Oil and Gas

Tracer Technology

The Tracer Technology section's main activities are:

  •  Development of tracer methods for application in reservoir and well examinations for improved reservoir description and oil recovery and optimal production control.
  • Practical application of these methods as specialized services offered to the oil and service companies.
  • Application of radioactive tracer for process monitoring


New non-radioactive water and gas tracers

A new series of non-radioactive water and gas tracers has been developed at IFE, and these tracers have become standards in oil reservoir tracer technology. The main application areas are fluid flow mapping including: transit times, connections of fluid flows between wells, preferential flow directions, interlayer communication, sweep volumes and sweep efficiencies between injection and production wells. Other reservoir features that are studied by means of interwell tracer tests are: permeability stratification including barriers and fractures, residual oil saturation and effects of chemical reservoir treatment.

Well and near-well monitoring

Measurements of mudwater infiltration in wells or into core plugs during drilling, based on tracers as tritiated water (HTO), is one of our standard services offered to oil companies. Monitoring of cementing level and cement integrity during casing operations are likewise standard services. Determination of residual oil saturation in near well-bore regions is performed with innovative tracer push-and-pull methods.

Process monitoring

Tracers are applied to follow fluid distribution in process units. Radioactive tracers, emitting gamma radiation, are added to fluid streams and distribution of tracers is measured downstream. The retention time distribution (RTD) in different process branches can be used to analyse the efficiency of the process units.

Laboratory experimental equipment

Our laboratory is equipped with advanced tools for testing tracer compounds under realistic reservoir conditions such as: Various high-pressure and high-temperature flow rigs, geological matrices, fluid composition characterization equipment as well as nuclear detection and scanning equipment for application of nuclear analytical techniques like gamma transmission tomography, radioactive tracer distribution mapping and positron emission tomography.

Advanced analytical techniques

The section has developed the most advanced analytical laboratory methods for determination of the tracers in all types of reservoir fluids. Typical instrumental methods are: HPLC, GC connected to ECD detectors, GC/MS, low background liquid scintillation beta spectrometry, low level gamma spectrometry and neutron activation of small representative samples in IFE´s JEEP II reactor.  A continuous development program is running to ensure the lowest available detection limits for the tracers.

Multi-client research

Multi-client research programmes on development of new tracers are carried out in our laboratory and normally finalised by field pilot qualification tests in co-operation with oil companies. The section is currently running a multi-client R&D program called ResTrac. The objective is to develop tracer technology to meet the new challenges with respect to advanced well technology and to ensure that environmental friendly tracers will be available for the future. 

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