Research Status and Development Direction of Formation Damage Prediction and Diagnosis Technologies
Source abstract
Abstract
Formation damage remains a key challenge in oil and gas exploration and development, requiring effective prediction and diagnostic technologies to mitigate its impact. Despite decades of research, current techniques lack the accuracy and practicality demanded by modern oilfield operations and the future of intelligent oil and gas development. This study systematically reviews advancements in formation damage prediction and diagnostics, focusing on wellsite diagnosis, experimental methods, imaging techniques, analytical approaches, numerical modeling, and artificial intelligence applications. The advantages and limitations of these methods are analyzed to provide a comprehensive understanding of their capabilities. The paper emphasizes the need for further research to develop an intelligent expert system that integrates multiple damage factors and accounts for spatial–temporal evolution, paving the way for improved future hydrocarbon production and sustainable energy development.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis · Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis · Drilling and Well Engineering
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Ningbo Institute of Digital Twin, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo 315201, China
References (100+)
Show source-provided references
1. Civan, F. (2007). Reservoir Formation Damage, Gulf Professional Publishing. [2nd ed.].10.1016/B978-075067738-7/50002-6 ↗
2. Effect of overbalance pressure on formation damage10.1016/S0920-4105(02)00268-1 ↗
3. Qutob, H. (2004, January 10–13). Underbalanced drilling: Remedy for formation damage, lost circulation, & other related conventional drilling problems. Proceedings of the Abu Dhabi International Conference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.10.2118/88698-MS ↗
4. Economides, M.J., Hill, A.D., Ehlig-Economides, C., and Zhu, D. (2012). Petroleum Production Systems, Pearson Education. [2nd ed.].
5. Golan, M., and Whitson, C.H. (1991). Well Performance, Prentice Hall.
6. Ghalambor, A., and Economides, M.J. (2000). Formation damage abatement: A quarter-century perspective. SPE International Symposium on Formation Damage Control, Society of Petroleum Engineers.10.2118/58744-MS ↗
7. An overview of formation damage and well productivity in oilfield operations10.2118/10029-PA ↗
8. Allen, T.O., and Roberts, A.P. (1982). Production Operations: Natural Gas.
9. Technology focus: Formation damage10.2118/0218-0069-JPT ↗
10. Research progress and development recommendations covering damage mechanisms and protection technologies for tight/shale oil and gas reservoirs
11. Novel water-based drilling and completion fluid technology to improve wellbore quality during drilling and protect unconventional reservoirs10.1016/j.eng.2021.11.014 ↗
12. A storage-driven CO2 EOR for a net-zero emission target10.1016/j.eng.2022.02.010 ↗
13. Jiang, G., Huang, C., and Zhang, G. (2006). New Technology of Loose Sandstone Reservoir Protection, Publishing House of China University of Petroleum. (In Chinese).
14. Investigation of mud density and weighting materials effect on drilling fluid filter cake properties and formation damage10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2016.02.003 ↗
15. Williams, B.B., Gidley, J.L., and Schechter, R.S. (1979). Acidizing Fundamentals, Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME, Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME.
16. Liu, T., Jiang, B., Liu, R., and Diwu, P. (2012). Study on test cycle of build-up well test in low permeability reservoir. Global Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering/3rd International Symposium on Multi-Field Coupling Theory of Rock and Soil Media and Its Applications, China Three Gorges University.10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.594-597.456 ↗
17. A novel early data well test interpretation method for water injection in low permeability reservoirs
18. Pedrosa, O.A. (1986, January 2–4). Pressure transient response in stress-sensitive formations. Proceedings of the SPE California Regional Meeting, Oakland, CA, USA.10.2118/15115-MS ↗
19. Perturbation analysis of stress-sensitive reservoirs (includes associated papers 25281 and 25292)10.2118/20053-PA ↗
20. The evaluation of deep inner formation damage through transient test diagnosis
21. Cinco-Ley, H., and Meng, H.Z. (1988, January 2–5). Pressure transient analysis of wells with finite conductivity vertical fractures in double porosity reservoirs. Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, TX, USA.10.2118/18172-MS ↗
22. Evaluation of fracture asymmetry of finite-conductivity fractured wells10.2118/20583-PA ↗
23. Prediction of reservoir sensitivity with well logging data in Dagang Oilfield
24. Zhou, Z., Shi, S., Ma, S., and Fu, J. (2018). Application of Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method for Reservoir Well Logging Interpretation While Drilling. Mobile Networks and Management: 9th International Conference, MONAMI 2017, Melbourne, Australia, 13–15 December 2017, Proceedings, Springer.
