OilTracers LLC Production Allocation Paper and Exhibit

Dr. Mark A McCaffrey presented an oral paper at the 2006 AAPG Annual convention in Houston Texas.  The paper was titled “Reducing the Cost of Production Allocation by 95% Using a Geochemical Technique”.  The abstract of the paper was:

Reducing the Cost of Production Allocation by 95% Using a Geochemical Technique
Mark A. McCaffrey, David K. Baskin, Mark A. Beeunas, and Brooks A. Patterson.
OilTracers LLC, 3500 Oak Lawn Ave, Suite 110, Dallas, TX 75219.

A geochemical technique for quantitatively allocating the contribution of multiple zones to a commingled oil stream, or a commingled water stream, or a commingled gas stream (or any combination thereof) is preferable to production logging for several reasons. The geochemical technique costs <5% as much as production logging. In addition, the technique can be used in cases where production logging is not possible or is difficult (e.g., in wells with electrical submersible pumps, or in highly deviated wells, or in multi-lateral wells). The geochemical technique also does not interrupt production and eliminates the risk of sticking a logging tool. Geochemical allocation of commingled production is readily achieved by identifying chemical differences between "end-member" samples (i.e., samples from each of the zones being commingled). Parameters reflecting these compositional differences are measured in the end member samples and in the commingled samples. These data are used to mathematically express the composition of the commingled samples in terms of contributions from the respective end-member samples. Using a linear algebra approach, the concentrations (not ratios) of 30-80 components are used to simultaneously calculate the contribution of several discrete pay intervals (typically 2 to 6) to a commingled production stream. Iterative calculations are used to (1) “look for” and “delete” contamination in the samples, and (2) “test” the validity of the allocation results. These calculations are enabled by a commercially available software package, which is currently in use in numerous fields. Approaches for geochemically allocating production WITHOUT the use of end member will also be discussed.

In addition to the discussions which followed that paper, OilTracers LLC scientists were available at the OilTracers Exhibit (booth 852) for discussions throughout the AAPG convention.  Specific items which were highlighted at the OilTracers exhibit included:

• Characterization of Petroleum Systems
• Use of Mud Gas Isotopes to identify pay zones, and assess reservoir continuity,
• OilUnmixerTM , a software package that enables geochemical data to be used to quantitatively allocate commingled production,
• Upcoming geochemistry training sessions to be held in Cairo, Egypt.

OilTracers LLC is a geochemistry consulting group (www.oiltracers.com) based in Dallas, Texas.  Using geochemical, geological, and engineering data, OilTracers scientists work with clients to answer critical prospect charge risk and field development questions, including:

• Oil-source correlation,
• Missed pay identification,
• Assessment of reservoir continuity,
• Allocation of commingled production, and
• Prediction of fluid API/viscosity.

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