Energy Application
From appraisal to field development
Biota provides a range of standard and emerging products in the unconventional and conventional business, answering common questions at the single well, pad, section or field development scale to improve economics while minimizing the ESG footprint.
Total Fluid Log (TFL) in Horizontal Wells
4D fluid contributions at the bench or formation level
Challenge
Optimizing landing zone(s) and well spacing to neither under- nor over-capitalize a field requires having an accurate, calibrated reservoir model to estimate hydrocarbon production and recovery rates. Successful prediction demands an understanding of actual fluid contribution from different benches in stacked plays or the actual drainage height within a single bench over time.
Solution
Produced fluid samples are collected, typically weekly, from IP0 to IP90, followed by bi-weekly sampling past IP90 throughout the life of the well. DNA is extracted and sequenced at each time point, then compared to the well cuttings derived DNA Stratigraphy to provide a probabilistic fluid contribution estimate from each different strata, the so-called Total Fluid Log (TFL).. These results are further integrated with production data to put them into context.
Results
Changes in fluid contribution from multiple landing zones over time, in correlation with production data, inform landing zone optimization decisions for additional wells and provide detailed insight into changes in DRV to reduce model uncertainty.
Water-Sourcing
Informed decisions to help reduce water cut
Challenge
The cost of handling and disposing of produced water is a major cost element in unconventional plays. Reducing water cut (and therefore water production) through optimized well placement and completion strategy requires a dynamic understanding of the zone(s) from which the unwanted water is produced. Isotope based analysis is limited to regions of some basins with limited vertical resolution and a known isotope contrast.
Solution
Biosurveillance is a total fluid measurement, meaning they include all produced liquids; water, oil, and condensate. Integrating water saturation logs with the DNA Stratigraphy allows our the so-called Total Fluid Log (TFL). to determine the probability of fluid contributions from known water bearing zones.
Results
While the impact of landing zone on water cut can be easily seen in production data, mitigation remains elusive. Biosurveillance provides insights into the actual source of the produced water, and if oil is indeed produced from the intended target zone(s). This workflow enables a balanced approach for optimizing landing zones of subsequent wells for minimum water production while optimizing recovery rates.
Production Allocation
Noninvasive, cost-effective trend analysis for multi zone completion, multi laterals, commingled subsea wells.
Challenge
Solution
Transition to wet tree completions and subsea tiebacks have allowed operators to reduce time to first oil and initial capital investment in surface infrastructure for offshore projects. The tradeoffs for subsurface teams are reduced surveillance and intervention capabilities in challenging HPHT wells and resulting reductions in recovery factor.
Utilizing the in situ microbial population for biosurveillance allows Biota to deploy and establish end members and monitor temporal changes in complex multi-zone completions without mobilizing service personnel to the well site.
Results
Biosurveillance allows for increased temporal monitoring and high spatial resolution to better understand reservoir performance at sand (demonstrated within 15% of PLT results), well and field levels of resolution. Operators can identify under-producing intervals or water influx zones to proactively manage field production and necessary interventions.
Waterflood Monitoring
Optimize waterflood management through monitoring of areal and vertical sweep efficiency
Challenge
Low recovery factors continue to challenge operators in all reservoir types and represent a massive opportunity for operators targeting incremental production at the lowest cost. Current surveillance technologies do not allow for retrofit at low cost due to need for intervention and lack of resolution. Traditional tracer-based technologies do not allow for monitoring vertical conformance and require intervention to assess injection conformance through the use of spinners.
Solution
Utilizing stored samples, produced fluid, and intervention-based end members allow for time lapse biosurveillance of production for intervention and production uplift opportunities. Biosurveillance can be deployed on wells with or without artificial lift allowing for broader applicability.
Results
Biosurveillance allows for the continuous monitoring and optimization of a well under waterflood with monitoring before and after intervention to confirm that increase in production originated from damaged reservoir intervals. This uplift in production also facilitates higher conformance vertically and can be applied across the field to improve aerial conformance and potential areas of unswept production.
Well Connectivity
Optimizing well spacing, understanding the decline curve
Challenge
While initial stimulated volumes can be estimated by a range of technologies, insight into actual drained volume and well to well connectivity – and their associated impact on production rates over time – were previously not readily available. Deployment typically requires changes to completion or the deployment of monitoring sensors at surface or in offset wellbores, leading to higher cost and operational risk.
Solution
Integration of oil production data with Biota’s fluid to fluid similarity analysis of wells at the pad or field level throughout an extended monitoring period. Sampling is performed by field personnel with no well intervention and can rapidly sample fieldwide.
Results
Petrophysical logs clearly identify the benches above and below a perceived frac barrier on the DNA Stratigraphy log. Biota’s Total Fluid Logs from wells landed above and/or below the frac barrier can identify contributions from across the “frac barrier.” The well-to-well similarity plot further clarifies whether the respective wells actually drain the same volume of rock, reducing production efficiency. 4D monitoring provides insight into whether this connectivity is fleeting or lasts for the life of the well.
Frac Barrier Assessment
Joint or separate bench development
Challenge
Frac barrier effectiveness is a key question to answer to optimize pad development. An ineffective frac barrier allows for joint development and reduced number of wells, compared to an effective frac barrier that requires separate development of the respective benches. Long term behaviors of frac barriers are not determined by stimulation focused diagnostics leaving operators challenged to refine completion and development strategies.
Solution
Combining Total Fluid Logs based on a DNA Stratigraphy log covering benches above and below a potential frac barrier with fluid-to-fluid comparisons to determine fluid origin and well to well connectivity.
Results
Fluid contribution logs from wells landed above and below the frac barrier identify whether benches beyond the frac barrier contribute to the production of those wells as a first step. Additionally , the fluid to fluid comparison provides insight into whether or not the drained volumes are connected hydraulically. Lastly, time-based monitoring informs whether the connectivity is temporal or more lasting in nature.
Advanced Data Integration and Analysis
Integration of multiple data sets is the foundation for advanced reservoir engineering analysis. Data integration is critical for creating a deeper understanding of the subsurface and further optimizing the development of your assets. Biosurveillance data can be combined with petrophysical logs to gain insight into your hydrocarbon system.
“Integration of DNA Diagnostics with traditional subsurface datasets helped accelerate learnings in full section development that may have otherwise required additional CAPEX to test via heuristic techniques”
“The DNA Diagnostic tool is being used to address real unmet challenges in our Permian Basin Fields…this would be a game changer for our company and the industry.”
"Biota’s DNA-based measurement is now in our standard operating procedure for new wells in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico”