SPE 72150
Evaluations of Sub Horizontal Well Performance with Optical and Electrical Probes
C. Mas, SPE, B.Walterhouse, SPE, Schlumberger Overseas S.A., J.P.M. Van Vliet, SPE, S. H.A. Rahman, SPE, Brunei
Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn Bhd.
Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2001 SPE Asia Pacific Improved Oil Recovery
Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8–9 October 2001.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
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Abstract
Innovative sensing technologies allow direct detection and
quantification of oil and gas in multiphase flows. Similar to
its sibling electrical probes, the new optical sensor has four
probes. The probes are evenly spaced in the pipe cross section
on the arms of a centralizer-like tool. The probes orientation
in space is monitored through the use of an integrated relative
bearing sensor. Image of the gas flow in the well bore is then
generated from the measurements of the individual sensor.
Although electrical probes have been available in the
industry for several years, its collocation with the full-bore
spinner’s cage is relatively new to the industry. In the three-
phase flow environment, the electrical probe gives water and
hydrocarbon holdups.
The case examples presented in this paper illustrate the
first application of tandem optical and electrical probes in
Asia. Operational and interpretation aspects of the surveys in
2 sub-horizontal oil wells are discussed in the paper.
Introduction
The traditional Production Logging measurements use a
turbine flow meter for velocity, a differential pressure sensor
for density, a capacitance meter for holdup, a manometer for
pressure and a thermometer for temperature. The main
objective in Production Logging is the measurement of the
well-bore inflow of each flowing fluid phase. Quantitative
Production Logging Analysis is normally done with the fluid
velocity and density as the principal measurements.
_____________________
* Mark of Schlumberger
In today’s environment, Production Logging application
has been further complicated. Complexities such as those
found in two-and three phase flows and the flow regime in
highly deviated or horizontal wells are some of the examples.
Fluid density from the differential pressure sensor suffers
0
significant loss of accuracy in the wells with more than 60
deviations. Because of the lack of vertical distance between
the two pressure ports, this sensor will not work in the
horizontal well. Sensors that yield average answers are not
sufficient to understand the complex flow structure. Local
measurements made across the pipe diameter are needed to
clarify the velocity and holdup profiles. The electrical probes
hold up measurement-FloView*, introduced in the mid
1990s, and the optical probes gas holdup measurement-
GHOST* are the only two new sensor technologies
introduced in the production logging market over the past
decade. These two new sensors address the above issues.
In 1999, the latest multiphase Production Logging Tool
called PSP* was introduced to the industry. As the name
implied, the Production Services Platform, PSP is designed as
a platform for wireline and slickline production services, a
domain that is bigger than production logging. The tool is
combinable with the unusual PL sensors such as Slim Cement
Mapping Tool-SCMT*, Reservoir Saturation Tool-RST* and
Multi-finger Imaging Tool-MIT. One of the key features of
the Production Services Platform is the collocation of critical
sensors as close to the bottom of the tool as possible. The
electrical probe is now becoming part of the fullbore spinner
centralizer which also acts as a dual axis caliper.
The Champion Field, offshore Brunei Darussalam is
devided into two distinct assets: Champion East and
Champion Main (fig. 1-2). The reservoirs in Champion East
are shallow (~500 mss). The reservoir energy is low and
viscosity of the oil is relatively high (~20 cp). Conventional
1
well recoveries have been very low . The PSP-GHOST tool
was run in 2 wells in Champion East. At the time of logging,
additional long horizontal infill wells were being planned in
Champion East. Valuable information that helped future
planning were obtained fom the surveys.
2 C. MAS, B.WALTERHOUSE, J.P.M.VAN VLIET, S.H.A. RAHMAN
Tool Description
In horizontal and highly deviated wells, a shorter tool will
help in reducing friction while going down and extend the
maximum deviation of normal wireline conveyance. As a
standard tool (spinner-gradiomanometer-temperature-
manometer), the PSP is 50% shorter than its predecessor
Combinable Production Logging Tool-CPLT. The PSP has
dedicated conveyance equipment, an integrated roller system,
knuckles, and logging heads. As shown in the case examples,
the tool was run in wireline mode in CP-293 with 74.50
maximum deviations.
The other major change in PSP is the improvement in
