SPE 139347

Phase Implementation to Real Time Well Testing Using Fiber Optical Sensing
Technology, San Alberto San Antonio Fields: Case Study Part I
C.G. Ferraris, Petrobras; L. E. Gonzalez, Weatherford

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American & Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Lima, Peru, 13 December 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been reviewed
by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or
members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
In the 90s, after success in drilling wells deeper than 5,000 meters with high production rates between 80 to 120 MMSCFD of
production, Petrobras decided to continuously measure pressure on their high productivity wells (7 production tubing) because of
the difficulty they experienced when running gauges in the production mode after the wells were completed.

Therefore, the decision was made to use permanent electronic gauges to obtain downhole pressure as it was a proven technology
and optical sensing technology (fiber optics) was new to the industry. At that time, four wells in the San Antonio and San Alberto
fields were completed with electronic gauges with different results.one did not work, one failed at the beginning, one failed
months later, and one worked intermittently.

Petrobras objective to have real time downhole pressure did not change, and they planned for the next workovers of their wells to
use optical sensing technology instead of electronic gauges. These specifications were required on their next bid, and the four
wells were assigned to Weatherford International. Since that time, this technology is working in the four wells in the San Antonio
and San Alberto fields, and there have only been small problems on surface equipment connections, which were corrected
promptly.

Because of this success, Petrobras decided last year to implement optical sensing technology in all of their new wells because it
was the only proven technology that could support the high vibration, produced by the 7 tubing wells, and high temperature. The
decision was taken one step further to install fiber optic downhole flowmeters on the intelligent completion wells. The use of this
technology, complemented with the online PanSystem well test analysis software, enables real time well testing.

Introduction

San Alberto and San Antonio are two main producing gas fields in Bolivia. Both fields are located in the Tarija district of
southwest Bolivia. Production from both fields is treated in two main separation and compression stations, and transported by two
24 pipelines for domestic use and a 32 pipeline for export to Brazil and Argentina.

Both fields have a total of eleven producing wells at the moment with plans to drill more wells in the future. Wells are producing
from the naturally fractured sand reservoirs of Huamanpampa, Icla and Santa Rosa. Table 1 shows the actual producing wells on
each one of the fields. The first well drilled on these fields was SAL-X1, which had a simple completion similar to the one shown
in Figure 1, except with 4 tubing. This well was completed with electronic permanent gauges to monitor pressure and
temperature in the wells.
2 SPE 139347

Field Well Depth(m) Depth(ft)

SALX9 4.564,50 14.975,39

SALX10 5.220,00 17.125,98

SALX11 5.610,00 18.405,51

SanAlberto
SALX12 5.627,90 18.464,24

SAL13 5.730,50 18.800,85

SAL14 4.823,00 15.823,49

SBLX1 4.245,00 13.927,17

SBLX2 5.264,00 17.270,34

Sbalo SBLX3 4.159,00 13.645,01

SBLX4 4.269,00 14.005,91

SBL5 4.883,00 16.020,34

Table 1 - Wells by Field

Drilling and completion operations for these high rate wells, producing 80 to 120 MMSCFD, posed significant challenges like
difficult drilling conditions, longer drilling periods from 10 to 14 months, very high drilling and workover costs, high degree of
risks in running P/T surveys that are necessary for better monitoring and management of reservoir. Looking at these challenges
from the beginning. it was decided to complete the wells with permanent downhole gauges for reservoir monitoring. At that time,
the emerging technology of fiber optics was not considered and electronic gauges were installed in four wells.

In 2006, the SBL-X1 well was producing below 80 MMSCFD with restricted flow because of the maximum erosionial velocity on
the 4 tubing. A workover operation was planned then, and the main objective was to replace the production tubing and
perforate other layers to increase gas production to 120 MMSCFD.

Figure 1.- SBL-X1 after workover with 7 tubing and Fiber Optic sensor single point.
SPE 139347 3

The 4 tubing was replaced with a 7 tubing with a 9-5/8 packer, and the Huamanpampa layer was fully perforated. The result
obtained from this workover was a total gas production of 125 MMSCFD. During this workover operation, the decision was also
made to install fiber optical gauges for reservoir monitoring rather than replacing malfunctioning permanent electronic gauges..
The same procedure was repeated on 3 more wells; namely, SAL-X12 and SAL-X10 of the San Alberto field and SBL-5 of San
Antonio Field.

The decision to install fiber optical gauges in replace of the electronic gauges was primarily due to the poor results obtained with
the electronic gauges previously installed. Failure analysis for poor performance of electronic gauges revealed that high vibration,
HPHT, and pressure and temperature instabilities led to the problems with gauges. Table 2 summarizes the comparison of fiber
optic and electronic gauges systems.gauges.

Parameter Fibre Optic Electronic Sensors

Sensors
Tem perature Rating 150C (std) 175C 125C (std) 150C
(HPHT) (HPHT)
275C (XHP)
Vibration Rating 60G rm s 10G rm s (typical)

Typical Life Expectancy at >15 years +/- 5 years

150C
Maxim um Cable Length 28km 10km

In-Situ Sensor Upgrade Yes No

Capabilities
Im m unity to Electro- Yes No
Magnetic Noise
P/T Gauge Com ponent < 15 >400 (typical)
Count
P/T Gauge Accuracy 3 psi 3 psi (typical)

P/T Gauge Resolution 0.03 psi 0.01 psi

P/T Stability < 0.5 psi/year 2 psi/year (typical)

Table 2- Comparison of Fiber Optical with Electronic Pressure Gauges

Description and Application of Equipment and Processes

The Optical Sensing System (OSS) technology takes advantage of advances in photonics by the telecommunications, medical
and defence industries. The discrete sensors employ Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) to sense a wide range of parameters, including
pressure, temperature, phase fraction and flow rate. Development projects are also underway to extend this range to include sand
detection, seismic monitoring, and fluid chemistry. Key benefits of FBG technology include:

Step change in reliability when compared to electronic equivalents

Improved long duration stability when compared to electronic equivalents
Single point and multi-point sensing capability
Electrically passive
Immune to E-M noise
Vibration resistant
High temperature rating
Low profile
Rugged operation

Downhole Flowmeter:

Real-time downhole single and multiphase flow measurements are widely acknowledged to be of significant value for production
optimization and reservoir management. This is especially the case for complex intelligent completions and for dual and multi-
lateral wells. Applications for downhole flow data are numerous:
4 SPE 139347

Reduce surface well tests and facilities: The ability to measure flow rates downhole may eliminate the need for a surface
test separator, thereby significantly reducing the facilities requirements on the offshore platforms. It also eliminates safety
issues associated with conducting periodic well tests. Furthermore, real-time flow data from the well will immediately
identify production anomalies.
Zonal production allocation: In multi-zone completions, data from downhole flowmeters is used to allocate production to
or from individual zones. This is achieved with a flowmeter placed above each producing zone and/or with flowmeters
between each zone. Real-time determination of zonal rates is found by the difference of flow rates measured between
zones.
Commingled production: Regulatory agencies may require production data from individual zones in a field. Therefore,
downhole flow data allow for commingled production from multiple zones.
Early identification of productivity decline or production anomalies: Changes in well productivity due to gas/water break
through or downhole scale formation can be identified on an individual well basis and remedial action can be planned in a
timely manner.
Well ramp-up: Real-time downhole flow and pressure data allow completion and production engineers to better visualize
and control well clean-up, reduce uncertainty in drawdown, and reduce the duration of the ramp-up period, thereby
bringing the well on-line quicker and potentially at a higher rate.

