OTC-26675-MS

Integrated EOR Approach via Application and Installation of Distributed

Fiber-Optic Technology
M. W. S. Chin and G. C. Woon, Halliburton Malaysia; K. Wood and B. Gorgi, Pinnacle, a Halliburton Service

Copyright 2016, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22–25 March 2016.

This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
This paper describes the successful permanent installation of the first distributed-temperature-sensing
(DTS) system in an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) field and processes used in the workover completion.
Successful installation was achieved through a combination of effective planning and field execution
before and during the completion period. This paper also describes engineering challenges and unique
solutions applied to overcome them. The DTS data analysis techniques used for the initial injectivity test
are briefly discussed.
The full-field offshore application of an immiscible water-alternating-gas (WAG) process involves
simultaneous injection of water and gas to the reservoir formation. Using a sweeping mechanism, water
displaces hydrocarbon downwards while gas displaces hydrocarbon upwards, thereby, achieving an
efficient microscopic and macroscopic sweep. Thus, the requirement for a technology that can provide
both injection profiling and geothermal delineation is essential. DTS surveillance is not a new technology;
however, its application in production-optimization process is new and provides insight on sweep
efficiency. Higher lift costs and lower oil prices make it even more critical that installations are
trouble-free and executed on time.
The number of EOR projects has been growing in Malaysia in recent years. Malaysia’s first large-scale
EOR project was recently completed offshore Terengganu, representing an investment by a local profit
sharing company (PSC) and successful collaboration with a service company for execution. It is a priority
that specific criteria are set to ensure the execution process does not only provide required reliability but
also complies with health, safety, and environmental (HSE) standards. Thereby, as a continuous and
progressive step, project management is of utmost importance in ensuring strategic planning is unique and
reliable throughout the duration of the project, specifically for each respective operator.

DTS
DTS, using fiber-optic cable, is capable of temperature detection within resolutions of 0.1°C (32.18°F)
along the length of the fiber. The technology is unique to conventional point-sensing temperature logging
tools and has been widely accepted in the industry as either a permanent install or for well intervention
means, extending across the perforated areas of interest throughout the life cycle of a well (Goiffon and
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Gualtieri 2006). Aside from geothermal delineation, this technology provides the capability for real-time
injection flow profiling without the requirement to deploy conventional production logging tools (PLT).
DTS has been deployed in applications up to 400°C (752°F) and is commonly used to monitor steam
injection used as part of a hydrocarbon-sweep process (Batocchio et al. 2010; Saputelli et al. 1999). Using
DTS, steam breakthrough zones can be determined. Additionally, DTS has sufficient temperature-
resolution capabilities to identify small temperature anomalies. Hence, operators have the advantage of
mitigating well-integrity issues (Nath et al. 2005). Zonal flow quantification of water and steam injection
through DTS and PLTs has been useful in evaluating well conditions and in identifying hydrocarbon
recovery methods (Johnson et al. 2006). The operator, in the case discussed, deployed DTS as a means
to determine injection placement and volumes with WAG injectors as an alternative to running costly
intervention campaigns.
The primary cause of fiber optics failure is the combination of hydrogen, increased temperature, and
elevated pressure. These cause hydrogen to diffuse into the core leading to high attenuation (light loss)
within the fiber at specific wavelengths. This is especially critical in higher temperature applications
because increasing temperatures have significant effect on increasing hydrogen ingress.
A dual-laser DTS system was selected for this particular project. It is particularly advantageous in oil
and gas downhole conditions, operating at optical wavelengths away from hydrogen absorption peaks.
Because of its self-calibrating capabilities, the dual-laser DTS system can be used over long ranges,
eliminating the need for double-ended measurements commonly installed in similar projects, thereby,
eliminating costs and the need for longer data sampling required to filter-out noise. The dual-laser system
is tolerant of hydrogen darkening and provides continuous and complete wellbore temperature profiles by
obtaining temperature data as fast as every 5 seconds with a measurement point for every meter along the
wellbore. It also acts as a unique solution with capabilities to correct dynamic attenuation changes to the
sensing fiber (Jaaskeilanan et al. 2008).

