OilTracers LLC - SPE Distinguished Lectures

Dr. Mark McCaffrey, President of OilTracers LLC has completed a 16 Country, 31 city tour as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. His presentation, titled "Using Petroleum Geochemistry to Solve Field Development and Production Problems" was given at the locations shown below. The talk abstract is shown at the bottom of this page.

Using Petroleum Geochemistry to Solve Field Development and Production Problems

Dr. Mark A. McCaffrey

ABSTRACT: During field development and production, a variety of common problems can be solved through integration of geochemical, geological, and engineering data. For example, such studies can identify reservoir compartmentalization, allocate commingled production, identify completion problems (such as tubing string leaks, or poor cement jobs), predict fluid properties (viscosity, gravity) prior to production tests, characterize induced fracture geometries, monitor the progression of floods, or explain the causes of produced sludges. For each of these applications, geochemical approaches are appealing for three reasons:

1. Geochemistry provides an independent line of evidence that can help resolve ambiguous geological or engineering data. For example, geochemical data can reveal whether small differences in reservoir pressure reflect the presence of a no-flow barrier between the sampling points.
2. Geochemical approaches are commonly far cheaper than engineering alternatives. For example, geochemical allocation of commingled production can be achieved typically for only 1-5% of the cost of production logging.
3. Geochemical approaches have applicability where other approaches do not. For example, geochemical allocation of commingled production can be performed even on highly-deviated or horizontal wells, and even on wells with electrical submersible pumps - well types not amenable to production logging.

This presentation will discuss these applications of geochemistry, and will highlight how geochemistry complements other reservoir management tools. A variety of case studies will illustrate key points. In addition, sampling pitfalls and potential sources of contamination will be addressed.

Biography of instructor:

Dr. McCaffrey received his B. A. (1985) from Harvard University, magna cum laude with highest honors in geological sciences, and his Ph.D. (1990) in geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mark is a California Registered Geologist (License #5903) and an AAPG Certified Petroleum Geologist (#5339). Author of 26 articles, Dr. McCaffrey was the 1995 recipient of the Pieter Schenck Award from the European Association of Organic Geochemists for "outstanding work on biomarkers in relation to paleoenvironmental studies and petroleum exploration." After 10 years at Chevron and Arco, Mark co-founded OilTracers, L.L.C. (www.oiltracers.com), a firm specializing in the integration of geochemistry, geology and engineering data to solve a variety of oil exploration and production problems.