Proven Technologies and Solutions for Successful Production Enhancement in Malaysia with Array Production Logging

Abstract

M field is a faulted anticline structure that lies in a deepwater turbidite environment. Field Development started in late 2016, with 10 oil producers and 2 water injectors. Within 2 years of production, significant GOR increase in some of the wells led to production curtailment, which has impacted the field production promise. Poor injectivity seen in one of the water injectors also led to an assumption of compartmentalization or sandface plugging/damage that required investigation. In order to evaluate intervention opportunities to mitigate against the high GORs and to determine the cause of the poor injectivity, production logging tools were proposed in four candidate wells. The objectives of the logging campaign were: To understand the gas influx profile into the well and how different compartments are contributing to the GOR Assess behaviour of G/O, O/O, O/W crossflows and their impact on reservoir depletion profile Aid decisions in requirements for downhole controls (i.e. AICD placement) vs surface controls Provide opportunity to couple PL logs with PNC logs to identify potential GOCs, estimate gas/water saturations and determine if there are any bypassed oils Based on the candidate wells, the following challenges were present: Highly-deviated/horizontal wells requiring complex conveyance solutions Multiphase flows (gas, oil and potentially water) in highly deviated conditions which further complicates fluid phase contribution calculations and velocity modeling Rig up height limitations on the platform which requires shorter logging tool strings High flowrates with tool lift limits requiring careful modelling work to ensure risks are understood and minimized In view of these challenges, a new Array Production Logging Tool (henceforth called New-APLT) was proposed as an alternative to the previous generation APLT. It has a more robust design with co-located sensors in a single module with additional optical sensors that improves flow measurement and gas detection. Additionally, screen tracers sampling was proposed in one well, which would help calibrate the tracer interpretations against actual fluid rates. The novel approach and synergistic efforts amongst many disciplines led to a successful execution of the logging campaign, and the first ever deployment of the New-APLT tool on e-line tractor. The timely results from the campaign which coincided with a 4D seismic acquisition has helped to justify downhole control options for some of the wells, and potentially helped to avoid costly remedial work on the water injector. The valuable dataset will also influence the infill development well campaign location, design and well count.