Pulsed-Neutron Monitoring of the First
CO2 Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Pilot
in the Middle East
Fatema Al-Aryani, SPE, and Adel Obeidi, SPE, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Operations; and
Jacob Brahmakulam, SPE, and Raghu Ramamoorthy, SPE, Schlumberger
Summary
Logging measurements in the borehole are vital for monitoring
carbon dioxide (CO2) floods—for assessing the fluid changes in
the reservoir rock as well as in the wellbore. The saturation profile
at each well location provides the efficiency of the flood process
for fluid displacement within the pore and the vertical sweep
across and within the reservoir zones. A snapshot from multiple
well locations in the reservoir enables the creation of a picture of
the flood flow pattern, and the time-lapse surveys track the pro-
gress of the flood with time.
Pulsed-neutron logs provide essential measurements for the
evaluation of saturation in the injectors, producers, and observers.
However, the CO2 environment, with the fluid in the borehole,
remains uncharacterized in the industry. Hence, reliable infer-
ences require either that the measurement is immune to the bore-
hole environment or that the perturbation is minimal and can be
easily corrected. Where corrections are required, suitable bench-
marks should be planned in advance to verify the accuracy of the
corrections. These corrections should be modeled after the
physics of the measurement to the maximum extent possible.
On the first CO2 enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) pilot project in
the Middle East—unique in the world because the CO2 flood was
implemented with the reservoir at original oil saturation—several
pulsed-neutron surveys were recorded in the injector, observer,
and producer wells. The surveys included capture and inelastic
mode acquisition. Several novel techniques of data acquisition
and interpretation were successfully tried. This paper presents the
steps in planning and executing the jobs and the results of the sur-
veys. Limitations of existing characterization and those imposed
by the measurement environments in the subject wells are dis-
cussed, and we show, through comparison with benchmarks, that
correction for the unusual borehole environment is possible. The
paper illustrates how the different modes of pulsed-neutron data
acquisition complement each other in the individual wells in
assessing the borehole environment, providing adequate input
data to enable a multiphase reservoir-fluid analysis, and yielding
independent fluid saturations for effective comparison. The results
of the analysis are compared with openhole evaluation to help cre-
ate a coherent picture of the reservoir.
The fluid analysis from the pilot wells confirms the high dis-
placement efficiency of CO2 as an EOR fluid. The saturation pro-
files from individual wells portray the vertical sweep of the flood,
and the snapshot from the multiple wells gives the areal sweep.
Combined with the data from production-log sensors and perme-
ability from the magnetic resonance, the flood-breakthrough
layers are identified.
Introduction
The injection of CO2 into oil reservoirs for EOR has received con-
siderable attention in the Middle East in recent years. As many
fields undergoing waterflood approach the limit of recovery, 25 to
Copyright V
C 2013 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 141490) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas
Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 6–9 March 2011, and revised for publication.
Original manuscript received for review 3 November 2011. Revised manuscript received for
review 23 October 2012. Paper peer approved 8 November 2012.
72
50% of the original oil in place is left behind after gas or water
injection.
Experience gained from CO2 flooding worldwide indicates that
a considerable part of the residual and trapped oil can be recovered
with miscible CO2 injection under appropriate conditions. How-
ever, to determine the full economic potential of the process, field
pilots are needed to identify the risks and confirm the performance.
To this end, the first CO2 EOR pilot project was implemented in
the Middle East in a Cretaceous carbonate formation (Al Hajeri
et al. 2010). The location of the pilot in a previously unperturbed
part of the field makes this the first CO2 EOR pilot worldwide at
original-oil-saturation condition. This paper describes the efforts
to monitor the progress of the CO2 flood through pulsed-neutron
logs acquired at various junctures in the injector, observer, and
producer wells of the pilot. The detailed planning of the surveys
and interpretation of the results are presented.
Pulsed-neutron techniques are time-honored for their utility in
reservoir monitoring. Acquisition techniques and processing work-
flows have been well established for saturation monitoring in natu-
ral depletion, whereas various conventional flooding schemes
have been used for secondary recovery, such as mixed- and same-
salinity waterflood, steamflood, hydrocarbon-gas flood, and water-
alternating-gas injection. The two principal schemes of saturation
measurement by use of pulsed-neutron techniques—namely, the
pulsed-neutron capture (sigma mode) (PNC) and pulsed-neutron
spectroscopy [inelastic capture (IC) or carbon/oxygen (CO)
mode] (PNS)—usually have a comprehensive characterization
scheme for oil, water, and air in the borehole and water and hydro-
carbons in the formation.
Brief Review of Pulsed-Neutron Techniques. Pulsed-neutron
tools emit high-energy neutron bursts from an electronic source.
The neutron undergoes various interactions with the atoms in the
borehole and formation and eventually gets captured (Fig. 1).
Inelastic scattering and capture processes emit gamma rays. Most
of the pulsed-neutron tools have gamma ray detectors to capture
the time-varying flux of the gamma rays.
The measurement is carried out in two principal schemes by
use of appropriate pulsing sequence in each case. The first is
PNC, which records count rate vs. time. Fig. 2 presents the puls-
ing scheme for the tool used in the present work (Plasek et al.
1995). The decay rate provides the thermal neutron capture cross
section of the formation. Because chlorine has a much higher
cross section than the other elements usually present in the bore-
hole environment, the measurement is capable of distinguishing
saline water from other formation and borehole components. The
second method is PNS, which assesses the energy analysis of the
received gamma ray spectra in specified time bins (Fig. 3). The
inelastic spectrum is gathered during the burst, and the capture
spectra are gathered after the burst. The analysis and comparison
of the spectra to standard spectra of the elements sensitive to
inelastic scattering and capture provide an estimate of the concen-
trations of the elements in the region surrounding the tool. From
the perspective of formation-fluid saturation, the inelastic spectral
analysis provides the carbon and oxygen yields, enabling us to
distinguish hydrocarbons from water irrespective of the pore-
water salinity (Roscoe et al. 1991).
February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
 Inelastic Neutron Scattering

Neutron Absorption
Slow Excited
neutron nucleus

Capture
gamma ray
Inelastic
gamma rays

Fig. 1—Neutron interactions and generation of gamma ray. The 14-MeV neutron undergoes inelastic scattering, generating gamma
rays. After some time, the neutron comes down to thermal energy and eventually gets captured, and the nucleus of the capturing
element emits a gamma ray.