The optical flowmeter, shown in Fig. 2, is designed for downhole installation and measurement of single and multiphase flows. It
belongs to a new class of flowmeter technology that uses passive sensors externally mounted onto the pipe to sense the pressure
fluctuations caused by the turbulent structures and the acoustic waves inside the pipe. The flowmeter does not employ optical
windows, has no exposed sensors, and has no electronics downhole. Furthermore, there are no intrusions or obstructions in the
flow path, which means full through-bore access and no permanent pressure loss.

Figure 2 - Optical flowmeter.

The Optical Flowmeter can be configured as a single-phase or as a multiphase flowmeter. The single phase flowmeter is equipped
with sensors that directly measure the flow velocity. The multiphase flowmeter is equipped with sensors for flow velocity and
sensors that measure the acoustic velocity in the flowing mixture. The acoustic velocity is an excellent indicator of volumetric
fractions of oil, water, and gas in the flowing mixture. The basic flowmeter assembly is shown in Figure 3.

The measurement section of the flowmeter consists of multiple sensors distributed along the length of the pipe, known as a
uniform linear array or simply sensor array. The sensors from both arrays are multiplexed along a single, continuous optical
fiber and are interrogated from surface installed instrumentation. This information is then processed, utilizing techniques
developed for the sonar array processing industry and other applications, to extract the speed of sound and the flow velocity.
SPE 139347 5

Figure 3 - Flowmeter assembly schematic (shown with integrated P/T sensor).

The P/T gauge is usually integrated with the flow instrumentation as shown in Figure 3. The combined gauge makes measurements
of pressure, temperature, bulk velocity and speed of sound. In a 2-phase configuration, the flowmeter must be deployed with at
least one P/T gauge. In the 3-phase configuration, the flowmeter must be deployed with two P/T gauges separated vertically in the
well to determine the density of the mixture. The vertically separated gauges measure the absolute pressure at each location.
Accurate flow rate from the flowmeter is then used to determine the frictional pressure.

Figure 4 - Comparison between sonar and venturi flowmeters

Weatherfords fiber-optic downhole flowmeter makes two measurements:

The flow velocity or flow rate of the fluid, and

The speed of sound (acoustic velocity), i.e. the speed at which a pressure wave propagates through the fluid.
6 SPE 139347

Description and Application of Equipment and Processes

Petrobras vision to monitoring key parameters to better understand and manage of the reservoir has been implemented in two
phases:

Phase 1

In this phase, it was decided to monitor P and T in real time applying optical sensing technology and with periodic measurements
of Qg, Qc and Qw performed on regular test unit separators. The data obtained are entered on the following workflow developed
by the reservoir team.

Downhole and surface values of P and T obtained in real time are used to update the WellFlo (Nodal Analysis Software)
models in conjunction with the welltest values of Qg, Qc and Qw for each individual well (Figure 6). This also permits the tuning
of multiphase correlations and the use of these tuned correlations in all the wells that dont have downhole gauges. These updated
models generate the performance curve of the well at the wellhead (P vs Q). This performance curve generated by the nodal
analysis is used to generate one or more mathematical functions that represent this behavior and are entered into the allocation
software developed in-house, which permits calculating the production rates for any pressure instantaneously, and whenever the
pressure on the wellhead changes. Figure 5, shows the actual workflow used to perform these calculations.

Figure 5 - Flow diagram for production allocation

Figure 6 shows the nodal analysis for SAL-X1 well calculated by the updated WellFlo model, from where the wellhead
performance curve is generated. This performance curve is exported to Excel where a macro calculates the mathematical function
or functions of Q vs P. In many cases, only one function is not enough to describe the performance curve with the accuracy
required.
SPE 139347 7

The workflow in Figure 5 permits to obtain the production rates for any wellhead pressure at any moment when any change
occurs, which allows accurate production allocations immediately. These calculated allocation values are entered into the
numerical reservoir simulator.

