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Following hydrocarbon migration and accumulation, reservoirs continue to undergo diagenetic and tectonic alterations, including faulting, fault healing, compartmentalization, and fluid segregation. Naturally, reservoir structure and geometry tend to be complex, but this is to be contrasted by the physics of gravity-induced fluid segregation. That is, in a connected reservoir, separation of fluids resulting from buoyancy leads to simplicity in the understanding of fluid contacts. Conversely, delineation of fluid contacts and pressure measurements allow us to infer reservoir continuity and extent, especially when data from multiple wells are jointly analyzed.

The early wireline formation testers (WFTs) provided two basic services: (1) measuring formation pressure at different depths, followed by fluid sampling adjacent to the wellbore; and (2) providing a measure of mobility (the ratio of permeability to viscosity) of the mud-filtrate-invaded zone along the wellbore. Today’s WFTs have additional functionality with added flexibility, improved precision and accuracy, and integrated fluid analysis. Because of multiprobe geometry, WFTs may be used for interference testing and for delivering zonal or scaled horizontal and vertical permeability. The modern tools also are modular so that functionalities may be stacked. Rapid native fluid sampling is now possible through advanced probe and packer configurations. Fluid analysis may be added for an in situ understanding of composition.

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