Tracerco's reservoir technologies experience 50% growth

International oil and gas technology provider, Tracerco, part of FTSE 100 company Johnson Matthey Plc, has experienced record growth of 50% in demand for their reservoir tracing solutions over the past year.

As the demand for hydrocarbons continues to grow, oilfield professionals are continuously faced with the challenge of discovering, developing, and maximising hydrocarbon reserves from more inhospitable locations and complex geological structures. Knowledge of subsurface fluid flow provides valuable information to a reservoir field development team during hydrocarbon recovery. This information can be used to ensure effective reservoir displacement to maximise hydrocarbon extraction efficiency.

Tracerco’s reservoir characterisation business was established 30 years ago. The company offers an extensive range of smart tracer systems that can be applied to provide unique understanding of the actual oil, water and gas flow patterns in reservoirs. The techniques are applied in many development stages from drilling wells, field development and in late field life to monitor the effectiveness of tertiary recovery operations. Tracerco is the only technology provider offering solutions for flow characterisation in all reservoir applications from interwell, and controlled release to near wellbore.

Paul Hewitt, Business Director for Tracerco’s Reservoir services worldwide said, “We have seen a trend of many more oil companies recognising the value of using smart tracers as part of their reservoir surveillance toolkit. Our reservoir tracer studies help them to gain a better understanding of the production dynamic so they can change operational parameters and maximise hydrocarbon recovery.

“It is one of many surveillance tools engineers use to model fields. However, the biggest advantage of Tracerco’s smart tracers is they can accurately pin point the exact area/zone of production which other tools in the reservoir simulation process cannot do. This data is invaluable when oil companies are seeking to maximise production from existing wells and is extremely beneficial for planning future well design. Ultimately, using Tracerco’s smart tracers allows our customers to make better informed decisions.”

Tracerco continue to expand their worldwide network of analytical laboratories with three new installations this year in Canada, Abu Dhabi and Oman. These facilities analyse produced fluid or gas samples to confirm the presence or absence of smart tracer fingerprints allowing reservoir fluid or gas flow to be determined. It brings the total number of laboratories that Tracerco operates worldwide to eight with a further five planned before the end of the year.

Tracerco was the industry pioneer in developing smart tracer technology for reservoir characterisation and continue to invest in cutting-edge tracer research and development with a dedicated team of over 70 scientists and engineers. The commitment to continuous technology innovation promises to deliver many exciting new solutions to customers in the years ahead.

The technologies can be deployed without interruption to well production and allow operators to gain a better understanding of reservoir fluid and gas movements throughout their oil and gas reservoirs, as well as both near, and within, the wellbore.