In a heterogeneous and fractured carbonate hard rock with UCS more than 15K psi, drilling a highly deviated well is a challenging process that would require real time monitoring, using best in class MWD and LWD technology. A client in South Oman is in a development phase of drilling 1000m lateral wells to maximize the exposure for optimum oil production. The carbonate formation is characterized as heterogeneous vuggy dolomites with a network of regional fractures acting as the secondary source of porosity. The thin reservoir is isolated by thick layer or Anhydrites above and Shale formation below & managing geological uncertainties in real time is going to be the differentiator between success and failure. A combination of hybrid RSS to manage aggressive steering requirements along with distance to boundary imaging LWD tool to identify the bed boundaries & keep the well on course along with an azimuthal resistivity ultra-high imaging for reservoir characterization were deployed to overcome these challenges. The proposed solution was put into challenge on well X for drilling 5.87in lateral section and 1000 m lateral was successfully drilled. Hybrid RSS with aggressive bend setting helped in geo-steering the well and managed to achieve directional objectives to chase the geological uncertainties. After confirming the formation dip the well was steered 6to 7ft from the bottom conductive layer with the help of distance to boundary resistivity imaging tool. Real-Time High-Definitionazimuthalresistivity images helped in petrophysical interpretation and formation evaluation. Later, better density memory imaging data helped in evaluation of full borehole structural features and detailed fracture characterization. Hybrid rotary steerable systems along with best in class LWD tools provide purpose to fit solution to drill and geo-steered well in the optimum place. Success of this combination has eliminated the risk of exiting the reservoir leading to costly sidetrack scenario. At the same time, it has also helped the client to optimize production by geo-steering the well in the high porosity sweet spot and by Identifying regional fractures. Developing deep, hard and heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs is a complex and challenging affair and a conventional approach to overcome these challenges is not always producing the best results. A novel approach with the help of advanced rotary steerable and logging while drilling tools helped client in developing the field by minimizing the risks and maximizing the best reservoir exposure characterized, as the well are drilled.
Drilling long laterals within Shuaiba limestone reservoir without exit to Nahr-Umar shale in the challenging field "B" that is characterized by geological uncertainty can have major risks. The low to very low resistivity environment reservoirs are common in Oman especially while placing wells nearby OWC; on a reservoir spot window of 1-2m TVD only. The main objective is to place the well less than 1m TVD below the reservoir top, this was achieved by utilizing Multilayer Bed Boundary Detection and Rotary Steerable System. Integrating propagation resistivity curves response with the directional resistivity curves response from Bed Boundary detection tool have been used as a guide for an optimal well placement in low resistivity reservoir, along with Rotary Steerable System are one of the best strategies which have been used to place the wells within the right spot. For tight geosteering window with an aggressive formation tendency pushing the azimuth left or right and continues inclination instability associated with the existence of an interbedded layers of hard streaks within the reservoir, a faster and more competent Rotary Steerable System tool and Bit selection is required, as proven it provides better stability results for achieving well placement objectives and respond in fast manner to geosteer in real time. The objective of this paper is to describe the geosteering logging while drilling (LWD) technology and technique and Rotary Steerable system (RSS).
Ultralow-resistivity reservoirs, common in Oman, are frequently encountered when drilling wells at the flank of an infill field with nearby oil/water contacts (OWC) in a reservoir sweet spot window of 1 to 2- m true stratigraphycal thickness (TST). An integrated solution developed to better position the wells in this type of reservoir has resulted in successful cases on net-to-gross (NTG), which exceeded expectations in terms of wells production and well deliveries. Integrating resistivity propagation curves response with directional resistivity curves (distance- to- boundary curves) response allows for optimizing well placement and assists in determining the best approach of well objective during drilling. Once drilling the lateral section began, a careful evaluation of the distance-to-boundary service tool inversion and directional measurements were performed in addition to conventional resistivity curves evaluation. This procedure ensured accurate placement of the well; thereby, avoiding water contact. Drilling optimization in long lateral sections has been carried out by optimizing bottom hole assembly (BHA) design, bit selection, and drilling parameters, taking geo-mechanics and geological uncertainty factors into consideration.
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