Project Management
Project management is an essential part of any successful large, multi-well installation program. The
project manager is responsible for the downhole and surface permanent monitoring instrumentation,
including well completions design. The project manager reviews with the operator and any other suppliers
(as required) equipment procurement, documentation of well-specific installation procedures, users
manuals for equipment and software, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and factory acceptance
test (FAT), and system integration testing (SIT) of equipment and inventory management. As part of the
service, project management provides inputs and assistance to the operator for well completion, design
preparation, reviews, and installation. Hence, project roles and responsibilities for the defined project
scope of work are created.
The project management process is used in developing, coordinating, and managing projects (Fig. 1).
Key objectives in developing and using the project management process are to help ensure projects are
completed on time, within budget, and in compliance with requirements and specifications of the project
to continually improve the quality of services.
OTC-26675-MS 3

Figure 1—Project management basic process.

The benefits the local PSCs and vendor (external and internal operators) can receive by using these
processes include:
● Ensuring local PSC’s needs and requirements are met for project’s scope of work
● QA
● HSE
● Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements
● Performing jobs in an effective, efficient, and highly skilled manner
● Continually improving processes with learning, work execution, and decision making

Well Completion Overview

The real case study completed comprised a multizone WAG injector with permanent DTS installation. A
schematic is shown in Fig. 2. During the case study, some challenges had to be overcome. The presence
of CO2 meant rice-wrapped tubing had to be deployed in the lower sections of the wellbore. Specialty
cross-coupling protectors had to be designed to overcome the changes in tubing tolerance. Multizone
monitoring required isolation in the completion design. Therefore, mechanical isolation packers had to be
run. This in turn requires splicing, which posed two additional challenges: providing splice integrity
before running in hole (pressure test, dual seals, etc.) and providing intrinsically safe splicing because the
rig floor in most applications were in Zone 1-rated areas.
4 OTC-26675-MS

Figure 2—Schematic representation of permanent installation of DTS on tubing.

Project Initiation
Initiation consists of the following:
1. Mandatory understanding of wellbore conditions (temperature, pressure, and presence of corrosive
gases) through kickoff meetings with the operator. This is important in determining proper
metallurgy type for the mandrel, fiber-optic cable tube type, and clamp. Because CO2 was a
concern, tubing was specially made with rice-wrap, while tools and downhole equipment made of
13Cr and 25Cr steel were sought. For permanent DTS cables, INCOLOY® alloy 825 with a wall
thickness of 0.049 in. was selected. This material offers protection from CO2 corrosion and offers
resistance to in-well pressures and general wear and tear during run in hole. Internally, additional
protection is offered through fiber in metal tube (FIMT) with hydrogen-absorbing SEPIGEL™ H
200 LWT gel.
2. Understanding of dimensions, drift internal diameter (ID) of casing, and general wellbore geom-
etries helps with understanding of cable encapsulation requirements or whether the casing/tubing
OTC-26675-MS 5

matches the type of fiber end of termination mandrel metallurgy. The real case study presents
complications arising from varied rice-wrapped tubing outer diameters (OD), whereby stripping
off the encapsulation is not allowed. This is solved by having specially made pressed steel clamps
instead of cast clamps with flexibility to variable ODs that are also compatible with the well
conditions (CO2 presence).
3. Understanding on the number of zones, packers, sleeves, and gauges. How many permanent
downhole gauges (PDHG) will be installed? What type of packer is planned for deployment? Can
the packer feed through all the control lines? How many zones/sleeves are there? In this planned
deployment, the fiber-optic cable, control lines, and clamps are within the tolerances of casing
drift. Additionally, a stackup test is carried out to ensure all control lines exit from the wellhead
without any damage and complications (Fig. 4). Because mechanical packers are the ideal zonal
isolation method in this application, test fitting of fiber-optic cable and fittings is essential before
deployments offshore.

