IPTT vs. Well Testing and Deconvolution Applications for the Thinly Bedded Reservoirs: Case Studies from the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

Abstract In Asia Pacific region, there are many thinly bedded reservoirs which are composed of interbedded porous and permeable sands with variable proportions of thin silt and clay beds. These reservoir sand bodies range from millimeters to tens of meters in thickness. Though the reservoirs are highly permeable, reservoir heterogeneity caused by silt and clay laminations affect recovery and sweep efficiency. The typical way to test such formations is to use full scale well testing, even for relatively thin zones. In the Gulf of Thailand (GoT), a Tubing Stem Test (TST) is widely used to test each individual zone for reservoir parameters. During a TST, quartz gauges are run on wireline and the selected zone is perforated. While wireline Formation Testers (FT) have also been increasingly used in the GoT for measuring formation pressure, mobility and collecting reservoir fluids, more advanced FT tools, e.g. dual packers and Downhole Fluid Analyzers (DFA) were recently introduced to test each zone to help defining reservoir characteristics in more detail. A single probe FT deployed for pretests and fluid sampling can be used to obtain transient data during the shut-in periods after sampling in relatively thin zones. The data from these Interval Pressure Transient Tests (IPTTs) can be used to interpret reservoir parameters such as vertical to horizontal permeability ratio and horizontal permeability. This paper discusses the uses of such smaller scale pressure transient data (single probe, dual packer formation testers) and full scale well testing using a simulation model and actual field data from the GoT. First, a single well simulation model is used to investigate the effects of thinly bedded shales at different scales on pressure transient data. The actual field data were then analyzed to obtain reservoir parameters and compared with core and PVT lab results. This paper also investigates the use of deconvolution applied to pressure transient tests of different scales to understand the effect of reservoir parameters using simulated and field data. Introduction Thinly Bedded Reservoirs in the Gulf of Thailand In the Tertiary Basins of the Gulf of Thailand and Northern Malay Basin, thinly bedded hydrocarbon sandstone reservoirs have been encountered in several geological settings. In the northern Gulf of Thailand, Kra Basin, subaqueous lacustrine fan delta sandstones of between 1 to 4 feet have developed as a result of episodic deposition. In the Southern part of the Pattani Basin adjacent to the Narathiwat High, thinly bedded reservoirs of less than 1 to 7 ft were deposited in marginal marine, tidally influence estuarine channel fills settings and also in more proximal fluvial crevasse splay deposits.