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Utilizing the SPIDR for Gas Storage Well Tests

By Adam Swartley | Wed, 6 Feb 2008

As natural gas is seen across the globe as an efficient and environmentally friendly energy source, the demand for it has grown steadily.  To satisfy this demand particularly in the winter time, it is necessary to stockpile gas reserves in storage wells.  As is the case with producing wells, information on the different characteristics of the storage reservoirs is necessary to both inject and withdraw stored gas efficiently.

The characteristics of storage wells are obtained through testing methods in a manner that is analogous to the testing procedures done on producing wells.  Unlike producing wells, storage wells are often located in areas that are not traditionally associated with the oil and gas industry.  This makes the acquisition of service company equipment and personnel not only logistically difficult, but also much more expensive.

We at DRC have been working with gas storage operators across the US to provide a cost efficient and risk free method to test their storage wells.  The SPIDR system is an ideal tool for these types of tests.  The inherently dry nature of the gas injected into storage wells makes the use of downhole pressure gauges an unnecessary expense.  A test using downhole pressure tools will require equipment and personnel to be transported to a location outside of their typical range at a significant cost.  The ten pound SPIDR system can be sent anywhere in the world via FedEx for only a minimal fee.

These benefits were highlighted by Nicor Gas, a new customer of DRC’s located in Illinois, who started using the SPIDR this past summer.  Nicor Gas had been contracting a local service company, who has to rent the bottom hole pressure equipment from Pennsylvania, to run transient pressure tests on their wells.  DRC contacted this client and offered them a free SPIDR gauge rental to run in comparison on a test with a downhole gauge.  As soon as the customer saw how closely the converted SPIDR pressure matched that of the downhole gauge they decided to use DRC’s equipment in the future.  They have since ran multiple tests on many different wells across their fields with excellent results.

This is just another example of how a simple and portable system like the SPIDR can not only make the life of an engineer easier, but also please management with large cost savings.