SPE 93473

INTEGRATION OF ADVANCED PRODUCTION AND IMAGE LOGGING IN A HIGH

GOR HORIZONTAL WELL WITH ASSESSMENT OF REMEDIAL ACTIONS
A.A. Al-Fawwaz, H.K. Mubarak, Saudi Aramco and M. Zeybek, Schlumberger Oilfield Services

Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

th
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 14 SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and
Conference held in Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Bahrain, 1215 March 2005.

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Abstract
Production logging in high GOR horizontal wells still exhibits
difficulties due to multi-phase, complicated flow regimes in
undulating long well bores. Accurate diagnosis of gas entries
is important for the understanding of the well performance,
reservoir dynamics, characterization and if possible, for shutoff remedial action.
In this paper, a case study is presented in a horizontal well
with high GOR where oil production decreased significantly
due to gas entries. The example horizontal well is located in
Saudi Arabian Lower Cretaceous carbonate reservoir that has
gas cap and relatively weak aquifer. Although the horizontal
well is placed away from the gas cap, increase in GOR was
observed after two years of production time. Since GOR
increased to over 5000 SCF/STB by then, an integrated
production logging tool was utilized to detect gas entries and
determine flow profile.
Results showed that the gas entries were detected from the
high sides of the well and the majority of the gas was entering
from the heel section over 500 ft of interval. Gas hold up in
the well bore was determined from gas sensor tool in real time
and pulsed neutron tool, providing high confidence. All the
sensors exhibited coherent measurements, yielding confident
and conclusive results for the gas entries. Image logs and
permeability determinations identified the presence of
different facies with high permeability over the interrelated
entry intervals, supporting the calculated flow profile. The
results, observed difficulties and recommendations are
discussed for improvements. A single well fine grid numerical
reservoir simulation model was also developed to assess
impact of remedial action plans.

Introduction
It is well known that increased gas production
can
significantly reduce well performance and result in decreased
oil production. Generally, an increase in GOR could be due to
a drop in reservoir pressure or a gas breakthrough. The
detection of gas entry intervals in the case of early increases
in GOR, provides useful information for understanding
reservoir dynamics and optimizing well placement. For
maximum productivity and choosing well trajectories, the
evaluation of well performance is crucial. Production logging
provides not only the detection of unwanted fluids but also
measures effective well length that is needed in well testing
evaluation for complete well performance analysis. In
addition, the length and the number of entries provide
information about the characteristics of the intervals.
Eventually, the integration with reservoir and geological data
yields more accurate characterization.
Conventional production logging tools developed for
vertical wells often do not perform well in horizontal wells
because multiphase flow in horizontal sections is highly
segregated1-4. In addition, logging conditions in barefoot
horizontal wells can be quite harsh. The integrated production
logging tool string was developed in 1995 and several
examples of oil/water flow in horizontal wells were
published3,5. Although three phase flow is addressed, there are
only a few examples6,7 of gas/oil or three phase flow. The first
example7 discussed the challenges of the detection of gas entry
intervals and the results could not pinpoint the entry intervals
due to shortage of intervention and the amount of hold up in
the wellbore.
In this paper, a case study of high a GOR horizontal well is
presented. Since the well started producing a high GOR in a
less than a year, the detection of gas entry intervals was the
primary objective. An integrated production logging tool
string including new Gas Hold Up Optical Sensor tool was
run. The results showed the detection of gas and oil entry
intervals with confidence achieving the objectives. The
integration with static data of open hole and image logs
showed coherent results by identifying high and low
permeability facies where the gas entries were observed from
high permeability facie crossing the wellbore. A fine grid
numerical simulation model based on a commercial simulator
was developed to assess remedial action plans.