The tool used in this work has a vertical resolution of approxi-
mately 15 in. The nominal depth of investigation for sigma mode
is approximately 10 in., and that of CO mode is approximately 6
in., but this is strongly dependent on the properties of the forma-
tion. For example, in the presence of gas, the sigma mode reads
much deeper.
details of the challenges are presented in the Measurement Envi-
ronment section. The paper attempts to document the steps taken
to address these challenges. However, the pulsed-neutron mea-
surement has the required contrast and precision to differentiate
CO2 from oil and water, as will be described in a later section in
the paper.

Challenges of Pulsed-Neutron Monitoring in the CO2
Environment. The pulsed-neutron tools are not characterized for
the CO2 environment as a borehole fluid. Although many CO2
pilots are implemented across the globe, there is still a lack of
clarity when it comes to the planning of the logging job. Work-
flows have not been standardized to interpret the data because the
circumstances for each job differ widely. In particular, the misci-
ble-flood CO2 interpretation workflows are more demanding com-
pared with sequestration projects, because they deal with more
fluid phases and the dynamics of oil/CO2 miscibility.
Hydrogen is more effective in slowing down the neutron than
any other element. Both oil and water have an abundance of this
element. As a result, the neutrons slow down considerably faster
in liquid-filled boreholes compared with gas-filled boreholes.
With CO2, the problem is more acute, because it is devoid of
hydrogen and has a low thermal neutron-capture cross section;
therefore, the distribution of the gamma rays will be significantly
different in the CO2 environment, reflecting on the count rate and
energy spectrum recorded. The higher count rate tends to push the
detector performance out of standard operating range. More
Monitoring Objectives. Just as the design and execution of the
pilot are determined by the objectives set out for the exercise, the
design and execution of the monitoring program are determined
by the objectives to be achieved. The main objectives for the
pulsed-neutron surveys were to determine the progress of the
flood from injector to producer, to evaluate the reservoir vertical
sweep efficiency, and to evaluate the residual oil to CO2.
Field Background. The subject reservoir is a carbonate consist-
ing of alternating porous and dense layers—the latter act as bar-
riers or baffles (Fig. 4), especially where the vertical permeability
kv of the denser or stylolite layer is less than 0.01 md. The average
thickness of the reservoir is 130 to 150 ft, which has been divided
into eight subzones (X1, X2, X3U, X3L, X4U, X4L, X5, and X6)
because of porosity development. The average porosity is
Carbon Oxygen C
0.5 O
Si
Ca
0.4 Fc
Tool Bkg
Counts/sec

0.3

0.2
Counts/sec

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Channel
time energy
Short burst Long burst

Minitron On Off On Off
Fig. 2—Timing scheme for PNC measurement. The tool
employs a dual-burst scheme. The short burst is used to infer
the borehole properties. The late gates in the long burst are
used to derive capture cross section and porosity.
Fig. 3—Inelastic spectral standards. The timing sequence for
the PNS mode consists of a single burst of 20 milliseconds.
The spectrum is separated into inelastic and capture in time
bins, is stripped, and is compared with the elemental stand-
ards. Carbon and oxygen yields thus derived are used in the
saturation interpretation.

February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 73

 33 m 37 m

X2
Kft/s X3U
Velocity
22 X3L
20
18 X4U
16
14 X4L
12
10 X5
8
X6

Φ increase Φ increase

Fig. 4—Velocity map from the crosswell seismic section; the map shows the stylolitic layer between X3U and X2 as strong, the one
between the injection layer X3L and the upper layer as baffle, and the one between the injection layer and the lower layer as a
rather weak barrier. Note also the low velocity layers in X3L and X3U, confirmed as high-permeability layers on the nuclear-mag-
netic-resonance (NMR) analysis of the openhole log data, proved to be the flood-breakthrough paths from the present work.

approximately 14 to 17%, and average permeability is between 1
and 3 md. However, evidence from core and logs indicates that
the permeability within any given layer can vary by one order of
magnitude. The reservoir is mainly oil bearing; no gas cap was
observed from openhole logs and production data. However, a
strong gradient with depth exists in most properties, including sat-
uration pressures and gas/oil ratio (GOR), with the bubblepoint
ranging between 1,000 and 3,500 psia and the GOR between 300
and 1,500 scf/STB. Layers X1, X2, and X3U are at irreducible
water saturation, and layers X3L, X4U, and X4L are in the transi-
tion zone. Layers X5 and X6 are in the aquifer. The formation-
water salinity is 220,000 ppm.
Pilot Location and Geometry. The pilot is within an undevel-
oped area of the field (Fig. 5). The reservoir is undersaturated
with no gas cap. The reservoir is at initial pressure above the bub-
blepoint and minimum miscibility pressure and is not perturbed
by any water or gas injection. To limit the CO2-injection-volume
requirements, the pilot consists of three wells drilled in a line with
approximately 30 m between wells (Fig. 6). The central observa-
tion well already existed before the pilot. It was drilled in 1964
but was put on production from Layer X2 in 1994. Layer X3L
was perforated in 1998 and produced commingled with Layer X2.
Production ceased in 2004, and the well has been shut in since.
The well was drilled with a 6-in. (15-cm) borehole and cased with
4.5-in. (11.25-cm) casing. The perforations were squeezed off
with cement in 2009, and the well was converted to an observer in
preparation for the pilot.
The injector and producer were drilled in 2009 with 8.5-in.
(21.25-cm) borehole and completed with 7-in. (17.5-cm) casing.
The injector was drilled with oil-based mud (OBM), whereas the
producer was drilled with water-based mud (WBM). A modern
suite of well-log data, including NMR, was acquired on both the

Producer Injector
Obs

33 m 37 m

Pilot Area

Undis
turbed Under P
Area roductio
n Area

Fig. 5—Schematic of map of the field showing the area currently under production and the location of the CO2 EOR pilot in an
undisturbed area of the field.

