SPE-199816-MS Smart Reservoir Depth Correlation With Tubing Conveyed Wireless Gamma Ray Position Tool-Case Studies

SPE-199816-MS
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Smart Reservoir Depth Correlation with Tubing Conveyed Wireless Gamma
Ray Position Tool—Case Studies
Elias Temer, Sebastien Catheline, Nahomi Zerpa-Mendez, and Carlos Merino, Schlumberger

Copyright 2020, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition originally scheduled to be held in The Woodlands, TX, USA,
24-25 March 2020. Due to COVID-19 the physical event was not held. The official proceedings were published online on 16 March 2020.

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 have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
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Abstract
Depth correlation before perforation is crucial in reservoir testing, to minimize the uncertainties about
the reservoir being tested. Currently, three main methods are used to correlate to depth: simple pipe tally,
tag of a known element in the well, or a wireline gamma ray (GR) log—which is the most accepted
method, owing to its precision and track record. Wireline GR correlation, however, requires additional time
(6 to 8 hours), translating into cost for the operator. We describe a new depth correlation tool, which is
mounted directly in the drillstem test (DST) string and is enabled by a downhole wireless acoustic telemetry
system, that provides correlation algorithm in real time without the need for extra wireline intervention. The
introduction of a wireless-enabled GR measurement into the DST string radically changes the workflow for
DST operations and results in significant reduction of rig time, as shown by one of our latest job campaigns
in Qatar.
Introduction
One of the most difficult problems associated with any borehole system is the position and/or location of a
tubular string in relation to the formation or any other reference point downhole. For example, in the oil and
gas industry, it is critical to place systems at a specific depth position in a wellbore during various drilling and
production operations, such as drilling, perforating, fracturing, drillstem or well testing, reservoir evaluation
testing, and pressure and temperature monitoring. Typically, the depth or location of the drillstring or a
downhole tool along the drillstring is based on the number of components lowered into the wellbore and the
length of those components. However, as the tubular string length increases during the run in hole (RIH)
operation, its weight increases as well, which leads to tubular elongation. This elongation is in turn affected
by the friction of the tubular string with the borehole, which leads to a difficult prediction of its final length.
Therefore an estimation of the final length of the string is needed to properly position the different tools in
the borehole. New technology that combines wireless downhole acoustic telemetry with a GR correlation
tool mounted on the DST string now provides real-time transmission of GR data to surface.
2 SPE-199816-MS
Wireless Telemetry System

One of the challenges related to the integration of GR measurement into the DST string is the absence of a
cable to surface to retrieve the data from the tool. An elegant solution consists of using the tubing itself as
the communication channel. The acoustic signal travels along the tubing in the well by mean of a network
of repeaters (modems). These repeaters are clamped directly onto the steel tubing, and they forward the
acoustic messages along the tubing. We refer to this ensemble of acoustic repeaters as the "toolstring;" a
typical layout is displayed in Fig. 1. The toolstring itself can be divided into two sections: the main string,
which is the longest part and is mostly composed of pipes that guide the flow of hydrocarbons from the
reservoir upward, and the bottomhole assembly (BHA), in which the most sensitive equipment (i.e., sensors
and downhole actuators) is located. The GR correlator, when coupled with the wireless acoustic telemetry
system enables real-time location capability. Hence, this combined new technology eliminates the need for a
cabled tool to be lowered into the wellbore to position the tools at the correct depth (Ennaifer, A et al. 2014).
Figure 1—A downhole reservoir testing system enabled by wireless acoustic telemetry. A network of acoustic repeaters
(modems), attached to the tubing by a system of clamps, enables remote communication with downhole tools.
SPE-199816-MS 3
Gamma Ray Correlation Principle