A.A. AL-FAWWAZ, H.K. MUBARAK, M. ZEYBEK

Gas-Liquid Flow and Integrated Production Logging

Tool String
It has been known that generally stratified flow regimes2 exist
in horizontal wells, flowing oil and water. It is important that
flow regimes, existing during the flow of fluids be understood
for interpretation and measurement accuracy.
Fig. 1 shows the flow regimes in horizontal wells in the
presence of gas-liquid flow. Mostly stratified or wavy
stratified flow regimes are observed when the deviation is 90
degrees or more. However, the stratified flow domain is
limited when the deviation is less than 90 degrees. Plug or
slug flow becomes dominant in this deviation, indicating the
complexity of the flow. Considering the small changes in well
deviation and fluctuations in the well performance as well, the
measurements of gas hold up in real time during each pass
would improve the results
An integrated production logging tool string developed for
horizontal wells was given in detail by Lenn et al3. The tool
string consists of Combinable Production Logging Tool,
providing pressure, temperature, in addition to spinners, phase
velocity of oil using a chemical marker, water velocity using
water flow log, hold ups of oil, water and using electrical
probes, three phase hold up using pulsed neutron tool and
caliper measurements to obtain quantitative determination of
flow profiles. To note that stationary phase velocity
measurement of oil is a direct measurement, requiring no
calibration or correlation and is benchmarked in a flowloop4.
Several examples of integrated production logging in
horizontal wells have been published3,5.
In this study, a new shorter production logging tool,
providing x-y caliper, spinner and flow imaging in the same
module was utilized along with the mentioned sensors as
shown in Fig 2.
As mentioned above, although gas hold up is measured
with pulse a neutron tool, it is a one pass measurement and
requires further processing for quantitative values. In the case
of liquid-gas flow regimes, having quantitative gas hold up
data, in real time, in each pass provides useful information and
confidence in interpretation. Hence, including a gas hold up
optical sensor tool in the string is considered to be beneficial
in high GOR wells.
Gas Hold up Optical Sensor Tool was developed using
new optical sensing technology to enable direct detection of
gas in producing wells8. In gas-liquid mixtures, optical signals
reflected by the optical probes vary from liquid to gas values
in a binary manner. This allows the determination of gas hold
up and gas bubble count. Gas detection is achieved using an
optical sensor sensitive to the optical index of the fluid that is
low for liquid and high for gas. Relative bearing and caliper
measurements are included to determine exact positions of the
probes at any time. The details of the tool specifications are
given by Theron et al.8.
Field Example
The field example is from a Middle East Lower Cretaceous
carbonate reservoir. The producing intervals are

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predominantly limestone, with intervening tight dolomite

streaks. A gas cap overlies the reservoir and weak pressure
support is provided by an aquifer. The reservoir thickness is
around 250 ft. The porosity of the producing zones is roughly
% 30 and the average permeability is around 13 md. The
hydrocarbon is a light oil with an API gravity of 42. Because
of relatively low permeability and the presence of a large gas
cap, field development is planned based on horizontal wells to
increase well productivity and drainage area and minimize gas
cusping and water coning. Based on simulations and
experience, horizontal wells are placed in the oil column with
optimum distance from GOC and WOC to avoid early
breakthrough of gas or water. However, early increases in
GOR or water are observed in certain wells due to
heterogeneities and fractures intersecting the wellbore. The
identification of unwanted fluid entry intervals has importance
for the understanding of reservoir characterization and
subsequent remedial actions.
In this paper, a high GOR but dry horizontal well with
2800 ft horizontal length was considered for the identification
of gas entry intervals.
Well History: The subject well was drilled and put in
production in 1998. Although a majority of horizontal wells
are completed as barefoot in this field, this well was
completed with 4 liner, perforated over almost the whole
horizontal section. The well was placed 110 ft below the GOC
to optimize production and minimize gas cusping. The well
produced dry oil with solution GOR initially; however, it
gradually showed an increase of GOR after two years of
production. Fig. 3 shows the production history of oil rates
and GOR. Furthermore, it showed that the well was producing
high GOR based on flowing well head pressures. Generally, to
keep the ratio of oil to gas rate high, choke size was varied.
This type of exercise fine tunes choke size in favor of oil rate.
Since the well was producing quite high GOR, it was
necessary to find out the gas entry intervals. The well
trajectory along with open hole log results and image logs are
shown in Fig. 4. As noticed, the well trajectory goes up at the
end. To avoid any gas cusping through this section, the lower
section of the well was not perforated.
Well Logging: Since the well was producing high GOR, an
integrated production logging tool string with an optical
sensor tool was run. This configuration allowed both real time
gas and water hold up determination. Pulsed neutron three
phase hold up was recorded as an independent measurement to
verify and increase the confidence in oil, water and gas hold
ups. The trajectory and the production history suggested that
only low sides of the wellbore would have some stagnant
water. To obtain flow rates of oil and gas, hold up and velocity
data are required. As planned, flowing passes were conducted
first, followed by shut-in passes after 4.5 hours of shut-in.
As shown in Fig. 2, the tool string with gas sensor tool
was run using 2 coil tubing. Prior to the job, tool accessibility
in the wellbore was assessed via simulation and a dummy run.
During the job, no difficulties were encountered in reaching
TD. The distributions of fluids and hold up were established
during the passes. Real time optical gas sensor hold up results