reliability. The PSP goes through the same engineering
qualification process originally derived for the Logging While
Drilling (LWD) equipment. The tool string used in the case
examples is shown in figure 3. The gradiomanometer was
only used in the earliest survey, the CP-293 Before Acid
Treatment Survey.
As shown in figure 4, four probes are distributed radially
in the borehole by means of fullbore spinner cage or caliper
arm. A low-frequency electric field is set up at the end of each
of the ~1mm probes. The fluid around the tip of the probe
changes the electric field, allowing discrimination of the
electrically conductive fluid from the electrically non-
conductive fluid. Since water is the electrically conductive
medium in producing oil and gas wells, the probes
discriminate water from hydrocarbon (oil or gas or both).
Figure 4 illustrates electrical probe principles of the
measurements. The water holdup is obtained by calculating
the percentage of time the probe is in water (low signal)
relative to the total scanning time. The PSP is described in
2
detail in reference . Two electrical probes can be run in
tandem for a better radial resolution.
The Gas Hold-up Optical Sensing Tool GHOST was
introduced in 1999. The GHOST tool uses the optical
properties of fluids to differentiate gas from liquid down-hole.
A Sapphire probe tip is fed by a light emitting diode (LED)
through a fiber optic cable. The probe measures the refractive
index of the surrounding fluid. When immersed in gas, all of
the light sent to the sapphire is reflected back. In liquid (oil or
water) only part of the light is reflected back. The reflected
light is measured at a photodiode through a patented “Y
coupler” .
3
Figure 5 shows the optical probe and its signal waveform.
The optical probe is 10 times smaller than the electrical
probe. Because of the smaller size, the signal is sharper.
GHOST can detect less than 1% gas in liquid or liquid in gas.
The smaller probe also reduces the wettability problem. In the
larger electrical probe, a thin layer of water or oil sometime
stays attached to the probe and can be easily solved by
SPE 72150
shaking the tool. The gas holdup and number of bubbles per
second is calculated in the same way as water holdup in an
electrical probe.
The optical and electrical probes give localized direct
hold-up measurements. Localized measurements of radially
distributed probes allow construction of wellbore holdups and
a bubble counts image. Figure 7 shows an example of the
images. The wellbore image of phase holdups and bubble
counts provide a better understanding of the complex flow
regime in horizontal and highly deviated wells.
Direct measurement of holdups does not require
knowledge about the downhole fluid densities. Since the
signal is binary from the probe (i.e. high or low), other than
the threshold setting, the tools do not require downhole
calibrations. An example of a gas-liquid threshold setting is
shown in figure 5. The optical probes measure gas hold up
while the electrical probes give the water holdup. In the three-
phase environment, the oil holdup is calculated as the
remaining phase.
Case Examples:
In all the surveys except CP-293 After Acid Treatment
Survey, the PSP-GHOST tool string described above is
conveyed with a third party well tractor. The usage of a third
party tractor only allowed upwards logging as the power is
used for driving the tractor while going downwards. Although
free gas is produced down hole, both CP-299 and CP-293 are
producing under continuous gas lift because of low energy
and low oil viscosity and to maximaze drawdown on the
formation.
Because of the nature of well completions, both the
electrical and optical probes are not able to detect the flow of
oil or water in either the low side or the high side of the
WWS-open hole annulus.
CP-299
Well CP-299 is a 1029 m horizontal well that cuts across
multiple sand and reservoir layers in Champion East. The
PSP-GHOST survey was run in this well to appraise
contributions from each reservoir/sand unit for reserve
calculations, performance predictions and future development
opportunites. Attaining the above objectives will also aid the
planning of the future horizontal wells.
0
CP-299 has a maximum deviation 86.9 at 1500 to 1545
m. The 6-3/8” nominal size reservoir hole is completed with
an open hole gravel-pack around a 4-1/2 inch Wire Wrapped
Screen (WWS). The well has 7-5/8 inch production casing
with the shoe at 643.9 m.
SPE 72150 EVALUATIONS OF SUB HORIZONTAL WELL PERFORMANCE WITH OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROBES
In the flowing survey, CP-299 was flowed at 75/64”choke.
The reported surface flowrate was 497 m3/d oil and 25
Km3/d gas. The well was not very stable. There is about 25%
fluctuation in flowrate during the flowing survey. The flowing
survey consisted of 4 up passes and 14 station measurements.
The one and only shut-in pass was done after the flowing
passes.
