale.
Other, lower-resolution data are then deconvolved
using the higher-resolution image data. These
outputs are used in Archie’s equation to compute
water saturation. One drawback to this method is
that imaging tools make very shallow readings and
thus rely on good borehole conditions to acquire
quality data. Furthermore, full quantitative
analysis, using deconvolution techniques, is often
inconclusive, and fluid properties and type are
rarely quantifiable.
In a second method, NMR data quantify the
type and volume of fluids in a reservoir section. But
since it is not possible to resolve thin beds with
NMR tools, this method lumps the fluids together
and differentiates bound fluid from free fluid.

19. Cao Minh C and Sundararaman P: “NMR Petrophysics 20. Claverie M, Azam H, Leech R and Van Dort G: “A
in Thin Sand/Shale Laminations,” paper SPE 102435, Comparison of Laminated Sand Analysis Methods—
presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Resistivity Anisotropy and Enhanced Log Resolution from
Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, September 24–27, 2006. Borehole Image,” presented at the Petroleum Geology
Cao Minh C, Joao I, Clavaud J-B and Sundararaman P: Conference and Exhibition (PGCE), Kuala Lumpur,
“Formation Evaluation in Thin Sand/Shale Laminations,” November 27–28, 2006.
paper SPE 109848, presented at the SPE Annual 21. Anderson B, Barber T, Leveridge R, Bastia R, Saxena KR,
Technical Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, Tyagi AK, Clavaud J-B, Coffin B, Das M, Hayden R,
California, USA, November 11–14, 2007. Klimentos T, Cao Minh C and Williams S: “Triaxial
Induction—A New Angle for an Old Measurement,”
Oilfield Review 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 64–84.
22. For more on the use of modified Klein plots: Cao Minh C,
Clavaud J-B, Sundararaman P, Froment S, Caroli E,
Billon O, Davis G and Fairbairn R: “Graphical Analysis
of Laminated Sand-Shale Formations in the Presence
of Anisotropic Shales,” Petrophysics 49, no. 5
(October 2008): 395–405.
23. Hürlimann MD, Freed DE, Zielinski LJ, Song YQ, Leu G,
Straley C, Cao Minh C and Boyd A: “Hydrocarbon
Composition from NMR Diffusion and Relaxation Data,”
Transactions of the SPWLA 49th Annual Logging
Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25–28, 2008,
paper U.

22 Oilfield Review
Within laminated sands, bound fluid is associated
with shale laminations, and aggregate free-fluid
volume is associated with sand laminations.
Diffusion data can provide fluid properties when
sufficient quantities are available in the reservoir
rocks. Although the depth of investigation is
deeper than that of imaging tools, NMR
measurements are still quite shallow.
A recently introduced third method of evalu-
ating laminated sand-shale sequences incorporates
high-resolution porosity information and induction
tool data, such as those from the Rt Scanner
triaxial induction service.21 This tool measures
horizontal, Rh, and vertical, Rv, resistivities. In
laminated sands, the hydrocarbon-bearing sand
laminations exhibit electrical anisotropy, indi-
cated by a high Rv /Rh ratio, whereas water-
bearing sand-shale sequences have low ratios.
Reservoir evaluation based on the electrical
anisotropy alone is not sufficient to prove the
presence of hydrocarbon. Anisotropic shales
exhibit high Rv /Rh ratios even in the absence of
hydrocarbon-bearing sand layers because of
formation compaction.
In an even newer technique, MR Scanner
fluid measurements are combined with the Rt
Scanner Rv /Rh method to provide critical
information for properly analyzing complex sand-
shale reservoirs. This method yields sand
fraction (net-to-gross), sand porosity, sand
resistivity and hydrocarbon saturation. The key
to maximizing the value of the information is
integration of the data from the various sources.
This complementary integration technique
was recently demonstrated in a west Africa
reservoir. Characterized as having a thin sand-
shale sequence, the well in this case study was
evaluated with MR Scanner data, Rt Scanner
information and high-resolution porosity data
from formation density and neutron logs.
Once thin beds with hydrocarbon potential
had been identified from image data, the
petrophysicist followed an established workflow
to interpret them:
• Compute the sand fraction, Fsand, from the
porosity data.
• Derive sand resistivity, R sand, from R v and
Rh data.
• Compute an NMR Fsand from the T2 distributions.
• Derive a new Rsand.
• Compute the porosity of the sand layers, Phisand,
from both the density-neutron data and the
NMR T2 distributions.
• Compare water saturations computed with
inputs from the NMR data with those derived
from the Rt Scanner and high-resolution
porosity data.
Winter 2008/2009
With this workflow, the data analysis for this
well began with identifying laminations from the
image log of the OBMI oil-base microimager
(previous page). Rv values are greater than Rh
values, indicating electrical anisotropy. But, the
Rv /Rh ratio is high in clean shales as well as in
laminated sand-shale sections.
Shales have only bound fluids and thus a
unimodal T2 distribution. Sand-shale sequences
exhibit a bimodal distribution, indicative of
movable fluids in sand laminations. Thus, the
sand fraction, Fsand, can be derived from the free-
fluid portion of the NMR T2 data. This value is
then compared with the Fsand value derived from
the density-neutron data. Rsand values are
computed from the triaxial induction tool data
for both Fsand inputs. The NMR fluid analysis of
data from the 2.7-in. shell indicates native oil and
OBM filtrate.
Three analysis methods for water saturation
are used to calculate the hydrocarbon volume:
Archie’s water saturation equation, the Rv and Rh
method using triaxial induction tool data, and
NMR fluid saturations. Rv and Rh crossplots are
presented using a Schlumberger modified Klein
plot technique.22 The selected points from the
crossplot are transposed on the log, identifying
quality reservoir intervals. Anisotropic shales plot
in the nonpay region and may be ignored. With
this technique, the log analyst quickly assesses
the reservoir and identifies potential pay zones.
This integrated approach resulted in an 80%
increase in calculated net-to-gross values as
compared with classical resistivity-porosity
methods. An increase of 18 net hydrocarbon feet
[5.5 m] is derived from the NMR-based satura-
tions, and there is an increase of 15 net feet [4.6 m]
using the triaxial induction technique without
NMR data. The conclusion from the log evalua-
tion is that NMR data enhance the calculation for
hydrocarbons in place, while corroborating the
results of triaxial induction-based laminated-
sand analysis. The technique offers the
petrophysicist the ability to identify quality
reservoir intervals and eliminate nonproductive
anisotropic shale intervals from evaluation.
Mapping the Future of Magnetic Resonance
Magnetic resonance logging has transcended its
niche market status and attained a high level of
acceptability within the petrophysical com-
munity. It will never supplant resistivity and
nuclear porosity measurements; nor should it.
NMR data offer the oil and gas industry an
alternative source for certain measurements,
including porosity and fluid saturations, yet
there are limitations inherent in the physics—as
there are in all petrophysical measurements.
New enhancements to the software for
making 2D maps of reservoir fluids create static
snapshots that can then be added to 2D logs. In
addition, the software has the capability to
present saturations and fluid properties in a
video format, allowing visualization of the
changes that take place laterally along the
wellbore and horizontally into the formation.
Laboratory-based NMR fluid measurements
have been and will continue to be transferred to
the downhole environment. Obtaining the proper-
ties of sampled fluids while tools are still downhole
offers the closest approximation to in situ
measurements available. An NMR oil classification
system exists based on molecular properties, and
applying that classification to downhole fluids will
aid in proper reservoir development.23
But one of the unique aspects of NMR
measurements is that they offer the only
technique that can see and distinguish different
fluids in situ, without flowing them. Even
downhole samples may not provide true fluid
properties because of changes to the fluids
during flow. Sampled fluids do not reflect the
true distribution of fluids in the reservoir, only
those that are mobile. As NMR techniques are
applied, and fluid variations within reservoirs are
identified, the complicated nature of oil and gas
production is better understood. With reservoir
understanding come informed production
practices, greater efficiencies and higher
recovery rates.
Viable options exist for future development.
Researchers continue to develop NMR-based
carbonate answers. Deeper measurements are a
goal, but tools to acquire them are years away.
Although there may never be an NMR
measurement from the virgin reservoir, fluid
properties from LWD tools offer a glimpse into the
reservoir fluids unaffected by mud filtrate. Such a
solution would overcome the problem identified in
the Saudi Aramco HRLC wells. Other challenges
await further research and development.
It took 30 years to develop a workable
magnetic resonance tool for downhole environ-
ments. NMR measurements have continued to
evolve along with the tools used to acquire the
data. The most recent developments put a
colorful visualization technique in the hands of
the petrophysicist. The art and science of NMR
applications have been combined to provide an
alternative to static 2D logs of the past. These
new dimensions in NMR logging have ushered in
a powerful tool for reservoir analysis. But the
best may be yet to come. —TS
23
 Shining a Light on Coiled Tubing
A cultural shift is taking place in coiled tubing operations. No longer do CT crews rely
solely on surface measurements to infer downhole conditions. Using fiber optics and
downhole sensors, operators can monitor critical processes, fine-tune job parameters
and adapt to changing conditions as the job progresses.
Ibrahim H. Al-Arnaout Any maintenance or remedial workover is a
Saudi Aramco major event in the life of a well. In many cases, a
Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia workover requires the removal and replacement
of the production tubing string after a workover
George Brown rig has been placed on location and the well has
Southampton, England
been killed. To preclude the production problems
and expense associated with these activities,
Rex Burgos
Jon Christian many operators turn to coiled tubing (CT)
Doug Pipchuk technology to permit remedial work on live wells.
Hubertus Thomeer This technology permits tools and materials to be
Sugar Land, Texas, USA deployed through existing production tubing or
casing while the well continues to produce.
Juanih Ghani Coiled tubing fulfills three key needs that are
Muzily Musa vital for performing remedial work on live wells.
Khor Siak Foo First, any such operation requires a means of
Talisman Malaysia Ltd. providing a dynamic seal between the formation
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
pressure and the surface. Next, a continuous
conduit that can be run into a well to allow fluid
Abul (Jamal) Jamaluddin
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia conveyance is needed. And finally, there must be
a way to both run this conduit into the well and
Jock Munro retrieve it under pressure.
Aberdeen, Scotland Benefits of the CT approach include rapid
mobilization and rig-up, fewer personnel, small
Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4. environmental footprint and reductions in time
Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger. associated with pipe handling while tripping in
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Matt Garber
and John Lovell, Rosharon, Texas. and out of the hole. More importantly, the capa-
ACTive, Blaster, Decipher, Discovery MLT, eFire-CT, FMI, bility for continuous circulation allows an
iCenter and iCoil are marks of Schlumberger. operator to avoid the risk of formation damage
INCONEL is a mark of Special Metals Corporation.
inherent in killing a well. These advantages yield
significant cost savings for CT methods when
compared with conventional workover operations.
24
Coiled tubing operations, however, are not
without their problems. Since the technology’s
inception, CT crews have had to infer from
surface measurements what was happening
downhole. Well service operations, by their very
nature, unsettle the downhole environment of
any well. Mechanical events, chemical processes
and the movements of fluids inevitably cause
downhole perturbations that result in pressure or
temperature changes. Except in rare instances
where costly permanent completions have been
installed, the only options for monitoring
downhole disturbances have been through
surface pressure and rate measurements.
These measurements may be severely
hampered or attenuated by interference that
occurs between the initial disturbance event and
subsequent events. The biggest limitation,
however, is that surface measurements do not
reflect any correlation between the disturbance
and the depth at which it occurred. With no
direct measure of bottomhole parameters, the
operator could only deduce answers to serious
concerns pertaining to the fluid level in a well, or
the depth of a packer when it inflated or wellbore
pressures prior to perforating.
These issues are being addressed through the
use of optical fibers. In one application, a new
downhole monitoring system uses fiber-optic
strands inside a CT string to measure tempera-
ture along the length of the wellbore while
providing telemetry between the surface and
Oilfield Review
Winter 2008/2009 25
 downhole tools and sensors. Real-time pressure
Guide arch and temperature data, along with depth
(gooseneck)
correlations provided by the ACTive in-well live
performance system, enable CT crews and
CT string operators to measure downhole conditions and
Reel
Injector Power pack monitor events as they unfold.
Control cabin
head The downhole data provide quantitative
Stripper feedback on a well’s response to ongoing
BOP treatments. And because these downhole
measurements can be tied to depth, it is possible
to correlate them to existing petrophysical
measurements. The CT data can be further
> Coiled tubing unit. The most distinctive feature of the CTU is its reel, correlated to surface indicators and data from
which is manipulated by the CT crew from the control cabin. Some reels offset wells to verify treatment performance.
can carry more than 20,000 ft [6,100 m] of coiled tubing. Onsite interpretation software helps operators
evaluate subtle indicators that may alert them to
deviations from the job design. They can then
respond immediately to changing downhole
conditions by adjusting parameters to optimize
treatment while the CT string is still in the
wellbore and the treatment is underway.
This article briefly reviews CT systems and
describes general applications of this technology.
Case studies from Malaysia, Canada and Saudi
Arabia show how advances in CT measurements
and telemetry are helping operators to better
implement their downhole treatment programs.

Typical CT Applications
At the center of any CT surface operation is a
coiled tubing unit (CTU) from which a
continuous length of flexible steel pipe is
spooled. This pipe is kept on a large storage reel
during transport to the wellsite. As it is spooled
off the storage reel, it passes through a
gooseneck and is straightened just before it
enters the borehole. At the end of the operation,
the flexible pipe is pulled out of the well and
spooled back onto the reel (above left).
On the hub of the storage reel, a high-
pressure swivel joint enables pumping of
treatment fluids through the tubing, even while
the reel is rotating. An injector head pulls the
CT string off the spool and runs it into the
wellbore. From the CTU cabin, the CT operator
controls the hydraulically driven injector head
to regulate the movement and depth of the CT
string. A stripper assembly beneath the injector
head provides a dynamic seal around the tubing
string, which is key for running the CT string in
and out of live wells. A blowout preventer
(BOP) assembly between the stripper and
wellhead supplies secondary and contingency
> Inside the CTU control cabin. The cabin, located behind the reel, provides a commanding view of the pressure-control functions. The operation is
entire operation. From this vantage point, the CT operator controls all aspects of the coiled tubing monitored and coordinated from the CTU control
operation, including injector rate, pump pressure and downhole tool activation. Satellite communications cabin (left).
provide a real-time link to locations around the world.

26 Oilfield Review
 Coiled tubing commonly has a diameter of
1 to 2 in. and may range in length from 2,000 to
more than 20,000 ft [610 to 6,100 m], depending
on spool size. Continuous lengths of tubing
obviate connecting one joint of pipe to the next
while tripping into the well. With no need to
make or break connections between joints, CT
permits continuous circulation while running in
or out of the hole. Continuously circulating
during well treatment enhances flow control, and
this capability is a primary reason for using CT in
live-well interventions.
Completion or remedial operations increas-
ingly employ CT to improve well performance
through perforating, stimulation treatments or
removal of pipe scale and debris. The CT string
sometimes serves as a production string in
shallow gas wells and has even been utilized in
certain drilling and cementing operations. Its
strength and rigidity, combined with the
capability to circulate treatment fluids, offer
distinct advantages over wireline tools during
workover operations.1
Coiled tubing jobs can be grouped into three
broad categories: conveyance or placement of
tools, conveyance or placement of fluids, and
completion operations.
Tool conveyance—Its strength and rigidity
enable CT to push or pull equipment and tools
through highly deviated or horizontal wellbores
and restrictions, or even push obstructions
beyond the zone of interest. Coiled tubing has
proved capable of conveying tools downhole in a
wide range of assignments.
In zonal isolation applications, the operator
must set plugs or packers to mechanically isolate
a particular interval within a wellbore. Operators
frequently employ coiled tubing to convey and
place bridge plugs and mechanical, hydraulic or
inflatable packers.
Cleanout operations require a means of
removing scale buildup or fill material that can
threaten production by restricting flow through
tubing or casing.2 One approach is to run CT into
the well with a removal tool to wash away the
material (above right). One example, the Blaster
tool, is a rotating high-pressure jetting assembly
that forcefully sprays solvents, acids or abrasive
1. For more on CT applications: Boumali A, Brady ME,
Ferdiansyah E, Kumar S, van Gisbergen S, Kavanagh T,
Ortiz AZ, Ortiz RA, Pandey A, Pipchuk D and Wilson S:
“Coiled Tubing: Innovative Rigless Interventions,”
Oilfield Review 17, no. 4 (Winter 2005/2006): 29–41.
2. Ali A, Blount CG, Hill S, Pokhriyal J, Weng X, Loveland MJ,
Mokhtar S, Pedota J, Rødsjø M, Rolovic R and Zhou W:
“Integrated Wellbore Cleanout Systems: Improving
Efficiency and Reducing Risk,” Oilfield Review 17, no. 2
(Summer 2005): 4–13.
Winter 2008/2009
Coiled tubing
Jetting nozzle Fill
> Sand removal. Pressure from a surface pump forces fluid through a specially
designed jetting nozzle to blast away sand, scale or other fill material.
fluids to remove scale or clean downhole screens production by lowering hydrostatic pressure
and perforations. within the wellbore (below).
Coiled tubing technology also extends to well After the CT string is run to depth, nitrogen
perforating operations. Shooting holes through gas is pumped through the string and into the
tubing and casing to produce a well is generally fluid column in the well. Nitrogen reduces the
achieved by downhole explosives deployed in density of the hydrostatic column. Once the
special perforation guns. In many cases, hydrostatic pressure of the fluid column drops
perforating guns are run into a well on wireline. below reservoir pressure, the well can begin to
However, because wireline tools are dependent flow. In some cases, the same effect can be
on gravity to reach the target zone, this approach gained by circulating a light liquid, such as
may not be possible in horizontal or highly diesel, instead of nitrogen gas.
deviated wells. And formation pressure can work
against wireline tools in underbalanced wells,
pushing the guns uphole and kinking the cable or
even sticking the guns.
For these wells, the guns can be conveyed
downhole at the end of conventional jointed Nitrogen
tubing or coiled tubing. Either of these is stronger gas
and more rigid than wireline, providing greater
load capacity for the tubing, which translates into
substantially longer gun strings and higher-angle
deployments. Compared with jointed tubing, the
CT option may offer advantages in speed when it
comes to tripping in and out of the hole.
Fluid conveyance—The capacity for
Hydrostatic pressure
circulating or injecting fluids makes CT especially
suited for production kickoff, cleanout, cement-
ing and stimulation applications. Reservoir
Coiled tubing can play an important role in pressure
initiating production in a well. When drilling or
workover fluids exert hydrostatic pressures that
exceed formation pressure, reservoir fluids are
> Nitrogen kickoff. Some wells need help to get
prevented from entering the wellbore. Pumping started. Injecting nitrogen into the well reduces
nitrogen through the CT string and into the fluid pressure imposed by completion or kill fluids, thus
column is a common method for kicking off permitting reservoir fluids to flow into the wellbore.
27

