Paper: DTS SENSING AN INTRODUCTION TO PERMIAN BASIN WITH A WEST TEXAS OPERATOR

DTS sensing is an emerging technology in which a local operator used on 16 wells to determine the effectiveness of acid treatments. The technology uses a fiber optic cable to read temperature realtime downhole per foot along the wellbore. This allows the service company to validate fluid placement. The effectiveness of the acid treatment can now be determined. Effectiveness can also be determined by how much improvement in production takes place after the job. In the case studies observed, effectiveness was determined during the pumping of the job with DTS sensing rigged up to the well. It is this configuration that an operator can decide if a change to the design should be made, real time-during pumping. The effectiveness of an acid job is dictated by effective fluid placement. One wants to know where the acid was placed in the well. Does all the acid go where it is supposed to go, in each zone? Or, does a high percentage of the acid go into the first least resistive zone and subsequent zones go untreated. If the latter takes place, a portion of investment capital used on gallons of acid will be wasted. Acid treatments can include a wide variation of stimulation methods or processes to improve the effectiveness of the treatment. These processes include stimulating the formation using fracturing or matrix rates, varying the acid percentage, varying the type of acid, using linear, gelled or crosslinked acid, varying the rate at which acid is pumped, and using particulate and chemical diverters. Previously on acid jobs, surface readings for pressure and rate were the only indicators to judge the effectiveness of the treatment. The legitimacy of this type of interpretation can be questioned because friction pressure encountered can mask what is actually taking place downhole. As the operator attempted all the above acid treatments and also monitored treatment with DTS, it was revealed that what we see at the surface can be misleading.