SPE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DETECTION OF GAS ENTRY INTERVALS WITH INTEGRATED LOGGING IN HIGH GOR HORIZONTAL WELL

were obtained in the second run due to difficulties, observing

lack of response in horizontal section in the first run. Electrical
flow imaging sensors identified the presence of a small
amount of stationary water in the deepest low side of the well.
In addition to optical and electrical probes, pulsed neutron
borehole sigma and inelastic far/near ratio provided hold up
information in real time. Bore hole sigma supported the
presence of stationary water with the high value of sigma
reading. Although optical and electrical probe hold up outputs
are direct and quantitative, bore hole sigma and inelastic ratio
can be used based on individual phase values. Because the
probe locations are known, flow image output yields the flow
distribution along the wellbore. After establishing the fluid
flow distribution and hold up data, all the sensors were utilized
appropriately. However, pulsed neutron three phase hold up
output provided quantitative three phase hold up data in
computing center. Both in-line (smaller) and full bore
spinners were also included in the tool string. Since the flow
regime is often segregated in horizontal wells, the spinner can
be used when it is completely immersed in one phase. After
obtaining quantitative hold up data, using well bore size and
spinner size, whether the spinner is immersed in one or two
phases can be determined. For example, minimum 70 % of
hold up for lighter fluid would allow an in-line smaller spinner
to be completely immersed in a lighter phase in a 4 ID
completion. In other words, if the hold up for heavier phase is
more than % 30, then the spinner would be immersed in two
phases. In that case, the spinner velocity corresponds to
neither phase, assuming flow is segregated, hence phases can
have quite different velocities. It requires % 88 hold up for
the fullbore spinner to be immersed totally in the lighter
phase.
As mentioned in the previous section, oil velocity
measurements were obtained using a phase velocity log where
oil miscible marker is ejected and detected by pulse neutron
tool. In this job, high quality PVL measurements were
obtained to get an oil profile.
In high GOR wells, temperature data could be quite useful
to increase confidence for the identification of gas entry
intervals, especially in the case of the first entry and
significant amount of entry from one interval. Fig. 5 shows the
flowing and shut-in temperature measurements supporting the
entry intervals with the drop in temperature.
Results and Discussion
After running the first flowing pass, it was identified that gas
was occupying almost % 80 (hold up) of the well bore in the
first 700 feet of the horizontal section. Then gradually, gas
hold up decreased and correlated with the deviation (Fig. 6).
Gas hold up increased as the well deviation became greater
than 90 degrees. During shut-in, the fluids segregated as
expected. Using the end points of inelastic ratio, hold up
distribution was obtained as shown in Fig. 6. Bore hole sigma
also correlated well with gas and oil presence. As expected,
gas was trapped in the high sides of the wellbore.
As mentioned above, spinner data can be used to
determine the velocity of gas wherever the gas hold up is % 70