25. Analysis of decline curves10.2118/945228-G ↗
26. Valko, P.P. (2009, January 19–21). Assigning value to stimulation in the Barnett Shale: A simultaneous analysis of 7000+ production histories and well completion records. Proceedings of the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference, The Woodlands, TX, USA.10.2118/119369-MS ↗
27. Valko, P.P., and Lee, W.J. (2010, January 19–22). A better way to forecast production from unconventional gas wells. Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy.10.2118/134231-MS ↗
28. Duong, A.N. (2010, January 19–21). An unconventional rate decline approach for tight and fracture-dominated gas wells. Proceedings of the Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, AB, Canada.10.2118/137748-MS ↗
29. Yu, S., Lee, W.J., Miocevic, D.J., Li, D., and Harris, S. (October, January 30). Estimating proved reserves in tight/shale wells using the modified SEPD method. Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA, USA.
30. Decline curve analysis using type curves10.2118/4629-PA ↗
31. Agarwal, R.G., Gardner, D.C., Kleinsteiber, S.W., and Fussell, D.D. (1998, January 27–30). Analyzing well production data using combined type curve and decline curve analysis concepts. Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA, USA.10.2523/49222-MS ↗
32. Blasingame, T.A., Mccray, T.L., and Lee, W.J. (1991, January 22–24). Decline curve analysis for variable pressure drop/variable flowrate systems. Proceedings of the SPE Gas Technology Symposium, Houston, TX, USA.10.2523/21513-MS ↗
33. Evaluation of permeability damage caused by drilling and fracturing fluids in tight low permeability sandstone reservoirs10.1016/j.petrol.2019.01.031 ↗
34. Zivkovic, V.A., Tangelder, R., and Kerkhoff, H.G. (2000, January 13). Computer-aided test flow in core-based design. Proceedings of the International Conference on Microelectronics, Washington, DC, USA.
35. Li, D., and He, W. (2015, January 6–9). Journey into filter cakes: A microstructural study. Proceedings of the International Petroleum Technology Conference, Doha, Qatar.
36. Green, J., Cameron, J., Patey, I., Nagassar, V., and Quine, M. (2013, January 5–7). Use of micro-CT scanning visualisations to improve interpretation of formation damage laboratory tests, including a case study from the South Morecambe Field. Proceedings of the SPE European Formation Damage Conference & Exhibition, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.10.2118/165110-MS ↗
37. Okabe, H., Tsuchiya, Y., Pentland, C.H., Iglauer, S., and Blunt, M.J. (2013). Residual CO2 saturation distributions in rock samples measured by X-ray CT. Advances in Computed Tomography for Geomaterials: GeoX 2010, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118557723.ch45 ↗
38. Ahmed, K., Ferdous, H., Jain, A.K., Ahmad, F., Golab, A., Deakin, L., Young, B., and Mascini, A. (2017, January 15–16). Characterizing unconsolidated heavy oil sands using cryogenic microCT—A pilot study from Kuwait. Proceedings of the SPE Canada Heavy Oil Technical Conference, Calgary, AB, Canada.10.2118/184979-MS ↗
39. Jafari, S.M. (2020). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of nanoencapsulated food ingredients. Characterization of Nanoencapsulated Food Ingredients, Academic Press.
