The Hydrotell project "Continuous reservoir monitoring" is developing a sensor technology for the oil and gas industry that will reduce the number of new wells and increase recovery on existing fields. Data from the sensors can be used to monitor the distance down to the water zone in a hydrocarbon reservoir and also indicate when the water is approaching a well.
The challenge for fields in production is knowing how much oil is left in a reservoir and where the oil is located. When hydrocarbons (oil / gas) are produced from a well, the water zone below will gradually get closer to the well. The distance from the well and down to the water zone as a function of time is uncertain until the water reaches the well and water is produced. Our goal in this project is to develop a sensor that will continuously measure the distance down to the water zone. This is achieved by measuring the pressure in the thin water film present on the rock surface in the water-wet hydrocarbon reservoir and compare this pressure with the pressure in the hydrocarbon phase. This can give valuable information about where to place future producers and in addition optimize production from existing wells and reduce unwanted water production.
The sensor technology will be of great value to the operator as they can increase the recovery rate in the field and reduce environmental emissions by avoiding new wells in water-filled areas.
In this project, it is also important to understand how movements in the underlying water zone affect measurements we make with the sensor. This is a collaboration with several R&D suppliers, where the main activities will be experiments in the laboratory and field simulations. We will also develop the sensor to be tested in a setup in the laboratory.
The Hydrotell project builds on the technology of Hydrophilic. In Hydrophilic, the focus is to build a tool, HLT (Hydrophilic Logging Tool), which will find the distance down to the water zone in exploration wells.
Prosjektet omhandler kvalifisering av ny målemetode for kontinuerlig overvåking av OWC i et reservoar. En mer presis predikering av OWC vil gi bedre forståelse av undergrunnen, bedre estimat for ressursene i et reservoar, og dermed optimalisere utvinningen av ressursene.
Rystads rapport "Technologies to improve NCS competitiveness" fra 2019, peker på at bedre feltmodeller alene kan kutte capex på 1730mrd NOK i perioden frem til 2050 med hele 20%. Videre peker rapporten på at Smartere brønner, kan øke produksjonen med 580 mill fat o.e. i samme periode, fra nye brønner alene.
Potensial for verdiskaping i form av økt produksjon og reduserte kostnader, er således vesentlig for ny teknologi som resulterer i økt forståelse av forholdene i det enkelte reservoar. Videre representer bedre utnyttelse av eksisterende brønner, og reduksjon i antall nye brønner, en vesentlig reduksjon i CO2-utslipp.
Hydrotell og partnere i prosjektet vil sammen med forskningsleverandørene NORCE, Sensorutvikling, Aarbakke Innovation og Altus Intervention modne teknologien frem til det kan gjennomføres funksjonstest av både sensoroppsett og installasjonsmetode. Prosjektet har en ambisjon om å bli klar for anvendelse i operative forhold innen 2026.
