Current status and development trends of efficient oil production testing technology

Oil production testing is a critical tool to understand reservoir properties and well producibility. The development of oil production testing technology in China has mainly gone through three phases: conventional oil production testing phase, oil production testing phase, and integrated oil production testing phase. Currently, domestic and overseas oilfields are still adopting the traditional oil production testing method, which contains plenty of repetitive processes that cost longer operating time, higher operating cost, formation damage caused by excessive high-density fluid, and many other shortcomings. Also, the difficulties of oil production testing in the deep and ultra-deep well under HPHT conditions are significant. Analyzing the development trend of oil production testing, there are two main topics identified: oil production testing for separated layer via one trip string and Pad-free oil production testing method. The oil production testing for separated layer via one trip string was developed for testing formations where lamination and thin layers are presented and causing interference among the testing layers. The Pad-free oil production testing methodology was developed for testing wells that fail to obtain reservoir fluid properties due to the formation damage caused by a high fluid density pad. This paper is aiming to summarize and analyze the most advanced oil production testing technology worldwide and innovations had been made to the oil production testing field, hopefully inspired researchers to develop possible future uses and further improvements in efficiency. Facing the challenges of low gas prices, only continuous innovation in technology and the upgradation of tools and equipment can achieve the goal of improving quality and increasing efficiency.