The main advantages of using this technology and the workflow described are:
Eliminated need to run tools in the hole to get information on the reservoir.
Improved HSE issues due to decreased risk of running wireline tools into the hole
Increased accuracy and better understanding of reservoir behavior
Immediate Analysis and interpretation of well test data
Very precise production allocation.

Figure 6.- Nodal Anaylisis Result with the latest well tests

Phase 2
The good results, obtained until now using this technology, when integrated with the workflow described above; the downhole
measurement possibility offered by optical sensing; the new challenges for incorporating intelligent completions; and, finally, the
fact that reservoir pressure is dropping down to the dew point, have been the deciding factors for incorporating downhole flow
measurements on each producing zone on all of the intelligent completions and surface flow measurements at the wellhead on all
of the single completions wells.

A development plan for the coming years includes some intelligent completions similar to the one shown in Figure 7, and some
single completions similar to Figure 1. On Figure 7, two flowmeters are shown; one is 3- in the lower zone and the second is 5-
above the packer at 9-5/8. The lower zone flowmeter will measure the production of this zone and the upper will measure the
total rate produced, and a difference in the upper zone rate will be calculated. Each one of these flowmeters has integral sensors
for P/T measurements. Wells with single completions will have fiber optic downhole permanent gauges and a surface multiphase
flowmeter AVSR series.

With this type of installation on the two types of well completions to be used, both fields will avoid the need to run a PLT test to
have the rates measured, and eliminate the potential risk of fishing that is present every time this type of test is run. Also, any
downtime losses are avoided and production is better managed.
8 SPE 139347

Valvula de Sub-superficie de 7

Medidor de flujo/Sensores P/T 5.5

Camisa Mecnica 5.5

Packer de Produccin de 9.5/8

Valvula Regulable de 5.5

Tope de la Camisa 4112.5m
Top Packer 4117.2m
Blast Joint de 3.5
Hook Hanger

T Swivel 4144m
Swell Packer #1 4145m
Swell Packer #2 4157m
Zapato Liner 7 4442.6m

Liner 5 perforado

Vlvula On/Off de 3.5

HMP
Top Packer Liner 7"@ 4132.4m
Medidor de flujo/ PT de 3.5 Agujero de 6.00
Csg. 9 CR-13
Zapato @4,318m Sello traba 4.5
Packer de produccin 7 AZ:195 W: 306.30 S: 1143.13

Nipple 2.313
Niple con tapn 2.313 Camisa de Circulacin 2.875
Mule Shoe 3.5 Tope Liner 5 @ 5359.60m
KOP = 5,141m Liner 7 Cr 13 Zapato @ 5438m
Swell Packer 5546.12m
Liner 5 perforado
Zapato@ 5,977.52m (MD)
Profundidad
Prof. Final Final @ 6,057m (MD)
Pozo Piloto @ 5,615 m
AZ:191 W: 86.95 S: 650.20

Figure 7.- Schematic of an intelligent completion of a multilateral well

During this phase, the plan is to replace the manual process of regenerating the performance curves and mathematical functions
with a system that automatically updates the Wellflo models, generates the performance curves and mathematical functions, and
feeds the results to the main allocation program.

Figure 8.- New Flow diagram for production allocation

SPE 139347 9

The tool that is being evaluated at the moment is i-DO (Intelligent Daily Operations), which will take care of the validation of
the production tests, update the WellFlo models, and generate the performance curves and the mathematical functions every time a
welltest is done or on-demand at any time, which will release a considerable amount of reservoir engineers time that will be used
for analyzing results rather than generating data.

Additionally one of the new features of the surface monitoring equipment includes a real time version of the welltesting analysis
tool (PanSystem QL), that in any unplanned shutdown of the well, like closing of the subsurface safety valve and a buildup is
generate, this real time tool will produce an automatic interpretation after validating the buildup time was enough for an
interpretation. Results will send through e-mail service to designed reservoir engineers for review and detail interpretation.