74 February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

 X2
X3U
Observer
Injector
X3L
X4U
X4L
X5
X6
33 m
Fig. 6—Schematic of the pilot wells.
wells and interpreted for formation lithology, porosity, satura-
tions, and permeability (Fig. 7). The permeability was calibrated
to core available on the injector. Because the injector was drilled
and logged with OBM in the borehole, we were unable to perform
full-porosity partitioning and pore typing on the log data because
of the effect of oil-based filtrate on the NMR transverse relaxation
distributions. However, we observe that NMR-derived permeabil-
ity matches core data well, and calibration was achieved through
a simple adjustment of the premultiplier to the permeability trans-
form. On the producer, which was drilled with WBM, a full-
porosity partitioning and pore-typing analysis was performed, as
shown in Fig. 7.
The injector was perforated in Layer X3L, whereas the pro-
ducer was perforated in Layers X2, X3U, and X3L. Furthermore,
the production tubing string was extended to 100 ft (30.48 m)
below the deepest perforation, terminated in a mule shoe, to con-
vey a distributed-temperature-sensor array on the outside of the
tubing. Hence, the flow enters the annulus surrounding the tubing
through the perforated casing and flows up the annulus to enter
Fig. 7—Result of detailed petrophysical evaluation on injector (left) and producer (right). Core porosity and permeability are over-
laid on the injector for comparison. Note the presence of mobile (moved) water on the injector from Layer X3L downward, indicat-
ing these layers are in the transition zone and aquifer.
February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
P
P
Producer
P
37 m
the production tubing through a perforated pup joint approxi-
mately 50 ft (15.24 m) above the uppermost perforations.
Data Acquisition and Quality Assessment
Both CO and sigma modes were planned and acquired for the
wells wherever feasible to complement each other in assessing the
borehole environment, providing adequate input data to enable a
multiphase reservoir-fluid analysis and yielding independent fluid
saturations for effective comparison. Borehole pressure and tem-
perature and fluid-density data were acquired in every run to
assess the borehole fluids and environment and to calculate in-situ
properties of CO2 and reservoir fluids. A novel application of
pulsed-neutron acquisition mapped the flow of CO2 behind the
pipe during the second survey on the producer. Table 1 gives the
details of the data acquired in the wells. In general, the quality of
the recorded data is good, and excellent repeat of passes was
observed. Fig. 8 shows the repeatability of three sigma passes and
six CO passes recorded in the injector. Except for a short interval
in Pass 1 of the sigma (recorded while the well was still
75
 TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF THE PULSED-NEUTRON AND ANCILLARY LOG DATA ACQUIRED IN THE PILOT WELLS

Date of Time With Reference to

Well Acquisition Data Acquired Well Status Injection Commencement

Injector 2 December 2009 Three sigma up passes at 900 ft/hr; six CO Under Approximately 1 month
passes at 100 ft/hr. Production-logging injection after commencement of
sensors for temperature, pressure, and injection
fluid density.
Observer 31 January 2010 Three sigma up passes at 900 ft/hr; six CO Static Logged after CO2 flood
passes at 100 ft/hr. Production-logging reaching breakthrough in
sensors for temperature, pressure, and producer
fluid density.
Producer 16 January 2010 Three sigma up passes at 900 ft/hr. Flowing Logged after CO2 flood
Production-logging sensors for temperature, breakthrough
pressure, and fluid density.
11 June 2010 Three sigma up passes at 900 ft/hr.
Production-logging sensors for temperature,
pressure, and fluid density. In-line spinner.
Novel pulsed-neutron acquisition to map CO2
flow in tubing annulus.

stabilizing), all passes were found to repeat well in the logged
interval, including across the segment with CO2 in the borehole.
Pass 1 was excluded from the interpretation for this well. Similar
repeatability is observed for the producer, and even better repeat-
ability for the observer. The excellent repeatability of the passes
indicates high precision for the recorded pulsed-neutron data.
Measurement Environment. Assessment of the borehole envi-
ronment is the first step toward processing and interpretation of
the data. Borehole environment has a significant impact on the
measurement and, as can be seen in later sections, greatly influen-
ces the interpretation workflow adopted. We reviewed many
aspects that have a potential impact on the measurement—well
history, completion, drilling fluid, invasion profiles at various
times, stimulation of perforated intervals by acid, and fluid loss
during the cement-squeeze operation. Temperature, pressure, and
well-fluid density from the production-logging sensors and bore-
hole-indicator curves from the pulsed-neutron survey itself were
inspected in detail to properly understand the borehole setting for
the measurement. The impact of possible residual invasion in the
near-wellbore region at logging time in target zones straddling a
transitional oil/water contact (OWC) was also studied. The reser-
voir is subhorizontal, and from experience, we have observed
slow dissipation of invaded fluids.
When the borehole fluid is supercritical CO2, there is no
hydrogen to moderate the neutrons and detector count rates

Fig. 8—Repeatability of vital quality and output curves for three sigma-mode passes in the left panel. The carbon and oxygen
yields and their ratios for six CO-mode passes are in the right panel, for the near detector (Tracks 1 through 4) and the far detector
(Tracks 5 through 8). Ratios derived from the yields method (COR) and windows method (Roscoe et al. 1991) are presented for indi-
vidual detectors. The black curve plotted on the yields and ratios tracks gives the averaged values for the six passes. Observe the
anomalous decrease of far oxygen inelastic yield across the perforated interval, as indicated by the red flag in the depth track.

