Successfully Unlocking New Deep Reserves and Overcoming High-Temperature Environment Using Novel Advanced Hostile Wireline Formation Tester in North Malay Basin, Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area

Abstract

Abstract Gas fields in a Malaysia-Thailand joint development area (MTJDA) are well-known to have the presence of high CO2 concentration and high-temperature reservoir characteristics. Sophisticated tools are necessary to measures important data to support further development and reservoir management of this field. Thus, reservoir data, such as pressure and fluid type, become crucial in terms of achieving production targets. Fields operated by this operator are located in the North Malay Basin, a few hundred kilometers from the onshore border of Malaysia and Thailand. High bottom hole temperatures (BHTs) limits data gathering runs and challenges associated with fresh water made it more crucial to identify and qualify fluid types for further field development. The extensive wireline formation pressure testing and sampling (WFPT&S) program is mandatory to evaluate the viability of field development. Additional challenges included low porosity-low mobility reservoirs where fluid collection at low contamination in reservoirs with elevated temperatures of approximately 410°F (210°C) is considered a necessity. This operator pioneers the use of novel hostile wireline formation testers globally. Reliable pressure and downhole fluid analysis data should lead to production optimization. The ability of fluid characterization using a pump-out formation tester coupled with downhole fluid identification has been introduced to help improve decision making and provide real-time data and the capability to pump out high-temperature formation fluid and acquire samples that meet expected contamination levels. As a result, fluid contact, formation pressure, fluid type, reservoir mobility, and CO2 content, which are the primary drivers of production optimization and field development are able to be determined successfully. In addition, new deep reserves could potentially be discovered in the MTJDA concession that are economically accessible with extreme high-temperature tools. This paper discusses the use of a novel hostile wireline formation tester to collect low contamination samples at a predetermined level in hostile reservoir conditions with elevated temperature of 410°F (210°C). Challenges, considerations, and results are detailed. This novel tool has proven lower CO2 content than expected in deeper reservoirs with elevated temperature up to 410°F (210 °C). This is the deepest well ever drilled by this operator in a development drilling campaign.