The key idea behind GR correlation is the use of two reference points: one located in the well, such as a
radioactive marker located in a previous casing, called the precision identified perforation (PIP) tag and a
second reference point located in the DST string, such as a radioactive marker sub (RA marker sub). In the
case of a wireline correlation, the depth of both markers is measured, and the difference is compared with
the theoretical distance between them. Because the marker in the well is fixed and the one in the DST string
follows the string's deformation (i.e., elongation or contraction), estimation of the actual deformation of the
DST string becomes possible. In the case of the new gamma ray position tool (GRPT), instead of relying
on a marker located in the DST string, the GRPT itself serves as the DST string marker. By knowing its
theoretical depth based on pipe length and the depth at which the well marker has been seen, it is possible
to estimate the deformation of the DST string (Fig. 5
Care should be taken when selecting the well marker position to minimize positioning uncertainties.
Indeed, the closer the well marker is to the perforation zone, the lower is the uncertainty on the depth of the
guns, which are located at the bottom of the DST string.
In practice, the well PIP tag is positioned in the well during previous installation of the casing string. To
ensure its depth is accurately known, its position is established with a standard wireline GR log. A typical
GR log of a PIP tag can be seen in Fig. 5. As expected, the GR reading is extremely high, which allows
easy identification of the marker on the log.
Finally, the depth correlation in the case of wireline correlation consists of moving the GR tool in front
of the PIP tag and the RA marker sub to measure its position. We refer to this pass in front of the PIP tag
as the correlation movement in the case of the GRPT, because the full toolstring has to be moved for the
GRPT to pass in front of the PIP tag.
Gamma Ray Positioning Tool

The GRPT tool includes a GR detector to detect radioactive markers in the well (Fig. 5). In addition, this
tool has an embedded pressure gauge to record pressure during the correlation process. This pressure gauge
is used mainly to define the start and the end of the correlation movement without relying on a time-
based measurement. The tool also allows the generation of a GR-versus-depth log equivalent to a wireline-
generated GR log.
This tool can be deployed either clamped on the outside of the tubing or placed inside a downhole gauge
adapter that is mounted in line with the tubing string. Fig. 3 shows a typical installation of the GRPT,
performed at the rig floor during RIH.
SPE-199816-MS
Figure 2—Example of wireline GR log correlation with PIP tag signature (string GR peak).
4
SPE-199816-MS 5
Figure 3—Installation (clamping) of the GRPT on the pipe.
We define a correlation movement as the act of moving the DST string up or down by approximately
one stand of pipes (two to four pipes) so that the GRPT passes in front of the PIP tag. The pressure is
continuously recorded during this time, but three values are of particular importance: Pstart, and Ppip, and Pend
correspond, respectively, to the pressure (psi) when the DST string starts to move, the pressure when the
GRPT is located in front of the PIP tag, and the pressure when the DST string stops moving. An example
of such data can be seen in Fig. 4 In that example, the decrease of pressure results from an upward pulling
out of hole (POOH) movement of the DST string. When the GRPT is located in front of the PIP tag, the
GR reading increases significantly.
6 SPE-199816-MS
Figure 4—Example of pressure and gamma ray data during a correlation movement (up/POOH movement).
Figure 5—Principle of the gamma ray positioning tool (GRPT) (Da Silva Pereira et al. 2019).
The correlation procedure (Fig. 6) used to collect data for the computation of the DST string deformation
begins by positioning the GRPT tool below the PIP tag (the position is typically half the correlation length,
which is based on the theoretical pipe length). This will ensure that the GRPT will pass in front of the PIP
tag during the correlation movement. We measure a first height h1, the distance from the rig floor to the top
of the tubular string at the start of the correlation movement (Fig. 6a). The pressure while at this position
SPE-199816-MS 7
corresponds to Pstart. Then we initiate an upward movement (POOH) of two to four pipe lengths (a total of
60 to 120 ft, which we call L) and continue until the top of the next pipe is above the rotary table. Note that
the total length of the two to four pipes that are used for the correlation movement is noted as Lpipes, which
is different from the quantity L. At the end of the upward movement, the GRPT is located above the PIP
tag and a second height h2 is measured (Fig. 6b). The pressure recorded while at this position corresponds
to Pend (Merino C. et al. 2017).
Figure 6—Gamma ray position tool (GRPT) correlation movement. PIP = precision identified perforation.
Following the nomenclature from Fig. 4, we can deduce that

(1)
and
(2)
From this length h, and the theoretical depth of the GRPT tool at the end of the POOH operation zend, and
the known PIP tag depth zPIP, we can compute the elongation or contraction of the DST string, denoted S:
(3)
A positive S corresponds to an elongation of the DST string, while a negative value corresponds to a
contraction.
In practice, the GRPT correlation includes several other steps to ensure data quality and reliability, which
we describe in more detail in the following paragraphs.
8 SPE-199816-MS
GRPT Operational Procedure