76 February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

 TABLE 2—SCINTILLATOR PROPERTIES FOR COMMON DETECTOR CRYSTALS USED
IN PULSED-NEUTRON TOOLS
Properties
Relative light output
Energy resolution (at 662 keV for a 1-cm3 crystal) (%)
Density (g/cm3)
Effective atomic number
Primary decay constant (nanoseconds)
Fragile?
Hygroscopic?
increase dramatically. On the injector, we estimate a 50% increase
in near-detector count rates and a 250% increase in far-detector
count rates in similar formations if no minitron regulation were to
be applied. Fortunately, the reservoir saturation tool uses an auto-
matic regulation of the minitron output on the basis of the instan-
taneous inelastic count rate, which serves to reduce the count rate
in the capture windows. Despite the regulation, the counts still
increase by nearly 100% on the far detector. Such high count rates
require fast detectors for proper measurement. As seen in Table 2
(Melcher et al. 1991), the gadolinium oxyorthosilicate crystal
used in the reservoir saturation tool has the shortest decay con-
stant, consequently the fastest response.
Injector. The injector well is a vertical hole drilled with OBM in
2009 and perforated in the interval X480–X496 ft in Layer X3L.
The tool string was run in and logged while CO2 injection was in
progress. The injection rate was 1.2 MMscf/D at a wellhead pressure
of 2,000 psi. As expected, supercritical CO2 is present in the bore-
hole down to the bottom of perforations, as evident on the tempera-
ture, fluid-density, and borehole-salinity curves. The fluid-density
sensor reads approximately 0.70 g/cm3 for the supercritical CO2 at a
temperature of approximately 250 F and 5,600-psi pressure at the
bottom of the perforations. Four fluid interfaces are discernible in
the logged interval of the borehole from the various sensor data
recorded (Fig. 9). The presence of CO2 in the borehole has a signifi-
cant bearing on the data processing and attendant correction.
Observer. Existing perforations were squeezed with cement in
early 2009 in this old well. The borehole is filled with brine and
possibly with drilling fluid below X505 ft (Fig. 10). Some forma-
tion-to-borehole communication is observed on the temperature
and density profile. The multifinger-caliper data and the magnetic
thickness log confirm the perforated intervals. Slight reduction in
internal radius is observed from multifinger-caliper data across
the squeezed perforations. We expect that the kill fluid used for
cement-squeeze jobs has invaded the perforations and most likely
is present in the near-wellbore region against the squeezed inter-
vals at the time of the log.
Producer. The producer well was drilled with WBM in 2009 and
perforated in the interval X458–X468 ft (X2), X475–X490 ft
(X3U), and X498–X511 ft (X3L) with a production tubing string
across the perforations (Fig. 11). The perforations were stimulated
with hydrochloric acid (HCL), and, although the well was flowed
for over 3 months prior to the first logging survey, we expected
the presence of residual acid in the formation at logging time. The
target zones were logged through two tubulars with dissimilar
fluid compositions in the tubing and the annular space; therefore,
the magnitude of uncertainty on the interpretation is expected to
be large. The well was producing liquids of approximately 300
STB/D through 16/64-in choke at a wellhead pressure of 1,600 psi
and water cut of less than 4%.
February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
Crystals
Sodium Bismuth Gadolinium
Iodide Germanate Oxyorthosilicate
100 13 20
6.50 9.30 8.00
3.67 7.13 6.71
51 75 59
230 300 56
Yes No Slightly
Yes No No
Interpretation Approach
Borehole CO2 Correction. CO2 has a low thermal neutron cap-
ture cross section (sigma) and zero hydrogen index. When it is
present in the borehole, tool measurements of sigma and porosity
are affected. Hence, a suitable correction for borehole CO2 needs
to be engineered.
Several methods have been proposed to estimate formation
sigma from the pulsed-neutron tool. We observed that the esti-
mate of sigma obtained by use of the earlier-generation thermal-
decay time-tool (TDT) algorithms for the processing of the cur-
rent-generation tool (Morris et al. 2005) was most representative
of the true sigma when CO2 was present in the borehole, and we
used this in the saturation analysis. The sigma curve from the
TDT-like processing (SIGM_TDTL), though not as accurate in
characterized environments as the sigma from normal processing
(SIGM), is known to give robust answers for atypical environ-
ments. The validity of SIGM_TDTL was verified on the injector
in zones with pure CO2 in the borehole, where no CO2 was
expected in the formation, by comparing it with a baseline sigma
log acquired during openhole logging (Fig. 12). In the interval
from X433 to X480 ft, no separation was seen on the openhole re-
sistivity logs because the formation oil was replaced by the invad-
ing OBM filtrate (Fig. 6). Hence, the sigma in the flushed zone
seen by the pulsed-neutron porosity tool is identical to the true
formation sigma. In the interval from X433 to X466 ft, there was
no CO2 present in the formation at the time of logging. We
observed an excellent overlay between the openhole sigma
(SIGF) and the TDT-like sigma from the pulsed-neutron survey.
Hence, we have used the SIGM_TDTL for all estimates of fluid
saturations in the pilot wells.
For the quantitative analysis, we also used the pulsed-neutron
porosity (TPHI) from the sigma mode, which is actually a mea-
sure of the hydrogen index (HI) of the formation derived from the
capture count rate ratios of the near and far detectors (TRAT).
TPHI is derived from the count rate spectra of the near and far
detectors in a two-step process (Plasek et al. 1995). In the first
step, the “apparent” quantity (TRAT) is derived from the total
capture counts recorded in the late gates of the recorded count
rate spectra of the near and far detectors. In the second step, the
conventional environmental corrections are applied from the input
of borehole properties. To correct for the borehole CO2, we devel-
oped a new correction for the measured TRAT in the zones in
which borehole fluid was CO2. The modified TRAT was passed to
the second stage of conventional processing to yield a TPHI cor-
rection for CO2. According to our usual procedure, we normalized
the resulting TPHI with the openhole-log-derived formation po-
rosity by a single gain factor for the entire logged interval. The
normalization is quite often required for the cased-hole pulsed-
neutron porosity because of tool and borehole-environment
variations.
The carbon/oxygen ratio (COR) from the CO-mode measure-
ment (Roscoe et al. 1991) is also affected by the CO2 in the bore-
hole. Correction is achieved by the use of an equivalent borehole
77
 OH-CPI
Array Induction

