Selection of Logging-While-Drilling Measurements for Geosteering of Horizontal Wells in Unconventional Reservoirs

Author(s):  
Joseph Gremillion ◽  
Mike Flowers ◽  
Nicholas Tvrdy ◽  
Michael Okoro ◽  
Zachary Newnam
Author(s):  
V.Yu. Nikulin ◽  
◽  
T.E. Nigmatullin ◽  
A.G. Mikhailov ◽  
R.R. Mukminov ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Matthew Blyth ◽  
◽  
Naoki Sakiyama ◽  
Hiroshi Hori ◽  
Hiroaki Yamamoto ◽  
...  

A new logging-while-drilling (LWD) acoustic tool has been developed with novel ultrasonic pitch-catch and pulse-echo technologies. The tool enables both high-resolution slowness and reflectivity images, which cannot be addressed with conventional acoustic logging. Measuring formation elastic-wave properties in complex, finely layered formations is routinely attempted with sonic tools that measure slowness over a receiver array with a length of 2 ft or more depending upon the tool design. These apertures lead to processing results with similar vertical resolutions, obscuring the true slowness of any layering occurring at a finer scale. If any of these layers present significantly different elastic-wave properties than the surrounding rock, then they can play a major role in both wellbore stability and hydraulic fracturing but can be absent from geomechanical models built on routine sonic measurements. Conventional sonic tools operate in the 0.1- to 20-kHz frequency range and can deliver slowness information with approximately 1 ft or more depth of investigation. This is sufficient to investigate the far-field slowness values but makes it very challenging to evaluate the near-wellbore region where tectonic stress redistribution causes pronounced azimuthal slowness variation. This stress-induced slowness variation is important because it is also a key driver of wellbore geomechanics. Moreover, in the presence of highly laminated formations, there can be a significant azimuthal variation of slowness due to layering that is often beyond the resolution of conventional sonic tools due to their operating frequency. Finally, in horizontal wells, multiple layer slownesses are being measured simultaneously because of the depth of investigation of conventional sonic tools. This can cause significant interpretational challenges. To address these challenges, an entirely new design approach was needed. The novel pitch-catch technology operates over a wide frequency range centered at 250 kHz and contains an array of receivers having a 2-in. receiver aperture. The use of dual ultrasonic technology allows the measurement of high-resolution slowness data azimuthally as well as reflectivity and caliper images. The new LWD tool was run in both vertical and horizontal wells and directly compared with both wireline sonic and imaging tools. The inch-scale slownesses obtained show characteristic features that clearly correlate to the formation lithology and structure indicated by the images. These features are completely absent from the conventional sonic data due to its comparatively lower vertical resolution. Slowness images from the tool reflect the formation elastic-wave properties at a fine scale and show dips and lithological variations that are complementary to the data from the pulse-echo images. The physics of the measurement are discussed, along with its ability to measure near-wellbore slowness, elastic-wave properties, and stress variations. Additionally, the effect of the stress-induced, near-wellbore features seen in the slowness images and the pulse-echo images is discussed with the wireline dipole shear anisotropy processing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-657
Author(s):  
Zhen-Guan Wu ◽  
Shao-Gui Deng ◽  
Xu-Quan He ◽  
Runren Zhang ◽  
Yi-Ren Fan ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 070-082 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Ogunyomi ◽  
T. W. Patzek ◽  
L. W. Lake ◽  
C. S. Kabir

Summary Production data from most fractured horizontal wells in gas and liquid-rich unconventional reservoirs plot as straight lines with a one-half slope on a log-log plot of rate vs. time. This production signature (half-slope) is identical to that expected from a 1D linear flow from reservoir matrix to the fracture face, when production occurs at constant bottomhole pressure. In addition, microseismic data obtained around these fractured wells suggest that an area of enhanced permeability is developed around the horizontal well, and outside this region is an undisturbed part of the reservoir with low permeability. On the basis of these observations, geoscientists have, in general, adopted the conceptual double-porosity model in modeling production from fractured horizontal wells in unconventional reservoirs. The analytical solution to this mathematical model exists in Laplace space, but it cannot be inverted back to real-time space without use of a numerical inversion algorithm. We present a new approximate analytical solution to the double-porosity model in real-time space and its use in modeling and forecasting production from unconventional oil reservoirs. The first step in developing the approximate solution was to convert the systems of partial-differential equations (PDEs) for the double-porosity model into a system of ordinary-differential equations (ODEs). After which, we developed a function that gives the relationship between the average pressures in the high- and the low-permeability regions. With this relationship, the system of ODEs was solved and used to obtain a rate/time function that one can use to predict oil production from unconventional reservoirs. The approximate solution was validated with numerical reservoir simulation. We then performed a sensitivity analysis on the model parameters to understand how the model behaves. After the model was validated and tested, we applied it to field-production data by partially history matching and forecasting the expected ultimate recovery (EUR). The rate/time function fits production data and also yields realistic estimates of ultimate oil recovery. We also investigated the existence of any correlation between the model-derived parameters and available reservoir and well-completion parameters.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4202
Author(s):  
Qihong Feng ◽  
Jiawei Ren ◽  
Xianmin Zhang ◽  
Xianjun Wang ◽  
Sen Wang ◽  
...  

Refracturing technology is one of the key technologies to recover the productivity of horizontal wells in tight oil reservoirs, and the selection of best candidate wells from target blocks is the basis of this technology. Based on the refracturing production database, this paper analyzes the direct relationship between geological data, initial fracturing completion data, and dynamic production data, and the stimulation effect of refracturing. Considering the interaction among multiple factors, the factors affecting the stimulation effect of refracturing are classified and integrated, and a comprehensive index including geology, engineering, and production is constructed, making this index meaningful both for physical and engineering properties. The XGBoost decision tree model is established to analyze the weight of influence for the comprehensive index of geology, engineering, and production in predicting the stimulation effect of refracturing. A comprehensive decision index of refracturing well selection is formed by combining the above three for performing a fast selection of horizontal candidate wells for fracturing. Taking a horizontal well test area in Songliao Basin as an example, the target wells of refracturing are selected by this method, and field operation is carried out, and a good stimulation effect is achieved. The results show that the comprehensive decision-making index constructed by this method is reliable and has certain guiding significance for well selection and stimulation potential evaluation of tight oil reservoir.


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