We described the basic correlation procedure with only an upward movement (POOH). In practice, a
complete correlation includes several other steps that include data retrieval as well as verification of the
quality of the correlation.
The full GRPT correlation process is shown in Fig. 7. This idealized figure shows the relative pressure
and GR count tracked during the operation, identifies the points of data retrieval, and portrays the GRPT
position relative to the PIP tag during the operation. The overall process is divided into eight sequential
time steps, as shown in Fig. 7. At the start of the operation, the tool is initially located below the PIP tag
(Step 1 in Fig. 7). The full DST string is moved upward by a length Lout at a very low speed (0.2 ft/s; Step
2) so that the GRPT passes in front of the PIP tag and ends up above the PIP tag. At this point, the tool
is maintained at that position for up to 5 minutes to ensure pressure stabilization (Step 3). Following this
upward movement and stabilization, the DST string is moved down by a length Lin to return to a position
similar to the initial starting point in Step 1—that is, a position below the PIP tag (Step 4). At this point,
the learning algorithm embedded in the GRPT uses a pattern recognition to identify the peak of the gamma
ray counts and the corresponding pressure PPIP. Then, the main correlation movement is complete, and the
pressure and GR data can be retrieved through the acoustic telemetry system (Step 5). After data have been
retrieved to surface, the elongation/contraction of the DST string is computed using Eq. 1 through Eq. 3.
The correlation could stop here; however, we can proceed with an additional step to confirm this computed
value. Because the GRPT is part of the DST string, it is possible to position it in front of the PIP tag and
retrieve the GR data in real time to confirm the elongation computed value.
Figure 7—GRPT correlation process. POOH = pulling out of hole; RIH = run in hole.
This positioning part of the confirmation procedure is performed in several steps. First, the string is
moved upward to position the GRPT slightly below the PIP tag, typically 1ft below, and we retrieve the GR
SPE-199816-MS 9
points (Step 6). After this approximate positioning, we move the DST string up by small steps, typically
0.5-ft increments, followed by data retrieval (Step 7). These small steps provide the opportunity to check
the alignment of the GRPT with the PIP tag and, when the alignment is achieved, to confirm the exact
elongation/contraction of the DST string with a resolution of 0.5 ft. When the GRPT is finally aligned, the
GR reading is very high (Step 8), which confirms without any doubt the result of the correlation.
To simplify the approximate positioning and the small positioning steps, the pipes used for the correlation
at surface can be marked regularly beforehand, typically every 1 ft, and in more detail in the part of the
pipe at which the PIP tag is expected to be seen based on pipe tally and DST knowledge. An example of
pipe marking can be seen in Fig. 8.
Figure 8—Pipe marking for easier positioning of the GRPT in front of the PIP tag.
Results
To evaluate the technique, a campaign of 17 DSTs was performed in four different wells in Qatar in 2019.
The DST string had very similar design in all runs. It included eight pressure gauges enabled by the wireless
telemetry system (one annulus gauge, one gauge above the tester valve, two gauges below the tester valve,
and four gauges below the packer), eight fluid sampler bottles enabled by the wireless telemetry system,
and the GRPT.
For the first job of the campaign, the standard wireline GR tool was run in parallel with the GRPT to
compare results from the new tool with the industry recognized reference—the wireline GR log. The GRPT
result from this first run proved to be consistent with the wireline GR log, which led the operator to decide
that the GRPT would be the main and only correlation tool used for the remainder of the full campaign. The
accuracy of the results given by the GRPT was verified through the ability to position the tool in front of the
casing radioactive marker, which eliminated all doubt of accuracy. We show real-time pressure (blue) and
GR (green) data obtained during one run of the campaign (Fig. 9). Only the pressure data for the correlation
10 SPE-199816-MS
movement in POOH mode were retrieved at surface to reduce the operation time. In Fig. 9, two thirds along
the pressure decrease event, there is a sharp peak on the GR curve, which corresponds to the detection of
the PIP tag detected by the pattern recognition algorithm. From these data points, we computed the stretch
or compression of the DST string and used this computed stretch to position the GRPT 1ft below the PIP
tag, as explained in the procedure. This step corresponds to the data points labelled "Initial positioning" in