As shown in figure 6, the flowing survey shows 4
contributing zones. There is no water production at surface.
The electrical probe shows stagnant water at the toe of the
well. The wellbore oil/water interface and water re-circulation
play a major role in this low flowrate section of the well2.
The sharp increase of oil flowrate (i.e. spinner velocity)
confirmed the oil water interface at 1580 m. Presence of
stagnant water at the toe of the well is also confirmed by the
electrical probe response in the shut-in survey.
Most of the oil is produced from zone 2 that covers more
than 70% of the logged interval. The gamma ray curve in
track 1 shows that the gas breakthrough in zone 3 is in the
top of the 790-920 m sand body. The increase in gas
production at zone 4 near the heel of the well is because of
the blank liner or end of the WWS.
An oscilation in gas holdup from 850 m up to the top of
the log indicates an elongated gas bubble in oil or slug flow.
The uphill well trajectory, the relatively high velocity and the
large contrast between gas and heavy oil density are
favourable conditions for a slug flow regime.
The shutin survey identified downward cross flow of oil
(figure 7). The GHOST and the electrical probe confirmed
that the downflow is oil because there is no gas or water
activity in the crossflow zones.
CP-293
CP-293 intersects 315 m of reservoir section and is
completed as open hole gravel pack (OHGP) with 4-1/2 inch
WWS. The well has a maximum deviation of 74.5 degrees.
The dual axis PSP caliper shown in track 3 of figure 9 is
consistently showing variation between the blank liner and
the screen. The blank liner has a slightly bigger ID than the
WWS. The base pipe of the WWS is 4-1/2 inch, 15.1 lb/ft,
3.826 inch ID. The blank section is 4-1/2 inch, 12.6 lb/ft,
3.958 inch ID.
The oil production in CP-293 is lower than expected. Acid
treatment to remove the filter cake of the graded carbonate
drilling fluid was planned. In order to evaluate the
effectiveness of the acid treatment in the OHGP completion,
two surveys, before and after the treatment were done. The
time span between the two surveys was 6.5 months.
3
The survey before the acid treatment was done with the
help of a well tractor because the well deviation is considered
to be too high. During this survey, it was noticed that the tool
could go down without powering up the tractor. In the
subsequent survey, the After Acid Treatment Survey, the tool
was conveyed without tractor. Using only the tractor’s roller
0
the tool was run in CP-293 with 74.5 maximum deviation.
The results of PSP-GHOST flowing survey before the acid
treatment are shown in figure 8. Near the bottom of the well,
the electrical probe water hold up (track 8) gradually changes
from about 1 at the bottom of the log to 0 at 1260 m. The
optical probe gas holdup (track 5) shows some activity
starting at around 1250 m. The holdups and bubble counts
images of the optical and electrical probes show water at the
low side and gas at the high of the WWS. These images are
shown in track 3, 4, 6 and 7 of figure 8. At 1250 m, the water
holdup is 0.5 while the gas holdup is slightly above zero. This
implies an oil layer in the borehole, between the water and
gas. The oil, gas and water coexist at the bottom of the well.
The GHOST bubble count image shown in track 3 is a very
sensitive gas entry indicator. The center of the track
represents the high side of borehole and the lighter color
means more bubbles or droplets per second. At the bottom of
the well, the image is showing pink stripes in the middle of
the red track, indicating gas bubbles at the high side of
borehole. Six and half months later, the flowing survey after
acid treatment confirmed that the water was unloaded. The
electrical probes show no water in the borehole.
A comparison between the flowing survey before and after
acid the treatment is shown in figure 9. Before the acid
treatment, the oil surface flowrate measured during the survey
is 152 m3/d. The same oil flowrate was also observed at the
time of the after treatment survey. The gas flow rate however
shows a decrease from 35 Km3/d to 25 Km3/d. Although the
oil flowrate before and after the treatment shows no major
change, the contributing zones or flow profiles are completely
different.
Near the bottom of the well zone 1 contributes more after
treatment. Unloading of the completion water discussed above
is one of the reasons for this improvement. However, as
clearly shown by GHOST gas holdup, more gas and less oil is
produced from this zone. The temperature curve shows an
increase instead of a decreasing trend, indicating possible oil
entry in zone 2. A small amount of gas entries is also
observed after the acid treatment.
The major oil and gas contributor at the top of zone 3 is
becoming a minor oil and gas contributor in the after
treatment survey. After the acid treament, the temperature
4 C. MAS, B.WALTERHOUSE, J.P.M.VAN VLIET, S.H.A. RAHMAN SPE 72150

