33rd Gas-Lift Workshop

Houston, Texas, USA

February 1 - 5, 2010

Dual Gas Lift Well Analysis Using

WellTracer™
Tony Hord
ExxonMobil Production Company

This presentation is the property of the author(s) and his/her/their company(ies).

It may not be used for any purpose other than viewing by Workshop attendees without the expressed written permission of the author(s).
Corporate Separateness
Exxon Mobil Corporation has numerous subsidiaries, many with
names that include ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso and Mobil. For
convenience and simplicity in this presentation, the parent
company and its subsidiaries may be referenced separately or
collectively as "ExxonMobil."

Abbreviated references describing global or regional operational

organizations and global or regional business lines are also
sometimes used for convenience and simplicity.

Nothing in this presentation is intended to override the corporate

separateness of these separate legal entities. Working
relationships discussed in this presentation do not necessarily
represent a reporting connection, but may reflect a functional
guidance, stewardship, or service relationship.
 Dual Gas Lift Well Analysis Using WellTracer™

• WellTracer™ / WinGLUE™ Tools

• Dual Well Operations
• WellTracer™ Technology Advantages
• Results of Surveys
• Plans

2010 Gas-Lift Workshop 3

Feb. 1 - 5, 2010
 WellTracer™

• What is WellTracer™?
– Patented technology that traces the path of injected CO2 in a producing well.
– Noninvasive method to determine downhole conditions – leaving well flow undisturbed.
• How Does WellTracer™ Work?
– Man-portable
– Requires temporary connection points on the gas injection line and the production line.
– CO2 is injected in the annulus and sensed when it returns on the production line
– Well data including tubular design, gas lift valve setting depths, gas lift injection and
production rates are input to WinGLUE™ (Appsmiths) software along with WellTracer™
data to establish lift point, possible leaks from casing to tubing, and multi-point injection.
 WellTracer – Why the Technology is Needed
FIELD South Timbalier Block 54 LEASE OCS-G 020 WELL B-33/33D
ENGINEER Tony W. Hord INITIAL DATE July 21, 2008
Communication Casing / Tubing WELL STATUS Gas Lift Valve Installation
DRAWING STATUS Current Sketch DRAWING BY Lester Matthews, Jr.
#1 #2

• Combination of wireline methods used in ZERO

RKB-MWL 165’ 18-5/8” @ +/- 991-ft MD / 991-ft TVD

Halliburton Wellstar SCSSSV @ +/- 1203-ft
most cases to pin point source of WD

KOP
65’
MD (ID=2.188”)
Halliburton Well star SCSSSV @ +/- 1170-ft
MD (ID=2.188”)

communication, requires wellbore intervention MAX DEV o Long String: TK-7 IPC Short String: TK-7 IPC

10.0-ppg CaCl2 packer fluid

36
2-7/8”, 7.9-ppf, P-110 BTS-6 to 2596-ft MD 2-7/8”, 7.9-ppf, P-110 BTS-6 to 2594-ft MD
D&C 2-7/8”, 6.5-ppf, P-110 BTS-8 to 14702-ft MD 2-7/8”, 6.5-ppf, P-110 BTS-8 to 14706-ft MD
2-3/8”, 4.7-ppf, P-105 BTS-8 to 15906-ft MD 2-3/8”, 4.7-ppf, P-105 BTS-8 to 15750-ft MD

• WellTracer identifies source of NIPPLES

# TYPE DEPTH ID
13-3/8” @ +/- 6504-ft MD / 5987-ft TVD

communication without wellbore intervention SS 1 SCSSV 1171’

SS 2 HWS
SS 3 SWN
9963’
15744’
2.188”
2.188”
1.791”
GASLIFT MANDRELS
MD
GASLIFT MANDRELS
MD
Long String Short String
LS 1 SCSSV 1203’ 2.188”

• No loss of Production or downtime from LS 2 SWS 10050’ 1.875” 1690 Dummy

3263 Dummy
4849 Press. Valve
6282 Dummy
1657
3199
4784
6218
Press. Valve
Press. Valve
Press. Valve
Dummy
7527 Dummy 7464 Dummy
conventional troubleshooting tools TUBING