Coiled tubing
Screen
Gravel
> Gravel-pack washdown. As the gravel-pack
screen is lowered toward the top of the gravel,
surface pumps are activated. The pump rate is
sufficient to fluidize the gravel without causing it
to circulate back into the tubing. While the
pumps are active, the CT is slowly lowered into
the gravel until the screen reaches its setting
depth. A ball is pumped through the CT string to
release the screen, and then the CT string is
pulled back to surface.
The most common application for CT is the
cleanout and removal of sand or debris that fills
a wellbore. Fill material can seriously impede
production by reducing the flow of oil or gas. It
can also block the passage of slickline or wireline
tools during well operations or prevent downhole
sleeves and valves from opening or closing.
Common sources of fill are sand or fine material
produced from the reservoir, proppant materials
used during hydraulic fracturing operations,
organic scale and debris from workovers.
Fill removal typically involves circulating a
cleanout fluid, such as water, brine or diesel,
through a jet nozzle run on the end of the CT. As
the fluids are circulated, they carry the debris to
surface through the annulus between the CT
string and the completion tubing. Sometimes, an
acid or solvent is pumped to chemically break
down the fill before it is circulated out of the
wellbore. Gelled fluids may also be employed to
provide greater solids-carrying capacity than
28
water or diesel. The viscosity of gelled fluids
slows the fall of particles, making these fluids
highly effective in vertical and slightly deviated
wells. In some cases, adding nitrogen increases a
fluid’s capacity to lift solids.
Operators often select coiled tubing as a
conduit for pumping cement downhole. It can be
used in cement squeezes to seal perforations or
casing leaks, for primary or secondary zonal
isolation and to set cement plugs for kickoff or
abandonment operations.3 The squeeze tech-
nique plugs casing leaks or existing perforations
by pumping specially designed cement slurry
under pressure into these openings. A properly
designed squeeze job causes the cement to fill the
openings between the formation and the casing,
forming a seal. Setting a cement plug involves
circulating the cement slurry into position using
CT and then withdrawing the CT string to a point
above the top of cement. A slight squeeze
pressure is applied if necessary, the cement is
displaced by a tail slurry, and then the CT is
pulled out of the hole.
Compared to a standard workover rig, the
CT approach to cementing offers a range
of advantages:
• There is no need to pull completion equipment.
• The operation can be conducted without kill-
ing the well.
• The cement can be placed accurately, thus
reducing contamination of the slurry.
Treatment programs often use CT to convey
stimulation fluids that boost production by
restoring or improving the permeability of a
reservoir. In a matrix treatment, fluids are
pumped into a reservoir at a pressure below the
formation fracture threshold (see “Options for
High-Temperature Well Stimulation,” page 52).
This technique pushes the fluids through the
open pore spaces without initiating a fracture.
Completion operations—CT can facilitate
the installation of production tubing and
associated completion equipment. In certain
wells, a string or section of CT remains in the
borehole as a permanent part of the completion.
CT completions can provide a low-cost approach
for prolonging the life of old wells. Typical
installations include velocity strings, tubing
patches and through-tubing gravel packs (GPs).
For example, in some wells operators choose
to permanently install CT as a velocity string
inside existing production tubing. This approach
is used when a reduction in the gas-to-liquid
ratio of produced fluids or a decrease in bottom-
hole pressure causes a decline in production. A
decrease in fluid flow velocity results as gas
content declines, and the ensuing increase in
fluid slippage causes the well to load up. The
velocity string reduces the cross-sectional flow
area of the tubular, thus yielding higher flow
velocity for a given production rate and allowing
fluids to be carried out of well.
Coiled tubing may serve both as a conveyance
and a medium for patching production tubulars.
A CT tubing patch can be positioned in a
completion to cover mechanical damage or
erosion in tubing, to permanently shut off a
sliding sleeve, or to isolate perforations. Packers
set at the top and bottom of the patch hold it in
position and provide the seal between the
existing completion and CT string.
Coiled tubing is often used in completion
programs to convey tools, fluids and materials.
Frequently, wells drilled in unconsolidated sands
require the wire-mesh screen of a GP to prevent
sand production. Common GP installations
involve a washdown procedure.
First, the CT string is run to the GP depth,
then gravel is pumped through the coiled tubing.
The CT string is then retrieved to surface and a
GP screen assembly is attached (left). As the
cylindrical screen is run to the top of the gravel,
fluid is pumped through the CT to agitate the
gravel and allow the screen to settle into place
across from the perforations. The CT string is
then retrieved to surface. The GP keeps the sand
in place while allowing formation fluids to flow.
Should sanding begin later in the life of a non-GP
well, coiled tubing offers a means of installing a
through-tubing GP completion, in which GP
screens are installed through the existing
production tubing to maintain the original
completion hardware.
ACTive Sensors and Telemetry
The success of fill cleanouts, matrix stimulations,
cementing jobs and other CT applications is
closely linked with the ability to model and
evaluate the behavior of downhole parameters
such as temperature and pressure. In other
applications such as perforating operations or
installation of packers, tubing patches or
whipstocks, the ability to accurately control
depth is absolutely necessary. However, CT crews
and operators often depend on indirect surface
indicators to infer these critical parameters.
For conventional CT jobs, downhole pressure
is often estimated from surface readings of
pressure at the pump or wellhead. However,
subtle pressure changes can be attenuated
through thousands of feet of wellbore fluid before
reaching surface. Thus, surface indicators may
sometimes be misleading.
Oilfield Review
 Tool depth is another critical parameter that
may be subject to error or misinterpretation. For
instance, accurate placement of gun strings is
essential to the success of any perforating job.
Poor depth control could mean a missed target or
poor contact with the hydrocarbon interval or—
even worse—perforating into a water zone.
In the past, a dedicated tie-in run was
required for depth control. The CT was run in the
hole with a memory gamma ray and casing collar
locator (GR-CCL) tool to identify a known
reference point in the well. Typical reference
points included the bottom of the well, a known
restriction, a distinctive piece of completion
equipment or a short length of pipe called a pup
joint. Reference points such as TD or a known
restriction were found by tagging, or gingerly
setting down on them. Others, such as pup joints
or completion intervals, were located by the
GR-CCL tool. Upon reaching the reference point,
a mark was placed on the coiled tubing at surface
to flag the amount of tubing that had been
spooled off the reel. The CT GR-CCL was then
pulled out of the hole, and perforating guns
were installed.
However, other factors enter into the depth-
tie-in process: The length of the interval from the
downhole correlation point to the pay zone must
be considered, along with a host of new details.
Between the memory run and the perforating
run, a change in tools will be accompanied by a
significant change in bottomhole assembly
(BHA) dimensions and weights, fluids, friction,
debris and coiled tubing deformation. Any one or
combination of factors could alter the placement
of the downhole measure point with regard to the
surface reference flag. Tubing-depth errors as
high as 0.3% were not uncommon.4
The industry is quite aware of the potential
for trouble caused by reliance on surface indica-
tors. The range of problems is wide and varied:
• packers and plugs that are set off depth as a
result of poor depth control
• perforating guns that are detonated off depth
because of poor depth control
• guns that fail to fire owing to pressure discrep-
ancies—discovered only after coiled tubing
has been retrieved to surface
• wells that fail to perform as expected as a
result of insufficient underbalance prior
to perforating.
To address such issues, a special BHA was
developed along with an advanced fiber-optic
telemetry system and a surface control system
for assessing downhole job performance. The
Winter 2008/2009
ACTive monitoring system incorporates sensors
inside the BHA to measure temperature, annulus Coiled
tubing (CT)
pressure and CT pressure (right). Depth control
is handled by a fully configurable casing collar CT connector
locator, also carried in the BHA. The CCL is
sensitive enough to detect collars at any logging CT head
speed and is capable of detecting flush-joint
connections at logging speeds of 15 ft/min
[4.6 m/min]. This sensitivity has also helped
operators find other anomalies, such as
perforations and casing defects.
Designated as the PTC (pressure,
Electronics
temperature, CCL), this BHA and associated
and sensors
telemetry system give operators access to
fundamental information that might only be seen
in surface measurements many seconds later—
or not at all. Measurements made downhole, at
the point of application, help CT crews more
accurately control depth and respond to
parameters as they change during the course of a
treatment. The PTC assembly is made up
beneath the CT head at the terminus of the CT Casing
string. It can be run with other CT tools such as collar locator
a perforating gun, multilateral locator tool,
inflatable packer and jetting tool, and it is
designed to withstand high tensile loads, torque
and pressure.
This tool has two distinct sections: the CT Crossover sub
head, which provides a CT connector while
housing the termination for the optical fiber, and
a power supply for electronic components.
The 21⁄8-in. [5.4-cm] OD BHA comes with a built-
in check valve. The minimum flow-through > ACTive BHA. Downhole temperature and
restriction is 0.688 in. [1.7 cm], which allows pressure sensors, along with a casing collar
ball-operated tools to be run below the fiber- locator, are key components of the ACTive BHA.
optic sub. This assembly is only about 7 ft [2 m] long, and it is
made up between the CT head and the crossover
A rugged high-bandwidth fiber-optic telemetry sub to provide measurements just above the
system is placed inside the CT string to convey downhole tools deployed by the CT string. Optical
PTC measurements to surface. Optical fiber fiber inside a protective metal carrier (inset )
offers a number of advantages over other hard- conveys data to the surface.
wired transmission media. In contrast to electric
wireline, glass fibers are used to carry signals in enclosed in a protective and flexible INCONEL
the form of light pulses, resulting in faster steel carrier. The carrier and fibers are run
transmissions and immunity to electromagnetic through the CT reel to the head of the tool at the
interference. Certain wavelengths of these light end of the CT string. The fiber-optic carrier, with
pulses are sensitive to changes in temperature, an outer diameter of just 0.071 in. [1.8 mm], has
and this characteristic is exploited to create an a negligible impact on the CT internal cross
intrinsic sensor that measures temperatures section and so does not affect pumping rates. It
along the length of the fiber (see “Downhole is very lightweight, weighing nearly one-
Temperatures from Optical Fiber,” page 34). twentieth of an equivalent length of electric
The ACTive configuration uses four optical
fibers: Two strands are dedicated to the PTC, one 3. Primary zonal isolation is typically established by an
inflatable packer, while secondary zonal isolation is
is used for measuring temperature, and one established subsequently, using cement.
strand is set aside as a spare. These strands are 4. Rangel PD, Sorman I, Blount CG and Woods N: “Fiber-
Optic-Enabled Coiled-Tubing Operations on Alaska’s
North Slope,” paper SPE 106567, presented at the
SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention
Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA.
March 20–21, 2007.
29
 4150

4162

4174

FROM SURFACE
Depth (m)

CCL CORRELATED
CT
HEAD

DEPTH
4186 CT HEAD

DEPTH TOOL REF

TO CCL

(NO OFFSET APPLIED)

CENTER
CCL

CT CORR DEPTH
CENTER

DEPTH TOOL END

CCL
CENTER
TO TOOL
REF CCL
4198 CENTER
TO TOOL
END
TOOL
REF
POINT

TOOL
END
4210 BLUE ITEMS REPRESENT DISTANCE
-100 -83 -67 -50 -33 -17 0 17 -33 50 67 83 100 BETWEEN TOOL LANDMARKS
CCL GRAY ITEMS ARE TOOL LANDMARKS

> CTU control cabin display. Computer monitors can pull up a variety of displays. Here, CCL data were used to create a depth-correlation plot. Raw CCL
data (red curve) are subsequently filtered (blue curve) to eliminate background noise. When filtered values exceed a specified threshold, they trigger a
response (green curve), which is used in correlation. In addition to plotting CCL data in real time, the user can enter casing collar depths from previous log
runs (blue dots), which serve as depth-correlation points.

monocable wireline. The nickel-chromium alloy
of the metal carrier has been tested extensively
and has withstood temperatures up to 300°F
[149°C] and corrosive acid treatments or harsh
bottomhole conditions common to nitrogen
kickoff or fill-cleanout jobs. This self-contained
fiber-optic system imposes no additional
footprint on standard CT packages.
A two-way communication module, mounted
behind a pressure bulkhead on the CT reel,
receives data from the PTC sensors via the fiber-
optic system. The communication module also
transmits commands downhole through the
tool’s fiber-optic bundle. At the surface, a com-
munication bridge moves data securely and
wirelessly between the communication module
and a router in the CTU control cabin. A
computer in the control cabin displays and
monitors downhole job parameters, and can
transmit commands back to the communication
module and then down to the tool (above and
next page). Using the ACTive BHA, telemetry and
control system, the operator can monitor annular
pressure to confirm efficient cleanouts, measure
inflation- and differential-pressure across a
packer, or confirm in real time that perforating
guns have detonated successfully.
These downhole measurement capabilities
have been put to the test around the world,
across a wide range of applications.
ACTive Perforating in Malaysia
Talisman Malaysia Ltd. (TML) operates more
than 130 wells in the South China Sea, where the
company has gained extensive experience in
perforating using CT conveyance. To carry out a
CT perforation campaign, TML called for the
ACTive system to ensure that perforations were
shot on depth. TML set a maximum under-
balance that would not exceed a safe formation
drawdown to avoid the risk of collapsing the
perforation tunnels.5 The company also
anticipated a savings in rig time achieved by
avoiding depth-tie-in runs.
5. Rae G, Yusof MB, Ghani J, Mokhtar S and Munro J:
“Improved Method for Underbalanced Perforating
with Coiled Tubing in the South China Sea,” paper
SPE 113698, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing
and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition,
The Woodlands, Texas, April 1–2, 2008.

30 Oilfield Review
 Decipher - [Bottom Hole Pressure Condition Indicators]

Zone-1: 5600 ft Zone-2: 5750 ft

Zone-3: 6000 ft Zone-4: 6050 ft

> Downhole pressure readings. This window is used to monitor downhole pressure conditions as they occur at different depths within a wellbore. ACTive
downhole pressure data can be combined with user input regarding fluid types to obtain feedback on downhole pressure conditions. Although this display
shows four zones, the operator can actually monitor up to six different depths at a time. The background of each dial changes color to represent real-time
pressure conditions seen at a particular zone. While the dial presents a snapshot in time, a bar graph below each dial displays pressure conditions during
the entire job. These readings can be easily referenced in real time during the job or can be saved for postjob analysis.

Talisman’s experience, along with perforating
records and production analysis, indicated that
the higher the underbalance, the more effective
the removal of perforation damage. However, in
neighboring fields, guns had sanded in as a result
of excessive drawdown. After evaluating core and
log data, the TML reservoir group determined
that a 1,000-psi [6.9-MPa] initial underbalance
would be sufficient to remove perforation
damage while avoiding failure of the perforation
tunnels and fluid invasion beyond the new
perforations. The group chose deep-penetrating
charges to bypass drilling damage and increase
effective wellbore radius.
TML planned to perforate several intervals
that were just 2 to 3 m [7 to 10 ft] in length. A
high degree of depth accuracy and a means to
confirm gun detonation were therefore required.
TML also wanted flexibility to use the CT for
other applications such as fill cleanout, if
necessary. Size and weight were also considera-
tions because the job was to be performed
without a rig; crane capacity on most of the
platforms was only about 16 metric tons and deck
space was limited.
TML’s plan called for displacing wellbore fluid
with nitrogen to achieve the required under-
balance of 1,000 psi in this 3,200-psi [22-MPa]
reservoir. As nitrogen pumping progressed,
ACTive real-time bottomhole pressure measure-
ments prompted the operator to displace an
additional 50 bbl [5.8 m3] of fluid from the well to
achieve the desired underbalance. Real-time
measurements following this additional displace-
ment confirmed a bottomhole pressure of

Winter 2008/2009 31
 3,900 310 downhole via the annulus to the eFire-CT
CT bottomhole Pressure pulse sequence
pressure Guns fired electronic firing head system. Upon receiving the
3,800 300
correct sequence of pulses, the eFire-CT system
3,700 290 detonated the guns. In the control cabin, the
operator saw positive confirmation that the guns
3,600 280
had fired as programmed: The ACTive sensor
Pressure, psi

3,500 270 recorded an instantaneous increase in

bottomhole pressure to 3,700 psi [25.5 MPa],
3,400 260 accompanied by an increase in bottomhole
3,300 250
temperature (left).
Bottomhole temperature
The coiled tubing was then retrieved to
3,200 240 surface and the well was flowed to production.
Annular bottomhole pressure
3,100 230
Following the perforation of a second, adjacent
03:05:11 03:08:31 03:11:51 03:15:11 03:18:31 zone, production was established at 70 MMcf/d
Time, h [1.98 million m3/d].
> Detonation indicators. A coded sequence of pressure pulses is sent downhole to command a
perforating gun to fire. Real-time data confirm hydrostatic pressures, firing-head-activation pulses Openhole Stimulation in Canada
and the perforation event. In this case, downhole pressure and temperature increased substantially An operator in western Canada faced multiple
after firing.
challenges while planning matrix stimulation
of a multilateral well in a mature gas field.
2,200 psi [15.2 MPa], thus signaling that 1,000-psi perforated. During descent, the CCL detected This multilateral well consisted of openhole
underbalance had been reached in accordance short pup joints installed above the perforation completions in two branches drilled in a
with the perforating design. zone. During the first run, a 10-m [33-ft] gun naturally fractured dolomite formation. Along
The CCL tool on the ACTive BHA helped to string was used to perforate a pay interval. With with methane, it produced 21% H2S and 5% CO2.
precisely position the guns at the zone to be the guns on depth, nitrogen pulses were sent Successful stimulation would hinge on three
important factors:
• ability of the conveyance tools to enter each
branch of the well
90 25
• proper functioning of the tools in a subhydro-
static environment
4 • effectiveness of the stimulation fluid in treat-
80 20 ing the formation.
3 The subhydrostatic condition resulting from
depletion of this mature reservoir limited its
Fracture density, fractures/meter

WI ability to support a full column of fluid, which is

70 15 normally required when using downhole tools
2
that depend on pressure-pulse telemetry.6 The
1 ACTive matrix stimulation service—with its
fiber-optic telemetry, CCL depth control, precise
60 10 fluid-conveyance capabilities and downhole
WI temperature and pressure measurements—was
an ideal alternative. To guide its entry into the
WI intended branch of the well, a multilateral
Fracture density from FMI log
50 5 reentry tool was attached to the crossover sub
beneath the ACTive BHA.
The Discovery MLT multilateral tool consists
of an orienting tool and a controllable bent sub.
40 0 From the surface, the CT engineer can orient the
3,200 3,400 3,600 3,800 4,000 4,200
tool azimuthally while controlling the angle of the
Depth, m
bent sub to identify the window to each lateral in
> DTS temperature response to water injection followed by acid treatment. A fracture density plot
a multilateral well. Downhole pressure readings
from an FMI fullbore formation microimager (bottom ) indicates the presence of numerous fractures
throughout this openhole completion. Following a preacidizing water wash of the wellbore, a DTS allow the engineer to confirm successful entry
survey (blue curve) was obtained. The temperature data show three cold spots (WI) where water has into the selected leg. After the lateral branch
entered formation fractures, noticeably lowering temperatures below the established gradient. The designated for stimulation was entered, depth
operator expected that these zones would be receptive to the subsequent acid treatment. Another correlation using the CCL aided in positioning the
DTS survey (red curve) obtained after the acid treatment revealed four hot spots where fractures were
opened by the acid. Zones 2 and 4 correspond to the operator’s expectations, but Zones 1 and 3 BHA for optimal stimulation.
proved to be bonuses, where fractures took up acid but had not taken water during the prewash.

32 Oilfield Review

Bottomhole Temperature
150
Total Pump Rate
0 bbl/min
Time
> Downhole temperature and pressure. A preliminary run confirmed depth and
bottomhole temperature for cement slurry design (left ). Real-time differential
pressure held steady at 1,000 psi, confirming packer integrity (right ).
Pretreatment distributed temperature sensor
(DTS) data showed CT crews where to spot the
stimulation acid and the diverting acid, while
real-time bottomhole pressure readings provided
feedback during the treatment. Once the initial
treatment had been pumped, downhole temper-
ature readings identified enhanced fluid-
injection points and other zones that could be
opened up further. Based on analysis of these
downhole readings, the operator fine-tuned the
diverter and acidizing program and revised the
pump schedule for the next stage. The changes
allowed temporary diversion of fluid from the
initially stimulated zones and provided better
overall treatment of each branch of the
multilateral (previous page, bottom left). A
subsequent DTS survey confirmed that the
treatment had successfully diverted the acid to
stimulate the remaining targeted zones.
6. Harber B, Stuker J and Pipchuk D: “Improved System
for Accessing Multilateral Wells in Canada,” paper
SPE 113724, presented at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing
and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition,
The Woodlands, Texas, April 1–2, 2008.
7. Cismoski DA, Rossberg RS, Julian JY, Murphy G,
Scarpella D, Zambrano A and Meyer CA: “High-Volume
Wellwork Planning and Execution on the North Slope,
Alaska,” paper SPE 113955, presented at the SPE/ICoTA
Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and
Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, April 1–2, 2008.
Winter 2008/2009
Annular Bottomhole Pressure
200 2,000 psi 5,000
CT Bottomhole Pressure
1 2,000 psi 5,000
Δp = 1,000 psi
Reducing Water Cut in Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, the ACTive system was used to
revive oil production in a horizontal well with a
60% water cut. The new well, an openhole
completion, had been producing oil intermit-
tently from a carbonate reservoir. Most of the
water was produced from the toe of the well.
Saudi Aramco appreciated the complexity of
water shutoff operations in this horizontal well. A
lack of information about depth, bottomhole
temperature and pressure could affect the
reliability of high-expansion bridge plugs,
cement-plug formulation and placement of
isolation devices to shut off the water-producing
zone. Saudi Aramco selected ACTive services to
provide zonal isolation and reduce water cut
without using a workover rig.
The operation deployed a through-tubing
inflatable packer on CT, along with a cement plug,
to isolate the water-producing zone from the rest
of the horizontal wellbore. PTC temperature and
pressure measurements obtained during the first
run in the hole aided in formulation of a
customized cement slurry program. The packer
was set in place during the second run in the hole.
Real-time readings from the PTC casing collar
locator were used to confirm the bottom of casing
in this openhole completion, and the packer
setting depth was correlated from this point. After
the packer was placed at the oil/water interface, a
ball was dropped through the ACTive BHA to
initiate setting and expansion of the packer.
Specially formulated cement slurry was pumped
on top of the packer during the third CT run (left).
To restart production, nitrogen pumped in the
hole displaced the kill fluids while CT crews moni-
tored downhole pressures in real time.
Using the ACTive isolation service, Saudi
Aramco was able to cut the operation time in
half. Water cut decreased from 3,000 bbl/d
[477 m3/d] to 1,500 bbl/d [239 m3/d], and oil
production increased by 1,000 bbl/d [159 m3/d].
The Future Is Now
New measurement capabilities for fiber optics
are the focus of several investigations and may
come to enhance the array of tools available for
CT applications. These measurements will
provide advances in production logging capabil-
ities and enable monitoring of operational
parameters for improved BHA performance and
longevity. Field experience is already leading to
more sophisticated workflows and intuitive
interpretation software to make the most of the
downhole measurements.
Operators are realizing benefits in increased
safety and efficiency obtained through moni-
toring downhole conditions. Further increases in
safety and efficiency will come as more operators
monitor these jobs from their own desktops,
maintaining their office schedules while
reducing their exposure to travel and wellsite
risk. This vision is already a reality in some areas.
In Alaska, some BP staff monitor job progress by
taking advantage of secure real-time data
transmissions from the wellsite.7 A standard Web
browser and Internet port connect experts
from the BP Anchorage office to approximately
80% of the BP wellsites around Prudhoe Bay.
Transmissions to the BP iCenter networked
collaborative environment enable Anchorage-
based engineers to view data and discuss options
with rig personnel.
The popularity, and hence the capabilities, of
fiber-optic coiled tubing will continue to grow
as this technology expands into a broader range
of applications. — MV
33
 Downhole Temperatures from
Optical Fiber

Send a pulse of light through a strand of optical fiber running inside a wellbore, and
the well’s temperature profile reflects back. This is both the promise and reality of
distributed temperature sensing in the oil field today. The many uses for this data are
taking fiber-optic technology into the forefront of production monitoring and diagnostics.

George Brown
Southampton, England
Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4.
Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger.
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Matt Garber,
Rosharon, Texas, USA; and Dominic Haughton, Technical
Editing Services, Chester, England.
ACTive, THERMA and WellWatcher BriteBlue are marks
of Schlumberger.
1. Leonardon EG: “The Economic Utility of Thermometric
Measurements in Drill Holes in Connection with Drilling
and Cementing Problems,” Geophysics 1, no. 1 (January
1936): 115–126.
2. For a discussion of permanent downhole fiber-optic
sensors: Al-Asimi M, Butler G, Brown G, Hartog A,
Clancy T, Cosad C, Fitzgerald J, Navarro J, Gabb A,
Ingham J, Kimminau S, Smith J and Stephenson K:
“Advances in Well and Reservoir Surveillance,”
Oilfield Review 14, no. 4 (Winter 2002/2003): 14–35.
Temperature plays an important role in many
downhole processes, and thermal measurements
have long been used to monitor the performance
of producing wells. Indeed, since the 1930s,
engineers have used wellbore-temperature data
for calculating flow contributions, evaluating
water-injection profiles, diagnosing the effective-
ness of fracture jobs, finding cement tops behind
casing and identifying crossflow between zones.1
For many years, the popularity of this very basic
measurement was largely overshadowed by other,
more exotic measurements obtained through
sophisticated suites of logging tools. However,
the development of fiber-optic technology
has helped spur a resurgence of interest in
temperature measurements.
Though first used in the oil patch as a medium
for transmitting data and commands, optical fiber
has evolved into an intrinsic downhole sensor.
During the 1980s, researchers in fiber optics
developed a means for measuring temperature
along the length of the optical fiber, and this
technology was integrated into certain types of oil
and gas completions by the early 1990s.2
Requiring no moving parts or downhole
electronics, distributed temperature sensing
(DTS) relies on a laser beam and a continuous
strand of optical fiber to collect spatially
distributed temperature data.
Rather than recording a single temperature
snapshot during occasional and infrequent
wireline logging runs, a fiber-optic DTS system can
obtain extremely sensitive wellbore-temperature
measurements at regular time intervals along
each meter [3.3 ft] of a well. This uniform
sampling enables the DTS system to pinpoint the
time and position of temperature changes as they
occur, improving understanding of the processes
that are taking place inside the wellbore.
This article describes the workings of a
distributed temperature sensing system and
discusses how knowledge of a key principle
governing the thermal behavior of oil or gas
in wellbores helps engineers deduce what is
happening downhole.

34 Oilfield Review
Winter 2008/2009 35
 10-ns pulses of laser light Optical fiber
Optical splitter

Laser

Backscattered light

Signal-
processing unit

Display unit

> DTS process. The DTS laser shoots bursts of light down the length of the optical fiber. Some light
returns in the form of backscatter. The backscattered light is split from the incident pulses and filtered
into discrete wavelengths. Because the speed of light is constant, a log of the backscattered light can
be generated for each meter of the fiber.