Pulsed Neutron PL Sensors Slim Cement Mapping Tool

Fig. 9—Borehole environment in the injector well. Track 1 shows borehole indicators from the pulsed-neutron data: BSAL and near
to far inelastic count ratio (IRAT) from sigma mode and near inelastic carbon yields (N1C) from CO mode. Production-logging-
sensor data of temperature (WTEP), pressure (WPRE), and fluid density (WFDE) are displayed in Track 2. Array induction data are
presented in Track 3, and the variable density log and cement map displays of the slim cement-mapping tool run through tubing
are presented in Tracks 5 and 6, respectively. Invasion is evident in the water leg and toward the bottom of the transition zones,
where base oil from OBM filtrate is displacing saline formation water. Results of openhole volumetric analysis are presented in
Track 4. Four fluid interfaces are seen in the borehole, with supercritical CO2 filling the hole down to a depth of X496 ft, completion
brine to X560 ft, OBM to X630 ft, and sludge at the bottom.

oil holdup for CO2 in the borehole segment that will give the
same COR as the supercritical CO2.
Saturation Analysis. Once the environmentally corrected esti-
mates of sigma, HI, and elemental yields have been obtained, we
can interpret these in terms of the pore volumes of oil, water, and
CO2. Fig. 13 crossplots the response parameters of formation oil,
water, and CO2 in the conditions present in the reservoir. How-
ever, the accuracy of the answers derived depends on the preci-
sion as well as the contrast of the responses. The measurement
precision of sigma curve is approximately 0.22 c.u. for the tool
deployed. CO precision depends on the porosity and carbon con-
tent of the formation and the logging speed. The stacking of the
six passes of CO mode has improved the precision considerably.
It is apparent that there is good contrast between the three fluids,
and any two of the measurements shown can be used to discrimi-
nate the three fluids. We have done so by use of a simultaneous
optimizing solver (Schwanitz 1988).
We can also perform a conventional CO interpretation in terms
of formation oil and water. In the presence of CO2 in the forma-
tion, the interpretation indicates a proportionally diminished oil
response given that the carbon density of CO2 is 0.19 compared
with that of oil, which is 0.54. We can enter the interpreted oil
volume, sigma, and HI into the simultaneous optimizing solver
and provide the corresponding response parameters for water,
CO2, and oil, thereby solving for the concentrations of CO2, oil,
and water. This is similar to the method proposed by Schnorr
(1996). The large contrast between CO2 and oil-carbon-density
values permits the use of CO logs for discriminating the two flu-
ids. When interpreting oil volume from the CO logs, it is impor-
tant to correct for the borehole presence of CO2. As shown earlier,
this is performed by introducing an equivalent oil fraction in the
borehole.
One other advantage of the availability of CO data is that it
can be combined with the sigma log to solve for four fluid compo-
nents in the pore space—oil, CO2, and two waters—such as we
have in the observer well in the presence of kill brine in the pore
space across the squeezed perforations. This ability is critical for
reliable estimates of fluid saturations.
In the injector well across the perforated zone, there is pure
supercritical CO2 in the borehole and a high concentration of CO2
in the pore space in the formation. The reduced water and oil satu-
ration in the formation coupled with the absence of both oil and
water from the borehole results in a low concentration of hydro-
gen surrounding the tool. Hydrogen is the principal neutron
moderator, and in its absence, the neutron counts increase dramat-
ically on both detectors but particularly so in the far detector. We
observed an anomalous decrease in the estimated oxygen yield
(Fig. 8) that is possibly caused by spectral distortion from

78 February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 10—Borehole environment of the observer well. A fluid interface is seen at X505 ft from pulsed-neutron borehole-indicator
curves and the production-logging-sensor data plotted in Tracks 1 and 2, respectively, of the left panel. From the evidence on the
WFDE, BSAL, and N1C curves, we expect remnants of drilling fluid below this depth. From the perturbation on the density curve
and the anomalous temperature, we suspect that there is communication between the borehole and formation across the lower
perforation interval that was squeezed. The casing magnetic thickness and multiarm-caliper data shown in the right panel confirm
the squeezed perforation intervals. The multiarm caliper measures a slightly higher internal radius for the casing across the
perforations.

uncharacteristically high count rates. As a consequence, conven-
tional CO interpretation techniques did not work across the perfo-
rated interval in the injector well. However, we observed that the
carbon yield is unaffected by the distortion. Hence, we used the
carbon relative yield directly in the simultaneous optimizing
solver, which has a provision for the correct handling of relative
elemental yields. As seen in Fig. 12, the response parameter for
the carbon yield is chosen in proportion to the carbon density
value (CDV) of each mineral and fluid component. This is further
calibrated in the tight-limestone sections relative to the calcite
response.
Our interpretation approach in this paper assumes that oil,
water, and CO2 can be tracked as separate components and that
their properties do not vary with time. It must be understood at
this point that nuclear porosity logs may not have the resolution to
distinguish between CO2 that is miscibly present in the oil from
CO2 that is free in the pore space. Furthermore, as the CO2 flood
passes through the reservoir, it strips the lighter fractions from the
oil. The oil that is left behind is concentrated in the heavier ends.
Given that the thermal-capture cross section of the original oil is
20.7 c.u. and that of the residual oil is 24.9 c.u., there is a small
contrast to distinguish between the two. When CO2 mixes with
the oil, the density of the mixture is not in linear proportion to the
fractions of CO2 and oil and their respective densities. This is par-
ticularly true when there is a large contrast between the density of
the live oil and the supercritical CO2. However, in our case, the
CO2 and the oil are nearly the same density. Hence, the density of
the mixture is not extremely different from that of either end
member. Lo et al. (2003) prescribed a correction for the log-
derived CO2 and oil saturations on the basis of the difference in
density of the original and final oil and CO2. A careful examina-
tion of CO2 swelling studies indicated that the maximum density
of the mixture is within 9% of that computed from a volumetric
mixing law and that the change in density for the CO2 and oil is
only approximately 0.1 g/cm3. For the work in this paper, we
have not applied the correction. However, in another work pub-
lished by Al-Aryani et al. (2011), we have proposed a method by
use of the simultaneous optimizing solver to account for the
change in fluid properties and the consequent nuclear response
parameters.
Results of Saturation Analysis
Injector. We had sigma, porosity, and carbon yield curves to
solve for the pore-fluid volumes of oil, water, and CO2, with the
mineralogy input from the openhole-log volumetric analysis
results. An advanced multimineral log analysis for cased hole was
set up for saturation evaluation with the parameter endpoints as in
Table 3. The endpoints for sigma and porosity for the minerals
and formation water and oil were the customary values used for
the field. The fluid parameters for the field were computed from
the Schlumberger Nuclear Parameter (SNUPAR) package by use
of the pressure/volume/temperature analysis data of oil and chem-
ical analysis results of water on samples collected down hole by
formation tester. Sigma and porosity endpoints for CO2 were
computed by SNUPAR for the downhole density of CO2. The
endpoint parameter values for carbon yield needed to be devised
and for CO2 and oil were set in proportion to their CDVs, and that

