Case Study: Mubadala Petroleum achieves clean fluid sampling in tight Gulf of Thailand formations with SLB’s Saturn 3D Radial Probe

Saturn 3D Radial Probe Samples Fluids from Tight Formations

Mubadala Petroleum faced a challenge collecting high-purity fluid samples and formation pressure data from very low-permeability reservoirs in the Gulf of Thailand, where delayed mudcake development made conventional single-probe formation testers difficult to seal and ineffective at retrieving fluid. SLB addressed this issue using the Saturn 3D radial probe for formation evaluation in tight formations.

SLB deployed the Saturn 3D radial probe, which uses multiple self-sealing elliptical probes to create circumferential flow and improve cleanup in low-mobility zones. The tool successfully sealed at six sampling stations, measured good pressure transient data, and collected clean fluid samples in formations with mobilities from 0.3 to 17 mD/cP. Inflation and deflation took less than 10 minutes, total station time was 45 to 114 minutes, and one station produced good pressure transient data in just 72 minutes.

Mubadala Petroleum