Expro Excellence
Fluids sampling and analysis
Heavy oil challenges in Santos Basin, Brazil
Customer challenges
  • Working with Queiroz Galvão for the first time, Expro (in a joint alliance with Baker Hughes) were commissioned to provide full well test services, including downhole sampling of reservoir fluids, specially programmed for heavy oil
  • Two wells were drilled and tested back-to-back, which had anticipated challenges, specifically heavy oil with high viscosity and tight emulsified foaming, therefore Expro had to overcome real difficulties to capture representative hydrocarbon samples
Expro Excellence
  • Downhole and surface hydrocarbon fluid sampling during the DST operation
  • Expro run in hole (RIH) 10 bottom hole samplers (PCS) using five Petrotech 15K TCS carriers on each well
  • Ten out of ten successfully sampled and transferred - industry-leading expertise
  • 100% success rate achieved on both wells tested and sampled - reliability of tools and capability of personnel involved in difficult conditions
  • Fluid analysis took place at Expro's laboratory in Macaé
Value to client
  • Expro tools successfully captured representative samples, despite the difficult hydrocarbon fluid type i.e. low API (14ºAPI) and high viscosity
  • 100% success rate saved valuable time and money, as well as avoiding environmental dangers
  • "Impeccable success in such stringent conditions"

Downhole and surface fluid sample acquisition demand customised sampling methods to overcome the following issues:
- low oil mobility
- sand production from unconsolidated formations
- high asphaltene content and resulting high gradients
- formation of water-in-oil emulsion and formation during production of the well

The high viscosity oils exhibit slower gas liberation below the bubble point and therefore delayed gas-phase formation, posing a huge problem to maintain equilibrium in the separator, thus making “true” oil property measurements a challenge. Difficulties associated with fluid modelling include characterising apparent bubble point behaviour, large viscosity changes with pressure and temperature, and high asphaltene content.

Additionally, Queiroz Galvão requires a substantial volume of reservoir hydrocarbon fluid for reservoir fluid characterization and process design. This provides them with good fluids property knowledge to preempt any flow assurance issues they might experience with the well and minimise problems with the completion string components.

Gostaria de destacar a performance das ferramentas de DST nas avaliacoes (TFR) nos dois pocos localizados na Bacia de Santos: (BMS-4), de óleo pesado (14 API) e com lamina de agua de 1550m, como tambem a performance dos porta Amostradores e Registradores utilizados.

I would like to highlight the performance of DST tools in evaluations (TFR) in the two wells located in the Santos Basin: (BMS-4), heavy oil (14 API) and lamina water 1550m, and also the performance of samplers and recorders used.



 

Fernando Libório Neto
Engenheiro de Petróleo Sênior, Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção S.A.
Contact
Expro Excellence
expro.com
Fluids sampling and analysis
Expro Excellence

Heavy oil challenges in Santos Basin, Brazil

In Brief
Expro overcomes heavy oil challenges in Santos Basin, Brazil: industry-leading expertise and reliability; saved time and money; avoided environmental issues; 100% sampling success rate
Product Line
  • Fluids sampling and analysis
Region
North and Latin America
Customer challenges
  • Working with Queiroz Galvão for the first time, Expro (in a joint alliance with Baker Hughes) were commissioned to provide full well test services, including downhole sampling of reservoir fluids, specially programmed for heavy oil
  • Two wells were drilled and tested back-to-back, which had anticipated challenges, specifically heavy oil with high viscosity and tight emulsified foaming, therefore Expro had to overcome real difficulties to capture representative hydrocarbon samples
Expro Excellence
  • Downhole and surface hydrocarbon fluid sampling during the DST operation
  • Expro run in hole (RIH) 10 bottom hole samplers (PCS) using five Petrotech 15K TCS carriers on each well
  • Ten out of ten successfully sampled and transferred - industry-leading expertise
  • 100% success rate achieved on both wells tested and sampled - reliability of tools and capability of personnel involved in difficult conditions
  • Fluid analysis took place at Expro's laboratory in Macaé
Value to client
  • Expro tools successfully captured representative samples, despite the difficult hydrocarbon fluid type i.e. low API (14ºAPI) and high viscosity
  • 100% success rate saved valuable time and money, as well as avoiding environmental dangers
  • "Impeccable success in such stringent conditions"

Downhole and surface fluid sample acquisition demand customised sampling methods to overcome the following issues:
- low oil mobility
- sand production from unconsolidated formations
- high asphaltene content and resulting high gradients
- formation of water-in-oil emulsion and formation during production of the well

The high viscosity oils exhibit slower gas liberation below the bubble point and therefore delayed gas-phase formation, posing a huge problem to maintain equilibrium in the separator, thus making “true” oil property measurements a challenge. Difficulties associated with fluid modelling include characterising apparent bubble point behaviour, large viscosity changes with pressure and temperature, and high asphaltene content.

Additionally, Queiroz Galvão requires a substantial volume of reservoir hydrocarbon fluid for reservoir fluid characterization and process design. This provides them with good fluids property knowledge to preempt any flow assurance issues they might experience with the well and minimise problems with the completion string components.

Gostaria de destacar a performance das ferramentas de DST nas avaliacoes (TFR) nos dois pocos localizados na Bacia de Santos: (BMS-4), de óleo pesado (14 API) e com lamina de agua de 1550m, como tambem a performance dos porta Amostradores e Registradores utilizados.

I would like to highlight the performance of DST tools in evaluations (TFR) in the two wells located in the Santos Basin: (BMS-4), heavy oil (14 API) and lamina water 1550m, and also the performance of samplers and recorders used.



 

Fernando Libório Neto
Engenheiro de Petróleo Sênior, Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção S.A.
Contact

For further information, please contact:

fluids@expro.com
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