yorick: conditioning the hole dont be humiliated

Anyone bother to look up ''conditioning the hole'' or better still does anyone know what it means? acc to schlumberger I don't think it is good at all.regards
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Yorick,
Don´t feel humiliated but read on as conditioning a well before sampling is almost always necessary.

“Conditioning a well before sampling is almost always necessary. Initial well testing or normal production operations often result in the fluid near the wellbore having a composition which has been altered from that of the original reservoir fluid (for reasons described later). The objective of conditioning the well is to remove this altered (non-representative) fluid. Well conditioning consists of producing the well at a rate which will move the altered fluid into the wellbore and allow it to be replaced by unaltered (representative) fluid flowing in from further out in the reservoir. Well conditioning is especially important when the reservoir fluid is at or near its saturation pressure at the prevailing reservoir conditions because reduction in pressure near the wellbore, which inevitably occurs from producing the well, will alter the composition of the fluid flowing into the wellbore. The types of problems which can be encountered in conditioning a well, and methods for their control are discussed.

Forms for recording the data obtained during well conditioning and sampling operations are included in this document. These data furnish a history of the sampling operation, provide complete identification of the samples, and aid in interpreting the results of the laboratory examination of the samples. The use of these forms (or equivalent computer based information) encourages the collection and reporting of all essential data.

The development of modern electronic flow metering allows flow rate data to be collected and recorded very rapidly in