DTS Basics
In its most basic form, a DTS system comprises a
strand of optical fiber, a laser light source,
an optical splitter, an optoelectronic signal-
processing unit and a display unit (above). The
fiber-optic strand is actually housed inside a
protective tube, or carrier. A strand is hair thin—
only about 100 microns thick—and has a central
core of silica glass, some 5 to 50 microns in
diameter. The core is surrounded by an outer layer
of silica known as cladding. The silica composition
of the cladding is doped with other components—
such as germanium or fluorine—to alter its
refractive index and light-dispersion properties.
A laser launches 10-ns pulses of light (an
interval equivalent to nearly 1 m) down the fiber
strand. As each input pulse travels through the
strand, its light is reflected along the boundary
between the core of the fiber and its cladding,
through a phenomenon known as total internal
reflection. The core has a higher refractive index
than the doped cladding, and light that strays
from the centerline of the core will eventually
strike the core/cladding boundary at an angle that
guides the light beam back toward the center.
However, a fraction of that light is none-
theless scattered as the pulse travels down the
fiber. Light can be scattered by density fluctua-
tions or minute compositional variations in the
glass—through a process known as Rayleigh
scattering—or by acoustic vibrations that
change the refractive index of the optical fiber—
known as Brillouin scattering.
For the purpose of DTS, the most important
mode of light scatter is a third type called Raman
scattering, which is caused by inelastic collisions
of photons with molecules in the fiber medium.
These collisions alter the molecules’ vibrational-
energy states. A scattered photon may either lose
energy to the molecule and raise it to a higher
vibrational-energy state, called Stokes scattering,
or it may gain energy by moving the molecule to a
lower vibrational-energy state, called anti-Stokes
scattering (next page, top).
A portion of this scattered light is reflected
back along the fiber toward the laser source.
Along the way, a directional coupler separates
the input light pulse from the backscatter signal.
The returning signal is then sent to a highly
sensitive receiver, where the Raman wavelengths
are filtered from the dominant Rayleigh and
Brillouin backscatter.
The energy transferred in Raman scattering
between the scattering molecule and the photon
is temperature dependent. The Raman signal
comprises two components—the Stokes and
anti-Stokes wavelengths. The longer-wavelength
Stokes signal is very weakly temperature
sensitive; however, backscattered light at the
shorter anti-Stokes wavelength is strongly
temperature sensitive. The ratio of these two
signals is directly proportional to the temper-
ature of the scattering medium.
The backscattered light is also analyzed to
determine how far down the fiber it originated.
Because each input pulse is 10 ns long, the
interval from which the backscattered light
originated will correspond directly to a specific
meter-long segment of the fiber. Consequently, a
log of temperature can be calculated along the
length of the fiber by using only the laser source,
the analyzer and a reference temperature in the
surface system. There is no need for calibration
points along the fiber or for calibration of the
fiber before installation.

36 Oilfield Review
Going Against the Gradient
When a DTS system is initially run in the hole,
geoscientists use its temperature measurements
to determine a well’s geothermal gradient, based Laser Light
on changes in temperature that occur naturally
with depth. Although temperature gradients can Rayleigh band

Number of backscattered
be useful in certain well log corrections, it is not

photons detected
necessarily the gradient that interests most
Brillouin lines Brillouin lines
geoscientists. Rather, it is deviations from the
gradient that catch their attention. From these
deviations, they can infer certain characteristics
about the fluids that flow from a reservoir. Anti-Stokes Stokes
The temperature profile of a well changes as Raman band Raman band
fluids are withdrawn or injected. The magnitude
of this change varies from one formation to Wavelength
another, depending on injection or production > Backscatter spectrum. To obtain temperature measurements, the DTS
time and rate, formation permeability and system analyzes the Raman signals. The ratio of Stokes to anti-Stokes
thermal properties of the fluid and the rock.3 A signals is proportional to the temperature.
DTS system can monitor disturbances in thermal
equilibrium over time to detect such events.
Although production or injection may initially
introduce fluids of a different temperature into
the wellbore, other noticeable thermal changes
take place as a result of the fluid flow. These
changes are explained by the Joule-Thomson
effect, which is directly associated with the
pressure drawdown experienced by fluids as they
pass from the reservoir into the wellbore.4 This Ge
type of temperature change occurs both when ot
he
rm
fluids flow into the wellbore, where a large al
gr
ad Flowing
pressure drop often occurs, and when they flow ien
t temperature
up the wellbore, where a more gradual pressure
Depth

drop typically takes place (right).

The drop in pressure drives a corresponding
change in volume of the liquid or gas, which is
accompanied by a change in temperature.
Through this phenomenon, it is common to see
warming when oil or water enters a wellbore, or
cooling when gas enters.5 The geothermal
gradient and the Joule-Thomson effect can be
modeled using sophisticated nodal pressure and
finite-element thermal-modeling tools, such as
THERMA analysis software for wells with
distributed temperature sensing.
3. Brown G and Walker I: “Light Fantastic,” Middle East &
Asia Reservoir Review no. 5 (2004): 32–49. Available
online at http://www.slb.com/media/services/
resources/mewr/num5/light_fantastic.pdf (accessed
February 18, 2009).
4. The Joule-Thomson effect accounts for the change in
temperature of a fluid upon its expansion in a steady-
flow process involving no heat transfer or constant
enthalpy. This effect occurs in “throttling-type”
processes such as adiabatic flow through a porous plug
or through an expansion valve.
5. Al-Asimi et al, reference 2.
Reservoir interval
Joule-Thomson
cooling on inflow
Temperature
> Deviations from the geothermal gradient. Gas resides in a reservoir at a
temperature corresponding to that of the local geothermal gradient (green
dashed line). In a typical flowing well, gas will cool as it expands upon
entering the wellbore, as dictated by the Joule-Thomson effect. The gas
then flows up the well, exchanging heat with its surroundings by conduction
through the casing (losing heat if gas temperature is above the geothermal
gradient, and taking heat if its temperature is below the gradient). The
resulting temperature profile is a function of the flow rate and fluid,
borehole and formation thermal properties. This process continues as the
gas flows up the well until the temperature curve eventually becomes
parallel to the geothermal gradient.

Winter 2008/2009 37
 2,500
Immediate shut-in Flowing
temperature temperature
2,600
10-h shut-in
temperature
2,700
Geothermal
gradient
2,800

Depth, m 2,900

3,000 Pivot points

3,100 Day 1 19:01:42

Day 2 10:47:40
3,200 Day 2 20:38:02

3,300 Crossflow
upon shut-in
3,400
70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110

> DTS analysis of a flowing gas well. Deviation from the geothermal gradient (green line) is associated
with fluid movement through the wellbore. DTS data were recorded while the well flowed normally
(black curve) through the perforated intervals, immediately after shut-in (blue curve) and following
10 hours of shut-in (red curve). Decreases in temperature below the geothermal gradient at 3,035 and
3,320 m occur as gas flows from the reservoir and cools upon encountering a near-wellbore pressure
drop, in accordance with the Joule-Thomson effect. When the well is shut in (blue curve), the
relatively cold reservoir rock cools the wellbore fluid, reflecting the magnitude of the Joule-Thomson
temperature effect on individual reservoir layers, which also indicates which zones have higher or
lower reservoir drawdowns. Thus, after 10 hours of shut-in, instead of warming toward the geothermal
line, the zone at 3,035 m remains cold (red curve), a sign that it is still producing. In fact, this zone is
actually producing down the well into the zone at 3,300 m. The interval at 3,320 m also continues to
flow, and its gas is also being drawn up to the zone at 3,300 m. In this manner, the data not only show
which perforated intervals are flowing under normal flowing conditions, but which intervals crossflow
during shut-in.
Other interesting features on this chart are the pivot points, shown where the flowing temperature
curve intersects the shut-in curve. During shut-in, temperatures at most depths either warm up or cool
down, but at a pivot point there is no change—indicating no heat transfer between the wellbore fluid
and the reservoir. Thus, both the flowing-temperature curve and the shut-in curve are at the
geothermal temperature. Identification of such points helps to define the geothermal gradient; they are
the only points at the geothermal temperature irrespective of whether the well is flowing or not. This is
an important and convenient tool because, under typical conditions, a well may not be shut in long
enough to cool back to the actual geothermal temperature.

A flowing gas well illustrates the range of
information that can be inferred from DTS
measurements (above). Three snapshots taken
during a 25-hour period allow a comparison of
temperatures across multiple completion
intervals. This type of comparison reveals that
some zones—including the largest zone at about
2,680 m—exhibit unchanging temperatures,
thus indicating they are not productive.
Distributed temperature sensing technology
was used to diagnose the cause of a drop in
production from a well offshore peninsular
Malaysia, in the South China Sea. When Talisman
Malaysia Ltd. noticed a production problem in a
well at Bunga Raya field, the operator responded
with a chemical treatment to remove emulsions
and polymers previously left by drilling fluids.6
Immediately following treatment, the well—an
openhole completion with a slotted liner—saw
production increase from 200 to 2,200 bbl/d
[32 to 350 m3/d].
However, production dropped just as dramati-
cally within five hours of the treatment, finally
stabilizing at pretreatment rates. Talisman
engineers suspected that emulsions and asphal-
tenes had formed in the wellbore during shut-in
while rigging down from the treatment. The
operator needed more information on the well’s
formation characteristics and wellbore trajectory
to understand the cause of the post-treatment
production decline and to determine where and
how the emulsions and asphaltenes were forming.
Other concerns were how to dissolve the emulsions
and asphaltenes and prevent their recurrence.
Talisman called on Schlumberger to imple-
ment a well cleanup program. An ACTive DTS
temperature profile was obtained during a coiled
tubing (CT) run into the hole (for more on the
ACTive in-well live performance system, see
“Shining a Light on Coiled Tubing,” page 24). This
6. Parta PE, Parapat A, Burgos R, Christian J,
Jamaluddin A, Rae G, Foo SK, Ghani H and Musa M:
“A Successful Application of Fiber-Optic-Enabled Coiled
Tubing and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) Along
with Pressures to Diagnose Production Decline in an
Offshore Oil Well,” paper SPE 121696, prepared for
presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing and Well
Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands,
Texas, March 31–April 1, 2009.

38 Oilfield Review
 122 Adding Another Dimension
117
Advances in DTS are providing operators with a
choice of permanent or temporary wellbore-
112 temperature sensor systems. When installed as a
permanent component of a completion system,
107
the DTS monitoring system supplies valuable
102 temperature data in real time, allowing opera-
3,120 3,160 3,200 3,240 3,280 3,320 3,360 3,400 3,440 3,480 3,520 3,560 3,600 3,640
Depth, m tors to respond quickly to changes in production.
> DTS measurements from the Bunga Raya well. The temperature decrease from 116°C [240°F] in the During workovers or other interventions, a DTS
heel to 107°C [225°F] in the toe was caused by cooling as a result of gas production. system can be run into a wellbore by slickline or
inside coiled tubing; at the end of the job, the
optical fiber is retrieved from the well.
A thin, flexible steel tube protects and houses
survey provided a single-point temperature along with ACTive pressure sensor data, implied the optical fiber, enabling the glass fiber to snake
reading at the ACTive tool head and distributed that insufficient pressure support from a nearby along the wellbore trajectory. This capability
temperature readings along the optical fiber that water injector was responsible for gas-cap permits geoscientists to precisely locate and plot
ran inside the CT. Using the newly acquired data, expansion in this declining producer. The reason the position of downhole thermal events. Such
engineers selected the optimal location to collect for the cooling effect was gas production from data are valuable in their own right. However, by
representative bottomhole hydrocarbon samples the toe section resulting from gas-cap expansion, taking a series of temperature surveys over a
and thus determine the best treatment interval. which in turn limited liquid production. The given period, a geoscientist can compile a 3D
DTS data indicated that the temperature had combination of gas rates with oil and water display to track the progression of a thermal
dropped across the entire interval, but was production created a tight viscous emulsion that event in space and time (below left). Specialized
lowest at the toe (above). The temperature data, ultimately hindered production in this well. programs such as THERMA modeling and
analysis software for wells with distributed
temperature sensing can be used to load multiple
A temperature traces and assess well performance.
Viewing the DTS data as a series of traces allows
time-based properties of the well’s performance
to be identified in production, injection and acid
Reservoir inte stimulation applications.
rval
B Advances in fiber technology are also helping
to expand the range of DTS applications.
Distributed temperature sensing systems are
now being installed in heavy-oil thermal-recovery
wells in Canada. These wells, known as steam-
53 assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) wells, are
inhospitable to fiber-optic systems. Most optical
fibers degrade when exposed to the levels of
02:22
hydrogen found in these heavy-oil wells. The rate
02:02
of degradation accelerates at high temperatures
typical of SAGD wells, and this impairment can
01:32
eventually prevent the transmission of laser
42 Heel
pulses through the fiber. With the development of
01:02
Time

1,200 WellWatcher BriteBlue optical fiber for harsh

1,400 environments, DTS systems are better able to
1,600 00:32
Distan withstand heat and resist hydrogen degradation.
ce, m 1,800
Stimula Toe
The downhole data acquired with these
ted inte 2,000
rvals 00:02 permanently installed fibers help operators
evaluate SAGD steam-chamber profiles to gain a
No-flo better understanding of the steam-injection
wz one
process. This knowledge is helping operators
> THERMA 3D temperature tracking. DTS measurements were obtained in a horizontal gas well (A). extend the life of wells and increase overall
When consecutive surveys are recorded, a 3D display can be generated (B). DTS recorded the hydrocarbon recovery. —MV
response of the reservoir interval at 1,340 to 2,200 m, which had been stimulated by nitrogen injected
through CT. Cold intervals (blue) indicate reservoir zones that have taken nitrogen at time 00:02. Over
the course of the next two hours (00:32 to 02:22), the DTS data track hot and cold events caused by
conduction from the reservoir as fluids move along the wellbore, thereby showing which of the
stimulated intervals are flowing. The data identify two major intervals where the treatment was
successful and reveal that the toe of the well was not stimulated sufficiently to flow.

Winter 2008/2009 39
 Satellite Sensing: Risk Mapping
for Seismic Surveys

Stephen Coulson Satellite imaging of the Earth’s surface provides an invaluable view from on high. The
Ola Gråbak
European Space Agency colorful and sometimes artistic images result from combinations of data from different
Frascati, Italy portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Geoscientists use these to discriminate land
Andrew Cutts use, type of vegetation, lithology, elevation and surface roughness. By evaluating these
Denis Sweeney
Gatwick, England remotely sensed attributes, they establish risk factors for seismic source and receiver
signal quality, for vehicular and personnel access and for potential survey damage to
Ralph Hinsch
Martin Schachinger the environment.
Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG
Vienna, Austria
Remote sensing by orbiting satellites provides along with interpretations of terrain stability,
Andreas Laake input to seismic survey planning for all four determines safe deployment of seismic acquisi-
Cairo, Egypt components of QHSE: quality, health, safety and tion vehicles and associated equipment. Finally,
environment. Data from satellite surveys give remote-sensing data can identify environmentally
David J. Monk
map and elevation views of features on and just sensitive areas and, through their use in survey
Apache Corporation
Houston, Texas, USA below the surface, as well as an indication of rock planning, minimize the negative impact of
type. These images from above replace detailed seismic acquisition on these areas.
Jeff Towart ground evaluations, a key benefit in remote or Satellite images of the Earth’s surface have
Apache Egypt hazardous locations. become familiar to many people through Web
Cairo, Egypt The risk of low-quality seismic data because of services such as Google Earth. However, remote
poor coupling between the ground and a seismic sensing is more than just a map image: Satellite
Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4. source or receiver is inferred from satellite images present a continuous view across an area
Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger.
imagery using a rock physics model of the inter- in multiple spectral bands. Typically, these
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Steven
Covington, US Geological Survey (USGS) and Darrel Williams, preted lithology. The ability to locate dangerous include reflected radiation in the visible, infra-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), terrain is essential for protection of the health red and microwave bands. Some satellites also
Greenbelt, Maryland, USA; and David Morrison, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger. Google is a mark of and safety of survey personnel. That information, obtain radar images to map tectonic elements or
Google Inc.

> Lithology map overlain on a digital elevation map obtained by remote sensing. The arid region of Ghazalat in the Egyptian Western Desert has limestone
heights over a sandstone plateau. A steep escarpment separates a depression with a sabkha base (bottom right ) from the plateau.

40 Oilfield Review
moisture. Time-lapse satellite images allow
mapping of seasonal or longer-term changes or of
subsidence over a reservoir.
Several satellites have surveyed the Earth’s
surface, with a variety of frame or viewing sizes
and resolutions. Resolution varies both by
satellite and by portion of the spectral band
sampled. Although the resolution of most
satellites is insufficient to discriminate indivi-
dual features such as bushes or boulders,
remote-sensing maps can differentiate
vegetation-covered regions from boulder fields
because of their different spectral reflections.
Since satellite images can encompass an entire
land seismic survey area, this technology is a
useful tool for hazard screening and for planning
deployment and acquisition logistics.
The most important factor affecting how a
remote-sensing evaluation proceeds is the
terrain: whether it is flat, rocky, sandy, populated,
farmed, covered with vegetation or icy (previous
page). The type of maps produced can differ
greatly by survey location because different
combinations of spectral bands optimize
discrimination of different specific risks.
In a land seismic survey, the most efficient
and repeatable acoustic source is a vibrator, such
as a vibroseis truck. However, vibrator trucks are
large and heavy; their deployment requires
careful logistical planning. In steep terrain, there
is a danger of rolling over, and in soft terrain, of
the truck getting stuck in sand or mud.
Other risks arise from the contact and
coupling between a vibrator pad and the surface.
Although a vibrator truck might be supported in
a sabkha or a dry riverbed, the crust might
appear stable yet not sustain the additional force
from the vibrator, causing the truck to fall
through.1 Also, soft sediments may attenuate the
acoustic signal strongly. At the other textural
extreme, a hard, rock-strewn surface may not
allow proper coupling because the vibrator pad
contacts only a few high points on the rocks—
point loading.
Evaluating risk of poor source and receiver
coupling to the Earth’s surface and of energy
losses related to seismic-wave propagation in the
near surface is important for planning a seismic
survey. These two factors account for the
majority of the degradation of the seismic signal
intended for hydrocarbon exploration and
reservoir characterization. Remote sensing can
help develop a risk assessment for data acqui-
sition by densely characterizing the near surface
using optical and radar data.
Winter 2008/2009
VIS
Blue, Green, Red
VNIR NIR SWIR TIR
Normalized amplitude
0 1 2 3 10 12 14
Pan Wavelength, μm
Wavelength Visible to very near Near to short-wave infrared Thermal infrared
range infrared
Surface feature Water Moisture in ground and voids
interpretation
Infrastructure;
terrain feature
mapping
Vegetation Burned vegetation
Sedimentary rocks; Metamorphic, volcanic and
alluvial and eolian deposits magmatic rocks
Seismic Logistics planning; Data-quality estimation;
application environmental- near-surface modeling
impact estimate
VIS–visible; VNIR–very near infrared; Pan–panchromatic; NIR–near infrared; SWIR–short-wave infrared; TIR–thermal infrared
> Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) spectral bands and selected uses of band
information. The Landsat 7 satellite has sensors for three visible-spectrum bands and four infrared
bands, plus a panchromatic, or pan, band spanning the visible and very near-infrared bands (top ).
Since the detected bands respond either strongly or weakly to different surface features, combining
them is useful in discriminating such features (bottom ).
This article describes remote sensing and Some satellites capture sunlight reflected
includes two case studies in very different types from the surface of the Earth in these three
of geography. The first, from a desert environ- spectral bands; the intensity of each band—
ment in Egypt, shows the general approach to given as a gray-scale value—can be assigned as
remote sensing, describing how the various intensity values for each respective color and
spectral bands combine to deliver useful plan- recombined to generate a familiar color image.
ning information. The second involves the Most satellites designed for remote sensing have
determination of glacial features in Austria. sensors for additional bands in other parts of the
These field examples illustrate the broad but electromagnetic spectrum; these bands add a
not exhaustive scope of the utility of remote wider range of information (above). As an
imaging today. example, sensors on the Landsat 7 satellite
capture intensity data from seven spectral bands
RGB and Beyond plus a panchromatic, or pan, band.2 Three bands
Television screens and computer monitors in the visible (VIS) spectrum roughly cover red,
deliver an impressive variety of color to the green and blue colors. A very near-infrared
human eye by combining only three colors: red, (VNIR) band helps differentiate types of
green and blue (RGB). Based on just the RGB vegetation, while one in the near infrared (NIR)
portion of the spectrum, people commonly is sensitive to the amount of water in plants, or
perform the kind of discrimination done by turgidity. Surface geology is discriminated by
satellite sensing. We tend to associate green using a short-wave infrared (SWIR) band. In
with vegetation and blue with water, and many addition, the Landsat 7 pan sensor covers most of
rocks are shades of tan and gray.
1. A sabkha is a salt flat.
2. Landsat satellites are launched by NASA and operated
by the USGS. For more information: http://landsat.
usgs.gov/ (accessed February 11, 2009).
41
the visible spectrum and some of the VNIR. It has
a higher resolution than the other bands, which
helps sharpen final images. These sensors—for
six spectral bands plus the pan band—detect
sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface.
The last Landsat 7 sensor detects heat
radiated in the thermal-infrared (TIR) band,
which has a significantly longer wavelength than
the other bands. The surface thermal properties
from the TIR band distinguish mineralogy. Many
rocks—and tar—that are black in the visible
and SWIR bands are differentiated by their
response in the TIR range because the minerals
that compose the rocks radiate heat at different
intensities. The TIR response from cool surface
features such as ice and water is low. Similarly,
cooling induced by evaporation in wadi beds,
open faults and karst features is also
characterized by a low-energy TIR response.
Other remote-sensing satellites detect
different bands; some have more bands than
Landsat 7, and others have fewer. Thus, the
specific methodology applied to distinguish
surface and near-surface features is somewhat
dependent on the satellite’s capabilities.
The area included in an image and the
resolution of the image also depend on the data
source. For example, the Landsat 7 satellite has a
large frame size of 185 km [115 mi] by 180 km
[112 mi]. Its resolution in the thermal band is
60 m [197 ft]; in the visible and infrared bands, it
is 30 m [98 ft]. The highest resolution comes from
a pan band: 15 m [49 ft]. At the other extreme, a
high-resolution satellite with a small viewing area,
QuickBird, has a square frame size of 16.5 km
[10.3 mi] and a resolution of 61 cm [2 ft] in its pan
band and 2.4 m [8 ft] in an infrared band.3
A few satellites obtain radar images of the
surface. Imaging radar uses an active illumi-
nation system, in contrast to the passive optical-
imaging systems just described that rely on
illumination from the Sun. This mode of opera-
tion gives radar systems the ability to image
through clouds and at night, distinct advantages
over systems relying on natural light.
An antenna mounted on an airplane or
spacecraft transmits the radar signal. Termed
side-looking radar, it hits the Earth’s surface
obliquely and scatters. The same antenna
receives the reflected signal, known as the echo.
3. QuickBird is owned by DigitalGlobe. For additional
information: http://www.digitalglobe.com/index.php/85/
QuickBird (accessed February 11, 2009).
4. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data are
administered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. See
42
Echo amplitude is recorded, and when used for
coherent radar processing such as synthetic
aperture radar (SAR), the phase of the received
echo is also recorded.
The amplitude of the captured signal within
each pixel represents the radar backscatter for
that area on the ground, with bright areas
indicating a significant amount of the radar
energy reflected back to the antenna. This
reflected energy depends on several conditions of
the target area, such as its electrical properties,
moisture content and perhaps most importantly,
the physical size of the scatterers in the area.
Generally, a brighter backscatter on the image
indicates a rougher surface, while dark areas
represent flat surfaces.
Radar imaging can also be used to obtain
surface height using interferometric SAR. One
method to obtain height generates parallax by
using two separated antennas mounted on the
same platform. The resulting stereoscopic image
is used to create a digital elevation model
(DEM). One common source of the parallax view
used for topographic interpretation is a US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) space shuttle mission performed in
2000.4 Its SAR antenna obtained images with
lateral resolution of 30 m in the USA and 90 m
[295 ft] in the rest of the world. The nominal
vertical resolution is 30 m, but it is strongly
dependent on topography; in flat terrain, it can
have an accuracy of about 1 m [about 3 ft].
Another source for DEMs is the ASTER package
on the Terra satellite, which has two VNIR
cameras that can be arranged to obtain a
stereoscopic image.5 The resulting DEM has a 30-m
vertical resolution and a 15-m lateral resolution.
A second mode uses a single antenna with
images taken on separate passes of the airplane
or spacecraft over the target. This method of
determining small changes in elevation over a
period of time detects surface movement as
small as 1 cm [0.4 in.], which can be used to
monitor subsidence over reservoirs.6
A different method uses a laser scanner
mounted on an airplane, referred to as laser-
induced detection and ranging (LiDAR). Since
the plane’s altitude is much lower than that of a
radar-equipped satellite, LiDAR yields a higher-
resolution DEM; typical resolution is 10 cm
www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/ (accessed February 11, 2009).
5. ASTER stands for Advanced Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer. Terra is the flagship
satellite of the Earth Orbiting System, a series of NASA
spacecraft. For more information: http://asterweb.jpl.
nasa.gov/ (accessed February 11, 2009).
[4 in.] vertically and about 20 to 100 cm
[8 to 39 in.] laterally. LiDAR service must be
ordered specifically for the area of interest.
The first steps in remote-sensing evaluation
are determining what information is required and
what is available. Since its launch in 1999, the
Landsat 7 satellite—with its multispectral
capabilities—has scanned the planet on a 16-day
cycle. Other satellite databases are also available.
Knowledge of the topography of a region
under study helps determine which combina-
tions of spectra will be of greatest utility. In
addition, accurate field surveys obtain detailed
information at specific locations to provide
ground truth for the remotely sensed data.
Satellite images have a wide variety of
applications. Map views and 3D surface modeling
are important tools in designing infrastructure
and assessing flood risks. Remote sensing
discriminates some surface mineral deposits,
provides input for planning and monitoring CO2
storage projects and enables reconstruction of
glacial activity through evaluation of moraines.
Comparison of older satellite images with new
ones—the Landsat program began in 1972—
reveals changes in land use or condition. Remote
evaluation also helps determine and monitor
groundwater levels—important input for seismic
studies because the water table is often the first
refractor encountered by the seismic signal. One
objective for use of satellite images within the
E&P industry is to determine the risks associated
with conducting a seismic survey.
Seismic Survey Evaluation
Geologists select a seismic survey location
because of what may be in the subsurface, for the
most part irrespective of surface conditions.
Therefore, the survey planners must cope with
the challenges inherent in an area’s geography
and topography to find the best specific locations
for seismic source and receiver placement.
In heavily forested areas, vibrators and other
vehicles have limited access. The same is true of
swampy or marshy ground. In desert climates,
loose sand dunes limit access for vibrators. Steep
slopes also prevent support-vehicle access. Other
geographic features present their own logistical
problems, which can be detected using combina-
tions of remote-sensing methods (next page).
6. Van der Kooij M: “Land Subsidence Measurements at the
Belridge Oil Fields from ERS InSAR Data,” presented at the
3rd ERS Symposium, Florence, Italy, March 14–21, 1997.
See http://earth.esa.int/workshops/ers97/papers/
vanderkooij1/ (accessed February 5, 2009).
For more on subsidence: Doornhof D, Kristiansen TG,
Nagel NB, Pattillo PD and Sayers C: “Compaction and Sub-
sidence,” Oilfield Review 18, no. 3 (Autumn 2006): 50–68.
Oilfield Review
Surface faults Basalt flows
(TIR, radar) (TIR)
Rock types
Rough surfaces (SWIR)
(Radar)
Topography
(DEM)
Wadis, buried wadis
(TIR, radar)
Sand dunes
(SWIR, DEM) Infrastructure
Marshes, meadows (VNIR, SWIR) Forests
(VIS–NIR) (VNIR, SWIR)
Rivers Sea
(VIS) Swamps (VIS)
(VIS–NIR) Beaches
(VNIR)