Figure 3—Feed-through cable.

Figure 4 —Stackup simulation: fiber-optic cable coiling example before landing and feeding through adapter.

4. Test fitting the wellhead exit before deployment. Aside, are the criteria to check for connectivity
between onshore and offshore to ensure data can be viewed remotely by the operator following
installation. Power requirements are communicated to the surface facility team during design
phase to ensure power is available following installation.
Prejob Planning
In the prejob planning phase, providing recommendations to operators is essential to flawless execution.
For example, it is important to have a clean wellbore, and during run in hole, there should not be any
reciprocation of tubing with attached fiber-optic cable. Planning for the rig visit, stackup simulation, and
mandrel assembly increases confidence before execution. The information gathered throughout project
initiation and prejob planning stage is recorded in the design of service (DOS) document. Emphasis is
6 OTC-26675-MS

taken in a preproject participation and execution of a complete well on paper (CWOP) exercise. This helps
ensure appropriate job escalation and subsequent actions are executed for planned wells.

Execution
The execution process involves in progressive order:
1. Rig up of installation equipment
2. Running of fiber-optic cable downhole
3. Assembly, testing, and installation of fiber-optic splice assembly
4. Wellhead exit installation
5. Surface cable installation/system commissioning
Rig up of installation equipment on the rig site as planned out via rig visit typically involves spotting
of the fiber-optic cable drum, real-time monitoring surface container, and sheaves on the pipe deck. It also
involves the connection of downhole cable to a real-time portable surface acquisition unit through a slip
ring. There are two types of fiber-optic cable-related slip ring available in the market for real-time surface
monitoring while running in hole: hybrid slip ring, specifically for electronic gauges with fiber-optic
cable, and optical slip ring.
Running of fiber-optic cable down hole involves feeding the cable through packers, fusion splicing, and
installation of an inline splice assembly. Careful feed through of lines through mechanical packers is
required; this is followed by setting up a temporary work shelter to allow the splicing of the downhole
cable. Another issue with splicing fiber on a rig floor is the potential presence of explosive atmosphere
and the ignition source on a fusion splicer. To overcome this issue, a Zone 1 splicer was engineered and
sent to location. The purpose of the equipment is to facilitate the safe use of the fusion splicer to splice
and place heat shrink around fiber-optic cable. Fig. 5 shows the equipment is transportable and is operated
in a Zone 1 hazardous area. The enclosure combines both an electrical installation and a purge line. Inert
nitrogen gas is used to purge the system. The system is specifically designed to operate once the enclosure
runs through the proper purge cycle. This prevents the unit from energizing and firing in a potentially
unsafe environment. Thereafter, an inline splice assembly is installed over the exposed spliced fiber. The
fiber-optic cable is tested with an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) continuously throughout to
help ensure the splice is good and unaffected; typically, splice losses must be below 0.2 dB loss for a
single-mode fiber and 0.1 dB loss for a multimode fiber. Although fusion splicers have the capability to
estimate splice losses, OTDR provides the best accuracy where the traces are kept for documentation.
Above each packer across the spliced region, a pressure testable inline fiber-optic cable splice assembly
is installed. This assembly requires three separate pressure tests to confirm the integrity of the unit testable
to 15,000 psi.

Figure 5—Zone 1 splice enclosure.

