You are on page 1of 4

(After Clark and Schultz, 1956)

Well Bore

Gas Cap

Oil Zone

Figure 15-11: Gas production due to gas coning


(After Clark and Schultz, 1956)

The channeling behind the casing and gas coning problems can be identified based on production
logging analyses such as temperature and noise logs. An example is depicted in Figure 15-12
where both logs indicate that gas is being produced from an upper gas sand and channeling down
to some perforations in the oil zone.
Temperature

Noise Amplitude
> 600 Hz

Gas
zone

gas
gas

oil
Oil
production
oil
zone

Figure 15-12: Temperature and noise logs identifying gas channeling behind casing
(After Economides et al., 1994)

Excessive gas production of an oil well could also be due to gas production from unexpected gas
zones. This can be identified using production logging such as temperature and density logs. An
example is presented in Figure 15-13 where both logs indicate gas production from the thief zone
B.
Temperature (ºF)

Depth
Fluid density (g/cc)

Figure 15-13: Temperature and fluid density logs identifying a gas entry zone
(After Economides et al., 1994)

15.4 Excessive Water Production


Excessive water production is usually from water zones, not from the connate water in the pay
zone. Water enters the wellbore due to channeling behind the casing (Figure 15-14), preferential
flow through high-permeability zones (15-15), water coning (15-16), hydraulic fracturing into
water zones, and casing leaks.
Figure 15-17 shows how to identify fracture height using pre- and post fracture temperature logs
to tell if the hydraulic fracture has extended into a water zone.
In addition to those production logging tools that are mentioned in the previous section, other
production logging tools can be used for identifying water-producing zones. Fluid density logs
are especially useful for identifying water entries. Comparison between water cut data and
spinner flowmeter log can sometimes gives an idea what the water is from. Figure 15-18 shows a
spinner flowmeter log identifying a watered zone at bottom for a well with a water cut of nearly
50%.
Low pressure
Oil reservoir

Water channel along


Bad cement job
Casing leak

High pressure
water sand

Figure 15-14: Water production due to channeling behind the casing

Well Bore

Low permeability

High permeability

Intermediate
permeability

Low permeability

Figure 15-15: Preferential water flow through high-permeability zones

You might also like