Screes, alluvial fans Sabkhas, salt lakes

(SWIR, DEM) (DEM, SWIR)
River terraces Buried river beds Lakes
(DEM, radar) (TIR, radar) (VIS)
Moraine ridges
Farmland (SWIR, DEM)
(SWIR)

Surface Class Surface Feature Type of Satellite Data Impact on Seismic Data Quality Impact on Logistics
Topography and Escarpments, river DEM, radar Noise from scattered surface waves Severe risk to vehicles for 15% to 25% slope,
texture terraces and no access beyond 25% slope
Rough surfaces Radar Baseplate point loading; poor Severe risk of tire damage for vehicles
receiver coupling
Surface faults TIR, radar Noise from scattered surface waves None unless escarpment present
Land use Farmland SWIR Possible permitting restrictions Possible permitting restrictions
Forests VNIR, SWIR Low seismic velocity and high Limited vibrator and vehicle access
attenuation if located on dry glacial till in dense forest
Infrastructure VNIR, SWIR High broadband noise level, Limited vibrator and vehicle access
limitation to vibrator drive level
Swamps, marshes, VIS–NIR Resonance; mud roll; substantial If wet, no access for vibrators and
meadows velocity statics vehicles; hand-carry recording equipment
Water features VIS Transition-zone equipment required No vehicle access; transition-zone
equipment required
Lithology Basalt flows TIR Poor vibrator coupling; strong Often risk for vibrator and vehicle tires
scattering from basalt texture
Caliche, mineralization NIR, SWIR, radar Narrow-band resonance; strong No risk for vibrator and vehicle access
horizons absorption
Claypans DEM, NIR Resonance If wet, no access for vibrators
Hard rock outcrops NIR, SWIR, radar Baseplate point loading; poor Limited risk of access for vibrators
receiver coupling
Sabkhas, salt lakes DEM, SWIR Resonance; mud roll; velocity statics; Severe risk for vibrator and vehicle access
high attenuation
Wadis, buried wadis, TIR, radar Groundwater table for P-wave statics; No risk for vibrator and vehicle access
buried river beds poor coupling in wadis
Geomorphology Moraine ridges SWIR, DEM Low seismic velocity and high No risk
attenuation in dry glacial till
Sand dunes SWIR, DEM Elevation statics; strong attenuation; Access for vibrators severely limited;
trapped surface-wave modes preparation of track required
Screes, alluvial fans SWIR, DEM Low seismic velocity and high Limited vibrator access in steep terrain
attenuation

> The impacts of satellite imagery on seismic data quality and survey logistics. Surface features (top ) often encountered in land seismic
surveys can be differentiated using combinations of spectral bands (bottom ).

Winter 2008/2009 43
 slowly than the compressional waves that travel
through the subsurface rock formations; these
body waves are the desired signals for seismic
surveys of the subsurface. The surface Rayleigh
waves also attenuate more slowly than the
body waves. This lack of attenuation exacerbates
noise caused by scattering from surface features,
an effect geophysicists try to mitigate by
proper planning.
In wet environments such as swamps, marshes
and some sabkhas, the surface wave couples with
> Baseplate breakthrough. The sabkha had the liquid and is termed a mud wave.7 A mud wave
insufficient strength to support the vibrating is often much slower than a Rayleigh wave
baseplate, which broke the surface. because of the weak particle coupling in the
water-saturated solid near the surface.
Variations in ground elevation require static
Moving the vibrators and personnel on site is corrections to the measured seismic signals.
only part of the planning required. The topogra- Determining the corrections may be particularly
phy also impacts the quality of the coupling difficult in near-surface, weathered soils. Signals
between source or receiver and ground and may in the surface materials may have radically
affect signal propagation in the near surface. A slower velocities than those in the hard rock
rough or rocky surface may cause point loading of beneath. If the weathered layer has significant
the baseplate, which highly distorts the trans- localized variations in thickness, this may
mitted signal. Good source coupling can be require static corrections that change rapidly,
achieved in soft sediments, as long as the ground both vertically and laterally, within a small area.
supports the baseplate load. However, if the Sand dunes, sabkhas and marshes pose this
baseplate breaks through a hard ground surface, problem for seismic acquisition.
the result is again poor coupling, a distorted In addition to the static correction problem,
signal and possibly a cutoff of the high-frequency in sand dunes, body waves may reflect from the
component of the generated signal (above). bottom of the dune, becoming trapped within the
The most significant contribution to surface- dune itself. In wadis, the top of the water table
related noise in seismic acquisition is ground affects the first breaks in the seismic signal, so
roll, which is a surface wave, or more precisely a the water level is important to discern. Soft
Rayleigh wave, that travels at the ground/air materials, such as unconsolidated sand, sabkhas
interface (below). Rayleigh waves travel more and dry glacial till, also cause high attenuation of
the body-wave signal within the surface layer.
Baseplate
> Surface modes in seismic acquisition. A vibrator truck directs seismic
energy to deep formations as body waves (black). However, significant
energy is scattered from this wave or trapped near the surface. Some is
refracted at formation boundaries (light blue). Rayleigh waves (purple)
travel along the surface and may scatter from escarpments, as shown
here, or at changes in lithology (not shown). Other seismic energy may be
trapped in soft sediments between harder layers (orange) or reflected at
interfaces (red).
44
Boundaries often scatter the seismic energy,
creating noise. These may be topographic
changes, such as escarpments, or lithological or
mineralization boundaries. The risk of noise from
scattering is higher in hard ground such as
carbonates and basalt. Resonance of seismic
waves occurs in areas that are enclosed by
materials of greater acoustic impedance. For
example, once a surface wave from hard rock
enters a softer claypan, it may become trapped,
reflecting back at another boundary with the
hard rock. Similar observations are often made
in swamps.
Mapping risks to a land seismic party before
its deployment is one way to assess potential
problems for personnel and equipment. A satel-
lite survey that discriminates surface features in
detail gives this option. For example, a DEM is
particularly useful for identifying structure at a
scale of 10 m [33 ft] and larger. It can locate
escarpments and highlight other features that
have a common elevation signature, either flat
(such as claypans, sabkhas, floodplains, swamps
and marshes) or varied (such as wadis, sand
dunes and glacial moraines). At smaller scales of
centimeters to decimeters, radar imagery illumi-
nates surface microstructure and texture
information by distinguishing diffuse and
specular reflections. This provides information
about rock structure, fractures and ripples. In
addition, minerals have different responses in the
infrared range, so those bands are included in
studies of lithology.
In most cases, remote-sensing analysis
incorporates information from one or more
satellites, from ground observations and maps
including infrastructure, and when available,
from subsurface geology. Integration of data
using a geographic information system (GIS) is
critical. A GIS is a tool for storing, visualizing and
processing data in a common geographical
workspace to help model the world as accurately
as possible. The system allows a user to
interactively query and analyze data and create
maps. Within a GIS, for example, an image from
a radar satellite overlain with a combination of
visible and infrared bands can be mapped in a
common space with the traverse and observa-
tions of a ground survey. The GIS software also
allows the viewer to see the combined data from
any angle or to “fly” through the space. By
combining the remotely sensed data with
physical models, such as wave propagation and
source and receiver coupling to various surface
materials, and using logical rules, such as safe
slope angle for vehicles, the GIS system displays
Oilfield Review
the risk information in an easy-to-understand

Elevation, m

Description
format. This is best seen by example in the case

Formation

Lithology
studies that follow.

Geomorphology in an Arid Terrain

In the Egyptian Western Desert, almost 700 km
250
[435 mi] west of Cairo, Apache Egypt planned a
seismic study in the Ghazalat basin, which Limestone

Marmarica
contains plateaus and steep escarpments. Prior
to running the survey, WesternGeco included M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A 200
satellite remote sensing as part of a multiphysics,
near-surface characterization to establish the Soft
gypsiferous
risk for logistics and acquisition.8 marl
Ghazalat Cairo
The near surface comprises two formations, study area 150
the Moghra and the overlying Marmarica (right). ion
re s s

r
Rive
ep
The lowest portion of the Marmarica formation aD
ttar

Nile
has alternating hard limestone and soft Qa

gypsiferous marl layers, which transitions into a 100

Western E G Y P T
massive limestone in the upper part of the Desert
Marmarica formation. The underlying Moghra
formation consists of an alternating sequence of 0 km 200 Alternating
sandstone and claystone layers. Both formations 50 sandstone

Mogrha
0 mi 200
and claystone
outcrop in the Ghazalat prospect area.
A DEM image of the area was available from
ASTER satellite data with lateral and vertical
resolutions of 30 m, sharpened to about 17 m 0

[56 ft] using the higher-resolution pan band.

About 10% of the study area is in the Qattara > Ghazalat geography and geology. Ghazalat is in Egypt’s Western
Depression about 80 m [260 ft] below sea level, Desert, bordering on the Qattara Depression (map). The area
–50
bordered by an escarpment of 100 to 120 m comprises mesas and tablelands to the south (photograph) and
[330 to 390 ft] that reaches a plateau at a height heights to the north. The formations are layers of limestone,
sandstone, and claystone and marl (right ).
of 50 to 60 m [165 to 195 ft]. The plateau makes
up about 50% of the study area, with elevations Limestone Claystone and marl
greater than 200 m [660 ft] above sea level in Sandstone
the north (below right).
In addition to the large escarpment bounding
the depression, other escarpments are present.
These were determined using an eight-direction
edge-detection algorithm.9 The escarpments can
be overlain on the terrain-height map to obtain a
topographic classification map.

7. The mud wave is also known as a Stoneley-Scholte

wave, or just a Scholte wave.
8. Laake A and Zaghloul A: “Estimation of Static Corrections
from Geologic and Remote-Sensing Data,” The Leading
Edge 28, no. 2 (February 2009): 192–196.
Cutts A and Laake A: “An Analysis of the Near Surface
Using Remote Sensing for the Prediction of Logistics and
Data Quality Risk,” paper presented at the 4th North
African/Mediterranean Petroleum and Geosciences Con-
0 km 5 Elevation, m
ference and Exhibition, Tunis, Tunisia, March 2–4, 2009.
0 mi 5 –80 0 100 200
For information on data quality characterization in arid
regions: Laake A, Strobbia C and Cutts A: “Integrated
Approach to 3D Near Surface Characterization in Desert
Regions,” First Break 26 (November 2008): 109–112. > Topographic map of Ghazalat showing escarpments. A digital elevation
9. The method used is called a Sobel edge-detection model (DEM) shows a part of the Qattara Depression (blue, bottom right )
algorithm. It is often used in north-south and east-west bounded by a steep and tall escarpment. A broad plateau with mesas
directions, but because of the complicated lobes of the
(green) makes up about half the study area, bounded on the north by
mesas and other features, the eight-direction method
used here provided smoother, continuous lines for highlands (yellow to brown). An edge-detection algorithm determined the
the escarpments. locations of escarpments (black).

Winter 2008/2009 45
 The lithology classification was taken from a
Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus
(ETM+) satellite survey over the area. This
classification was mapped along with the ASTER
DEM data using GIS methodologies.
Experience across a broad range of satellite
imaging applications has shown that certain
combinations of spectral bands discriminate
specific types of surface features, and these are
often the first ones examined. Although all seven
bands can be examined in any combination, it is
more convenient to combine three bands to
0 km 5
make maps for visual examination. Data from
0 mi 5
each band are essentially gray-scale data. These
Sabkha, clay Sandstone Limestone 1 Limestone 2 gray-scale data can be assigned to one of the
three RGB colors, with gray-scale data from
> Ghazalat lithostructural map. A combination of several bands from the
two other bands assigned to the other two colors.
Landsat 7 satellite provided good differentiation of lithology in the arid
Ghazalat area. Lithologic discrimination came from one thermal and two One common Landsat 7 ETM+ presentation is
SWIR bands; additional image details and colors resulted from the overlay 742 RGB, in which Band 7 (SWIR) is represented
of two visible bands. by red, Band 4 (VNIR) by green, and Band 2
(VIS green) by blue.

Sandstone Marl, loess

Limestone

Sandstone

0 km 5

Claypan 0 mi 5 Sandstone

Limestone Marl, loess, sand Sandstone Clay, sabkha

> Ghazalat lithology classification and ground observations. To create this map, geoscientists optimized combinations of satellite bands, independently
for each lithology class, including two limestone classes (dark blues), a class encompassing marl, loess and sand (yellow), two sandstone classes
(orange), and a class for clay and sabkha (light blue). Mixed colors on this map indicate mixed lithologies within an area. This map was used to plan
limited ground traversals, which validated the remotely sensed mapping (photographs, corresponding to circles on map).

46 Oilfield Review
 Bands can also be compared by ratio or by Logistics Risk Map
difference of their gray scales. Some of the
common combinations were not appropriate in
the Ghazalat study because they specifically
include bands sensitive to vegetation, and this is
a dry desert area. Although several of the
combinations discriminated between the
sandstone of the plateau and the limestone of the
highlands, the combination of a thermal and two
SWIR bands had the best differentiation between
two limestone types. This RGB image was
sharpened by using a multiband difference that
includes responses in two of the visible bands to
0 km 5
show texture within the limestone and sand-
0 mi 5
stone. The resulting image highlights the
claypans and details of the layers on the No access Maneuver limitation
escarpments (previous page, top). Access limitation Low risk
A different way to classify lithology uses
separate criteria specific for each rock type. In
the Ghazalat area, several band ratios were
evaluated to distinguish two types of limestone,
two types of sandstone, marl, loess and sand, and Surface-Velocity Risk Map
sabkha or clay (previous page, bottom). This map
helped guide a field validation of the data.
Traverses through the area by foot and off-road
vehicle confirmed the interpretation obtained by
remote sensing.
With lithology and topography determined,
an estimate of risk for a seismic study can be
quantified (right). Logistics risks are associated
with access and movement. The steep
escarpments and terrain edges limit vehicle
access. The limestone highlands have rough
topography and sharp edges, making maneu-
0 km 5
vering difficult but not impossible. The clay and
0 mi 5
sabkha areas also limit access because there is a
danger of falling through the top crust into soft Severe risk of scatter from escarpments Risk of attenuation
sediments. In contrast, the sandstone areas, for Moderate risk of scatter from rugged surfaces Low risk
the most part, have no access limitations.
> Risk maps for the Ghazalat area. The logistics risks include access and
Other risks are associated with the quality of
maneuvering risks for vehicles (top). The sandstone areas are generally low
seismic signals. The escarpments, including those risk (pale blue, which is a mix of white coding for low-risk areas and the
at formation boundaries, present topographic geographic background information), but the highlands present
scattering risks. The rough surface of the maneuverability difficulties (red). Soft surfaces, such as the large sabkha in
the depression, limit access (blue). Large escarpments (black) are
limestones increases the risk of point-loading impossible for the trucks to access. In the surface-velocity risk map
problems with the vibrator pads. The two (bottom), escarpments also pose severe risks for seismic-signal scattering
limestone formations have different levels of this (black). The rough surfaces of the highland limestones result in moderate
risk, with the western limestone having less. The scattering risk (red); these areas also have increased risk for point loading of
a vibrator baseplate. Claypans and sabkhas have high signal-attenuation risk
soft clay and sabkha have an increased risk of (blue). Sandstone areas generally have low surface-velocity risk.
signal attenuation and resonance.
Acoustic velocities in the lithological units
can be modeled to estimate source and receiver
static corrections. In Ghazalat, this yields a good
comparison with the lower-resolution estimate
obtained from picking the first break in
refraction statics. The risks were verified in a

Winter 2008/2009 47
shot-point gather in the southern plateau near a
mesa (below). The shot gather shows the effects
of scattering from a mesa edge and from a
boundary between lithologies, confirming the
predictive value of the remote survey.
Glacial Moraines in Cultivated Hills
In the foothills of the Austrian Alps, Rohöl-
Aufsuchungs AG (RAG) has a concession to
explore an area with a complex geological
history. While the Alps advanced from the south,
sediments eroded from these forming mountains
were shed into a Tertiary foreland basin, the
Molasse basin. A deep-marine channel system up
to 200 km [120 mi] long formed parallel to the
basin axis. Late-stage folding and thrusting

Sandstone ridge Layer outcrop

Elevation, m

100 Elevation
profile
5
0
0.5
traveltime, s
Two-way

1.0
Shot gather
1.5

2.0
2.5

0.5 Scarp
N–S position, km

Edge Clay Scarp

QuickBird
0 image
Edges
–0.5 Scarp

0.5 Clay Scarp Scarp

Edge
N–S position, km

Logistics
0 risk map
No risk
Scarp Edges
–0.5

0.5 Scatter
N–S position, km

Scatter
0 risk map
No scatter Scatter
–0.5

0.5 Low Sand

N–S position, km

Velocity change velocity

Velocity
0 risk map
Sand
–0.5

0 km 1
E–W position
0 mi 1

> Risk classifications confirmed by common shot gather. This small section is in the southern part of the survey area. It includes mesas and outcrop
features, as seen in the elevation profile and the QuickBird high-resolution satellite image. All of the traces from a single seismic shot (red circle in
elevation profile) are shown in the shot gather. The ridge (left of center ) and lithology change at the outcrop (right of center ) result in variations in gather
intensity (yellow to green transitions). This confirms the prediction (red) of the scatter risk map. The QuickBird image confirms the locations of
escarpments (scarps) and edges as defined in the logistics risk map and which influence the scatter risk map.

48 Oilfield Review
partly affected the southern Molasse sediments
but left most of the basin to the north Overflow channel
undeformed. From south to north, geological Drainage channels
deposits comprise a limestone fold belt, and Drainage channel
Morain
imbricated and folded, as well as undeformed, e
Molasse sediments. The whole area is largely
covered by glacial deposits such as moraines and
Morain
includes partly postglacial erosional features. e Overflow
channel
The area is highly cultivated on the flat
terrain, with dense forest on hills and steep 900
slopes, and swamps in former glacial lakes and

Height, m
Fo
along rivers. Glacial moraines, which are gravel

rm
ridges deposited at the maximum advance of a

er
lak
glacier, remain, along with remnants of overflow 200

e
and drainage channels that formed when the
glaciers melted (right). It is densely covered with 0 km 5
infrastructure, including villages and cities. The 0 mi 5
satellite survey compares well with an extensive
ground-based survey reported in 1957, which > Austrian moraines. A LiDAR DEM survey shows the variation in elevation in this area of the Alpine
links the locations of seismic acquisition risks foothills. The escarpments (black) were located using an edge-detection algorithm. The two moraines
interpreted from the satellite images to a ground indicate glacial extent. In addition, overflow and drainage channels are apparent in the image. These
and the former lake developed as the glacier melted. The white rectangle indicates the location of
truth (below).10
the more-detailed image in the figure on page 51.
10. See geologic map included in Aberer F: “Die
Molassezone im westlichen Oberösterreich und in
Salzburg,” Mitteilungen der geologischen Gesellschaft in
Wien 50 (1957): 23–94 (in German).

> Ground truth. The interpreted satellite results (color) overlay an extensive ground-based topographic survey (gray scale) reported in 1957 (Aberer,
reference 10, used with permission). The remarkable match in the overlay area gives confidence in the location of satellite interpretations.

