Application of Chemical Tracers for Clean-Up and Production Inflow Monitoring with Onshore Wells in Italy

Chemical tracers have recently been used to identify oil and water production along different intervals in open hole slotted liner completion, compartmentalized with swellable packers. The reservoir is a fractured carbonate brown field containing several sub-areas producing asphaltene and clasts in which chemical inflow tracers have provided greater understanding of characterizing the reservoir and its’ well performance in deviated wells. The permanent downhole tracer systems have been successfully applied in two onshore wells in Italy. The principle of this technology is to place a number of unique chemical tracer systems in different compartments along the length of the lower completion with only minor modifications for clean-up and production monitoring. The system releases tracer into the well stream when wetted by the target fluid, oil or water. When wetted by the opposite phase they will remain dormant, meaning no tracers will be released. The application of permanent oil and water tracer systems placed at pre-defined intervals along the production zones of the wells. Upon well start up, oil samples were taken at the surface and were analyzed to identify which zones were effectively contributing to oil and water production. Permanent water tracer systems were installed aiming at detecting the onset of early water breakthrough. After water break-through has occurred, a regular sampling program is performed and samples analyzed to identify the location of water production to understand the water profile evolution over time. Swellable packers have been used to segment the horizontal sections for the purpose of selective zonal stimulation and to optimize future water shut off intervention by treating the offending zones based on tracer detection. This paper will discuss an innovative wireless approach using chemical inflow tracers as the technology enabler with field proven case studies for clean-up verification, identifying where water and oil is flowing, assess stimulation job effectiveness and estimate relative flow contribution between intervals. Lessons learned for future installations will also be discussed.