Abstract

The application of Tracers in the oil & gas industry for sensing and characterization is decades old and, of late, becoming more commonplace, especially within applications aimed at improving production and performance of unconventional assets. These current techniques, however, have drawbacks in uncertainty of successful deployment and recovery and the complex, time consuming analyses of the gathered data. With effective placement, tracers can yield information regarding fluid flow through a reservoir, breakthrough times from injector to producers, and provide useful estimates of the inter-well oil saturation. Recently there have been significant advances in the area of nanoparticle tracers, encompassing quantumdots embedded on particulates, which are being evaluated as a means for remote sensing. Delivery of advanced tracers via shaped charges is a novel concept and is the objective of this research. Shaped-charges, with a High-Entropy-Alloy (HEA), designed for 3!-in OD guns, have enabled the " production of tailored entry-holes often with larger equivalent diameters. This helped lower perf-friction, which in turn reduced treatment-pressures, achieving higher flow across each perforation, uniformdrainage, and improved cluster-efficiency.

Using this liner technology, an industry first study was undertaken to deploy nanoparticle tracers in reservoirs via shaped charges to remotely monitor stage performance from zonal returns of the nanoparticles to surface with flowback. Functionalized rare earth oxide upconverted nanoparticles manifesting unique emission spectra and engineered decay times, identifiable in parts per billion dilution and designed to survive detonation events, were integrated in the HEA liners and used to perforate multiple zones in 5 Permian wells.

Flowback emulsions sampled from client wells were scanned with collimated light of tailored wavelength to acquire unique after-glow spectra. The presence of tracers in the flow-back samples confirmed the successful return of these nano-particulates to the surface. The objective of these studies was to (1) establish successful return of tracers with flowback fluids from producing wells (2) Remotely acquire information on contributions from near and far-field fractures, connectivity, and conductivity. Calibration tests are being conducted through lab testing in cement targets shot with different percentage weights of tracers in the liner. This paper will discuss salient results from tracer identification in fluids sampled from field trials and the aforementioned lab calibration conducted to better understanding zonal performance.

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