Winter 2008/2009 49
 Prospecting by Satellite
In frontier areas, satellite data are often
brought into play during the earliest stages of
exploration, well before seismic survey plan-
ning and layout. There, satellite imagery is
used to prioritize areas likely to contain oil
and gas prospects. Employing a variety of sen-
sors, satellites are especially suited for gross
reconnaissance of remote regions and large
survey areas. The data from these different
types of sensors are useful far beyond their
capability to map topography, regional geology,
lineaments and structural trends.
Satellite data acquired over land are ana-
lyzed to infer the presence of hydrocarbons
through indirect signs, such as chemical,
physical or microbiological changes in soil and
vegetation. For example, when gas seeps to
the surface, it partially displaces oxygen
within the soil to create an oxygen-poor envi-
ronment. This also affects the reduction-
oxidation potential and pH of the soil. These
changes are manifested as alterations in soil
mineralogy such as the formation of new min-
erals (calcite, pyrite and uranium), by
bleaching of red-bed outcrops or by electro-
chemical changes.1
Such permutations are, in turn, reflected in
the health or type of vegetation surrounding a
gas seep. Not only is oxygen depleted from the
soil, but accompanying changes in soil-nutrient
solubility result in a deficiency or excess of
nutrients taken up by plants. These effects
may register in the plant’s spectral response
detected by satellite optical sensors. The
reflectance of stressed plants is often higher
in the visible region and lower in the near-
infrared.2 The pattern and intensity of such
indicators may be important for delineating
1. Red beds are reddish sedimentary strata, such as
sandstone, siltstone or shale, which have accumulated
under oxidizing conditions; the red color comes from
specks of iron oxide minerals.
2. Noomen MF, Skidmore AK and van der Meer FD:
“Detecting the Influence of Gas Seepage on Vegeta-
tion, Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing,” in
Habermeyer M, Mülle A and Holzwarth S (eds): Pro-
ceedings, The 3rd EARSeL Workshop on Imaging
Spectroscopy. Herrsching, Germany: ERSeL (2003):
252–255.
3. Jones VT, Matthews MD and Richers DM: “Light
Hydrocarbons for Petroleum and Gas Prospecting,”
in Hale M (ed): Handbook of Exploration Geochemistry:
50
fractures or other characteristics of subsurface
accumulations, and gas has been detected along
certain linear features seen on satellite images.3
Offshore, satellite imagery is useful for
developing exploration leads through identifi-
cation of possible oil seeps. Oil, emanating
from natural seeps on the seafloor, rises to the
surface of the ocean where it may be
detectable through visible, near-infrared and
radar imagery. Synthetic aperture radar
(SAR), in particular, is highly successful in
detecting oil on the sea surface. This side-
looking radar transmits signals at an oblique
angle to the Earth, and thus it is sensitive to
backscatter produced by tiny capillary waves
on the ocean’s surface.4
Oil tends to dampen waves on the ocean sur-
face, producing a smooth surface that reflects
most of the signal away from the SAR receiver.
The backscatter intensity is anomalously low
over a smooth surface compared to the sur-
rounding area. However, numerous factors
affect the interpretation and location of surface
slicks relative to source vents on the seafloor.
Factors that can move or obscure the presence
of a smooth ocean surface include wind velocity
and direction, currents, cloud cover, meteoro-
logical conditions and marine vegetation.5
More importantly, the damping of surface
waves may be attributed to numerous
processes that require further investiga-
tion—many slicks have nothing to do with
the presence of oil. Rain cells, wind shadows
and current flow can smooth local areas of
the sea surface. Algal mats and even coral
spawn also affect sea motion. Bathymetric
slicks are generated by localized acceleration
of currents flowing over submarine channels.
Geochemical Remote Sensing of the Sub-Surface, vol.
7. Amsterdam: Elsevier (2000): 133–212.
4. A capillary wave is a ripple or small surface-water
wave with a maximum wavelength of 1.73 cm [0.68 in].
This wavelength is so short that the surface tension of
the water itself exerts a restoring force to its motion.
5. Hood KC, Wenger LM, Gross OP and Harrison SC:
“Hydrocarbon Systems Analysis of the Northern Gulf
of Mexico: Delineation of Hydrocarbon Migration Path-
ways Using Seeps and Seismic Imaging,” in
Schumacher D and LeSchack LA (eds): Surface Explo-
ration Case Histories: Applications of Geochemistry,
Magnetics, and Remote Sensing, AAPG Studies in
Geology no. 48 and SEG Geophysical References
Series no. 11. Tulsa: AAPG (2002): 25–40.
These slicks have suggested the presence of
uncharted channels that were subsequently
verified by high-resolution multibeam swath
bathymetric surveys.6
Off the North West Shelf of Australia, SAR
has detected slicks during the ebb of nocturnal
neap tides, five nights after a full moon occur-
ring between March and April and between
October and November. These annular- to cres-
cent-shaped areas of low backscatter, found
over coral reefs and carbonate shoals in the
southern Timor Sea, have been interpreted as
coral spawn slicks.7 Restricting SAR acquisi-
tion to predictable nonspawning times has
avoided the misinterpretation of slicks caused
by coral spawn as those caused by oil. This
application highlights further potential for
SAR as a tool for biological research.
The identification of natural oil seeps is
instrumental in revealing undiscovered
resources. However, the ability to determine
which SAR slicks are caused by oil requires
careful analysis of ancillary data. Recognizing
links between SAR slicks and oceanographic
or biological processes makes it possible to
improve the assessment of potential explo-
ration targets.
Overall, satellite remote-sensing techniques
are valuable in rapidly screening large or inac-
cessible areas. They can be used to prioritize
prospects for further investigation by other
technologies, such as coring, airborne laser
fluorescence and seismic surveys.8 As with all
sensing from a distance, this approach is best
used selectively and proves its worth when
verified by ground-truth measurements. —MV
6. Jones AT, Thankappan M, Logan GA, Kennard JM,
Smith CJ, Williams AK and Lawrence GM: “Coral
Spawn and Bathymetric Slicks in Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) Data from the Timor Sea, North-West
Australia,” International Journal of Remote Sensing
27, no. 10 (May 2006): 2063–2069.
7. Jones et al, reference 6.
8. The airborne laser fluorescence (ALF) technique
measures fluorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons that
have been excited by a laser fired at the sea surface.
ALF surveys can detect the presence of micron-thick
hydrocarbon accumulations.
Oilfield Review
 0 km 1 Height, m
0 mi 0.5
> DEM resolution comparison of LiDAR and SRTM. The resolution of the
aircraft-borne LiDAR data (left ) is significantly better than that from the
2000 space shuttle mission (right ). This small area corresponds to the white
rectangle in the top figure on page 49.
These ecological and cultural observations are
indicators of operational difficulties and risks. In
addition, there are data-quality risks for seismic
acquisition: The glacial moraines limit proper
coupling, requiring large static corrections;
swamps will generate resonance from trapped
surface waves; multiple source types may be
necessary since vibrators cannot be used in
swamps; and the surface features may generate
substantial levels of noise from surface waves
scattered from escarpments.
RAG invested in a LiDAR DEM study to
identify and mitigate potential problems before
beginning seismic acquisition. Of the available
remote-sensing sources, this aircraft-based
survey provides the most accurate surface
map (above left). It identified locations of
increased scattering risk from abrupt changes
in elevation. The steep slopes represent bound-
aries that scatter energy in seismic
surface-wave modes. Identifying the type and
location of such surface changes helps
geoscientists design a filter that eliminates
noise scattered from a specific direction.
Using the LiDAR survey and working with
geoscientists from WesternGeco, RAG recon-
structed the glacial and postglacial history of the
survey area. From this survey, the geoscientists
developed an elastic model for layer depths,
thicknesses, velocities and attenuation, and
then computed model-based surface static
corrections and coupling corrections for the
sources and receivers.
11. Gras R and Stanford N: “Integration of Surface Imagery
with Subsurface Data,” paper P-115, presented at the
EAGE 62nd Conference and Technical Exhibition,
Glasgow, Scotland, May 29–June 2, 2000.
Winter 2008/2009
410 550
In general, local fluctuations of the seismic
signal resulting from variations in coupling
conditions are corrected by amplitude
compensation. However, variations in coupling
conditions are limited to certain frequencies,
meaning that a general amplitude correction
may introduce noise rather than attenuate it.
The RAG study used a surface-consistent method
that also included the correction of the spectral
distortion at source and receiver resulting from
the variations in coupling conditions here. To
perform this task, RAG loaded the high-
resolution DEM from the LiDAR, the seismic
survey and the field data into a comprehensive
GIS database.
Geomorphology maps from the remote-
sensing study provided information about the
local near-surface geology such as glacial
moraines and swamps. These attributes derived
from remote sensing were found to correlate with
the frequency content of seismic attributes
computed from surface-consistent spectral
deconvolutions for the source, receiver and
common midpoint (CMP) terms for one half of
the survey (above right). From the remote-
sensing attributes and the spectral seismic
attributes, geoscientists predicted the seismic
response for the other half of the survey, which
compared well with the data and validated the
procedure. Because of the detail and areal extent
of the remote-sensing study, the company was
able to ensure the consistency of corrections
across the entire concession.
Geomorphology Surface-Consistent
Attribute from Spectral Seismic
Remote Sensing Attribute
Moraines, hard rocks Low-frequency source
in fold belt and CMP attributes
Locally compacted High-frequency source
areas, swamps and CMP attributes
River marshes, Low-frequency receiver
swamps attributes
Infrastructural noise High-frequency receiver
from built-up areas and CMP attributes
> Correlations between geomorphology and
spectral attributes. For example, where moraines
and hard rock were present, the source and
common midpoint (CMP) terms calculated by
spectral deconvolution exhibited low frequencies.
The Richness of Remote Sensing
Within the E&P industry, the use of remote
sensing by satellite is not restricted to seismic
survey planning. It is also used to find clues to
the presence of hydrocarbons (see “Prospecting
by Satellite,” previous page), and in reservoir
surveillance, such as for subsidence monitoring
and for planning and monitoring CO2 injection.
The results of remote-sensing analysis are
stored in a GIS database. These can be combined
with subsurface information and models to
generate 3D representations of the study area.
Subsurface information and formation properties
are often incorporated in modeling packages such
as the Petrel seismic-to-simulation software.11
Integration of the surface and subsurface
information into one package allows assessment
of surface constraints within the context of a
shared 3D space. As this article describes, such
integration provides valuable insights for a
seismic acquisition program. It helps link
subsurface structure to its surface expression of
faults and folds. Planning of drilling and
production facilities and pipelines accounts for
both surface and subsurface needs, including
environmental constraints.
Satellite images that help locate businesses
and friends’ homes are becoming useful tools in
our daily lives because of their easy accessibility
on the Internet. Similarly, the richer images from
bands extending deep into the infrared spectrum
are becoming increasingly indispensable for
E&P activities. —MAA
51
 Options for High-Temperature
Well Stimulation

As wells become deeper and hotter, there is a growing need for high-temperature
matrix acidizing techniques. Newly developed procedures allow acidizing of both
carbonates and sandstones at elevated temperatures. These advances vary from new
chemical agents to simplified fluid-placement techniques.

Salah Al-Harthy
Houston, Texas, USA

Oscar A. Bustos
Mathew Samuel
John Still
Sugar Land, Texas

Michael J. Fuller
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nurul Ezalina Hamzah

Petronas Carigali
Kerteh, Terengganu, Malaysia

Mohd Isal Pudin bin Ismail

Petronas Carigali
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Arthur Parapat
Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia

Oilfield Review Winter 2008/2009: 20, no. 4.

Copyright © 2009 Schlumberger.
OneSTEP, StimCADE, SXE and Virtual Lab are marks of
Schlumberger.

52 Oilfield Review
Using acids to improve well performance by
removing or bypassing damage has been a
common practice for a long time—nearly as long
as the existence of the oil industry itself. In 1895,
the Ohio Oil Company used hydrochloric acid
[HCl] to treat wells in a limestone formation.
Production from these wells increased by several
fold—and unfortunately so did casing corrosion.
As a result, acidizing to stimulate production
disappeared for about 30 years.
Acidizing in limestone reservoirs experienced
a rebirth in 1931 with the discovery that arsenic
inhibited the corrosive action of HCl on wellbore
tubulars.1 But acid treatments for sandstones
required a different approach. HCl does not react
easily with minerals that reduce sandstone
permeability, but hydrofluoric acid [HF] does.
Early attempts using HF in sandstones failed
because of plugging from secondary reactions.
This problem was overcome in 1940 with a
combined HF-HCl treatment. The HF in the acid
combination dissolves mineral deposits in
sandstones that hinder production, while the HCl
controls precipitates. These acidizing techniques
have evolved over subsequent years, but the goal
has not changed—create or restore production
pathways close to the wellbore in a new or
existing well.
Well acidizing, more commonly referred to as
matrix acidizing, is one of two intervention
methods used to restore flow in an oil or gas
formation. The other route—hydraulic or acid
fracturing—creates fractures to allow relatively
distant accumulations of oil and gas to flow to the
wellbore. Acidizing works on the formation near
the wellbore to bypass damage or to dissolve it.
The choice of fracturing or acidizing to stimulate
production depends on a multiplicity of factors
that include formation geology, production
history and intervention goals.
Well-intervention techniques such as matrix
acidizing play an important role in helping
operators produce all they can from their fields.
Pressure on acidizing experts to develop new
treating formulations and techniques is coming
from several directions. One important need is
extension of acidizing to high-temperature
environments. Use of conventional mineral acids
such as HCl and HF at higher temperatures—
above 93°C [200°F]—leads to reaction rates that
are too rapid. These fast rates cause the acid to
be consumed too early, reducing its effective-
ness, and may cause other problems.
Winter 2008/2009
Acidizing in Limestone: 2HCl + CaCO3 CaCl2 + CO2 + H2O
Carbonate core
Acidizing in Dolomite: 4HCl + CaMg(CO3)2 MgCl2 + CaCl2 + 2CO2 + 2H2O
> Carbonate acidizing. Limestone and dolomite cores treated with HCl
develop macroscopic channels called wormholes (red). These channels
are the result of the reaction of HCl with the calcium and magnesium
carbonates in the cores to form water-soluble chloride salts.
Furthermore, as regulations tighten, there is a permeability. The chemistry and physics for
greater need within the industry for fluids with treating both types of reservoir have been
reduced environmental and safety risks.2 extensively studied and are well-understood.
Conventional mineral acids such as HCl and HF Carbonate reservoirs—principally limestone
are difficult to handle safely, corrosive to wellbore and dolomite—react easily with HCl in
tubulars and completion equipment, and must be moderate-temperature environments to form
neutralized when returned to the surface. wormholes (above). The reaction rate is limited
Additionally, as the bottomhole temperature primarily by the diffusion of HCl to the formation
increases, corrosion-inhibitor costs rise rapidly surface. Wormholes in carbonate reservoirs
because of the high concentrations required— increase production not by removing damage,
particularly with some exotic tubulars currently but by dissolving the rock and creating paths
used in well completions. Finally, conventional through it.
sandstone acidizing techniques typically involve The formation of wormholes in carbonates is
many fluid treatment steps, increasing the explained by the manner in which acidizing
potential for error. affects the rock. Larger pores receive more acid,
This article will focus on matrix acidizing and which increases both their length and volume.
discuss how this technology has been extended Eventually, this extends into a macroscopic
to higher-temperature environments through channel, or wormhole, that tends to receive more
development of new fluids and techniques. Case acid than the surrounding pores while it
studies from Africa, the USA, the Middle East and propagates through the rock. The shape and
Asia demonstrate how these techniques are development of wormholes depend on acid type
being successfully employed around the world. as well as its strength, pump rate and temper-
ature—plus the lithology of the carbonate.
Different Formations— Under the right conditions, wormholes can grow
Different Acidizing Chemistry
1. Crowe C, Masmonteil J, Touboul E and Thomas R:
The first consideration in matrix acidizing any “Trends in Matrix Acidizing,” Oilfield Review 4, no. 4
particular well—high-temperature or not—is (October 1992): 24−40.
formation lithology. Carbonate reservoirs are 2. Hill DG, Dismuke K, Shepherd W, Witt I, Romijn H,
Frenier W and Parris M: “Development Practices and
mostly acid soluble, and acid treatment creates Achievements for Reducing the Risk of Oilfield
highly branched conductive pathways called Chemicals,” paper SPE 80593, presented at the
SPE/EPA/DOE Exploration and Production Environmental
wormholes that can bypass damage. Conversely, Conference, San Antonio, Texas, March 10−12, 2003.
in sandstone reservoirs, only a small fraction of
the rock is acid soluble. The goal of acid
treatment in sandstones is to dissolve various
minerals in the pores to restore or enhance
53
 Face Dissolution sandstone targets damage in the first 0.9 to 1.5 m
[3 to 5 ft] radially from the wellbore—the area
that experiences the largest pressure drop during
production and is critical for flow. This area is
Face Dissolution
typically damaged from migrating fines, swelling
Conical Channels
Pore volumes to core breakthrough

clays and scale deposition. Sandstone acidizing

reactions occur in areas where acid meets
Ramified Wormholes
minerals that can be dissolved. The primary
dissolution reactions of the clays and feldspar
with a typical HF-HCl mix form aluminosilicate
Wormholes
1.0
products. Sandstone acidizing chemistry is
complex, and the initial reaction products can

Porosity
react further and possibly cause precipitation.
These secondary reactions are slow compared
0.2
with the primary dissolution reactions and rarely
present problems with mineral acids except at
Flow rate higher temperatures (next page, top).
> Carbonate dissolution patterns. Wormhole structure is related to the efficiency of the acidizing Extension of matrix acidizing to tempera-
operation and can be viewed by plotting the number of pore volumes to core breakthrough (PVBT) tures above 93°C presents the operator with both
versus the flow rate. Porosity patterns obtained from a software model calibrated with experimental possibilities and concerns. The possibilities are
data illustrate how dissolution proceeds with increasing flow rate. The least efficient acidizing
operation is face dissolution—the entire matrix must dissolve in order to advance the reaction front. obvious—acidizing at higher temperatures
Slightly more efficient at higher flow rates is the creation of large, conical channels. The most allows stimulation of hot wells using familiar
efficient operation occurs at the curve minimum, with creation of highly dispersed wormhole field procedures. However, at higher tempera-
channels. At even higher flow rates, the curve turns upward and large channels, called ramified tures, use of HCl causes a host of problems. In
wormholes, form. Increasing to higher flow rates leads again to uniform face dissolution.
carbonates, the rapid HCl reaction rate at
elevated temperature may lead to face attack
to substantial lengths, resulting in efficient use In contrast to carbonate formations, the instead of wormhole creation and may create
of acid to bypass damage. In conditions that are quartz and other minerals that make up most acid-induced sludge with high-viscosity crudes.
less favorable, the acid creates short channels sandstone reservoirs are largely acid insoluble. High-temperature problems in sandstones are
that do little to increase production. For any Acid treatment for sandstone—HF usually different. Clay dissolution may be too rapid,
formation being treated, there is an optimal set combined with HCl—seeks to dissolve the decreasing penetration by the acid, and
of treatment parameters that creates wormholes damaging particulates that block the pores and secondary reactions may cause precipitation.
with the most efficient use of acid (above).3 reduce permeability (below).4 Acidizing in Finally, rapid reaction rates can deconsolidate
the sandstone matrix, creating mobile sand.
Of particular concern in high-temperature
sandstone and carbonate reservoirs is accelerated
corrosion of tubulars and other wellbore equip-
A ment. Although increased injection of inhibitors
may adequately control corrosion rates, the
greater inhibitor loading at higher temperatures
may itself cause formation damage.5
B
The challenges of extending matrix acidizing
to higher temperatures have led to development
C
of new treating fluids and techniques. Treating
fluids include acid-internal emulsions to retard
D reaction rates in carbonate reservoirs and mild,
E slightly acidic chemical agents for treating both
carbonates and sandstones. New techniques
include a simplified sandstone-treating system
that uses laboratory data and predictive
software—in combination with new chemical
treating agents—to arrive at a simplified
procedure. These new treatments and tech-
niques can be easily understood by examining
some of the laboratory data that were
instrumental in their development.
> Sandstone matrix. The framework of sandstone reservoirs is typically made up of grains of quartz
cemented by overgrowth of carbonates (A), quartz (B) and feldspar (C). Porosity reduction occurs
from pore-filling clays such as kaolinite (D) and pore-lining clays such as illite (E).

54 Oilfield Review
Laboratory Testing HF + mineral + HCl AIFx + H2SiF6
Testing new treatments and techniques in the H2SiF6 + mineral + HCl silica gel + AIFx
laboratory offers many advantages including AIFx + mineral AIFy + silica gel ; x > y
simplicity, cost and avoidance of possible
problems in the field. Good laboratory data will
confirm treatment models and indicate the right
path for successful field operations. Proper

Secondary
laboratory testing for acidizing techniques can

Primary

Tertiary
optimize treatment volumes and pinpoint
potential problem areas as well as confirm
theoretical underpinnings. A strong case in point
is the use of emulsified acids in matrix acidizing Distance from wellbore

of carbonate formations at higher temperatures.

One way to address the problem of fast
reaction rates at high temperatures is to use
acid-oil emulsions to retard the reaction rate.
These emulsions have been applied in both acid
fracturing and matrix acidizing of carbonates. In
acid fracturing, the emulsions help enhance and > Sandstone acidizing reactions. When sandstone formations are treated with
enlarge conductive pathways far from the HF and HCl, three sets of reactions occur. Close to the wellbore, the primary
reaction of the acids with the minerals forms aluminum and silica fluorides.
borehole. Acid fracturing typically employs These reactions rapidly dissolve the minerals and do not yield precipitates.
chemical and mechanical diversion techniques Farther from the wellbore, these primary products undergo slower secondary
to ensure that the treatment flows to its intended reactions to form silica gel, which can precipitate. Finally, at a somewhat
greater distance from the injection zone, a tertiary set of reactions can occur,
location.6 By contrast, acid-oil emulsions for
forming additional silica gel precipitate. The kinetics of the secondary and
matrix acidizing are designed to work close to tertiary precipitation reactions become exponentially more rapid at higher
the borehole and have lower treatment volumes temperatures and may cause sandstone acidizing treatments to fail.
than those for acid fracturing techniques.
Acid-oil emulsions for matrix acidizing of
Diesel
carbonate formations consist of an internal HCl
phase and an external oil phase. Hydrogen ion Emulsifier,
transport from the acid droplets to the rock HCl corrosion inhibitor,
H2S scavenger
surface takes place by Brownian diffusion—
which dramatically slows the acid reaction rate.7
Laboratory data show that when HCl droplets are
20
suspended in diesel oil, the reaction rate can be
Reservoir face
retarded by more than an order of magnitude HCl,%
15
(right).8 In addition to the slow reaction rate 19
28
Retardation factor, FR

3. Fredd CN and Fogler HS: “Optimum Conditions for

Wormhole Formation in Carbonate Porous Media: 18
Influence of Transport and Reaction,” SPE Journal 4,
no. 3 (September 1999): 196−205.
Panga MKR, Ziauddin M and Balakotaiah V: “Two-Scale
Continuum Model for Simulation of Wormholes in 17
Carbonate Acidization,” AIChE Journal 51, no. 12
(December 2005): 3231−3248.
4. Damaging particulates may include native clays and 16
carbonates or material from drilling and workovers.
Damage may also occur from other mechanisms
including clay swelling, scale, organic deposits,
15
wettability changes and bacterial growth. 250 300 350
5. Van Domelen MS and Jennings AR Jr: “Alternate Acid
Blends for HPHT Applications,” paper SPE 30419,
presented at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference, > Emulsions. Acid-oil emulsions decrease reaction rates by limiting access
Aberdeen, September 5−8, 1995.
of the HCl droplets to the reservoir face. Each droplet contains HCl plus
6. Zaeff G, Sievert C, Bustos O, Galt A, Stief D, Temple L and
other components such as emulsifiers, corrosion inhibitors and hydrogen
Rodriguez V: “Recent Acid-Fracturing Practices on
Strawn Formation in Terrell County, Texas,” paper SPE sulfide [H2S] scavengers (top). The extent to which the emulsion retards the
107978, presented at the SPE Annual Technical reaction rate can be expressed as the retardation factor, FR. This factor is a
Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California, USA, function of the ratio of the reaction rate with HCl to the reaction rate of the
November 11−14, 2007. emulsion. Laboratory core data on carbonates using 15% and 28% HCl in
7. Brownian diffusion or motion is the random movement of stabilized emulsions show that reaction rates can be retarded by factors of
particles suspended in a liquid or gas. 15 to 19 times in the temperature range 250 to 350°F [121 to 177°C] (bottom).
8. Navarette RC, Holmes BA, McConnell SB and Linton DE: (Retardation data adapted from Navarette et al, reference 8.)
“Laboratory, Theoretical and Field Studies of Emulsified
Acid Treatments in High-Temperature Carbonate
Formations,” SPE Production & Facilities 15, no. 2
(May 2000): 96−106.

Winter 2008/2009 55

CO2H CO2H
HO2C N N CO2H HO2C N N N CO2H
Polyaminocarboxylic
acids HO2C HO2C CO2H
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid Diethylenetraminepentaacetic acid
(EDTA) (DTPA)
CO2H
HO
N CO2H HO
N N CO2H
Hydroxyaminopolycarboxylic CO2H
acids (HACAs) HO2C
Hydroxyethyliminodiacetic acid Hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid
(HEIDA) (HEDTA)
> Chelants. Typical chelants used in the oil field include both polyaminocarboxylic acids and
hydroxyaminopolycarboxylic acids (HACAs). These compounds consist of one to three nitrogen atoms
surrounded by either carboxylic [CO2H] groups (EDTA and DTPA) or carboxylic and hydroxyl [HO]
groups (HEIDA and HEDTA). Molecular weights range from 177 for HEDTA to 393 for DTPA.
with the carbonate rock, acid-in-oil emulsions that they can be extended to higher tempera-
have other advantages. Their relatively high tures if properly formulated.
viscosity improves distribution in heterogeneous The Schlumberger acid-oil emulsion
reservoirs, and since the acid does not have formulation—called the SXE-HT system—was
direct contact with well tubulars, corrosion is developed for high-temperature acidizing in
reduced. Although emulsified acid systems have carbonate reservoirs. It consists of an acid phase,
been commonly used for matrix acidizing of containing a corrosion inhibitor, and a diesel-oil
carbonates below 93°C, laboratory data indicate phase with an emulsifier. These two mixtures are
combined at high shear rates to form an oil-
external acid emulsion. Laboratory data on the
physical properties of this formulation show low
0.18 corrosion and pitting for a variety of metals, high
13 Chrome steel viscosity retention even up to 177°C [350°F] and
0.16
80 Nickel steel good emulsion stability. For example, a typical
0.14 SXE-HT emulsion is stable for at least two hours
at 149°C [300°F], and this stability time can be
0.12
Corrosion rate, lbm/ft2
prolonged by increasing the emulsifier concen-
0.10 tration. Tests on limestone cores with the
SXE-HT fluid at 135°C [275°F] confirm its ability
0.08
to create wormholes at typical injection rates.
0.06
Use of a properly formulated acid-oil emulsion
is one solution for well stimulation at high
0.04 temperature. Another approach is to consider a
completely different type of reservoir acidizing
0.02
fluid. Data confirm that a different class of
0 chemicals—chelants—allow well stimulation at
HEDTA HCl Mud acid
conditions that preclude the use of mineral acids.
> Corrosion testing. Four-hour corrosion tests at The term chelation is derived from the Greek
350˚F were performed on two metallurgies with word meaning claw, and chelants are often used
three acid-stimulation components—a 20% by
volume sodium HEDTA chelant, a 15% by volume to bind, sequester or capture other molecules—
HCl and a 9-to-1 mud acid (9% by weight HCl to typically metals. Although these agents have been
1% by weight HF). Corrosion rates for the chelant used frequently in the past to control metals or in
are very low at 0.01 lbm/ft2 [0.049 kg/m2] for both some cases to dissolve scale, their new focus is
chrome and nickel steels. In contrast, corrosion
rates using conventional HCl and HF treatments well stimulation at elevated temperatures.
are 5 to 10 times higher for these metals.
56
The chelants typically used in oilfield services
are complex organic acids (left).9 These
compounds not only bind metals, but also are
active dissolution agents in acidizing reactions.
Well stimulation with chelants yields several
advantages, including retarded reaction rates,
low corrosion rates and improved health, safety
and environmental benefits. While chelants
such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)
have been widely used for control of iron precipi-
tation, hydroxyaminopolycarboxylic acid (HACA)
chelants have the additional advantage of
high acid solubility, and their primary role is
matrix acidizing.
The slower reaction rates exhibited by the
HACA chelants at high temperatures have
important implications. In carbonates, slower
rates allow efficient wormhole creation, while in
sandstones there is less possibility of damage to
sensitive formations. Low corrosion is another
important characteristic of HACA chelants. For
example, at high temperature, hydroxyethyl-
ethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA) exhibits
corrosion rates up to an order of magnitude lower
than those of conventional mineral acids (below
left).10 Significant health and environmental
benefits include lower toxicity, reduced need for
return fluid neutralization and lower
concentrations of corrosion products in these
fluids. Of all these advantages of HACA chelants,
however, the most important may be slower
reaction rates at elevated temperatures.
Coreflood testing in carbonates at elevated
temperatures demonstrates the advantage of
using a chelant rather than HCl to create an
efficient wormhole network (next page).11
Another gauge of chelant effectiveness in
carbonates versus that of HCl is the amount of
acid required to penetrate a formation—as
measured by pore volumes to core breakthrough
(PVBT). In one simulation that was scaled up
from laboratory data, PVBT values for HCl and
HEDTA were predicted for acidizing a carbonate
formation at a depth of 2,185 m [7,170 ft], a
bottomhole temperature of 177°C, and with
damage that extended 0.3 m [1 ft] from the
wellbore.12 At a pump rate of 0.95 m3/min
[6 bbl/min], the simulation predicted that the
PVBT for HCl was nearly 100 times that for
HEDTA—indicating low acidizing efficiency for
HCl at high temperature.
As in carbonates, use of HACA chelants in
sandstones offers a way to avoid the rapid
reaction rates that lead to precipitation.
Laboratory tests on West African sandstone with
an HACA chelant confirm that proposition.
Oilfield Review
 HCl

CO2H
HO N CO2H
N
HO2C

> Carbonate core tests. A coreflood test was performed on Indiana limestone with 15% HCl at 150°F
[65°C]. A photograph of the core face shows dissolution ending in a single dominant wormhole (top
left ). A longitudinal CT scan of this core indicates that this single wormhole extended the entire
length of the sample (top right ). Similar testing was carried out on a limestone sample with HEDTA at
350°F and the same flow rate (bottom left ). Use of a chelant resulted in a complex network of
wormholes at the higher temperature level (bottom right ).

The Nemba reservoir is one of a group of
production zones lying offshore Cabinda,
Angola.13 This layered reservoir consists of varying
thicknesses of sandstone, limestone and shales.
Although some high-permeability streaks exist
due to fissures and fractures, permeability
elsewhere is low and temperature is high—
149°C. The Nemba formation contains high levels
of native calcium carbonate, making the
formation particularly difficult to acidize at
elevated temperatures without causing deconsoli-
dation. Prior treatment and workovers in the
Nemba formation had caused significant damage
related to carbonate scale. Nemba sandstone
samples represent good candidates for evaluating
the use of chelants in high-temperature acidizing.
Ten core samples were taken from the Nemba
field over a narrow depth interval at about
3,534 m [11,595 ft] and subjected to a variety of
experiments with an HEDTA chelant. These
experiments measured composition, examined
metals evolution during reaction and determined
permeability. The composition of the Nemba core
samples ranged from 5% to 44% calcium
carbonate with significant amounts of feldspar
and chlorites. Two different procedures were
performed in the laboratory to determine the
results of HEDTA treatment—slurry reactor
tests and coreflood permeability tests.
The slurry reactor tests on the Nemba
sandstone samples used an isothermal, stirred
reactor to measure product composition as a
function of time. Powdered sandstone samples
containing 24% and 44% carbonate levels were
treated in the reactor with HEDTA at 149°C.
Samples of the reaction mix were withdrawn over
time and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma
emission spectrometry. For both carbonate levels,
the concentrations of calcium, silicon, aluminum
and magnesium rose smoothly over time with no
decreases that would indicate precipitation.
The same slurry reactor test was repeated for
a 30% carbonate-containing sample using a
conventional 9:1 mud acid.14 In this experiment,
concentrations of calcium and other components
showed an initial rise followed by a decrease—
indicating precipitation—a common cause of
sandstone treatment failure. The slurry reactor
data on HEDTA suggest that this chelant
dissolves the pore-filling and blocking minerals
at high temperature without causing precipi-
tation. These positive results for HEDTA were
followed by coreflood tests at two carbonate
levels. Results from these tests show that the

9. Frenier WW, Wilson D, Crump D and Jones L: “Use of
Highly Acid-Soluble Agents in Well Stimulation
Services,” paper SPE 63242, presented at the SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas,
October 1−4, 2000.
10. Frenier W, Brady M, Al-Harthy S, Aranagath R, Chan KS,
Flamant N and Samuel M: “Hot Oil and Gas Wells Can
Be Stimulated Without Acids,” paper SPE 86522,
presented at the SPE International Symposium and paper SPE 93805, presented at the SPE European
Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Formation Damage Conference, Scheveningen,
Louisiana, February 18−20, 2004. The Netherlands, May 25−27, 2005.
11. Frenier et al, reference 9. 14. A conventional 9:1 mud acid is 9% by weight HCl
combined with 1% by weight HF.
12. Frenier et al, reference 10.
13. Ali S, Ermel E, Clarke J, Fuller MJ, Xiao Z and Malone B:
“Stimulation of High-Temperature Sandstone Formations
from West Africa with Chelant Agent-Based Fluids,”

Winter 2008/2009 57
 CO2H chelant significantly increases permeability in
HO N CO2H the damaged cores (left).
N
In aggregate, the laboratory results on
HO2C carbonate and sandstone samples provide an
advance in overcoming problems associated with
acidizing in high-temperature environments. In
Pretreatment
contemplating the scale-up of laboratory data to
actual field operation, treating carbonates repre-
sents a more direct extension of the technology
since secondary precipitation reactions are not
present. Complex, multilayer sandstone forma-
tions present a more difficult problem since both
complicated mineralogy and precipitation
reactions must be considered. Job success in
sandstones can be improved by using a geo-
chemical simulator package called Virtual Lab
Posttreatment
software that optimizes stimulation parameters for
a variety of fluids and bottomhole conditions (next
page, left).15
Field results from the application of these
advances in high-temperature acidizing confirm
their potential.

Acidizing High-Temperature Carbonate Wells

The carbonate reservoirs of the Smackover
5
formation, located in the southeastern USA, have
4 been prolific producers of oil and gas since their
k (initial)
Permeability, mD

3 k (final) initial discoveries in 1937.16 Although interest in

this formation continues, many of the wells
2
drilled years ago now require stimulation to
1 boost declining production. High-temperature
0 gas wells drilled in Alabama Smackover dolomite
24% carbonate 12% carbonate 20 years ago have been acidized with good results
sample sample
using oil-HCl emulsions.17 These retrograde
> Sandstone and chelants. Laboratory permeability tests were carried out condensate wells reach a depth of 18,500 ft
on Nemba sandstone cores with varying carbonate levels before and after [5,640 m] and can attain bottomhole tempera-
coreflood treatment with sodium HEDTA at 149°C (bottom ). In the 24%
tures of 320°F [160°C] and static bottomhole
carbonate sample, the chelant increased permeability (k) by a factor of 25.
In the 12% carbonate sample, permeability increased by 35%. Samples of pressures of 2,500 to 4,000 psi [17.2 to 27.6 MPa].
the cores were photographed using a scanning electron microscope before The treatment and production history of one of
and after treatment with an HEDTA chelant. Before treatment, the sandstone these wells illustrates application of retarded
shows pore blocking as a result of dolomite and chlorite particles in addition
emulsions at high temperature in carbonates.
to quartz overgrowth. After treatment, the sample shows significant removal
of the pore-blocking minerals. The gas well treated in the Alabama
Smackover field with a retarded oil-HCl emulsion
was drilled and completed in 1986. By 1998, gas
and condensate production from the well had
declined significantly. Prior to treating the well
15. Ali S, Frenier WW, Lecerf B, Ziauddin M, Kotlar HK, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,
Nasr-El-Din HA and Vikane O: “Virtual Testing: The Key New Orleans, September 30−October 3, 2001. with the emulsion, two workover operations were
to a Stimulating Process,” Oilfield Review 16, no. 1 20. Cocoalkylamine is a cationic surfactant that includes performed. First, withdrawal of a chemical
(Spring 2004): 58−68. high concentrations of several long-chain acids that injection string allowed additional perforations.
16. “The Smackover Formation,” http://www.visionexploration. include lauric, myristic, palmitic and caprylic varieties.
com/smackover.htm (accessed October 20, 2008). 21. Nasr-El-Din HA, Al-Dirweesh S and Samuel M: Next, tubular scale was removed using 15% HCl.
17. Navarette et al, reference 8. “Development and Field Application of a New, Highly This well was then treated with nearly 214 bbl
18. The composition of the emulsion as % by volume was Stable Emulsified Acid,” paper SPE 115926, presented
at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, [34 m3] of an HCl-diesel emulsion at a rate of
30% of an HCl solution (20% by weight HCl in water)
mixed with 70% diesel oil. Denver, September 21−24, 2008. 9 bbl/min [1.43 m3/min].18 Immediately after
19. Nasr-El-Din HA, Solares JR, Al-Mutairi SH and 22. Like the cocoalkylamine, tallow amine acetate is a treatment with the retarded emulsion, gas
Mahoney MD: “Field Application of Emulsified Acid- cationic mixture of acids. However, this emulsifier has
Based System to Stimulate Deep, Sour Gas Reservoirs longer carbon chains and contains some double bonds. production more than doubled, with a smaller but
in Saudi Arabia,” paper SPE 71693, presented at the 23. Frenier et al, reference 10.

58 Oilfield Review
still significant increase in condensate production 10 500
(right). Two other nearby gas wells were also 9 Gas 450
treated with the retarded emulsion and experi- 8 Condensate 400

Condensate production, bbl/d

enced similar production increases. Emulsified-acid treatment

Gas production, MMcf/d

7 350
Although acid-oil emulsions have been
employed for many years, additional focus on the 6 300

details of the technique has yielded significant 5 250

4 200

3 150
Slurry Reactor Tests
2 100

1 50
0 0
January July January July January
1996 1996 1997 1997 1998
> Smackover well production history. Gas and condensate production from this well declined steadily
over time reaching levels of 3.4 MMcf/d [96,200 m3/d] of gas and 150 bbl/d [23.8 m3/d] of condensate
in August 1997, immediately before treatment. After treatment with an acid-oil emulsion, gas production
increased to more than 9 MMcf/d [255,000 m3/d] while condensate rose to 200 bbl/d [31.7 m3/d]. Six
months after treatment, gas production had fallen off somewhat but was still more than twice the
value prior to treatment. In the same time period, condensate production fell slightly but retained
most of the treatment-related production increase.

Reservoir Coreflood Tests
Radial-Flow Simulations
> Reaction simulations in sandstone. Virtual Lab
software is a prediction system that determines
optimal acidizing parameters for sandstone
treatment. This semiempirical system is based on
laboratory data taken from samples of the
formation being considered for treatment. In the
first step, slurry reactor tests are carried out
using acid and crushed solids (top ). Analysis of
effluent solutions allows determination of
reaction kinetics and identification of
precipitates. In the second step, coreflood tests
determine permeability and porosity at reservoir
conditions (middle ). In the final step, all the data
are combined with radial-flow simulations to
determine the best acidizing treatment (bottom ).
improvements. A case in point is their use in
treating a group of deep, high-temperature wells
in the Middle East. These wells are located in
eastern Saudi Arabia and produce nonassociated
sour gas at a depth of about 3,500 m [11,500 ft].
The producing zone lies in the Khuff formation
and is composed of dolomite layers intermingled
with limestone. Bottomhole temperatures are in
the range of 127° to 135°C [260° to 275°F].
Stimulation efforts have been conducted on a
regular basis by the operator to enhance perme-
ability and remove drilling mud damage. Both
straight HCl and acid-in-diesel emulsions have
been used for stimulation of gas wells in this
formation with varying results. HCl is an effective
stimulation agent but is highly corrosive at the
higher temperatures encountered in these wells.
An acid-oil emulsion was found to be effective in
providing stimulation without corrosion, but field
application showed the need for optimization of
the emulsifier formulation.19 Work to improve the
emulsifier was concentrated on two areas—
reduced quantities and improved field operations.
Earlier field tests of acid-in-diesel emulsions
to stimulate wells in the Khuff formation used
28% by weight HCl in a 30% by volume acid and
70% by volume diesel emulsion. The emulsifier
was a cocoalkylamine at 0.08 to 0.11 m3 [0.48
to 0.71 bbl] per 3.78-m3 [23.8-bbl] emulsion
loading.20 The field application showed that
although the emulsion was effective at
stimulating production, further improvements
were needed. Emulsifier loadings were high, and
the emulsion often broke at ambient conditions
in the field, necessitating remixing and quality
control in the field before use. Both of these
cocoalkylamine emulsifier attributes meant
longer operation times and higher cost.
The operator, therefore, embarked on a
program to develop and test an improved
emulsion for use in stimulating the deep, high-
temperature gas wells in this formation.21 Results
from laboratory testing of more than 10 different
emulsifiers showed that beef-tallow amine acetate
would be more effective than the cocoalkylamine
formulation.22 This new emulsifier could be used
at 25% of the previous loading to make stable
emulsions with no remixing at both ambient field
conditions and high temperatures. In a four-well
pilot campaign, the new tallow amine emulsifier
was successfully employed. Mixing times in the
field were reduced by 25% and poststimulation
production rates exceeded expectations.
Acid-in-oil emulsions are not the only option
for hot carbonate well stimulation; chelants can
also be used successfully, as illustrated by a well in
a Middle Eastern carbonate reservoir.23 After
completion, the well was not flowing, and drilling
mud filtrate damage in the formation was
suspected. Despite the need to stimulate the well
to start production flow, the operator had concerns
about the high bottomhole temperature—110°C
[230°F]—and the formation lithology at a
measured depth of 2,620 m [8,600 ft]. At this

Winter 2008/2009 59
 depth, the limestone-dominated formation has
dolomite streaks containing significant amounts of
entrapped gas. Surface facilities were limited in
the amount of gas that could be handled to a
gas/oil ratio (GOR) of 440 m3/m3 [2,500 ft3/bbl].
Any stimulation to initiate flow in the well had
to avoid gas production and keep the GOR
below this limit by minimizing stimulation of the
dolomite streaks.
A chelant from the HACA family was the
obvious choice for the stimulation job. Chelants
in the HACA group exhibit enhanced reaction
rates with limestone and more limited reaction
with dolomites—an important factor for the
Kepong/ success of this treatment due to the entrapped
Tiong/Bekok
gas. A treatment plan for this well was developed
MALAYSIA
Kerteh using the Schlumberger StimCADE software for
acid placement. This plan called for using coiled
Kepong
Kuala Lumpur tubing to place an HACA chelant into a narrow
zone of the limestone matrix at 2,620 m. The
Tiong
software predicted a 1.5-m radial penetration by
Oil
Gas
the HACA chelant.
Stimulation treatment was carried out
Singapore Bekok
without incident. A preflush of a solvent mixed
with water preceded the chelant to aid flowback
by making the formation water-wet. Treatment
0 km 100 pressure averaged 8.3 MPa [1,200 psi], and the
0 mi 100 chelating injection rate was 0.056 m3/min
[0.35 bbl/min]. After treatment was complete,
> Tiong field. The offshore Tiong field is located 260 km [162 mi] off the the operator displaced the well with diesel and
coast of central Malaysia. This sandstone field covers an area of about pulled the coiled tubing. Positive results from the
20 km2 [7.7 mi2] and, along with nearby Kepong and Bekok fields, produces
oil and associated gas (inset bottom). These fields send oil and gas by treatment with the chelant were immediately
pipeline to a gathering point at Kerteh on the mainland. From Kerteh, oil apparent. Oil production increased from the
and gas are sent by pipeline to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and other initial nonflowing state to 96 m3/d [600 bbl/d].
processing facilities (not shown). This oil production increase was accompanied by
a GOR increase of only 264 to 299 m3/m3 [1,500 to
1,700 ft3/bbl]—well within the operator’s limits.
Results from these cases confirm that
chelants are useful for stimulation of hot
400,000 80
carbonate reservoirs. This capability is also
350,000
Gas flow 70 present for sandstones.
Oil flow
300,000 60
Acidizing High-Temperature Sandstone Wells
250,000 50 A West African well drilled in 1984 typifies the
Gas flow, m3/d

Oil flow, m3/d

choices an operator must make when confront-

200,000 40
ing the need for acidizing a high-temperature
150,000 30 sandstone formation.24 This well, completed at a
depth of 2,360 m [7,743 ft] in a deltaic sandstone
100,000 20 formation with 15% carbonates, had a bottomhole
50,000 10
temperature of 128°C [263°F]. During a nearly
20-year period, oil production had declined from
0 0 490 m3/d [2,500 bbl/d] to 224 m3/d [1,408 bbl/d]
January 2007 April 2007 June 2007
with a corresponding increase in water output.
> Tiong field stimulation results. The OneSTEP procedure performed on the Tiong well in April 2007 The water, first noted in 1991, had increased to
had immediate positive results from the chelant treatment. Oil production increased from about 30% by 2003. The effect of the water on comple-
16 m3/d [101 bbl/d] to more than 70 m3/d [440 bbl/d]. Similarly, gas production increased from less
than 20,000 m3/d [0.7 MMcf/d] to about 85,000 m3/d [3 MMcf/d]. tion equipment had been observed during a prior

