Case Study: Malaysian Operating Company identifies a thick oil zone with SLB FlairFlex real-time fluid logging

Advanced Logging and Analysis Identified Thick Oil Zone Undetected by Basic LWD Measurements

SLB worked with a Malaysian Operating Company drilling a wildcat exploration well offshore Malaysia in a thickly stacked sandstone reservoir. The operator needed as much formation evaluation information as possible without going over budget, and wanted to avoid missing potential pay zones while planning wireline sampling. SLB recommended the FlairFlex advanced real-time logging and analysis service to provide cost-effective, high-confidence fluid typing while drilling.

Using FlairFlex, SLB identified a thick hydrocarbon zone that basic LWD measurements had left unclear, distinguishing a gas interval and later indicating the presence of liquid hydrocarbon in a suspected oil zone. That insight led the operator to re-set the wireline formation tester and pump at a higher flow rate, which produced oil breakthrough and high-quality samples; later PVT analysis closely matched the real-time C1–C5 composition from FlairFlex. The service also showed that an initial pumpout was only water or WBM filtrate, helping extend the pay zone to the deeper interval and improving confidence in reservoir evaluation.