STR
8742 Dummy
9925 Dummy
8680
9864
Dummy
Dummy

OD 9-7/8” , 62.8 ppf @ +/- 15265-ft MD

ID
Pony Tail 3 Days WT
GR
7-5/8”, 47.1 ppf, TOL @ +/-14834-ft MD /
13122-ft TVD 2-7/8” HWS nipple @ +/- 9963-ft MD (ID =
2.188”)
TH
2-3/8” CMD Sliding Sleeve@ +/-15705-ft MD
FRM 2-7/8” HWS nipple @ +/- 10020-ft MD
(ID=1.995”)
TO (2.188” ID)

Hole Finder 3 Days CASINGS

OD GR WT DEPTH
2-3/8” SWS nipple @ +/- 15703-ft MD
(ID=1.875”)
2-3/8” SWN nipple @ +/- 15774-ft MD (ID =
1.791”)
GP packer @ +/- 15915-ft MD
GT dual packer @ +/- 15762-ft MD
18-5/8” 991’
13-3/8” 6504’

Caliper 6 Days 9-7/8” P-110 62.8

7-5/8” Q-125 47.1
5” P-110 21.4
15265’
16840’
16980 4”, 11.6 ppf Blank Pipe 15948-16027-ft MD
H-1 perforations @ 16048-16146-ft MD /
14330-14428-ft TVD

Survey WELL HEAD

SlimPak 140, .006 ga, screen 16027-16159-ft
MD, 20/40 gravel pack sand

WellTracer 1 Day Sump packer @ +/- 16160-ft MD 5” TOL @ +/- 16520-ft / 14802-ft TVD

7-5/8” @ +/- 16840-ft / 15122-ft TVD

RA Tag @ +/- 16847-ft MD

Cost of WellTracer™ survey is ~27% of

conventional troubleshooting methods – not
H-4 perforations @ 16921-16958-ft MD /
15200-15245-ft TVD
DRAWING LEGEND

counting production downtime.

Halliburton Crimson Vent Screen
cement 5” Liner @ +/- 16980-ft MD / 15260-ft TVD

open perforations
PBTD (EZSV) @ +/- 16975-ft MD
gravel pack sand 15262-ft TVD
WellTracer™ – Why the Technology is Needed

Dual well operation is difficult to

optimize with complex gas lift designs
and common annulus
•Inability to control injection rate &
pressure per string
•Producing various fluid gradients into
the production system
•Valve type & setting are critical for a
successful & efficient operation
Tools for well diagnostics

• WellTracer™ / WinGLUE™ software, identifies / validates gas

lift through put rate per valve
• Echometer acoustic well sounding equipment / software &
pressure transducers validate gas pressure per valve
• Clamp on gas meter is used to measure input gas lift rate to
the well(s)
First industry wide dual WellTracer™ survey

ExxonMobil obtained two WellTracer™ analyzers in May 2009 and performed

the first dual well survey at ST-54 B33 (Long string)/B33D(Short string)

• One string equipped with IPO and the other with PPO unloading valves.
• Both wells showed loading tendencies May 2007
• Unsuccessful at gas lifting both strings effectively through Sep 2008
• May 2009 – RE, SSE, AL, Ops collected historical data to calibrate WinGLUE ™ model to determine
WellTracer predictions, predict survey time and coordinate offshore logistics.
• June 2009 Gas Lift Team performed WellTracer™ on both strings
– GL Techs working with Operations set wells up for simultaneous tracer surveys
– Surveyed - B33 day 1, B33D day 2, B33/B33D day 3 (2 WellTracer ™ analyzers used 3rd day)
– WellTracer ™ surveys results reviewed by GL Techs, AppSmiths ™, and Gas Lift Consultant
– WinGLUE ™ modeling estimated both wells capable of a combined rate of 292 BOPD
– Recommendation made to decrease orifice valve from 10/64 to 8/64 in the B33 and increase
gas lift injection pressure (casing) by 30 psi
• July 26, 2009 Field Operations installed recommendation
• July 27-29, 2009 GLT unloaded wells and returned to production
• August 3, 2009 both wells producing better than prediction at 317 BOPD combined rate with both
strings in stable flow.
First Industry Wide Dual WellTracer™ Survey

