Tracer Diagnostics

Novel Method to Assess the Success of Diverting Agents in Shale Formations

By: Wei Tian and Alex Darnley

Introduction In shale plays and tight reservoirs, horizontal wells are hydraulically fractured with multiple stages and multiple perforation clusters to improve surface-area contact with the formation. It is desirable for every perforation cluster to take an equal volume of frac fluid and proppant during the treatment, but data shows that this is rarely the case. […]

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Determining Load Recovery and Production Contribution of Individual Fracture Stages using Chemical Tracers

By: Wei Tian and Alex Darnley

Introduction Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing sparked the boom of exploration and development in shale reservoirs. In such stimulation processes, horizontal wells are drilled divided into equal segments and fractured sequentially from “toe” to “heel”. Over the years engineers have refined their technique in stimulating shale reservoirs, however, their understanding of fracture geometry and flow […]

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Evaluating Residual Oil Saturation using the Single-Well Chemical Tracer Test Method (SWCTT)

By: Wei Tian and Alex Darnley

Introduction: The single well chemical tracer test (SWCTT) is a technique which utilizes chemical tracers to determine the residual oil saturation (Sor) within key sections of the reservoir. Residual oil saturation is defined as the fraction of pore volume occupied by the oil after displacement. Determining residual oil saturation is a critical step before, during, […]

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Determining Reservoir Heterogeneity and Flow Geometry from a Successful Interwell Tracer Test (IWTT)

By: Wei Tian and Alex Darnley

Waterflooding and gas/CO2 flooding are often utilized to enhance oil recovery (IOR/EOR) by displacing hydrocarbons that were left unrecoverable during primary recovery. The injected water or gas will sweep mobile oil to offset producers and significantly increase hydrocarbon recovery. In such processes, understanding sweep efficiency between well pairs is critical for engineering teams to evaluate […]

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