Statoil and Baker Hughes have made a successful pressure logging run using a Baker Hughes INTEQ 8 1/4–in. formation pressure-while-drilling device. The TesTrak system tester measures formation pressure through direct contact with the formation and transmits the pressure data to surface in real time. An intelligent, closed loop, drawdown control system makes it possible to complete a test in 5 min or less, INTEQ says.
The TesTrak device conducted multiple pressure tests during drilling operations in the 12 1/4-in. hole section of Statoil's 34/7-P-26 well in the Norwegian North Sea. Statoil's objective for the real-time pressure measurements was to determine absolute formation pressure in the sands, assess the degree of depletion in the sands, identify possible segmentations and compartmentalization, and delineate pressure and flow barriers in the planned production well. The companies conducted 21 individual pressure tests at an average of 2 min 30 sec per test with a 100% success rate and met all the planned pressure point objectives.
Prior to the 8 1/4-in. TesTrak run, Statoil pre-qualified the device as a replacement for wireline pressure testing services based on previous applications of the 6 3/4-in. TesTrak device. The tool was the first LWD formation pressure tester Statoil officially qualified based on a comparison with traditional wireline formation tester in multiple Norwegian shelf wells.
The combination of the TesTrak service and rotary steering technology, such as INTEQ's AutoTrak system, in larger hole sizes will enable Statoil and other operators to extend their reach to distant reservoirs, test them, and reduce their operating costs by eliminating additional pipe trips for wireline tester runs, the company says.