Figure 9.- Automatic Welltest Validation in i-Do

Presentation of Data and Results

Phase 1

Figure 10 shows the actual values of P and T from each of the fiber optic downhole permanent gauges installed on wells
SAL-X10, SAL-X12, SLB-X1 and SLB-5. As we explained previously these values have two principal applications:

A. Real Time Welltest Interpretation (BU, DD, deconvolution, etc.), and

B. Production allocation calculations.

Figure 10 - Real Time P,T monitoring with fiber optical gauges

10 SPE 139347

Real Time Welltest Interpretation

The real time values of P and T and rate values from the well production tests are manually entered in welltest analysis tools
(Saphir, PanSystem) during a particular time period. Any buildup created by planned or unplanned shutdowns are stored and
analyzed at any moment.

Figure 11 shows results of the interpretation of a unplanned buildup test for a period of 4 days, when a pipeline was being
repaired, and only the well was connected to the respective test separator.

1E+8
G as potential [ps i2/c p]

1E+7

1E+6
1E-4 1E-3 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Figure 11 - Log-Log results of real time welltesting with fiber optical gauges

A. Production Allocation Calculations

Figure 12 shows the last performance curve of the SAL-X1 well as a result of the nodal analysis shown in Figure 6, tuned to the
last production test during the particular time (tn) and the values of Pwf and T for same time (tn). These wellhead performance
curves are updated manually every time a well production test is performed. This procedure is completed for every one of the wells
with fiber optical gauges. For the wells without downhole gauges, an intermediate step is required wherein with Gray correlation
(tuned on other wells), Pwf is calculated for each WHP and then Nodal Analysis is completed.

160

GAS RATE VS WHP

140

120

100 y = -9.58036647x 2 + 11365.08379968x + 151119107.78704400

GAS RATE[MMscfd]

R = 0.99998422

80

y = -16.51051296x 2 + 59095.67530552x + 69257221.90241880

R = 0.99993178
60

40
y = -75.676784x 2 + 531611.392724x - 874429103.281625
R = 0.999902

20
y = -345.691019766546x 2 + 2822399.150229600000x - 5733237984.333250000000
R = 0.999296301177

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
WHP[Psi]
desde 4,231 desde 4,016 desde 3,188 REAL DATA desde 4,361

Poly. (desde 4,231 ) Poly. (desde 4,016 ) Poly. (desde 3,188 ) Poly. (desde 4,361 )

Figure 12 - Wellhead performance curve describe superimpose by functions results

SPE 139347 11

Figure 12, shows the same performance curve of the Wellflo graph on Excel with the mathematical functions superimposed. The
results of the functions for this well are shown in Equation 1. Most of the time, one function is not good enough to represent the
performance curve with the required accuracy. Also in Figure 12, it can be observed that the performance curve has been inverted,
making the independent variable P, and dependent variable Q.

Q = -345.691019766546P2 + 2822399.150229600000P - 5733237984.333250000000

Q = -75.676784P2 + 531611.392724P - 874429103.281625

Q = -16.51051296P2 + 59095.67530552P + 69257221.90241880

Q = -9.58036647P2 + 11365.08379968P + 151119107.78704400

Equation 1.- Mathematical functions representation of wellhead curve performance

The process of updating the model wells, generating the performance curves, extracting to Excel, and generating the functions is a
manual and tedious process that consumes a significant amount of the engineering personnels time, even when there are only 11
producing wells to update.

The mathematical functions obtained are entered into the main allocation program where the real time P,T values are stored, the
instantaneous rates for any pressure change is calculated, and a daily allocation for each well is calculated and entered into the
numerical reservoir simulator and production database.

Figure 13 shows part of the history match for one of the reservoirs of one of the fields in Bolivia, and the results of the history
match of the numerical simulation compared with measured values with an error less than 5%. It is necessary to clarify that only 4
of the 11 producing wells had installed permanent fiber optic gauges.