and gas holdup displayed in track 5 and 6 of figure 9 are not Nomenclature
registering big changes at the top of zone 3. ID = Internal Diameter
OHGP = Open Hole Gravel Pack
The large gas contribution from zone 3 observed in the OD = Outside Diameter
before acid survey is because of the well was shut-in for WWS = Wire Wrapped Screen
several days with the gas lift supply on. The gas lift gas was
injected into zone 3 because of the low formation pressure. Acknowledgments
The wireline formation tester MDT* data confirmed low We thank Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn Bhd and
pressure in this zone. When the flowing passes were taken the Schlumberger for their permission to present this paper.
injected gas was produced again and showing up as the step
increase in gas production rate at 1150 m. References
1. Van Kessel, O.: "Champion East, Low Cost Redevelopment of
The entire WWS of zone 4 is contributing oil and gas Shallow, Stacked and Faulted Heavy Oil Reservoirs," SPE
evenly after the acid treatment. Before acid treatment, only 64719 presented at the SPE International Oil and Gas
Conference and Exhibition in China, Beijing, China, Dec. 7-
the top 1/3 of zone 4 is contributing gas with no oil. The main
10 November 2000.
contribution is shifted from zone 3 to zone 4. There is no 2. Rounce, J., Lenn, C., Catala, G.:”Pinpointing Fluid Entries in
significant change in zone 5. Producing Wells.” SPE 53249 presented at the 1999 SPE
Middle East Oil Show, Bahrain, 20-23 February 1999.
Summary and Conclusions 3. Theron, B., Vuhoang, D., Rezgui F., Catala, G., McKeon, D.,
The application of newly introduced sensors and technology Silipigno, L.,:”Improved Determination of Gas Holdup Using
in Production Logging has been discussed. Using the field Optical Fiber Sensors,” SPWLA 41st Annual Logging
examples, the paper shows how the electrical and optical Symposium, Dallas, 4-7 June, 2000.
probes give insight to the complex flow in sub horizontal
wells such as the ones in Champion East. SI Metric Conversion Factors
cp x 1.0* E–03 = Pa. s
ft x 3.048* E–01 = m
psi x 6.894757 E+00 = kPa
*Conversion factor is exact
SPE 72150 EVALUATIONS OF SUB HORIZONTAL WELL PERFORMANCE WITH OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROBES 5