February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 79

 Array Latare Leg OH-CPI US Imager

CBL

Fig. 11—Measurement environment in the producer well. WBM-filtrate invasion is evident on the array of log curves and pro-
nounced in the oil leg and in the transition zone with moveable oil. Good zonal isolation is observed on the ultrasonic-pulse-echo
data (Tracks 5 and 6) and the cement-bond logs (Track 7). WFDE reads the brine density below the perforated joint and that of pro-
duced fluids above. BSAL changes seen with depth are coherent with the perforation intervals and fluid influx into the annulus.

for calcite was optimized against tight sections. The carbon-yield
endpoints for all other formation components were set to zero.
Only two of the three input curves were necessary to solve for
three-component saturation. The cased-hole multimineral log
analysis results by use of sigma and porosity curves are shown in
Fig. 13. High CO2 saturations are seen in injection Layer X3, with
the upper 8 ft of the perforated interval seen as more swept by
CO2 compared with the lower part. The presence of CO2 is also
observed in the lower part of X3U and upper part of X4U. We
also attempted different combinations of input channels to derive
two additional volumetric solutions by use of the combination of
carbon yield/sigma and sigma/carbon yield/porosity curves. The
saturation answers from the different combinations agree within a
reasonable range (Fig. 13), giving added confidence to the inter-
preted volumes.
The SIGM_TDTL curve was compared with that recorded by
the pulsed-neutron porosity tool in open hole (Fig. 12). Examining
the trends of the sigma curve and the expected OBM-filtrate

100.0 0.54 100.0

Water Oil
Water
C-Yield
Sigma

Sigma

CO2
CO2 Oil
Oil
CO2
Water
0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.54
HI HI C-Yield

Fig. 12—Results of the saturation analysis for the injector well. The left panel has the details of the conventional interpretation
attempted by use of the sigma and porosity curves of the pulsed-neutron data. Track 2 displays the TPHI curve corrected and the
final one used in interpretation after applying a normalizing gain factor. SIGM_TDTL is plotted together with sigma from the open-
hole neutron device in Track 2. The three fluid-saturation results by use of the different combinations of input channels are dis-
played in the right panel.

80 February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

 Fig. 13—Contrast of formation-fluid components in the measurement space.

dissipation pattern in the water leg, transition zone, and the oil leg difference of the two waters for 1 p.u. of water in the pore is 0.29
provides additional confirmation that the vertical extent of the CO2 c.u. which is higher than the sigma precision of the tool used for
presence in the formation layers could be deduced. The pulsed- the surveys. The volume of oil obtained from the customary satu-
neutron sigma is reading higher than the openhole sigma from the ration interpretation by use of CO data was used as an input chan-
middle of X4U down to the water leg. This is expected because the nel in the solver with the endpoint for oil and CO2 in proportion to
formation water is expected to reinvade and replace the residual their CDVs. The results are presented in Fig. 14. We find higher
OBM filtrate, which had displaced formation water during inva- CO2 saturations in X3U compared with that in the injection layer
sion. Across X2 and the top of X3, which are in the oil leg with no of X3L. CO2 is present in small quantities toward the upper part of
moveable water, the two sigmas agree and, as anticipated, there is X4U. Minor saturations are also seen in X2; however, the uncer-
no effect on formation sigma because of reinvasion. Across the tainty in saturation estimates is large in this zone because of the
zones invaded in X3L and X3U, we see a reversal of the trend, presence of the kill fluid.
with the pulsed-neutron sigma reading significantly lower as a In the observer well, we had the benefit of a base run of a ther-
result of the influx of CO2. In the top 10 ft of X4U, which is in the mal-decay-time log recorded in 1994 by an earlier version of the
transition zone, the effects of reinvasion and CO2 influx seem to pulsed-neutron tool, which afforded a time-lapse comparison
balance, resulting in the broad agreement of the two sigmas. of the raw curves and saturation results (Fig. 14). Note the
agreement of sigma from the thermal-decay-time log and the
SIGM_TDTL curves in the porous segments unaffected by CO2
Observer. The presence of kill fluid was observed against the and kill-fluid influx and the anomalously high reading of sigma
squeezed layers in the observer well from the sigma curve against the squeezed perforations. Looking at the porosity curves
(Fig. 14). Therefore, a four-component fluid-saturation interpreta- from the base and current runs across X2, we do not see a signifi-
tion was attempted in a simultaneous optimizing solver to deduce cant change between the runs. This similarity points to a low CO2
pore volumes of formation water, kill fluid, oil, and CO2 by use of saturation, if any, across X2 because the saturation change of oil
sigma, porosity, and CO data. The kill fluid being more saline, a and water does not have a significant impact on the porosity
sigma parameter of 125 c.u. and a hydrogen index of 0.9 were used curve. We have obtained minor CO2 saturations from the CO-
compared with 96 c.u. and 0.96 for the formation water. The sigma sigma interpretation and prefer to consider this to be the saturation
result at this point in time. The question of whether CO2 is present
in X2 can be answered with much less ambiguity from the time-
TABLE 3—PARAMETER ENDPOINTS OF THE FORMATION lapse comparison of saturation results from future runs in the ob-
COMPONENTS FOR SATURATION COMPUTATION server well.
Component
Producer. The residual acid effect, more prominent in X3U, and
Curves Calcite Illite Oil Water CO2 dissipation with time is observed on the sigma curve in the two
Sigma (c.u.) 7.4 50.0 20.0 96.0 0.04 runs recorded 5 months apart. Volumetric analysis of sigma data
was conducted by use of SIGM_TDTL and TPHI curves. The
Porosity (v/v) 0.0 0.2 0.960 0.96 0.000
acid effect was attempted to be accounted for by zonewise modifi-
Carbon yield 0.03 0.0 0.088 0.0 0.032
cation of the sigma water endpoints in the intervals found to be