Figure 13 - Partial results of reservoir simulation history match

12 SPE 139347

Phase 2
The first well using fiber optic downhole flowmeters was planned to be SAL-15 and scheduled to be completed in July 2010.
Unfortunately, the drilling took more time than expected, and it will be completed at the end of September 2010.

With the incorporation of the downhole optical flowmeters on the intelligent completions and the surface flowmeters on the
wellhead of the new wells (AVSR), the automatization of the process of updating models and generating performance curves with
a proper validation of the tests is expected to reduce the uncertainty to 1.5% or less.
Unfortunately, because of the drilling and completion delays, we are not able to share the results obtained in this paper, but is
planned to be present on next the opportunity.

Conclusions
Downhole optical sensing technology has significantly improved the availability of reservoir parameters in high rate intelligent
completions, while reducing risks associated with conventional electronic gauge technologies. Downhole optical flow
measurements add considerable benefits to the high value installations. The workflows incorporating nodal and well test analysis
software tools described here allows quicker processing of real time P/T data with less frequent well test data, resulting in better
production allocation numbers. Another important benefit is improved history match for reservoir simulation.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Petrobras Bolivia and Weatherford International for their permission to publish this work, and
to Angel Blanco and the reservoir team of Petrobras on helping and reviewing the contents.

Nomenclature
Acronyms

AVSR = Alpha Venturi Sonar Red Eye

BU = Build Up
DD = Draw Down
FBG = Fiber Bragg Grating
GVF = Gas Volume Fraction
ICD = Inflow Control Device
ID = Inner Diameter
MMSCFD =Millions Standard Cubic Feet per Day
OD = Outer Diameter
PDMS = Permanent Downhole Monitoring System
P/T = Pressure/Temperature
Pwf = Bottomhole Flowing Pressure
SoS = Speed of Sound
SPL = Sound Pressure Level
WLR = Water in Liquid Ratio
OSS =Optical Sensing System

Trademarks

Wellflo, PanSystem, and i-DO, are Weatherford trademarks. NODAL (production system analysis) is a trademark of
Schlumberger, and Saphir is a trademark of Kappa

References

Rodriguez, D. J., nalmis, . H., Vera, A., Ramakrishnan, V., Johansen, E. S. A New Approach in Wet Gas Metering, paper
presented at the Multiphase Pumping and Technologies Conference Track at Offshore Asia, 1820 March 2008, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

Johansen, E. S., Kragas, T. K. and Beaumont P., Downhole Fiber-optic 3-Phase Flow Meter Field Test At BP Mungo, paper
presented at the 21st North Sea Flow Measurement Workshop, 2830 October 2003.
SPE 139347 13

nalmis, . H., Chung, R., Vera, A., Mathias, S., Johansen, E. S., Fiber-Optic Downhole Flowmeter at BP Mahogany, Offshore
Trinidad, paper presented at the 1st Production and Upstream Flow Measurement Workshop, 1214 February 2008, Houston,
Texas, USA. Also presented at the 7th South East Asia Hydrocarbon Flow Measurement Workshop, 57 March 2008, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.

Author Biographies

Luis E. Gonzalez Gomez is the Engineering Services Manager for Production Optimizations Systems for Weatherford Intl, based
in Houston. He earned a degree in Metallurgical Engineer from Universidad Mayor de San Andrs (UMSA, La Paz, Bolivia) and
has more than 20 years experience in the oil industry in different areas, including Wells and Surface Network Optimization,
project management, operations managment.

Carlos G. Ferraris is the Reservoir Engineering Manager for San Alberto Assets of Petrobras Bolivia S.A. based in Santa Cruz de
la Sierra, Bolivia. He earned a degree in Petroleum Engineering from Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina) and
has more than 20 years experience in oil industry in different areas, including Well & Reservoir Evaluation, EOR, Reservoir
Engineering, Project Management, Operations Management for Services Companies and Mayor Gas & Oil Producers.