Nearly every well producing oil and gas will succumb to water ingress, eventually leading to the end of the productive life of the well. In addition to increased lifting and disposal costs, operators can spend a significant amount on preventing scale build up or effects of corrosion caused by water production.
Excessive water production results in high operating expenses, early shut-in and, eventually, well abandonment when the economic viability for production is breeched. In addition, the hydrocarbon-producing capability of a well can be diminished if hydrostatic pressures exceed those of the hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs. Significant reductions in water production and/or achieving water shut off (WSO) can reduce artificial lift requirements, decrease operating costs, extend field life and increase ultimate oil recovery of the reservoir.
Effective water management requires accurate diagnosis of water entry, due to both wellbore and reservoir factors. Reservoirs with high heterogeneity or under secondary, or tertiary, recovery techniques, will have additional factors to contend with, such as high-pressure water breakthrough and the bypassing of potentially accessible reserves. While the advent of the shale revolution and proliferation of horizontal wells has added another challenge, where complex flow regimes can easily change along the wellbore, making fluid entry difficult to detect by conventional production logging techniques.
EV’s range of visual diagnostic services provide the pinpoint identification of fluid entry, and accurate classification of fluid phase, required by well operators to fully understand water production. Through a single intervention, EV’s visual diagnostic solutions reveal the location of oil, gas, and water entry in high definition, enabling operators to decide when and how to combat unwanted water production, leading to improved hydrocarbon recovery and better economic performance.