40. Williams, D.B., and Carter, C.B. (2009). Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science, Springer. [2nd ed.].10.1007/978-0-387-76501-3 ↗
41. Development of acid nanocapsules with tailored breaking reservoir temperature for the removal of formation damage by fines migration10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c00544 ↗
42. Scanning electron microscopy: A review and report of research in wood science
43. Byrne, M.T., Spark, I.S.C., Patey, I.T.M., and Twynam, A.J. (2000, January 23–24). A laboratory drilling mud overbalance formation damage study utilising cryogenic SEM techniques. Proceedings of the SPE International Symposium on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, LA, USA.10.2523/58738-MS ↗
44. Huggett, J.M. (1990). Scanning electron microscopy in the petroleum exploration industry. Advances in Electronics & Electron Physics, Academic Press.10.1016/S0065-2539(08)60589-2 ↗
45. Pore-scale imaging and modelling10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.03.003 ↗
46. Pore-scale analysis of formation damage in Bentheimer sandstone with in-situ NMR and micro-computed tomography experiments10.1016/j.petrol.2015.01.018 ↗
47. Performance evaluation of polymer nanolatex particles as fluid loss control additive in water-based drilling fluids10.1016/j.geoen.2023.211462 ↗
48. Ikram, R., Jan, B.M., Ahmad, W., Sidek, A., Khan, M., and Kenanakis, G. (2022). Rheological investigation of welding waste-derived graphene oxide in water-based drilling fluids. Materials, 15.10.3390/ma15228266 ↗
49. Koroncz, P., Vizhányó, Z., Farkas, M.P., Kuncz, M., Ács, P., Kocsis, G., Mucsi, P., Szász, A.F., Fedor, F., and Kovács, J. (2022). Experimental rock characterisation of Upper Pannonian sandstones from Szentes Geothermal Field, Hungary. Energies, 15.10.3390/en15239136 ↗
50. Investigation of formation damage by deep eutectic solvents as new EOR agents10.1016/j.petrol.2015.02.035 ↗
51. Laboratory studies of formation damage in sands containing clays10.2118/1162-G ↗
52. Formation permeability damage induced by completion brines10.2118/17149-PA ↗
53. Reservoir characterization of the Pliocene Red Series, Lam Field and surrounding areas, offshore western Turkmenistan10.1111/jpg.12831 ↗
54. Quantitative investigation of water sensitivity and water locking damages on a low-permeability reservoir using the core flooding experiment and NMR test10.1021/acsomega.1c06293 ↗
55. High pressure-elevated temperature x-ray micro-computed tomography for subsurface applications10.1016/j.cis.2017.12.009 ↗
56. Computed tomography in petroleum engineering research10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.215.01.03 ↗
57. Visualization of three phases in porous media using micro computed tomography
58. Grove, B., Grader, A., Derzhi, N., and McGregor, J. (2019, January 18–21). Perforation damage, cleanup, and inflow performance: Advances in diagnostics and characterization. Proceedings of the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain.10.2118/195019-MS ↗
59. Yonebayashi, H., Uetani, T., and Kaido, H. (2018, January 26–28). Higher-resolution monitoring of saturation distribution in carbonate plug core by micro computed tomography technology—Proper core restoration for EOR laboratory experiments. Proceedings of the SPE EOR Conference at Oil and Gas West Asia, Muscat, Oman.10.2118/190366-MS ↗
60. X-ray computerized tomography10.2118/16983-PA ↗
61. Gilliland, R.E., and Coles, M.E. (1990, January 22–23). Use of CT scanning in the investigation of damage to unconsolidated cores. Proceedings of the SPE Formation Damage Control Symposium, Lafayette, LA, USA.10.2118/19408-MS ↗
62. Evaluating the damage caused by calcium sulfate scale precipitation during low- and high-salinity-water injection10.2118/164634-PA ↗
63. Study of formation damage caused by retention of bi-dispersed particles using combined pore-scale simulations and particle flooding experiments10.1016/j.petrol.2017.08.061 ↗
64. Image-based simulation of formation damage during suspension injection in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media: The impact of pore-scale characteristics on macroscopic properties10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106786 ↗
65. The effect of weighting agents on sandstone formation damage from water-based drilling fluids10.2118/210598-PA ↗
66. Reservoir damage mechanism for Upper Wuerhe Formation in Southern Mahu Area, Junggar Basin
67. The novel approach for the enhancement of rheological properties of water-based drilling fluids by using multi-walled carbon nanotube, nanosilica, and glass beads10.1016/j.petrol.2016.01.036 ↗
68. Experimental investigation on damage mechanism of guar gum fracturing fluid to low-permeability reservoir based on nuclear magnetic resonance10.1115/1.4039324 ↗
69. Surface enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation mechanisms and their significance in chemical engineering applications10.1016/j.coche.2019.03.010 ↗
70. Application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in coalbed methane and shale reservoirs: A review10.1016/j.coal.2019.103261 ↗
71. Petrophysical characterization of coals by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)10.1016/j.fuel.2009.11.005 ↗
72. Experimental investigation on aqueous phase migration in unconventional gas reservoir rock samples by nuclear magnetic resonance10.1016/j.jngse.2016.11.005 ↗
73. Permeability characterization and its correlation with pore microstructure of stress-sensitive tight sandstone: Take Chang 6 in Ordos Basin for example10.1155/2022/3334658 ↗
74. Evaluation of secondary formation damage caused by the interaction of chelated barite with formation rocks during filter cake removal10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106395 ↗
75. Skillman, H.F., Mcdonald, J.P., and Stiff, H.A. (1969). A Simple, Accurate, Fast Method for Calculating Calcium Sulfate Solubility in Oilfield Brine, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
76. A method for predicting the tendency of oil field waters to deposit calcium sulfate10.2118/130-G ↗
77. Mechanics of static and dynamic filtration in the borehole10.2118/491-PA ↗
78. Simplified calculation of CaCO3 saturation at high temperatures and pressures in brine solutions10.2118/10352-PA ↗
79. Yuan, M., and Todd, A.C. (1991, January 20–22). Prediction of sulfate scaling tendency in oilfield operations. Proceedings of the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Anaheim, CA, USA.
