Systems and Methods Having An Analytical Tool For Diagnosis Of The Source Of Water Production In An Oil And Gas Well

Abstract

Systems and methods for diagnosis of a water source of a water production problem in a well include: measuring flow and water/oil ratio (WOR) of a fluid mixture produced from a well; accepting the measured flow and the WOR over a period of time; calculating the derivative in time of WOR (WOR′) over the period of time; accepting a selection of or making a comparison of the WOR or WOR′ over time to a particular WOR or WOR′ case history from a library of WOR and WOR′ case histories that correlate with various types of water sources in a library of potential water sources; accepting an additional type of information about the well selected from the group consisting of reservoir properties, completion history, production history, injection history, and interventions history; and weighting and scoring to suggest a diagnosis of a likely water source from the library of potential water sources.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for diagnosis of a water source of a water production problem in a well, wherein the system comprises:
 (a) an apparatus for measuring flow and WOR of a fluid mixture produced through a casing of a well;   (b) an analytical tool capable of:
 accepting the measured flow and the WOR over a period of time; 
 calculating WOR′ over the period of time; 
 accepting a selection of or making a comparison of the WOR or WOR′ over time to a particular WOR or WOR′ case history from a library of WOR and WOR′ case histories that correlate with various types of water sources in a library of potential water sources; 
 accepting an additional type of information about the well selected from the group consisting of reservoir properties, completion history, production history, injection history, and interventions history, wherein the additional type of information is correlated positively or negatively with at least one type of a potential water source in the library of potential water sources; and 
 weighting and scoring each of the comparison and the additional type of information to suggest a diagnosis of a likely water source from the library of potential water sources. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus for measuring flow and WOR is operatively connected to the analytical tool, whereby the analytical tool can accept the WOR data in real time and operate in real time. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the analytical tool is additionally capable of removing WOR data that is inconsistent or noisy, whereby the retained data of the WOR and WOR′ over the period of time is more likely to be reliable. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein removing WOR data that is inconsistent or noisy is based on trend analysis or crosschecking with field data and offset wells. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the analytical tool is additionally capable of presenting a proposed solution for each of the potential water sources in the library of potential water sources. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the additional type of information includes at least two different types of information about the well. 
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the additional type of information about the well is selected from the group consisting of: natural fractures, high production draw down, poor or good cement bond, permeability anisotropy, Hz permeability contrast, active bottom aquifer presence, water cut increase after stimulation, salinity of produced water matching or close to that of edge aquifer, edge aquifer presence, water-oil contact (“WOC”) near the production zone, barrier breakdown, hydraulic fracture history, acid job history, pin hole/corrosion in casing. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the library of potential water sources includes at least two selected from the group consisting of: casing leak, channeling behind casing, completion near or in a water zone, high permeability streak, injector communication breakthrough, bottom water coning, fracture out of zone. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 8 , wherein each of the potential water sources is classified as at least one of the group consisting of: near wellbore related, reservoir related, or stimulation related. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the analytical tool is additionally capable of suggesting a suitable treatment solution from a database of treatment solutions for controlling water production. 
     
     
         11 . A method for diagnosis of a water source of a water production problem in a well, wherein the method comprises steps of:
 (a) measuring flow and WOR of a fluid mixture produced through a casing of a well;   (b) making an analysis, wherein the analysis comprises steps of:
 accepting the measured flow and the WOR over a period of time; 
 calculating WOR′ over the period of time; 
 accepting a selection of or making a comparison of the WOR or WOR′ over time to a particular WOR or WOR′ case history from a library of WOR and WOR′ case histories that correlate with various types of water sources in a library of potential water sources; 
 accepting an additional type of information about the well selected from the group consisting of reservoir properties, completion history, production history, injection history, and interventions history, wherein the additional type of information is correlated positively or negatively with at least one type of a potential water source in the library of potential water sources; and 
 weighting and scoring each of the comparison and the additional type of information to suggest a diagnosis of a likely water source from the library of potential water sources. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the step of measuring flow and WOR is in real time and the method is performed in real time. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , additionally comprising a step of removing WOR data that is inconsistent or noisy, whereby the retained data of the WOR and WOR′ over the period of time is more likely to be reliable. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein removing WOR data that is inconsistent or noisy is based on trend analysis or crosschecking with field data and offset wells. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , additionally comprising a step of presenting a proposed solution for each of the potential water sources in the library of potential water sources. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the additional type of information includes at least two different types of information about the well. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the additional type of information about the well is selected from the group consisting of: natural fractures, high production draw down, poor or good cement bond, permeability anisotropy, Hz permeability contrast, active bottom aquifer presence, water cut increase after stimulation, salinity of produced water matching or close to that of edge aquifer, edge aquifer presence, water-oil contact (“WOC”) near the production zone, barrier breakdown, hydraulic fracture history, acid job history, pin hole/corrosion in casing. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the library of potential water sources includes at least two selected from the group consisting of: casing leak, channeling behind casing, completion near or in a water zone, high permeability streak, injector communication breakthrough, bottom water coning, fracture out of zone. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein each of the potential water sources is classified as at least one of the group consisting of: near wellbore related, reservoir related, or stimulation related. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 11 , additionally comprising a step of suggesting a suitable treatment solution from a database of treatment solutions for controlling water production.