REAL-TIME AND ON-SITE RESERVOIR FLUID CHARACTERISATION USING SPECTRAL ANALYSIS AND PVT EXPRESS

Abstract

Obtaining an adequate fluid characterisation early in the life of a reservoir is becoming a key requirement for successful hydrocarbon development. This work presents and discusses a number of new fluid sampling and fluid characterisation technologies that can be deployed either down hole or at surface in the early stages of the exploration and development cycle to achieve this objective. Techniques discussed include methods to monitor and quantify oil-based mud contamination, gas-liquid-ratio (GLR) and basic fluid composition in real time during open-hole formation testing operations. In addition, we demonstrate the applicability of new surface analysis techniques that allow for rapid, accurate, and reliable measurements of key fluid properties, such as saturation pressure, gas-oil ratio, extended carbon number composition, viscosity, and density, on-site within a few hours of retrieving reservoir fluid samples at surface. Finally, prediction tools used to extend these limited measurements to a traditional PVT fluid characterisation are presented along with example measurements from all the techniques described. In conclusion, it is shown that the implementation of these techniques in a complementary program can reduce the risk associated with making key development decisions that are based on an understanding of reservoir fluid properties.