the figure. As expected, 1 ft below the PIP tag, the GR count is quite low compared with the peak observed
earlier. Subsequently, two 0.5-ft upward movements were performed to position the GRPT tool in front of
the PIP tag. The positioning of the GRPT relative to the PIP tag is evident from the sharp increase in GR
count between the first and second small step. From this simple procedure, we can visually confirm the
correlation results of the GRPT.
Figure 9—Real-time data acquired with POOH movement and positioning steps.
Table 1 is a list of the duration of each correlation run in the full campaign. The speed of the correlation
procedure is one of the advantages brought by this new technology. The length of time required for the
correlation operation ranges from 0.7 to 2.3 hours, with an average duration of 1.4 hours, which is relatively
fast. We think this time can still be improved. In comparison with a wireline correlation operation, which
can take about 6 to 8 hours per run, the new technology provided 78 to 112 hours of direct time savings
for the operator in this campaign.
SPE-199816-MS 11
Table 1—Correlation duration for the 17 DSTs of the campaign.
ID Well Run Correlation Time (hr)
1 A 1 2.1
2 A 2 1.6
3 A 3 1.0
4 B 1 1.4
5 B 2 1.1
6 B 3 1.4
7 B 4 1.3
8 B 5 2.3
9 C 1 1.7
10 C 2 1.3
11 C 3 0.7
12 C 4 1.1
13 C 5 1.1
14 D 1 2.1
15 D 2 1.1
16 D 3 1.3
17 D 4 0.9
Overall, these 17 runs showed that the GRPT indeed provides correlation results similar to that of a
wireline GR log but in addition provides a means to check the quality and accuracy of the correlation result
by physically positioning the tool in front of the PIP tag. Secondly, it was shown that the technique is time
efficient compared with a standard wireline correlation method. Indeed, each correlation took between 1
and 2 hours to complete, in contrast to the usual 6 to 8 hours needed for a standard wireline job. Hence,
integration of the correlation measurement into the DST string resulted in a more cost-effective operation
by saving up to 100 hours of rig time, and it also reduced exposure of personnel to dangerous operations.
Lessons learned
During this campaign, several lessons were learned.
• Meeting with and briefing the driller prior to the correlation operation is key to successful execution
of the string movements and optimization of the wireless depth correlation procedure.
• A good control of string weight on the rig hook during correlation movement is critical to correctly
translate the surface string movements into downhole movements.
• For better data collection and correlation accuracy, it is recommended that the two correlation
movements—RIH and POOH (described in Fig. 7)—are performed at a constant pace.
Conclusions
The correlation technique and algorithm presented in this study provide an excellent alternative to wireline
depth correlation, which exposes personnel to risky operations, open hole, and tensioned cable and
also requires significant rig time. In addition, wireline correlation is susceptible to deteriorating weather
conditions, which can lead to substantial rig time increase while waiting for favorable weather conditions.
12 SPE-199816-MS
In the first DST job performed in the case study, results from the GRPT that was run in parallel with
standard wireline correlation proved the GRPT to be reliable. The GRPT correlation results are similar to
results from the wireline GR log and positionally accurate. The method is time efficient compared to a
standard wireline correlation and reduced the rig time in the Qatar campaign by more than 100 hours.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Qatar Gas and Schlumberger management, who supported publication of
this paper. The authors also wish to thank the operational and technology teams for their exceptional effort
to successfully execute this job campaign.
References
Da Silva Pereira, Y., Borges, R. P. S., Schnitzler, E. et al. 2019. New Strategies for Cost Reduction with Depth Correlation
in Deepwater Wells. Paper presented at the Offshore Technology Conference Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 29-31
October. OTC-29842-MS. https://doi.org/10.4043/29842-MS.
Ennaifer, A.,Giordano, P.Vannuffelen, S. et al. 2014. Step Change in Well Testing Operations. Oilfield Review 26
(Autumn): 32–41.
Merino, C. and Rezgui, F. 2017. Depth Positioning Using Gamma-Ray Correlation and Downhole Parameter Differential.
US Patent No. 0159423 A1.

SPE-199816-MS Smart Reservoir Depth Correlation With Tubing Conveyed Wireless Gamma Ray Position Tool-Case Studies

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SPE-199816-MS

Copyright 2020, Society of Petroleum Engineers

Wireless Telemetry System

Gamma Ray Correlation Principle

Gamma Ray Positioning Tool

Following the nomenclature from Fig. 4, we can deduce that

GRPT Operational Procedure

Table 1—Correlation duration for the 17 DSTs of the campaign.

ID Well Run Correlation Time (hr)

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