Figure 1 – Champion Location Map (from ref. 1)

Figure 2 – Champion Schematic Cross-Section (from ref. 1)

6 C. MAS, B.WALTERHOUSE, J.P.M.VAN VLIET, S.H.A. RAHMAN SPE 72150

Basic Measurement Flow-Caliper

sonde Gradiomanometer GHOST Imaging Tool

Telemetry, Density, deviation Gas holdup, Velocity, X-Y

gamma ray, gas/liquid bubble caliper, water holdup,
CCL, pressure, count, water/hydrocarbon
temperature one-arm caliper, bubble count,
relative bearing relative bearing

Figure 3 – The PS Platform (PSP) in tandem with GHOST. The tool string outside diameter is 1-11/16 inch. The OD of the Flow Caliper
Imaging Tool increases to 2-1/8” with rollers. The PSP-GHOST tool is rated 300 DegF, 15000 psi, corrosion resistant and rated Class-6
(LWD Standard) for reliability.

Electrical Probe -Yw

Dual Axis Directional Fullbore Spinner - V

Figure 4 – Sensor collocation in PSP’s Flow Caliper Tool allow measurements of fluid velocity, flow area and water holdup as close as 0.4 m
(16 in) from the bottom of the tool. The electrical field at the tip of the probe discriminate the conductive fluid (water) from the non-conductive
fluid (hydrocarbon). The individual probe water holdup is readily available from the probe binary output. Water holdup or bubble count image
can be constructed from the four radially distributed probes.

Downhole
probe

Figure 5 – The tip of the GHOST optical probe is 0.1 mm. This is 10 times smaller than the tip electrical probe. Smaller probe allow detection of
less than 1% gas in liquid or vice versa.
SPE 72150 EVALUATIONS OF SUB HORIZONTAL WELL PERFORMANCE WITH OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROBES 7

Zone 3
Zone 2

m3/D
m3/D

Zone 1

Zone 4

Track 1

Figure 6. CP-299 PSP-Ghost Flowing Interpretation Result. The oil is produced from zone 1 and 2. The GHOST half image shown in track 4 shows
gas holdup in the borehole. The top of track 3 represents high side of borehole and vice versa. Lighter color in the image represenst higher gas holdup.
The GHOST shows no gas from the toe of the well up to the bottom of zone 3 where major gas entries break through.. The image also shows oscilation
of gas holdup starting approximately 850m up to the top of log. This is interpreted as elongated gas bubble in oil. The oil and gas flowrates are shown in
track 8. As expected, the elongated gas bubble also affects the spinner- derived flow rates. The electrical probe water holdup is shown in track 5
indicates water at the toe of the well.
8 C. MAS, B.WALTERHOUSE, J.P.M.VAN VLIET, S.H.A. RAHMAN SPE 72150

m3/D
8

Track 1

Figure 7. CP-299 PSP-Ghost Shutin Interpretation Results. Down cross flow is clearly shown in track 8 and 9. The down flow is oil because the
GHOST gas holdup (track 3) shows no gas along the cross-flow zones. Because of the nature of the completion, the GHOST eill not be able to detect
the flow of gas in the WWS-open hole annulus. Track 5 shows the electrical probe water holdup. The presence of stagnant water at the toe of the well
is confirmed in the flowing survey (figure 6).
SPE 72150 EVALUATIONS OF SUB HORIZONTAL WELL PERFORMANCE WITH OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROBES 9

3 4 6 7

m3/D
5 8 9 10 11
m

m3/D
Tr-1 2

Figure 8. CP-293 PSP-Ghost Before Acid Treatment Flowing Survey. Images of the gas buble count ( number of buble per second) and gas holdup
from GHOST are presented in track 3 and 4. The center of the track represents the high side of the borehole. Lighter color indicates higher values.
Because of the well deviation, the center of track 3 and 4 is brighter. The lighter gas occupy the high side of borehole. Track 6 and 7 show the electrical
probe images. Oil, water and gas coexist at around 1250m. The electrical probe shows some hydrocarbon (i.e. Yw < 1.0) and the GHOST shows
bubble activity and small gas holdup.
10 C. MAS, B.WALTERHOUSE, J.P.M.VAN VLIET, S.H.A. RAHMAN SPE 72150

4 5 6 7

Track 1 2 3

Z5

Z4

Z3

Z2

Z1

Figure 9. CP-293 Comparisons between the flowing surveys before and after acid treatment. Track 7 shows the comparison between the electrical
probe water holdups. The water holdup after acid treatment (red curve) is not visible in the track because it is reading zero all the way. The water at the
toe of the well was unloaded. The PSP dual axis caliper is presented in track 1. The wire wrap screen has a smaller internal diameter than the blank
liner. The Intervals with wire wrap screen are marked as zone 1 through 5. Zone 1 contributes more after the treatment. However, as clearly confirmed
by the GHOST gas holdup, more gas and less oil are produced from this section after treatment. The big oil and gas contribution from the top of zone 3
registered in the before treatment survey is becoming a small contributor after the treatment. The main contribution is shifted from zone 3 to zone 4.
Before treatment, only the top 1/3 of zone 4 is contributing. After treatment, the entire wire wrap screen of zone 4 is contributing evenly.