What You Can Learn From Oil Rig Production Logging

You’ve been in the oil business long enough to know that production performance matters. As an operator, you need all the data you can get to make sound decisions. One of the best tools at your disposal is oil rig production logging. This provides invaluable insight into what’s happening downhole. Read on to see what production logs can teach you.

Identifying Water Entry Points

Excess water production is the bane of every operator. It leads to equipment corrosion, well loading up, and reduced oil rates. Production logs using thermal, acoustic, or radioactive tracers can pinpoint where water enters your well. You can then take measures to plug off or isolate those zones. Getting to the source of unwanted water is critical.

Locating Hydrocarbon Entry Points

It’s just as important to know where your hydrocarbons originate. Production logging determines which perforations or open fractures are contributing. This helps you ensure they stay open. The logs may also reveal promising zones you still need to complete. You can then re-perforate to access untapped reserves.

Checking Zone Contributions

Not all zones produce equally, even if they have similar properties. Production logging provides zone-by-zone output data. You may find that lower intervals contribute more than expected. Or certain zones may decline over time. This granular information is invaluable for optimizing your completion strategy.

Evaluating Stimulation Effectiveness

It’s hard to confirm if your frac, acidizing, or other stimulations worked as intended. Production logs give you clear proof. If you see increased flow from your targeted zones, you know your stim job hit the mark. Logs let you compare pre and post-stimulation production profiles. This demonstrates where you need additional stimulation moving forward.

Confirming Mechanical Integrity

Even new wells can have hidden equipment defects. Production logging confirms your tubing, packers, sliding sleeves, and valves are sealing correctly. If logs reveal leaks, you can repair them promptly. This protects against dangerous migration between zones and uphole contamination.

Guiding completions

Over time, changing reservoir dynamics may necessitate completing your well. Production profiles help you determine where to place new perforations or frac stages. Logs take the guesswork out of significant intervention decisions. You’ll complete it confidently, knowing you are accessing the optimal zones.

Solving Production Shortfalls

When your well underperforms, production logs offer clues. Declines in certain intervals may indicate formation damage. Thief zones stealing flow can also emerge. Or fractures may have closed up. The data allows you to pinpoint underlying causes. You can then apply targeted solutions like stimulations, isolations, or inflow control.

Maximizing Reservoir Drainage

One key to maximizing recovery is producing evenly across all zones. Logs help you detect intervals that are producing prematurely or at more excellent rates. You can then choke them back to achieve balanced drainage, improving overall recovery and profitability. The production log insights ensure your reservoir gets optimally depleted.

Meeting Regulatory Requirements

Many regions mandate periodic good production profiles. Logs provide the necessary zonal flow data for regulatory reporting, keeping you in compliance and avoiding penalties. Demonstrating responsible production monitoring also improves community relations. Moreover, production logs may be required to secure loans or insurance coverage on your well.

Justifying Intervention Decisions

Major well workovers require substantial investment. Production logs prove that interventions like re-drilling or deepening are justified. Only a lender or partner will fund such projects with evidence of added value. The data demonstrates the untapped potential that warrants intervention. Production logging provides your most authoritative decision-making tool. Refrain from operating mindlessly. Production logging reveals what’s genuinely happening downhole in your well. Tap into this valuable resource regularly. The knowledge you gain will pay dividends through optimized production and reduced costs. Production logs become an invaluable partner in your oilfield endeavors when used proactively.