Technical Luncheons

Fingerprinting Formation-Waters Using Stable Isotopes: Applications to Petroleum Exploration and Production

Speaker(s):
B.J. Rostron,
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta

Date/Time: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - 11:30am
Location: Telus Convention Centre - Calgary, Alberta

The cut-off date for ticket sales is 1:00 pm, Thursday, September 10, 2009.*

CSPG Member Ticket Price: $38.00 + GST.
NON-MEMBER Ticket PRICE: $45.00 + GST.

*Please note: Due to the popularity of talks, we strongly suggest purchasing tickets early, as we cannot guarantee seats will be available on the cut-off date.

ABSTRACT

During petroleum exploration and production operations the question often arises "Is the fluid recovered during well-testing pure formation-water or contaminated with drilling fluid?" A variety of water chemical techniques (e.g., 'stiff' diagrams) have historically been used to answer this question. However, standard chemical fingerprinting techniques can be problematic or ambiguous, especially when working in environment with evaporites (hence brine formation-water), or in shallow (fresh formation-water) settings. A new fingerprinting technique using stable isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen and strontium in formation-waters has been developed that overcomes many of the problems with previous methods.

An on-going sampling program has collected several thousand samples from producing wells and Drill-Stem-Tests, initially in the Williston Basin (Canada-USA) and more recently in the Alberta Basin. These data have lead to the creation of an isotopic database of formation-waters that has enabled the use of isotopic fingerprinting techniques in a variety of exploration and production operations, including:

During Drill-Stem-Testing and swabbing operations to determine if the recovered fluid is formation-water, and hence the validity of collected fluid sample(s).
As a production monitoring tool, to determine if produced fluids are originating in the perforated zone (versus 'leaking' into the wellbore from other formations). Repairing wells producing "out of zone" water can extend their life.
As an aid to exploration, by enhancing understanding of reservoir continuity.

These techniques are relatively fast and inexpensive, and have proven very useful to the petroleum industry.

BIOGRAPHY

Ben Rostron is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. He has a BSc in Geological Engineering (Waterloo), and an MSc and PhD in Geology (Alberta). His research is focused on mapping, and numerical simulation, of the large scale movement of subsurface fluids (oil, gas, water) in geologic basins.

Rostron is a member of CSPG, AAPG, GSA and registered as a PEng/PGeol with APEGGA and APEGS.