Speaker

Lawrence Camilleri (President, Camilleri & Associates) founded his consultancy in 2021, specialising in helping operators improve business results through pragmatic production optimisation — or as he puts it, "completing and operating winning wells." He has published 23 SPE conference papers on ESP operations, inflow characterisation, and advanced completions. Over 42 years, he has held positions ranging from field engineer to Global Artificial Lift Domain Head at SLB (Schlumberger). He was recognised as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2019 and SPE Living Legend in 2024.

Talk Description

Pressure transient analysis (PTA) is one of the most powerful tools available for inflow characterisation — it provides a physics-based measurement of mobility, skin, fracture properties, pore volume (PV) boundary conditions, and pore volume. These are the attributes required to diagnose underproduction, identify stimulation candidates, optimise waterflood conformance, and manage drawdown. The problem is that PTA has historically required shut-in buildups, which means deferred production, downhole shut-in tools, and results that arrive weeks or months late.

This talk makes the case that PTA in drawdown has matured into a practical, field-ready technique. Using high-frequency downhole rate data from ESP gauges (and increasingly from other sources), it is now possible to deliver full inflow characterisation within days of a workover — with no shut-in, no extra hardware at the wellsite, and no prior production history.

Lawrence will walk through case studies from conventional waterfloods and unconventional Multi-Fractured Horizontal Wells (MFHW), covering real-world complications that engineers deal with daily: wellbore slugging, crossflow between layers, saturated conditions, and changing compressibility. He will show how time-lapsed PTA tracks reservoir behaviour across the full well life and how combining PTA with rate transient analysis (RTA) enhances pore volume and early EUR estimates. The session will also provide a case study of how regular PV measurement in geological basin can be used as indicator of blocked laterals.

The presentation closes with a look at the economic and environmental payoff: what reducing skin or detecting missing pressure support actually means for NPV, EUR, and CO₂ footprint.

What you will leave with (our promise):

• A clear understanding of when and why drawdown PTA works — and its practical limits.

• How to handle real-world noise: slugging, variable rates, and saturated conditions.

• Why skin measurement is independent of absolute rate accuracy (only the trend matters).

• How to combine PTA and RTA for pore volume, EUR, and blocked-lateral detection.

• A practical framework for rapid post-workover inflow characterisation without production deferment.

Network outcome: Join us after the talk for an informal networking session, sponsored by Camilleri & Associates. A great opportunity to continue the conversation, exchange ideas with peers, and connect with fellow professionals over drinks and snacks — just steps away from the venue.