FEI, Weatherford enter agreement for advanced reservoir characterization

HOUSTON -- FEI and Weatherford Laboratories have entered into a joint agreement to offer advanced reservoir characterization services to the oil and gas industry.

The two companies will work together to create new workflows that integrate Weatherford's traditional core analysis and FEI's digital rock imaging, modeling and interpretation. These integrated solutions will address challenges associated with enhanced recovery, formation damage, multi-phase fluid property prediction and wettability characterization.

"The alliance with Weatherford's Laboratory Services group will help asset teams increase the value of both traditional and digital lab measurements," said Mark Knackstedt, director of product development for FEI's oil and gas business.

"By combining the results, we should improve reservoir characterization and help operators understand reservoir behavior and recovery mechanisms—ultimately reducing their risk and increasing their ability to make better informed development and production decisions," Knackstedt said.

The agreement will create several complementary workflows in which traditional lab tests are integrated with digital rock analysis and modeling to predict fluid flow properties. The strength of digital rock modeling lies in its ability to provide valuable data earlier in the decision-making cycle, so E&P operators can initiate field development plans sooner.

Subsequent integration and calibration of traditional and digital special core analysis (SCAL) data then enables E&P operators to evaluate the quality of their data and extend their predictions to multiple scenarios, such as: different rock types, variable initial saturations, fluid types and wettability sensitivities.

In addition, traditional core analysis coupled with high-resolution digital imaging and analysis modeling solutions will enable operators to gain new insights into the pore-scale recovery and damage processes that control the reservoir production potential. Combining FEI's digital analysis solutions with Weatherford's vast expertise and 'Ground Truth' lab analysis will help clients understand more about their reservoir to improve and optimize recovery programs.