60 Oilfield Review
well intervention to replace gas lift system candidate wells indicated formation damage from Prior to carrying out the treatment,
components. The scale deposits on the gas lift kaolinite fines and calcite. Petronas selected a Schlumberger calibrated the Virtual Lab model
mandrels were so severe that a 71-mm [2.8-in.] well for the acidizing tests and chose the using results from well testing before running
gauge cutter could not pass below 875 m [2,870 ft]. OneSTEP system for its operational simplicity simulations. The well tests determined
Faced with concerns about corrosion and and use of chelants (below).26 This combination formation dissolution kinetics, measured
possible damage to the formation using conven- marries a low risk of secondary and tertiary physical properties of the rock and compared
tional acidizing, the operator chose to treat the reactions that might cause precipitation with treatment options in radial-flow tests. The final
scale problem with an HACA chelant. The fewer fluid stages and simplified logistics. Other choice for the treatment fluid at Tiong was a
treatment goal was to use a mild fluid that would benefits accrue from low corrosion rates and a chelant plus other additives. With this chelant
remove carbonate scale and not damage the good health, safety and environmental footprint. fluid, the OneSTEP treatment was carried out at
sandstone formation. The well was treated with the Tiong well in April 2007. No operational
the HACA chelant using coiled tubing with a problems were encountered and the test was
rotating jet to spray and soak the areas successful—oil production increased by a factor
containing the gas lift components. Following of four and gas production by a similar amount
treatment, the fluids used in the operation were (previous page, bottom).
displaced with water and the gas lift system was For Petronas, stimulation of oil and gas
restarted. A gauge cutter was run through the production was not the only benefit of the
entire length of the wellbore and encountered no OneSTEP technique. This simplified acidizing
obstructions. After treatment, oil production operation saves significant rig time, resulting in
increased to 402 m3/d [2,528 bbl/d], indicating lower cost. In the Tiong treatment, the
removal of scale and possible stimulation of operational time saved was measurable—
the sandstone.
As illustrated by the treatment in this West Conventional Fluid Placement
African well, using chelants in sandstones with
Treatment Stage Step Fluid Type
conventional fluid placement plans is often quite
Stage 1 1 Brine preflush
effective. Schlumberger has extended the utility
2 Acid preflush
of these new chemicals in sandstones with its
3 Main treatment
OneSTEP technology. This technology uses a
4 Overflush
unique chelant fluid and simplified placement
5 Diverter
techniques to stimulate production with less risk
Stage 2 6 Brine preflush
of damage and precipitates. This fluid
7 Acid preflush
substantially reduces the number of required
8 Main treatment
stages during acidizing. Petronas Carigali 9 Overflush
recently employed this technology to stimulate 10 Diverter
one of its offshore wells in Southeast Asia. Stage 3 11 Brine preflush
The Tiong field lies off the western coast of 12 Acid preflush
Malaysia in 77 m [253 ft] of water (previous page, 13 Main treatment
top). Discovered in 1978, the field began OneSTEP Fluid Placement
14 Overflush
producing oil and gas in 1982. Tiong is a 15 Diverter Treatment Stage Step Fluid Type
sandstone formation with a high bottomhole Stage 4 16 Brine preflush Stage 1 1 Main treatment
temperature—109°C [228°F]. After experiencing 17 Acid preflush 2 Diverter
declining production and noting a high skin value 18 Main treatment Stage 2 3 Main treatment
for the formation, Petronas evaluated several 19 Overflush 4 Diverter
Tiong wells as candidates for acidizing 20 Diverter Stage 3 5 Main treatment
treatment.25 Tests on core samples from the Stage 5 21 Brine preflush 6 Diverter
22 Acid preflush Stage 4 7 Main treatment
24. Frenier et al, reference 10.
23 Main treatment 8 Diverter
25. Skin is a dimensionless factor calculated to determine
the production efficiency of a well by comparing actual 24 Overflush Stage 5 9 Main treatment
conditions with theoretical or ideal conditions. A positive Displacement 25 Brine Displacement 10 Brine
skin value indicates some damage or influences that are
impairing well productivity. A negative skin value > OneSTEP technique. Conventional sandstone acidizing—usually with HF—is a complex process
indicates enhanced productivity, typically resulting
from stimulation. involving several pieces of equipment and many sequential steps (left ). As many as six acid tanks and
26. Tuedor FE, Xiao Z, Fuller MJ, Fu D, Salamat G, Davies SN two brine tanks may be employed, and five stages with 25 steps may be carried out, depending on the
and Lecerf B: “A Breakthrough Fluid Technology in type of diversion technique. In conventional treatment, brine preflush removes and dilutes acid-
Stimulation of Sandstone Reservoirs,” paper SPE 98314, incompatible components. Similarly, HCl preflushing removes calcites prior to the main HF treatment. In
presented at the SPE International Symposium and contrast, OneSTEP treatment typically uses only two acid storage tanks and one brine tank and
Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette,
Louisiana, February 15−17, 2006.
requires significantly fewer treatment steps (right ). This treatment simplicity is a result of two
factors—use of a chelant instead of HF and employment of Virtual Lab predictive software before the
job is started. The chelant eliminates problems with secondary and tertiary reactions, while Virtual Lab
testing ensures that any potential problems are addressed before the job begins.

Winter 2008/2009 61
 conventional treatment was estimated at
45 hours in contrast to 24 hours for the OneSTEP
technique—a 21-hour savings. This time saving
600
is a direct result of fewer fluid stages and faster
flowback. Other benefits were also realized. Less
West Java
equipment and chemical inventory equates to
less deck space required, and fewer chemicals
500
reduce the operational risks of chemical spills
Deep Alex associated with handling and lifting.
Mobile Bay
Static reservoir temperature, °F
In spite of the difficulty in acidizing at
extreme conditions, some early successes have
been reported. For example, a South American
high-pressure, high-temperature sandstone well
with significant damage was treated with a
combination of acetic acid and HF, resulting in a
doubling of oil production.30 Keys to success in
this operation at high temperature included a
mild acid—acetic—associated with HF, and
inclusion of a phosphonic acid stabilizer to keep

Shearwater New Fields—Severe Conditions products in solution. Another example of

400 Gulf of Thailand
Great strides have been made in acidizing at high innovative solutions to acidizing in high-
E. Cameron, Sable
temperature in the past few years. Treatment with temperature environments is the use of an in situ
Egret, Heron
acid-oil emulsions and chelants allows operators acid system.31 The treatment fluid in this system
Asgard
Chelants

Khuff to acidize formations at elevated temperatures contains an acid precursor that delivers time-
300
Brunei with reduced corrosion rates and less risk of controlled release for long-interval wells.
Thunder Horse secondary damage. As promising as this picture In the final analysis, successful acidizing of
Ursa
seems for acidizing, more improvements in high-pressure, high-temperature wells will place
treating agents and procedures will be required to greater demands on both treatment fluids and
200
meet difficult conditions in the future.27 procedures. Fluids will be required that have
Current world demand for energy is expected controlled reaction rates, low corrosion and
HCl-HF

100
> Acidizing deep, hot reservoirs. Acidizing with
HCl and HF is typically effective at reservoir
temperatures below 200°F, and use of chelants
can extend this temperature range to about
400°F. Recent deepwater gas discoveries are
good examples of hot reservoirs and can reach
temperatures of 250 to 550°F [288°C]. Chelants
could be considered for acidizing fields between
Ursa at 250°F and Egret at 350°F, but to acidize
fields above 400°F, such as West Java, Deep Alex
and Mobile Bay, new technology will be required.
to grow—it is estimated that 40% more energy acceptable health, safety and environmental
will be required in 2020 than in 2007.28 As the footprints—chelants are a good example of a
search for new reserves continues, exploration is step in this direction. In addition to the
turning to deeper reservoirs; operations in the development of new fluids, treatments like the
USA illustrate this trend. In 2007, wells deeper OneSTEP technique that emphasize simplicity
than 15,000 ft [4,572 m] accounted for about 7% and minimize operational time will be at a
of domestic production; this is forecasted to grow premium. Taken together, future developments
to 12% in 2010. The deep gas resource being in both treating fluids and procedures that
produced by this type of well is large and could employ them will ensure that matrix acidizing
be as high as 29% of production in the future. keeps pace with difficult conditions as new fields
One defining characteristic of deeper basins are developed. —DA
is that they are hot. Deep gas wells in the Gulf of
Mexico and Brazil have average bottomhole
temperatures of 204°C [400°F], and even higher
temperatures have been reported. To help opera-
tors focus on the implications of drilling and
operating deep, hot wells, several classification
systems have been developed.29 Many of these
deep, hot wells will require matrix acidizing at
some point in their life span, and current
technology covers only part of the temperature
range (above left). This trend toward increasingly
higher temperatures will demand improvements
in all aspects of acidizing, from corrosion rates to
treatment-fluid stability.

27. DeBruijn G, Skeates C, Greenaway R, Harrison D,
Parris M, James S, Mueller F, Ray S, Riding M,
Temple L and Wutherich K: “High-Pressure, High-
Temperature Technologies,” Oilfield Review 20, no. 3
(Autumn 2008): 46−60.
28. Aboud R, Smith K, Forero L and Kalfayan L: “Effective
Matrix-Acidizing in High Temperature Environments,”
paper SPE 109818, presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim,
California, November 11−14, 2007.
29. Payne ML, Pattillo PD, Miller RA and Johnston CK:
“Advanced Technology Solutions for Next Generation
HPHT Wells,” paper IPTC 11463, presented at the
International Petroleum Technology Conference, Dubai,
December 4−7, 2007.
DeBruijn et al, reference 27.
30. Aboud et al, reference 28.
31. Al-Otaibi MB, Al-Moajil AM and Nasr-El-Din HA:
“In-Situ Acid System to Clean up Drill-In-Fluid Damage
in High-Temperature Gas Wells,” paper SPE 103846,
presented at the IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling
Technology Conference and Exhibition, Bangkok,
Thailand, November 13−15, 2006.