or greater. The gas flow profile is given in Fig. 6, indicating

major gas entry (almost 80% of the total gas entry) occurrence
interval along the high side of the well, close to the heel.
Open hole and image logs suggest that this interval is a
different facie which was also confirmed by log derived
permeability. A second entry was identified from the second
high side of the well where the well goes up again and crosses
into the high permeability facies. Minor gas entry was also
detected from the toe section. Although different facies were
observed in image logs, the quantitative impact on flow profile
could not be predicted. In fact, the results of the integrated
production logs are now providing more confident reservoir
characterization information. Gas entries from higher
permeability facie indicated that gas is cusping down from
these intervals as schematically shown in Fig. 7.
Generally, very small temperature variations are expected
and seen in horizontal wells. However, in this well, the first
entry and subsequently significant amount of gas entries
caused differentiable temperature cooling as shown in Fig. 5,
supporting the above findings.
It should be noted that oil hold up distribution did not
allow to the determination of the oil velocity with spinner due
to low hold up to oil. Hence, the oil velocity could be obtained
only with a phase velocity log. Fig 8. shows examples of a
phase velocity measuring 120 ft/min translating to around 900
bbl/d using oil hold up. The oil flow profile is shown in Fig. 6,
indicating almost half of the oil production is coming from the
high permeability interval in the upper section of the well.
Recommendations
Production logging in high GOR horizontal wells has been
challenging because of the difficulty in obtaining quantitative
results. Integrated production logging provides quantitative
answers; however, further improvements would allow more
quantitative results under different scenarios. Although the
hold up data is obtained confidently with different sensors, gas
velocity measurements in different scenarios (with hold up
variation) are challenging to obtain quantitatively. Two optical
gas sensor tools provide more accurate hold up data with more
coverage of the wellbore. In addition, direct measurement of
gas velocity via gas slugs can be obtained. As indicated in the
Gas-Liquid flow section, slug or plug flow is obtained when
the deviation is less than 90 degrees. The measurement is
based on cross correlation between two gas hold up optical
sensors when it is applicable for further improvements
Spinner data is to be utilized whenever the spinner is
immersed. In the case of high flow rates in small completions,
spinners have limitations. In those cases, flow rates should be
reduced to avoid exceeding the limitations. In fact, in this job,
the well had to be choked down after observing high
velocities.
Numerical Simulations for Shut Off Considerations
In order to assess the impact of remedial action plans on well
performance by shutting off the gas entry intervals, a fine
gridded single well numerical simulation model was set up
based on a commercial reservoir simulator. A single well

A.A. AL-FAWWAZ, H.K. MUBARAK, M. ZEYBEK

model using pebi gridding was used for efficient grid size
optimization as shown in Fig. 9. A total of 35000 grid cells
were used in the segmented simulation area with the actual
well trajectory. Openhole and image logs suggested that the
well was crossing two zones along the trajectory. The model
included two permeability zones as shown in Fig. 9. To
benchmark the model, production log entries, pressure surveys
and observed GOR data were reasonably honored for the
history. Fig. 10 shows the comparison of measured GOR (red
dots) and simulation GOR (purple curve). Fig. 11 shows the
gas saturation distribution from a numerical simulation
indicating gas entry intervals (flow from intervals) that agrees
well with integrated production logging results. Results
showed that three pressure surveys after 2, 18 and 52 months
were within less than 5 psi of the measured ones.
Since the gas entries were observed from the high sides
(high permeability) of the wellbore, shut off is considered for
those intervals. Because the well is shut-in for long periods of
time, the complete history was included in the simulations. It
has been observed that gas did not recede to original GOC
over more than a one and a half year period.
Two scenarios are initially considered in the simulations.
The first scenario considers the shutting off all the high side
(gas entry intervals). In other words, the well is allowed to
produce only from the low permeability intervals (around %
35 of the completion open). Simulations, conditioning to the
optimized bottom hole pressures (reduced oil rate) showed
that GOR can be kept to a low value (very close to solution
GOR) for a long period of time, however, no additional oil
production can be obtained compared to existing oil rate.
In the second scenario, shut off is considered for the long
entry interval in the heel section due to practical
considerations. In this case, % 65 of the completions are open.
The results showed that GOR gradually increases to 2000
scf/stb over six years under optimized pressure with a similar
oil rate to the first scenario. Fig. 12 shows numerical
simulation of gas saturation after shut off.
Alternatively, a sidetrack option (30 ft deeper) was
evaluated as shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 14 shows the production
history with the existing well and the production prediction
with the sidetrack well. Simulation results indicate that the
sidetrack well production oil rate of 1250-2000 stb/d with
solution GOR for the next six years.