February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 81

Fig. 14—Saturation interpretation results for the observer well. The porosity recorded for the base and current runs is presented in
Track 1 along with the normalized porosity and the effective porosity from openhole saturations. The sigmas from the two runs are
presented in Track 2, with both the sigma and the TDT-like sigma presented from the current run. Tracks 4 and 5 give the saturation
computation results from combined CO and sigma interpretation. Fluid analysis from the sigma data of the base run of 1994 is pre-
sented in Track 3.

affected by acid. The results from the two runs are presented in
Fig. 15.
From the Run-1 results, we find greater CO2 saturation in X3U
compared with the injection layer of X3L. A small influx of CO2
is found into X4U and is accumulated at the top of the layer. We
observe minor CO2 saturations in X2 as well. The time-lapse
trend from Run 2 shows an increase of CO2 saturations, indicating
further accretion of the fluid into the area of the producer with the
progress of injection and the general tendency of the CO2 to move
upward in the reservoir. It must be reiterated that the completion
string and the residual acid effect handicap the saturation interpre-
tation in the producer. Furthermore, the dramatic change of bore-
hole fluid composition from the depth of the hole in the tubing
(Fig. 15) weakens the ability for effective time-lapse comparison.
Overall, the saturation trends are representative, whereas the val-
ues themselves tend to be rather qualitative. The impact of the
uncertainties is felt more in the zones with minor saturations, such
as X2, where we are unable to categorically conclude whether
there was influx of CO2 into the zone.
We attempted to study the layerwise contributions from the
pore structure and permeability analysis conducted by use of the
openhole log data in conjunction with the pulsed-neutron and pro-
duction sensor data. We observed a minor deflection toward the
lower value in the borehole-salinity curve against the high-perme-
ability streaks, which have a higher value by up to an order of
magnitude compared with the zone’s average permeability.
Change in borehole salinity indicates significant fluid changes in
the borehole, and there is good reason to believe that the bore-
hole-salinity change is coherent with the type and quantity of the
fluid produced. As can be seen, the high-permeability layers are
acting as the main flow path for the CO2 and are potentially the
breakthrough layers for the flood front.
Flood-Front Behavior From Saturation Results. Fig. 16
presents the combined view of the saturation results obtained for
individual wells. Injected CO2 is breaching the interzone stylolitic
barriers of X3L to X4U and X3L to X3U. Small quantities of the
CO2 invading X4U have accumulated at the top of the zone. Over-
all, the ability to breach the interzone barrier corresponds well to
the velocity map shown in Fig. 4. The CO2-flood front is seen
moving upward as it progresses laterally because the density of
CO2 is still lower compared with reservoir oil.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Establishing a Baseline. The absence of properly timed baseline
log data was a handicap for the interpretation exercise. Experience
gained from the work suggests that the invaded fluids are slow to
dissipate and that it takes quite some time to achieve the baseline
condition, of the near-wellbore formation representing the true
reservoir saturations before injection. Suggested corrective meas-
ures are drilling and completing the holes, especially the observer,
sufficiently ahead of time for the filtrate to dissipate; producing
the injector and producer wells for long enough to flow back the
invading fluids; and acquiring adequate base runs to assess the
dissipation status of the invaded filtrate and the residual fluids in
well operations.
One of the objectives of the pilot was to deduce the residual oil
saturations after the flood. The quantity is best assessed in the
observer well. Although there is evidence that the residual oil

82 February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

 OH Run1 Run2
Jun 09 Jan 10 Jun 10

Fig. 15—Pulsed-neutron and production-log-sensor data and saturation results of the two runs recorded in the producer well.
From the multifinger-caliper data of second-run data, presented in Track 2 of the middle panel, a hole in the tubing is seen at X477
ft against a pipe joint. Looking at the depth of the perforated joint from the multifinger data, the diagram constructed from the tub-
ing tally of the completion string appears to be 5 ft shallow. Track 1 of the right panel gives the borehole salinity and the fluid den-
sity recorded inside the tubing for the two runs. In the second run, produced fluids have displaced the brine in the tubing above
the hole in the tubing. Track 3 displays the results of the combined oil and CO2 contributions assessed from a novel application of
inelastic mode acquisition. Track 4 presents the flow profile arrived at from the in-line spinner and production-log-sensor data
analysis for a single phase representing the mixture of CO2 and oil. Displayed in the extreme right panel is the result of pore por-
tioning and permeability analysis of the magnetic resonance and triple-combo data for the well. The left panel gives the time-lapse
saturation result for the well, along with the sigma log curves for Run 1 (blue) and Run 2 (red).

