Case Study: a Norwegian Continental Shelf based operating company achieves deeper high-permeability reservoir evaluation with SLB Formation Testing While Tripping

Formation Testing While Tripping Conducts Successful High-Permeability Interval Pressure Transient Testing

SLB worked with a Norwegian Continental Shelf based operating company that needed higher-quality formation data over longer durations in highly permeable reservoirs than conventional wireline formation testing could deliver, while also improving efficiency and reducing testing costs. The challenge was especially difficult because standard tools were limited by flow rate, fluid volume, and radius of investigation.

SLB developed formation testing while tripping (FTWT) technology to perform interval pressure transient testing at flow rates up to 130 cm3/s, keeping the well overbalanced while circulating extracted hydrocarbons to surface. In a 6-hour test in an 11-darcy sandstone, SLB helped confirm radial flow and extended the radius of investigation to 576 m, compared with about 200 m for a conventional 2-hour IPTT, enabling deeper reservoir evaluation with better data quality.