An Alternative Tool for Production Logging in Horizontal Wells

Abstract

From year to year, well drilling is becoming more technologically advanced and more complex, therefore we observe the active development of drilling technologies, well completion and production intensification. It forms the trend towards the complex well geometry and growth of the length of horizontal sections and therefore an increase of the hydraulic fracturing stages at each well. It's obvious, that oil producing companies frequently don't have proved analytical data on the actual distribution of formation fluid in the inflow profiles for some reasons. Conventional logging methods in horizontal sections require coiled tubing (CT) or downhole tractors, and the well preparation such as drilling the ball seat causing technical difficulties, risks of downhole equipment getting lost or stuck in the well. Sometimes the length of horizontal sections is too long to use conventional logging methods due to their limitations. In this regard, efficient solution of objectives related to the production and development of fields with horizontal wells is complicated due to the shortage of instruments allowing to justify the horizontal well optimal length and the number of MultiFrac stages, difficulties in evaluating the reservoir management system efficiency, etc. A new method of tracer based production profiling technologies are increasingly applied in the global oil industry. This approach benefits through excluding well intervention operations for production logging, allows continuous production profiling operations without the necessity of well shut-in, and without involving additional equipment and personal to be located at wellsite.