Well data was collected, using FPT, Well Tests and Echometer data. This information
was input into WinGLUE ™ to create a PREDICTIVE MODEL prior to performing a
WellTracer™ analysis.
Pressure (psig)

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
0

2000

4000
Vertical Depth (feet)

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

Depth vs Pressure Well: [GLUE] SOUTH TIMBERLIER,54,B33,SS 10-Jun-2009 13:10:47

Production Pressure Model: MMSM Avg. Flowing Pressure Survey Open / Clos

Injection Pressure Model Open / Closing Points (Open) Mandrel 1 (

First Industry Wide Dual WellTracer Survey
Once “WellTracer” Analysis was performed, the actual data was matched with the
predictive data and we were able to make a specific recommendation.

4.5

4.0

3.5
Concentration (%)

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
0:00:00 1:06:40 2:13:20 3:20:00 4:26:40 5:33:20 6:40:00 7:46:40 8:53:20

Time (hh:mm:ss)

Concentration Vs. Time Well: [GLUE] SOUTH TIMBERLIER,54,B33,LS 22-Jun-2009 12:00:20

Total Transit 1 (1690 MD - Dummy - Dummi Total Transit 6 (8742 MD - Dummy - Dummi

Total Transit 2 (3263 MD - Dummy - Dummi Total Transit 7 (9925 MD - Dummy - Dummi

Total Transit 3 (4849 MD - Macco R-1D 5/ Raw CO2 Concentrations

Total Transit 4 (6282 MD - Dummy - Dummi

Total Transit 5 (7527 MD - Dummy - Dummi

 USP WellTracer ™ Survey Activities
237 BOPD uplift achieved
410 BOPD uplift identified

18 WellTracer™ surveys conducted to date

– August 2008 – Weatherford performed survey at GI 16 W-31 Well
• Findings revealed leaking top mandrel, recommended replacing top valve, predicted possible 60
BOPD BU (100’ fill top of perfs)
– May 2009 – West Texas 6 Pegasus Gas Lift Wells
• First surveys run with Company owned equipment
• Recommendation follow up resulted in 72 BOPD BU
• Potential 141 BOPD BU remaining if recommendations implemented and achieved
– June 2009 – ST 54 B33/B33D - 2 Wells / 4 surveys (First Dual Survey) 137 BOPD BU
– July 2009 – GI 16 L-8, T-38ST, T-51, U-50 - 4 Wells
• Possible 210 BOPD BU remaining if recommendations implemented and achieved
– July 2009 – Hoover/Dianna HA-5 attempted 2 WT surveys to identify surging issues
• Based on finding were able to recommend reducing gas injection rate by 1.5 MCFD
and lowering gas injection pressure to 1474 psi (the operating pressure of 1585 psi
was causing surging and multi-pointing
– August 2009 – Gal 209 B8D – Attempted to run survey on future TP&A well to
determine possible communication but not able to establish injection rate
 WellTracer Future Plans
Current WellTracer ™ equipped team is comprised of two Field
gas Lift Technicians, two Engineer technicians and one Analyst
GOM ~75 SI Wells (+40 duals)
– Most duals (one string) SI since 2005 Hurricane Katrina
– Couldn’t unload after being SI for repairs

GOM – Ongoing communication checks, Trouble shooting

&optimization

Offshore California, SYU – Gas lift orifices may be oversized

– WellTracer Surveys ~75 wells

Acquisition of Auxiliary Equipment

– WellTracer Units, Transportation, Storage, Gas Bottles,
Self Contained Unit, RAMBO Computers, Wireless
Transducers, Additional Training

Global Implementation for Gas Lift Optimization with an added fully

equipped, traveling Gas Lift Optimization team.
– UK North Sea
– Equatorial Guinea
– Australia
– Malaysia (large number of dual wells)
– Nigeria (some dual wells)
– Newfoundland
 Thanks!
Use of referenced equipment and software in this presentation is with the
permission of:

WellTracer™ is patented and distributed by Appsmiths ™, Houston, Texas,

WinGLUE™ software is distributed by Appsmiths ™, Houston, Texas,
www.appsmiths.com com

Echometer well sounding equipment and Echometer software are distributed by

Echometer Company, Wichita Falls, Texas, www.echometer.com

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2010 Gas-Lift Workshop 14

Feb. 1 - 5, 2010
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