Conclusions
In this paper, a case study is presented in a horizontal well
with high GOR where oil production decreased significantly
due to gas entries.
It has been shown that integrated production logging can
be used to diagnose gas entries in high GOR horizontal wells.
The integration of diagnostic flow profiles, gas entry
intervals and well evaluation can yield important information
on reservoir characterization and dynamics. In fact, the case
history of this well revealed that the impact of the gas
breakthrough could not be confidently predicted based on

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static data alone. The identification of entry intervals and

relation to certain facies can be helpful for future well
placement practices.
Numerical simulations supported the entry intervals. Shut
off considerations of the high side of the wellbore sections
suggested that GOR can be minimized; however no significant
increase in oil production can be obtained. As an alternative, a
sidetrack well option was also considered. In fact, production
predictions yielded increased oil production with no free gas.
Acknowledgments
We thank Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) for
permission to publish this paper. We also like to thank to Mr.
Salam P. Salamy for his discussions and inputs.
Nomenclature
GOR: Gas Oil Ratio, scf/stb
PVL: Phase Velocity Log
WOC: Water Oil Contact
References
1. Kuchuk, F.J., Lenn, C., Hook, P., and Fjerstad, P.:
Performance Evaluation of Horizontal Wells, SPE
39749 presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Conference on
Integrated Modeling for Asset Management, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, 2324 March 1998.
2. Lenn, C., Kuchuk, F.J., Rounce, J., and Hook, P.:
Horizontal Well Performance Evaluation and Fluid Entry
Mechanisms, SPE 49089 presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA,
2730 Sept. 1998.
3. Lenn C., Bamforth S. and Jariwala H.: Flow Diagnosis
in an Extended Reach Well at the BP Wytch Farm
Oilfield Using a New Toolstring Combination
Incorporating Novel Production Logging Technology,
SPE 36580 presented at the 1996 SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, 6-9 Oct.
4. Roscoe, B. and Lenn, C.: Oil and Water Flow Rate
Logging in Horizontal Wells Using Chemical Markers
and a Pulsed-Neutron Tool, SPE 36230 presented at the
7th Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and
Conference, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., 13-16 October, 1996.
5. Middle East Well Evaluation Review, Schlumberger p.2229 v19, 1997.
6. Frankenburg, A., Bartel, P., Roberts, G. and Hupp, D.
Gas Shutoff Evaluation and Implementation, North
Slope Alaska, SPE 62892 presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, TX, 14
Oct. 2000.
7. Al-Ali, H. A., Salamy S.P. and Haq, S.A.: The
Challenges of Detecting Gas Entries in Horizontal Well
by Using Integrated Production Logging Tool, Case
Study, SPE 65528 presented at 12th Middle East Oil
Show, Bahrain, 17-20 March, 2001.

SPE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DETECTION OF GAS ENTRY INTERVALS WITH INTEGRATED LOGGING IN HIGH GOR HORIZONTAL WELL

8.

Theron, B., Vuhoang, D., Rezgui, F., Gatala, G.,

McKeon, D. and Silipino, L.: Improved Determination
of Gas Hold up Using Optical Fiber Sensors, SPLWA
2000.

Figure 1 - Gas-Liquid Flow regimes

Figure 2 - Shorter Tool String including optical gas sensor

Figure 3 - Production history (GOR shown with red dots)

Figure 4 - Well trajectory with open hole and FMI data

Figure 5 - Temperature during flowing shut-in

SPE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DETECTION OF GAS ENTRY INTERVALS WITH INTEGRATED LOGGING IN HIGH GOR HORIZONTAL WELL

Permeability

Figure 6 - Integrated Advanced Production Logging results.

Ejection

Figure 7 - Schematic drawings of the Flagship results

Detection

Figure 8 - Oil velocity measurement using phase velocity.

A.A. AL-FAWWAZ, H.K. MUBARAK, M. ZEYBEK

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Figure 11 - Numerical simulation: gas breaking through

Figure 9 - Pebi Gridding and well cross section in numerical

model

Figure 12 - Numerical simulation: gas saturation after shut off the

heel section with major gas entry

Figure 10. History match of GOR

Figure 13 - Alternative option of deeper side track well

SPE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DETECTION OF GAS ENTRY INTERVALS WITH INTEGRATED LOGGING IN HIGH GOR HORIZONTAL WELL

Figure 14 - Production prediction with sidetrack well