saturation to CO2 is small, we were seriously handicapped by the
presence of kill fluid of uncertain salinity in the observer well in
Layers X2 and X3L in accurately deriving this quantity. Similarly,
the residual acid complicated the saturation interpretation of the
producer. To mitigate the effect of the invading fluids in the near-
wellbore region, the following measures are suggested: match
mud filtrate to the salinity of formation water to avoid complica-
tions in interpreting water volume; minimize filtration loss, use
minimum overbalance, and use rigorous mud-control measures
while drilling targets; and ensure a good primary cementation.
Injector Observer Producer
02 Dec 2009 31 Jan 2010 16 Jan 2010
Other Suggestions for Well Design and Monitoring Scheme.
In harmony with other objectives of the pilot, the borehole and
casing size and completion design need to be optimized. Smaller
hole and casing sizes help to reduce the borehole effect and sen-
sor-to-formation standoff. At the same time, the larger-inside-
diameter completion is desired to allow the passage of a more
diverse set of logging tools, such as the larger-outside-diameter
pulsed-neutron tool and through-casing formation tester.
A monitoring strategy to detect the arrival of the flood front
needs to be planned. For the kind of well spacing in this pilot,
cased-hole measurements with a deeper depth of investigation,
such as cased-hole formation resistivity with an investigation ra-
dius of several feet, could be considered for detection of the flood
front ahead of reaching the borehole, after assessing their sensitiv-
ity to the expected fluid changes resulting from flood advance-
ment. The deep resistivity measurement is expected to be
sensitive to the replacement of water by CO2 in the transition
zone and down in the water leg.

Challenges of Monitoring CO2 Floods. Monitoring a miscible

Fig. 16—A snapshot of the saturation indicating the flood-front
movement.
CO2 flood by pulsed-neutron techniques presents many chal-
lenges, some imposed by the physical properties of CO2 and the
consequent impact on the functioning of the pulsed-neutron tools.
Absence of characterization of CO2 as a borehole or comple-
tion fluid adds to the challenges. Consequently, we have devised a
correction scheme for borehole presence of CO2 that led to the
successful derivation of saturation in the pilot wells.
Several other challenges imposed by the specific well environ-
ment have been successfully addressed.

February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 83

Assessing the Measurement Environment. From the recorded
pulsed-neutron and production-log-sensor data, zones with differ-
ent borehole fluids were identified, critical to the correction that
needs to be applied on the formation measurements.
Pulsed-neutron measurements show excellent repeatability in
CO2 environments for both capture and inelastic passes, ensuring
high precision in the environment and confidence in the inter-
preted results.
Workflow Used. Reliable correction was achieved for CO2 in
the borehole and was confirmed from data in reference zones and
logs.
Innovative workflow was adapted and tailored to the specific
requirements of each well to derive representative saturations
from the available data.
Results. Pulsed-neutron data afford multiple independent corrob-
oration of multiphase saturation in the formation—water, oil, and
CO2—and account for presence of fluids introduced by residual
drilling fluid invasion, remaining acid, and completion fluids.
Reasonable saturation answers are provided for each run in spite
of the many challenges.
An innovative technique of the pulsed-neutron inelastic mode
acquisition could provide information on the flow of CO2 behind
and inside the tubing in the producer well.
A combined analysis of permeability from openhole data and
the pulsed-neutron data in the producer well indicates that the
high-permeability layers are the chief contributors to production
and potential paths for flood breakthrough.
By combining the saturation results at the pilot well locations,
behavior of the flood front in the pilot area could be ascertained.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and
Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) for
granting permission to publish the work. We express our appreci-
ation of the excellent work performed for the execution of the
data-acquisition program and would like to thank the operational
teams concerned in ADCO and Schlumberger. We also wish to
acknowledge Brad Roscoe, Jim Hemingway, and Murtaza Ziaud-
din of Schlumberger for their review of the manuscript and help-
ful guidance.
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Fatema Al Aryani graduated in 2005 from United Arab Emi-
rates (UAE) University with a BSc degree in physics. She joined
ADCO in July 2005 as a petrophysicist. She has built technical
experience around planning and evaluation of petrophysical
well data and integrating the inputs for reservoir characteriza-
tion and project assessment. Al Aryani has experience in
cased-hole reservoir monitoring by use of the pulsed-neutron
and production logging to understand the reservoir behavior,
fluid-front movements, changes in the hydrocarbon/water
contacts, and the residual oil. This practice was strengthened
with CO2-EOR logging surveillance experience in carbonate
reservoirs of ADCO fields.
Adel Obeidi graduated in 1996 from Benghazi University with a
BSc degree in geology; he has more than 15 years of experi-
ence in the petroleum industry and worked for several interna-
tional companies before joining ADCO in January 2008 in the
role of senior petrophysicist. Obeidi has built his knowledge in
the use of petrophysics and reservoir characterization within
different areas of formation evaluation, operations manage-
ment, and development derisking.
Jacob Brahmakulam is a petrophysicist supporting wireline
operations in east and central west Africa. He earned a mas-
ter’s degree in physics before joining the oil industry in 1985 as
a wireline engineer. Brahmakulam has diverse experience as
a petrophysicist in evaluating reservoirs at varied geological
settings across different oil provinces. Pulsed-neutron monitor-
ing is one of his areas of expertise, and he supported the
Schlumberger monitoring technologies in a past assignment
as an interpretation development petrophysicist.
Raghu Ramamoorthy has worked with Schlumberger since
1982 in various roles such as wireline field engineer, location
manager, log analyst, research scientist, and petrophysicist.
He is currently Petrophysics Adviser and Domain Head for Wire-
line Middle East Operations, based in Abu Dhabi. Ramamoor-
thy holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the
University of Texas at Austin. He holds several patents in petro-
physical methods and has received the Henri Doll Award and
Conrad Schlumberger Award for best interpretation papers
inside Schlumberger. Ramamoorthy recently received the SPE
Regional Award for Formation Evaluation. He is widely pub-
lished in SPE, the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Ana-
lysts, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Ramamoorthy’s current interests are carbonate petrophysics
and EOR.
February 2013 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering