Dear SPWLA Abu Dhabi Local Chapter member!

I am delighted to see that the relatively specialized science of Petrophysics via the Society of Petrophysicists and Log Analysts (SPWLA) Local Abu Dhabi Chapter has been able to attract such a broad participation from so many other disciplines here in Abu Dhabi - acting as a catalyst for change and improving our understanding and appreciation of carbonate evaluation and exploitation in its broadest terms.

Maximizing the recovery of oil and gas from carbonate reservoirs is particularly challenging, due to their inherent heterogeneities caused by their variable environments of deposition and often complex diagenetic history. Wettability effects may further complicate data acquisition and analysis.

Today it is no longer enough to come up with one, single number using deterministic methods for any parameters that describes fluid/rock interaction in such reservoirs. We need to understand the complete range from the low to the high end - including their associated uncertainties. Just like it is important to understand the conservative low estimate it is essential to capture the upside, because that may ultimately impact the entire life of the field and the design of the production facilities - including sizing of pipelines and flow-stations.

I am also pleased to see so many young engineers. The oil-industry in Abu Dhabi is going through a dramatic generation change, a combined result of an aging population of “old-timers” and the ambitious Emiratization targets we have established here in the United Arab Emirates.
Societies such as ours provide exciting opportunities for learning, but learning requires input from ALL of YOU – it is very much a two-way process: a willingness to share experiences and an interest in accepting and absorbing such experiences. We also need to challenge & explore and QUERY the “Conventional Wisdom” and examine it again with open eyes.

But as fascinating as it is to try to unravel the puzzles of these rocks, we must also keep in mind that there is another challenge out there! Using conventional recovery processes, like water injection to sweep the oil and maintain reservoir pressure, it is commonly estimated that around 50% of the oil originally in place can be recovered from our typical carbonate reservoir.
That means - at the end of the day - that the tank is still HALF-FULL!

Given the sheer size and extent of these fields, just a very minor improvement in our understanding of the reservoirs and ability to exploit them in terms of production management will mean a dramatic increase in recovery and associated wealth for the Nation. And that is the real challenge; How can we leverage best practices and shared understanding of these carbonate reservoirs to recover a bit more of that oil in an economic and timely fashion!

These are exciting challenges to have and it is my sincere hope that our SPWLA Local chapter here in Abu Dhabi will contribute to successfully solving some of them!

Asbjorn Gyllensten

President

SPWLA Abu Dhabi Local Chapter.