Case Study: Middle East Oil Company delineates a low-mobility oil zone with SLB Saturn 3D Radial Probe

Saturn 3D Radial Probe Delineates Low-Mobility Oil Zone in Carbonates

SLB worked with Middle East Oil Company to address an unclear oil-water contact in a tight carbonate reservoir in the Middle East. Low-resistivity logs made the middle of the interval ambiguous, and conventional formation tester probes were not expected to sample fluid effectively in the low-mobility rock.

SLB deployed the Saturn 3D radial probe on the MDT modular formation dynamics tester to create circumferential flow and collect representative fluids from multiple stations. The system successfully sampled light oil in the top and middle zones and water at the bottom, confirming the oil-zone thickness and placing the contact with confidence; the middle station required a 4,900-psi differential for 15 hours and indicated a mobility of 0.04 mD/cP.