62 Oilfield Review

Ridvan Akkurt is a Senior Petroleum Engineering
Consultant at Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
He began his career in 1983 as a Wireline field engi-
neer for Schlumberger in Africa and then worked for
GSI (Geophysical Service Inc.) in the Middle East as a
field seismologist, and for Schlumberger-Doll Research
in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) research. He
also worked for Shell as a geophysicist and for NUMAR
as a senior research scientist. Ridvan founded NMR-
PLUS Inc. in 1997 and consulted for major oil and ser-
vice companies on various aspects of NMR logging
until he joined Saudi Aramco in 2005. He has a BS
degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, and a PhD
degree in geophysics from the Colorado School of
Mines in Golden, USA. He has several publications and
patents in NMR logging, has taught courses on NMR
logging and has served as a Distinguished Lecturer for
SPE and SPWLA.
Ibrahim H. Al-Arnaout is a Petroleum Engineer who
works for Saudi Aramco in the Southern Area
Production Engineering Department (SAPED). He
received his BS degree in petroleum engineering from
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
(KFUPM) in Dhahran. He has 10 years of petroleum
work experience, particularly in the areas of intelli-
gent fields and well intervention. He is a member of
the SPE and has published several technical papers.
Ibrahim is currently the Head of the Haradh and
Harmaliyah Production Engineering Unit at Udhailiyah.
Salah Al-Harthy is a Senior Sales Engineer for
Schlumberger in Houston. He began his Schlumberger
career in 1996 in the Middle East, performing and
designing cementing, sand control and matrix acidizing
jobs in Saudi Arabia and Oman. In 1999, he transferred
to the USA, where he worked as a fracturing and stimu-
lation vessel engineer on deepwater Gulf of Mexico
operations. In 2001, he began coordinating sand con-
trol tool applications for deep water, and in 2002, he
moved to well completion sales in Houston. He
returned to Oman as operations manager in 2003, and
then spent a year as GeoMarket* technical engineer in
Venezuela before assuming his current position. Salah
obtained a BS degree in materials science and engi-
neering from University of Manchester, England.
H. Nate Bachman is a Senior Physicist and Project
Leader at the Schlumberger Sugar Land Product
Center in Texas. There he oversees magnetic reso-
nance tool development and answer products, as well
as training materials and seminars on magnetic reso-
nance for oilfield professionals. Nate holds a BS degree
in physics from Valparaiso University, Indiana, USA, as
well as MS and PhD degrees in physics from
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Prior
to employment at Schlumberger, he held a research
appointment in physics at Harvard University in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Winter 2008/2009
Contributors
George Brown joined Sensa fiber optics in
Southampton, England, as manager of interpretation
development in 1999. (Sensa was acquired by
Schlumberger in 2001.) He is responsible for develop-
ing fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor (DTS)
interpretation methodology, analyzing Sensa* DTS
data and training Schlumberger staff and clients to
interpret DTS data. He began his career with
Schlumberger Wireline in 1973, working 12 years in
the Middle East and the North Sea in operational,
management and sales positions. During the next 15
years, he was with BP Exploration in several posts,
including head of petrophysics at the Sunbury
Research Centre in England and senior formation eval-
uation consultant with the Intelligent Wells Team,
charged with developing new permanent monitoring
systems for horizontal and subsea wells. George
earned a degree (Hons) in mechanical engineering
from Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry, England.
Rex Burgos is a Program Manager at Schlumberger
Integrated Productivity and Conveyance Center in
Sugar Land, Texas. There he is involved in product
development activities for the ACTive* services portfo-
lio. He has held several technical support functions
including manager of the InTouch knowledge manage-
ment system, technical advisor and most recently
technical support manager for the Coiled Tubing
Services business segment. Other past assignments
include serving as a technical instructor for Well
Services at the UK Training Center, as product cham-
pion for CoilCAT* coiled tubing data acquisition sys-
tem and as a coiled tubing software applications
engineer in Rosharon, Texas. He currently holds a
Director Membership position with the Intervention
and Coiled Tubing Association (ICoTA) and is a previ-
ous member of the API Well Intervention and Well
Control Subcommittee. He joined Schlumberger in
1983 as a field engineer and has had several offshore
and land assignments in the Far East. Rex has a BS
degree in mechanical engineering from the University
of the Philippines in Diliman.
Oscar A. Bustos, who is based in Sugar Land, is
Domain Manager, Acidizing and Conformance, for
Schlumberger Well Services. In this position, he has
global responsibilities that include providing techni-
cal support, business direction and liaison between
clients and Schlumberger for acidizing and confor-
mance services. He also provides technical guidance
for new product development and research. He joined
Schlumberger as a field engineer in Reynosa, Tamaulipas,
Mexico, in 1995. Subsequent assignments took him to
Argentina, Kuwait and Texas as engineer in charge of
fracturing services, district technical engineer, stimu-
lation engineer, operations manager and GeoMarket
technical engineer. Before assuming his current post
in 2008, he was based in Denver as GeoMarket tech-
nical engineer for the US West GeoMarket region.
Oscar studied geology at Universidad Nacional de
Colombia and earned a BS degree in petroleum engi-
neering at Universidad de America, both in Bogotá.
He also has an MBA degree from RSM Erasmus
University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Chanh Cao Minh is the D&M Director of
Measurements at Schlumberger Sugar Land Product
Center. Previously, he was section manager responsi-
ble for the CMR* combinable magnetic resonance tool
in the NMR Department from 1997 to 2004. He joined
the company in 1978 as a field engineer, working in
France and Norway. He has held various management
and staff positions in Europe and Southeast Asia, con-
centrating primarily on reservoir simulation. He man-
aged the Schlumberger Computing Center in China
(1990 to 1991) and then became a research scientist
at Schlumberger-Doll Research, Ridgefield,
Connecticut, USA. Before taking his current assign-
ment in Sugar Land in 2008, he was a petrophysicist in
Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and then a petrophysicist
domain champion in Luanda, Angola. Chanh has a
degree in electrical and mechanical engineering from
Université de l’Etat à Liège, Belgium.
Romulo Carmona is currently Petrophysical Advisor
to Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) for the bitumi-
nous reservoirs of the Orinoco belt. He joined PDVSA
in 1982 as a petrophysicist in operations. Romulo
received an engineering degree in geology from the
Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas in 1977.
Jon Christian works for Schlumberger in Sugar Land,
Texas, where he serves as Product Champion for the
ACTive portfolio of coiled tubing services. He joined
Schlumberger as a wireline field engineer and has
held positions in sales, marketing, technique and man-
agement in the USA and South America. A graduate of
Rice University in Houston, Jon has a BS degree in
mechanical engineering.
Stephen Coulson has more than 20 years of experi-
ence in the field of satellite Earth observation and its
applications, the last 18 of which have been with the
European Space Agency (ESA). In the early 1990s, he
worked on the development of processing facilities to
deliver ocean wind, sea-surface height and wave spec-
tra for national meteorological offices within three
hours of sensing for the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites.
Throughout the 1990s, he coordinated a group of scien-
tists around the world to develop the technique of syn-
thetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry for the
production of digital elevation models (DEMs) and
displacement maps of the Earth’s surface for earth-
quakes, landslides and subsidence events. Since 2000,
he has managed an ESA program to support the devel-
opment of the European Earth observation services
industry and is now head of the Industry Section
within the Directorate of Earth Observation Programs
in the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) in
Frascati, Italy. Stephen earned a degree in physics
from the University of Durham and a PhD degree in
theoretical physics from the University of
Southampton, both in England.
63
Steve Crary is Schlumberger Petrophysics Domain
Champion in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He joined the
company as a field engineer in West Texas, with subse-
quent assignments as sales engineer in the West Texas
Division, district manager for the Midland, Texas,
Openhole District and data center manager for the
West Texas Division. In 1985, he became USA land
interpretation development manager and, after three
years, joined the interpretation development staff to
work on interpretation techniques for North America.
He subsequently served as product development man-
ager for Schlumberger in Canada and Alaska, interpre-
tation development manager for Schlumberger North
America and interpretation development manager for
the Gulf Coast Division in New Orleans. He has also
worked on various magnetic resonance projects at the
Sugar Land Product Center and served as Wireline
domain champion in Moscow. Author of numerous
papers, Steve received a BS degree in physics from
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Andrew Cutts, who is based in Gatwick, England, has
been the GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
Engineer for WesternGeco Land Global Operations
Support since 2006. He is responsible for supporting
all land seismic crews worldwide with GIS and works
closely with R&E in the development of remote-sensing
solutions for land seismic studies. Prior to joining
WesternGeco, he implemented GIS solutions for a
housing association. He has written or contributed to
several technical papers and jointly holds one patent.
Andrew has a BSc degree (Hons) in geography from
the University of Wales in Aberystwyth and an MSc
degree in geographic information systems from the
University of Leicester in England.
Eric Decoster obtained an engineering degree at
École Centrale Paris in 1976 and an MSc degree in
civil engineering, flow through porous media, at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, in 1977. He
joined Schlumberger in 1978. Based in Barcelona,
Venezuela, he is currently Schlumberger Principal
Petrophysicist in the Faja Regional Technology Center
in Puerto la Cruz.
Charles Flaum is a Schlumberger Petrophysical
Advisor for the Magnetic Resonance While Drilling
Project (ProVISION* real-time reservoir steering ser-
vice) in Sugar Land. He began his career in 1977 as a
field engineer in Oklahoma, USA. He subsequently
worked in operations and R&D in various locations
worldwide, including six years at Wireline headquar-
ters in Montrouge, France; five years in Houston; a
year in Clamart, France; two years in Beijing and
14 years at Schlumberger-Doll Research in Ridgefield,
Connecticut. The author of many papers and holder of
numerous patents, he has specialized in nuclear log-
ging, magnetic resonance and general petrophysical
interpretation. Charles earned a BSc degree (Hons) in
physics at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada; and a PhD degree in nuclear physics at
University of Rochester, New York, USA. He also did
postdoctoral work at Brookhaven National Laboratory,
Upton, New York.
64
Michael J. Fuller is the Section Head for Stimulation
in the Schlumberger Client Support Laboratory in
Kuala Lumpur. Previously, he was a senior chemical
engineer in the Stimulation Fluids Engineering
Department in Sugar Land. Since joining the company
in 2004, he has worked in product development of
stimulation fluids, specifically those related to matrix
acidizing. Michael holds a BS degree in business
chemistry from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb,
and a PhD degree in chemistry from Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois.
Juanih Ghani is a Senior Production Technologist
with Talisman Malaysia Ltd. He has 15 years of experi-
ence in the oil and gas industry as a petroleum engi-
neer and has been an SPE member since 1993. Juanih
was graduated from The George Washington University
in Washington, D.C., in 1992 with a BS degree in elec-
trical and electronics engineering.
Andrew Gould is Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Schlumberger Limited, a position he has
held since February 2003. He started his career at
Ernst & Young, where he qualified as a Chartered
Accountant. His career at Schlumberger began in 1975
in Paris. Andrew is a member of the boards of direc-
tors of Schlumberger Limited and of Rio Tinto plc. He
serves on the commercialization advisory board of the
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine,
London, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran. He is a patron of the Permits Foundation, an
international industry initiative to improve work per-
mit regulations for the spouses of expatriate employ-
ees. Andrew received a degree in economic history
from the University of Wales. He holds an honorary
Doctorate in engineering from the Colorado School of
Mines in Golden, and is an honorary Fellow of Cardiff
University in Wales.
Ola Gråbak joined the European Space Agency
(ESA/ESRIN) in 1993 after earning his master’s degree
in electrical engineering at the Norwegian University
of Science and Technology in Trondheim. After com-
pleting the European Space Agency Young Graduate
Program, he worked in facilities management within
the ESA Earth Observation ground segment until 1996.
From 1996 to 1997, he earned a master’s degree in
space studies with the International Space University
in Strasbourg, France. Since his return to ESRIN, Ola
has been involved in Earth observation applications
development, dividing his time between developing
the industrial aspects and supporting the Global
Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) ser-
vice element.
Nurul Ezalina Hamzah is Well Services Engineer for
the Petronas Carigali Well Integrity Engineering
Department in Kerteh, Terengganu, Malaysia. His role
is to implement, monitor, manage and supervise the
execution of well integrity engineering operations,
well data acquisition and rectification programs as
well as nonrig-assisted production enhancement activ-
ities. He began his career in 2004 as a Schlumberger
Wireline openhole field engineer in Aberdeen. He has
been with Petronas Carigali since 2005. Nurul holds a
BSc degree in chemical engineering from the
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
Nick Heaton received a BSc degree in chemistry from
the University of Leeds and a PhD degree in chemical
physics from the University of Southampton, both in
England. He then worked in NMR research at the
University of California at San Diego, USA, the
University of Stuttgart in Germany, and Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in
Madrid, Spain, investigating the structure and dynam-
ics of complex fluids. In 1998, he joined the
Schlumberger Sugar Land Product Center as NMR
interpretation development specialist. Since then he
has held positions in sales, marketing and product
development. He is currently based at Schlumberger
Wireline headquarters in Clamart, France.
Ralph Hinsch has been an Exploration Geologist with
Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG (RAG) in Vienna, Austria, since
2004. Previously, he held research positions at
Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ), Germany, and
at the University of Vienna, where he still teaches seis-
mic interpretation. Ralph holds a diploma in geology
from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and a PhD
degree in geosciences, with a focus on structural geol-
ogy and geodynamics, from the Free University of
Berlin, Germany.
Martin D. Hürlimann, Scientific Advisor in the Sensor
Physics Department at Schlumberger-Doll Research in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, works on the development
of new measurement techniques for magnetic reso-
nance well logging and conducts research on porous
media and reservoir fluids, with special emphasis on
NMR measurements. He is a fellow of the American
Physical Society and was cochairman of the 9th
International Bologna Conference on Magnetic
Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM9) in 2008. He
earned a master’s degree (Dipl. Natw. ETH) from the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, and a
PhD degree in physics from the University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Before joining
Schlumberger in 1992, he held a postdoctoral position
at the University of California, Berkeley, where he con-
ducted research on nuclear quadrupole resonance
spectroscopy detected by superconducting quantum
interference devices.
Mohd Isal Pudin bin Ismail, who is based in Kuala
Lumpur, has been a Production Technologist for
Petronas Carigali since 2005. Among his responsibili-
ties are forecasting well technical potential, analyzing
well performance, redesigning gas lift and trouble-
shooting well problems. Working as a production
technologist for the Tiong-Kepong field, he has been
involved in generating proposals for data acquisition
and production enhancement activities, verifying
monthly well tests and providing subsurface data for
the study center group and regional team in Kerteh.
He received a BSc degree in petroleum engineering
from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai, Johor.
Abul (Jamal) Jamaluddin is a Schlumberger Advisor
for Fluids and Flow Assurance at the Deepwater
Technology Hub in Kuala Lumpur. He established
Reservoir Fluid-Flow Assurance Advisory Services for
Schlumberger at Rosharon, Texas, and developed fluid
analysis laboratories in Houston, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait
and Macaé, Brazil. He works with operating engineers
worldwide to help reduce uncertainties in reserves
Oilfield Review
booking and design strategies and operating parame-
ters for flow assurance. Before joining Schlumberger
in 1998, Jamal was director of technical services at
Hycal Energy Research Laboratories in Calgary. He
began his career as a research scientist at Noranda
Technology Centre in Montreal, Canada, and led pro-
jects related to oil and gas research and technology
development. He is coinventor of five patented
processes in petroleum production and optimization
and coauthor of more than 70 technical papers. He
served as SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2004–2005
and is a technical editor for SPE Production and
Facilities. He obtained a BS degree in petroleum engi-
neering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and
Minerals, Dhahran, and MS and PhD degrees in chemi-
cal engineering from the University of Calgary.
Andreas Laake is the Principal Research Geophysicist
at the WesternGeco Q* Advanced Research Group in
Cairo. He has 21 years of experience in seismic and
remote sensing with a focus on survey planning, data
acquisition and data integration. He worked in marine
systems engineering on the design and manufacture of
streamers and airguns and later began the geophysical
design work for what is now Q-Land* technology.
Currently, he works on remote-sensing techniques and
their integration into the seismic and reservoir work-
flow. In cooperation with the European Space Agency,
he developed a technique for characterization and
modeling of the Earth’s near surface by integrating
satellite data with geological and geophysical data. He
also developed an integrated workflow for the simula-
tion of near-surface effects on seismic data that allows
the prediction of noise features and the generation of
synthetic seismic data prior to seismic data acquisition.
This technology is integrated with GIS software and
Petrel* reservoir modeling. Andreas has an MSc degree
in physics and geology and a PhD degree in physics and
geosciences from the University of Kiel, Germany.
Jack LaVigne is a Petrophysical Advisor for the
Formation Evaluation Department at Schlumberger
Sugar Land Product Center, where he is currently
responsible for developing NMR answer products. He
joined Schlumberger in 1976 and has worked as a field
engineer, log analyst and interpretation development
engineer. Jack holds a BEE degree from the University
of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Rob Leveridge is Product Champion for the Rt
Scanner* triaxial induction service and MR Scanner*
expert magnetic resonance service at the
Schlumberger Sugar Land Product Center. He joined
Schlumberger as a field engineer in 1996 in the North
Sea following four years in research at Kodak. After
serving in various positions worldwide, he joined the
Reservoir Evaluation Wireline group at the
Schlumberger Sugar Land Product Center in 2006 to
work on nuclear, triaxial induction and magnetic reso-
nance tools. Rob obtained a BEng degree from
University of Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology (UMIST) in England.
Winter 2008/2009
Wim J. Looyestijn is a Principal Research
Petrophysicist at Shell International Exploration and
Production B.V. in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. He
joined Shell in 1979 to work on research into well log-
ging tools and interpretation. He worked in the petro-
physics departments at Shell Research and at Shell
UK. He has been involved in a variety of subjects,
including deconvolution, cased hole logging and core
analysis and is now focused on NMR log interpretation.
He holds a PhD degree in physics from Leiden
University, The Netherlands. He is a member of SPE,
SPWLA and the Society of Core Analysts and served as
a Distinguished Lecturer for SPWLA. He is currently
the Editor of Petrophysics.
Duncan Mardon is a Research Associate in
Petrophysics with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co.
in Houston. He received PhD, MSc and BA degrees in
geological sciences from Texas A&M University in
College Station, Brown University in Providence, Rhode
Island, USA, and the State University of New York at
New Paltz, respectively. He began his career in 1988 as
a research petrophysicist with Exxon Production
Research Co., conducting laboratory experimental
studies on shaly sand formation evaluation. In 1993, he
joined NUMAR where he worked on developing a num-
ber of petrophysical applications of, and environmental
corrections for, spin-echo NMR logging. Five years later,
he returned to Exxon (soon to be ExxonMobil), this
time with its exploration company, where he was
responsible for openhole petrophysical analyses for sev-
eral business unit projects and areas, including China,
West Africa and the north Caspian region. In 2005, he
returned to the research company, where he is involved
in several projects, including petrophysical uncertainty
analysis, high-angle and horizontal well evaluation and
formation evaluation training.
David J. Monk is Director, Geophysics, Exploration
& Production Technology at Apache Corporation in
Houston. In this position since 2000, he has had tech-
nical responsibility for worldwide seismic activity
including acquisition and processing. His main
regions of activity include Argentina, Australia,
Canada, Egypt, the North Sea and the USA. David
earned a BSc degree (Hons) in physics and a PhD
degree in solid-state physics, both from the University
of Nottingham in England.
Jock Munro is Schlumberger Perforating Domain
Champion for the North Sea region. Based in
Aberdeen, he specializes in perforating solutions for
efficiency and maximized well productivity. Jock
joined Schlumberger in Australia in 1990 as a tubing-
conveyed perforating specialist and has a background
in electric line, completions and perforating. He has
held various positions including FIV* formation isola-
tion valve product champion at the Schlumberger
Reservoir Completions Technology Center in Houston
and perforating sales manager for Brunei, Malaysia
and the Republic of the Philippines.
Muzily Musa is a Completion Engineer with Talisman
Malaysia Ltd (TML). He worked as a completion engi-
neer for a major service contractor for 11 years before
joining TML in 2006. He supervises well intervention
operations on various Talisman Malaysia platforms.
Muzily was graduated from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
in 1995, with a BSc degree in petroleum engineering.
Arthur Parapat is Schlumberger Field Services
Manager for Coiled Tubing Services in Kemaman,
Terengganu, Malaysia, where he manages coiled tubing
operations for operators in peninsular Malaysia. He
joined the company as a field engineer for coiled tub-
ing services in Indonesia in 2000. Before taking his
current position in 2007, he also served as a DESC*
engineer for client Petronas Carigali. In this role, he
provided technical and operational support to
Petronas and helped introduce the OneSTEP* simpli-
fied matrix stimulation system. Arthur holds a BS
degree in mechanical engineering from University of
Trisakti in Jakarta.
Doug Pipchuk, Schlumberger Coiled Tubing Technical
Manager, is based in Sugar Land. After earning a BS
degree in biochemistry and chemistry from the
University of Calgary, he joined Dowell in 1993 as a lab-
oratory technologist, working on cement and stimula-
tion fluid systems. He next served as a field engineer
on perforating, cementing and CT drilling projects,
designing and carrying out production logging,
cleanout and fishing operations. He also was a wellsite
supervisor for underbalanced drilling projects in west-
ern Canada. Before assuming his current post in 2008,
Doug was a Schlumberger DESC engineer, responsible
for cementing, stimulation and well intervention. He
has also served as GeoMarket technical engineer for
coiled tubing in Canada, where he oversaw new tech-
nology solutions for clients, including ACTive services.
Mathew Samuel is the Intellectual Property
Champion for Schlumberger Well Services in Sugar
Land, Texas. Previously, he held management, busi-
ness development and advisory positions in Kuala
Lumpur and Dhahran. He joined Schlumberger at the
Tulsa Product Center where his polymer cleanup pro-
ject led to the development of ClearFRAC* technology.
He was the product manager for viscoelastic surfac-
tant fluids from 1998 to 2000, and was responsible for
developing and introducing the polymer-free family of
products globally. He has several patents and has
invented many oilfield products including ClearFRAC
fluid, OilSEEKER* acid diverter, VDA* viscoelastic
diverting acid and PowerCLEAN-OB* engineered fill
removal. Mathew has expertise in R&D, product devel-
opment, marketing and technology transfer. Before
joining Schlumberger, he was an assistant professor at
the New York University Medical Center, Valhalla. The
author of more than 90 publications, he has a PhD
degree in chemistry.
Martin Schachinger has been Supervisor, Seismic
Acquisition and Processing at Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG
(RAG) in Vienna, Austria, since 2005. He began his
career in 1989 with Prakla-Seismos (later Geco-
Prakla) as a processing geophysicist at the Vienna
Data Center, where he subsequently worked as data
center manager. He also served as supervisor of stan-
dard processing at the Geco-Prakla Hannover Data
Center in Germany. He joined RAG in 2000 as a staff
geophysicist involved in acquisition and processing.
Martin earned a PhD degree in geophysics at
University of Vienna.
65
Khor Siak Foo earned an MSc degree in petroleum
engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in
2000. He began his career with Petronas, working four
years as a production technologist. He then spent
three years with the drilling fluids and oilfield chemi-
cals company Scomi Group before joining Talisman in
2006. Based in Kuala Lumpur, he is currently a
Production Chemist with Talisman Malaysia Ltd.
John Still, Schlumberger Project Manager in
Stimulation Fluids Engineering in Sugar Land, manages
projects involving acidizing, fracturing and sand control.
He joined this group as a development engineer in 2000.
John obtained a BS degree in chemistry from
Mississippi College in Clinton, USA, and a PhD degree,
also in chemistry, from Mississippi State University in
Starkville. He also has an MBA degree from RSM
Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Denis Sweeney, WesternGeco Global Sales Manager
based in Gatwick, leads a large sales team that deliv-
ers individualized, integrated imaging solutions to a
global client base. He began his career in 1977 work-
Coming in Oilfield Review
Coalbed Methane Revisited. Degasification of coal
mines evolved into commercial methane production
primarily because of incentives offered by the US gov-
ernment. The techniques developed to tap this uncon-
ventional resource have changed considerably since
the 1990s when coalbed methane (CBM) production
was mainly a US novelty. CBM has now become a
global venture. Fields have been developed in many
locations, including Canada, Australia, India, China,
Russia and several European countries. This article
describes the expanding geographical scope of CBM
production as well as new methods used to evaluate
and economically produce natural gas from coal.
66
ing on and then managing vibrator crews in Australia.
In 1992, after working as a consultant to Kembla Coal
and Coke, he joined Geco-Prakla (now WesternGeco)
to manage marketing and projects in the Australia,
Papua New Guinea and New Zealand area. Before tak-
ing his current position in 2007, he also served as Asia
marketing manager in Kuala Lumpur; Middle East
and North Africa business development manager in
Dubai; Europe, CIS and Africa land business manager
in London; and Asia land manager in Kuala Lumpur.
The author of many publications, Denis completed
work in mechanics at South Brisbane Technical
College, Queensland, Australia.
Hubertus (Bart) Thomeer is an Engineering
Manager for Schlumberger in Sugar Land. He has a
broad portfolio in coiled tubing services, ranging from
product development and operational support man-
ager to domain manager and technology manager.
Bart received a BS degree in mechanical engineering
from the University of Houston.
Deepwater Project Planning. Extremely large and
complex, deepwater projects are characterized by
high risk, high cost and, if all goes well, high reward.
To prosper in such an environment, operators must
consider every step of field development—from explo-
ration to initial production—during the project-planning
stage. This article discusses how the industry is making
the cultural and technological changes necessary to
accomplish that goal.
Jeff Towart has 25 years of industry experience. He
began his career in 1984 as a seismic interpreter with
Ultramar Oil & Gas in the US Gulf Coast region. He
moved overseas seven years later to work on various
exploration and development projects in the UK,
Indonesia and Venezuela with LASMO. In 2003, he
moved to Egypt as an exploration project leader in the
offshore Nile Delta. He joined Apache Egypt in 2005 to
work on exploration in the Western Desert. He is cur-
rently the Geophysical Manager for Apache Egypt
based in Cairo. Jeff has a BS degree in geophysics
from Texas A&M University, College Station.
Jim White is a Petrophysical Advisor for
Schlumberger, based in Aberdeen. He provides opera-
tional and interpretation support for all petrophysical
measurements acquired on wireline in the UK and
The Netherlands. After joining the company in 1974,
he spent four years as a field engineer in the Middle
East. Since then he has worked in various field man-
agement, marketing and interpretation support posi-
tions in Scotland, Denmark and Norway, where he
also worked as a consultant for the Norwegian
Petroleum Directorate. During the last 20 years, he
has developed an extensive knowledge base of forma-
tion evaluation methods using LWD and wireline sen-
sors, particularly when applied to the reservoirs of
northwest Europe. Jim received a BS degree (Hons)
in physics from Imperial College of Science,
Technology and Medicine in London.
An asterisk (*) is used to denote a mark of Schlumberger.
Electromagnetic Surveys. Seismic methods provide
information about subsurface structures but have
weaknesses that electromagnetic surveys can com-
pensate for. Magnetotelluric measurements apply nat-
urally occurring electrical and magnetic fields to help
discriminate formations below thick salt, basalt and
carbonate formations. Newer measurements, con-
trolled-source electromagnetic surveys, use man-made
sources to distinguish water from hydrocarbon in for-
mations. This article focuses on the physics of electro-
magnetic measurements and provides examples of
their use.
Oilfield Review
NEW BOOKS
The Offshore Imperative:
Shell Oil’s Search for Petroleum
in Postwar America
Tyler Priest
Texas A&M University Press
John H. Lindsey Building
Lewis Street
4354 TAMU
College Station, Texas 77843 USA
2007. 336 pages. US $39.95
ISBN 1-58544-568-1
Drawing on multiple sources, including
interviews with Shell retirees, the
author describes the postwar evolution
of Shell Oil Company, with particular
emphasis on its pioneering efforts in
the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Contents:
• The Americanization of Shell Oil
• Testing the Waters
• Betting on Technology
• The Trials and Triumphs
of Exploration
• The End of Business as Usual
• The Offshore Imperative
• Deepwater Treasures in a
New Era of Oil
• Epilogue: The Globalization
of Shell Oil
• Notes, Bibliography, Index
The final result is a superb contri-
bution to the history of the industry. I
have read many such books over
the years. Most concentrate on the
business developments and, in my
opinion, do not give sufficient credit to
the scientific and technological
advances. … Priest’s book does give
these breakthroughs the prominent
role that they deserve.
The book is extremely well
researched and written, and, in fact,
reads almost as quickly as the
best novels.
Clark D: The Leading Edge 27, no. 5
(May 2008): 674.
Winter 2008/2009
The Archimedes Codex:
How a Medieval Prayer Book
Is Revealing the True Genius of
Antiquity’s Greatest Scientist
Reviel Netz and William Noel
Da Capo Press, Perseus Book Group
2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 USA
2007. 313 pages. US $27.50
ISBN 978-0-306-81580-5
This book details the discovery of the
lost works of Archimedes, the great
Greek mathematician, as part of a
palimpsest from a medieval prayer book
created during the 13th century, and
summarizes the mathematical discover-
ies and theories that were found. A
combination of archaeological detective
story, science and history, the book
tells the story of this lost manuscript,
from its 10th-century creation in
Constantinople to the auction block at
Christie’s, and describes how a team
of scholars used the latest imaging
technology to reveal and decipher the
original text.
Contents:
• Archimedes in America
• Archimedes in Syracuse
• The Great Race, Part 1:
Before the Palimpsest
• Visual Science
• The Great Race, Part II:
The History of the Palimpsest
• Archimedes’ Method, 1999,
or The Making of Science
• The Critical Path
• Archimedes’ Method, 2001,
or Infinity Unveiled
• The Digital Palimpsest
• The Stomachion, 2003, or
Archimedes at Play
• New Light on an Old Subject
• Epilogue: “The Vast Book
of the Universe”
• Acknowledgements, Further
Reading, Index
• The Worst Desert You Ever Saw
Much of The Archimedes Codex
is delightful. The story of the • Into the Land of Gold
palimpsest is exciting, and few can • Contingent History
explain difficult issues in Greek mathe- • Glossary, References, Index
matics with the simplicity and elegance
that Netz achieves.
He does a truly outstanding job
… I cannot recommend the book explaining the underlying limitations
without deep reservations. Both placed on movement across the land by
authors indulge everywhere in the rocks and geologic processes that
extravagance and occasionally even in formed those rocks… . The work is
melodrama. Some hyping, including enhanced by his explanations of the
the book’s title, is harmless underlying geology as well as the
journalism … but a discussion of the
science behind the present understand-
many harmful instances would exceed ing of the rocks—even including
the space of a short review. contending theories.
Mendell H: Physics Today 61, no. 5
The inclusion of a glossary, a use-
(May 7, 2008): 55–56.
ful index, and developed bibliographic
notes for each chapter build this into a
useful reference book as well as an
interesting story. … A valuable book
for geologists and for those interested
in historical development of the US.
… Highly recommended.
Green JW: Choice 45, no. 8 (April 2008): 1359.
Hard Road West: History
and Geology Along the
Gold Rush Trail
Keith Heyer Meldahl
University of Chicago Press
1427 East 60th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 USA
2007. 352 pages. US $25.00
ISBN 0-226-51960-0
Taking readers along the 2,000-mile
California Gold Rush Trail, the author
uses the diaries and letters of the
original settlers—as well as his own
experience—to reveal how the geology
and geography of the West directly
affected US westward expansion.
Contents:
• An American Journey
• Between Winter’s Chill Brackets
• Ascending the Plains
• Exhumed Mountains and
Hungry Rivers
• Black Hills and Bent Rock
• To the Backbone of the Continent
• Cordilleran Upheaval
• Most Godforsaken Country
• The Bear and the Snake
• A Breaking up of the World
• Most Miserable River
67

ARTICLES
Downhole Temperatures
from Optical Fiber
Brown G.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 34–39.
Ensuring Zonal Isolation
Beyond the Life of the Well
Bellabarba M, Bulte-Loyer H, Froelich B,
Le Roy-Delage S, van Kuijk R, Zeroug S,
Guillot D, Moroni N, Pastor S and
Zanchi A.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 18–31.
High-Pressure, High-
Temperature Technologies
DeBruijn G, Skeates C, Greenaway R,
Harrison D, Parris M, James S,
Mueller F, Ray S, Riding M, Temple L
and Wutherich K.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 46–60.
Intelligence in Novel Materials
Bhavsar R, Vaidya NY, Ganguly P,
Humphreys A, Robisson A, Tu H,
Wicks N, McKinley GH and Pauchet F.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 32–41.
Intelligent Well Technology in
Underground Gas Storage
Brown K, Chandler KW, Hopper JM,
Thronson L, Hawkins J, Manai T,
Onderka V, Wallbrecht J and Zangl G.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 4–17.
Managing a Precious Resource
Black B, Dawoud M, Herrmann R,
Largeau D, Maliva R and Will B.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 18–33.
Meeting the Subsalt Challenge
Aburto Perez M, Clyde R, D’Ambrosio P,
Israel R, Leavitt T, Nutt L, Johnson C
and Williamson D.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 32–45.
Moving Natural Gas
Across Oceans
McIntosh SA, Noble PG, Rockwell J
and Ramlakhan CD.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 50–63.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Comes Out of Its Shell
Akkurt R, Bachman HN, Cao Minh C,
Flaum C, LaVigne J, Leveridge R,
Carmona R, Crary S, Decoster E,
Heaton N, Hürlimann MD,
Looyestijn WJ, Mardon D and White J.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 4–23.
68
Oilfield Review Annual Index—Volume 20
Options for High-Temperature
Well Stimulation
Al-Harthy S, Bustos OA, Samuel M,
Still J, Fuller MJ, Hamzah NE,
Ismail MIP and Parapat A.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 52–62.
The Prize Beneath the Salt
Dribus JR, Jackson MPA, Kapoor J
and Smith MF.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 4–17.
The Right Treatment for the
Right Reservoir
Al-Matar B, Al-Mutawa M, Aslam M,
Dashti M, Sharma J, Lee BO,
Solares JR, Nemec TS, Swaren J
and Tealdi L.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 4–17.
Sand Injectites
Braccini E, de Boer W, Hurst A,
Huuse M, Vigorito M and Templeton G.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 34–49.
Satellite Sensing: Risk Mapping
for Seismic Surveys
Coulson S, Gråbak O, Cutts A,
Sweeney D, Hinsch R, Schachinger M,
Laake A, Monk DJ and Towart J.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 40–51.
Seismic Inversion: Reading
Between the Lines
Barclay F, Bruun A, Rasmussen KB,
Camara Alfaro J, Cooke A, Cooke D,
Salter D, Godfrey R, Lowden D,
McHugo S, Özdemir H, Pickering S,
Gonzalez Pineda F, Herwanger J,
Volterrani S, Murineddu A,
Rasmussen A and Roberts R.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 42–63.
Shining a Light on Coiled Tubing
Al-Arnaout IH, Brown G, Burgos R,
Christian J, Pipchuk D, Thomeer H,
Ghani J, Musa M, Siak Foo K,
Jamaluddin A and Munro J.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 24–33.
Shooting Seismic Surveys
in Circles
Buia M, Flores PE, Hill D, Palmer E,
Ross R, Walker R, Houbiers M,
Thompson M, Laura S, Menlikli C,
Moldoveanu N and Snyder E.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 18–31.
Triaxial Induction—A New
Angle for an Old Measurement
Anderson B, Barber T, Leveridge R,
Bastia R, Saxena KR, Tyagi AK,
Clavaud J-B, Coffin B, Das M,
Hayden R, Klimentos T, Cao Minh C
and Williams S.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 64–84.
NEW BOOKS
The Archimedes Codex: How a
Medieval Prayer Book Is
Revealing the True Genius of
Antiquity's Greatest Scientist
Netz R and Noel W.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 67.
Engineering Geology for
Underground Rocks
Peng S and Zhang J.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 88.
Hard Road West: History
and Geology Along the Gold
Rush Trail
Meldahl KH.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 67.
Karst Hydrogeology and
Geomorphology
Ford D and Williams P.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 64.
Managing Water: Avoiding
Crisis in California
Green D.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 88.
Notes from the Holocene: A
Brief History of the Future
Sagan D.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 68.
The Offshore Imperative: Shell
Oil’s Search for Petroleum in
Postwar America
Priest T.
Vol. 20, no. 4 (Winter 2008/2009): 67.
On the Surface of Things:
Images of the Extraordinary
Frankel F and Whitesides GM.
Vol. 20, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 88.
Seabed Fluid Flow: The Impact
on Geology, Biology and the
Marine Environment
Judd A and Hovland M.
Vol. 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2008): 64.
Super Volcano: The Ticking
Time Bomb Beneath
Yellowstone National Park
Breining G.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 68.
The Universal Force:
Gravity—Creator of Worlds
Girifalco LA.
Vol. 20, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 68.
Oilfield Review
 SCHLUMBERGER OILFIELD REVIEW
Oilfield Review
Winter 2008/2009

WINTER 2008/2009

Advances in Magnetic Resonance

Coiled Tubing with Fiber Optics
VOLUME 20 NUMBER 4

Remote Sensing

09-OR-0001 High-Temperature Stimulation