OTC-26675-MS 7

Upon feeding through the tubing hanger and exiting the wellhead port, the fiber-optic cable is stripped
bare from its tube for the installation of fiber-optic cable wellhead exit. The wellhead exit is a housing in
which the downhole cable is fusion-spliced to the surface system. The wellhead allows safe termination
of the downhole fiber-optic cable at the surface. The wellhead exit is designed to exit the downhole
fiber-optic cable without affecting the pressure integrity of the wellhead. The wellhead exit consists of
dual-metal pressure seals to block pressure around the outer tubing. It also has a feed-through and
high-pressure housing assembly that allows containment of the downhole fluids/pressure in case there is
a break in the fiber-optic cable down hole and fluids migrate from within the outer metal jacket. The
wellhead-exit installation is critical because fiber-optic cable is at its most fragile condition without the
tube. Because the fiber is susceptible to cuts, bends, and damage, this task is always performed by
professionally trained and experienced personnel.
The system is then connected to a dual-laser surface acquisition unit. The system is normally located
in a temperature-controlled instrument room and is responsible for decoding the fiber-optic data collected
from the DTS fiber. Sudden changes in the ambient temperature inside the instrument room can have an
impact because at this point the fiber-optic data is converted into meaningful temperature data. To obtain
the most reliable measurements, the DTS should be housed inside a temperature-controlled enclosure.

Monitoring and Control

The resulting installations with set data connectivity enabled local PSCs to view data remotely from the
office. Continuous operator support acts as a core value in helping ensure data transfer is uninterrupted
and temperature interpretation programs are kept up to date. The commercial value in having a permanent
installation is clear in that by having DTS installed permanently, data is available in real time and is able
to identify well events at all times. This is achieved with no intervention or cost to the operator.

Injectivity and Analysis Techniques

After completing the well, a pre-injection test was performed to determine the feasibility of zonal flow rate
assessments under high-sampling DTS data. The injectivity data is used to compare DTS data and well
history. Briefly, the steps involved increasing injectivity at regular intervals. Because the analysis
technique requires identifying the cold fluid front in the DTS data obtained, warm-back data and
reinjectivity data are required. Thereafter, with the available data, the following analysis techniques are
used:
● Cold front fluid velocity. This method requires tracking the cold injection front in which transient
changes in front fluid velocity across the reservoir zones indicates fluid leakoff and can thereafter
be converted to zonal profiles across the well.
● Romero-Juarez technique. This method compares steady-state injectivity profile to geothermal
profile in providing a quantitative assessment to zonal profiles.
● Warm-back approach. This method assumes zones remain cold if they have taken more fluid than
zones that have warmed back quicker. Thus, the rate of temperature warm back is inversely
proportional to the zonal cumulative injected water volume.

HSE
Lastly, relating to the installation of fiber-optic cable, the following practices help eliminate HSE
concerns:
● One-way communication between supervisor and local PSC in toolbox discussions, procedures
● Run in hole with speed limited to 50 ft/min
● Operation with personnel keeping watch on spooler
● Slips secure the fiber-optic line with rollers preferably inside
8 OTC-26675-MS

● Tubing centralized while running in hole to avoid crimping or damage

Conclusions
DTS was successfully applied in this EOR project to help monitor temperature profiles along the wellbore
in real time. The DTS system used a fiber-optic cable assembly deployed on the completion strings
extended across the perforated areas of interest. A dual-laser DTS system can be used over long ranges
and eliminates the need for double-ended measurements commonly installed in similar projects. The
dual-laser system is tolerant of hydrogen darkening. The system also provides continuous and complete
wellbore temperature profiles by obtaining temperature data as fast as every 5 seconds with a measure-
ment point for every meter along the wellbore.
The true value of DTS in this application was providing injection-profile analysis and monitoring for
the WAG operation without the requirement to deploy conventional PLT. This, in turn, eliminated the
need for well intervention, thereby, reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency by limiting
personnel and asset exposure to logging operations on live wells. In addition, suitable competent
personnel and project management capabilities increased the possibilities of a successful job leading to
local operator satisfaction as described in this paper.

References
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Goiffon, J.D. and Gualtieri, D. 2006. Applications of Fiber Optic Real Time Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) in
A Heavy Oil Production Environment. Presented at the Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam,
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INCOLOY® is a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation, New Hartford, New York, USA.
SEPIGEL™ is a trademark of SEPPIC, Paris, France.