80. Why scale forms in the oil field and methods to predict it10.2118/21710-PA ↗
81. Reductions in the productivity of oil and low permeability gas reservoirs due to aqueous phase trapping10.2118/94-09-05 ↗
82. Evaluation of formation damage caused by drilling and completion fluids in horizontal wells10.2118/97-05-02 ↗
83. Yan, J., Jiang, G., Wang, F., Fan, W., and Su, C. (1996, January 18–20). Characterization and prevention of formation damage during horizontal drilling. Proceedings of the International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology, Calgary, AB, Canada.10.2118/37123-MS ↗
84. Using second-order fuzzy multi-objective comprehensive evaluation method to predict water lock damage in low permeability gas reservoirs
85. Application of the analytical hierarchy process to determining evaluation index weights for the prediction of reservoir damage
86. Jiao, D., and Sharma, M.M. (1993, January 3–6). Investigation of dynamic mud cake formation: The concept of minimum overbalance pressure. Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, TX, USA.10.2118/26323-MS ↗
87. Tovar, J.G., Martinez, A., Bockh, A., and Ford, M. (1994, January 27–29). Mud cake compressibility and mobility of fluid loss evaluation. Proceedings of the SPE Latin America/Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina.10.2118/26980-MS ↗
88. Civan, F. (1994, January 10–13). A multi-phase mud filtrate invasion and wellbore filter cake formation model. Proceedings of the International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition of Mexico, Veracruz, Mexico.10.2118/28709-MS ↗
89. Al Otaibi, M.B., Nasr-El-Din, H.A., and Hill, A.D. (2008, January 13–15). Characteristics and removal of filter cake formed by formate-based drilling mud. Proceedings of the SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, LA, USA.10.2118/112427-MS ↗
90. Constien, V.G. (2008, January 13–15). Evaluation of formation damage/completion impairment following dynamic filter-cake deposition on unconsolidated sand. Proceedings of the SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, LA, USA.10.2118/112497-MS ↗
91. Elkatatny, S.M., Mahmoud, M.A., and Nasr-El-Din, H.A. (2011, January 7–10). A new technique to characterize drilling fluid filter cake. Proceedings of the SPE European Formation Damage Conference, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.10.2118/144098-MS ↗
92. Salehi, S., Ghalambor, A., Saleh, F.K., Jabbari, H., and Hussmann, S. (2015, January 3–5). Study of filtrate and mud cake characterization in HPHT: Implications for formation damage control. Proceedings of the SPE European Formation Damage Conference and Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary.10.2118/174273-MS ↗
93. An integrated experimental approach to determination of clogging kinetics of porous media
94. Mechanical formation damage control in permeability Biot’s effective stress-sensitive oil reservoirs with source/sink term10.1016/j.petrol.2022.111180 ↗
95. Mathematical model and field application of aqueous phase trapping release
96. Richtmyer, R.D., and Morton, K.W. (1967). Difference Methods for Initial Value Problems, Wiley-Interscience.
97. Bathe, K.-J. (2006). Finite Element Procedures, Klaus-Jürgen Bathe.
98. Cook, R.D., and Saunders, H. (1974). Concepts and Applications of Finite Element Analysis, Wiley. [2nd ed.].
99. A stable hybrid method for hyperbolic problems10.1016/j.jcp.2005.07.008 ↗
100. Bottero, S., Picioreanu, C., Enzien, M., van Loosdrecht, M.C., Bruining, H., and Heimovaara, T. (2010, January 10–12). Formation damage and impact on gas flow caused by biofilms growing within proppant packing used in hydraulic fracturing. Proceedings of the SPE International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, LA, USA.10.2118/128066-MS ↗