American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 65

SpecialReport: Drilling Technology
The red flags in Figure 4 indicate natural open fractures and green flags denote
microfracture zones. Open fracture flags
were plotted with increasing density on
a scale of one to five from the bottom to
the top of the fractures at a given depth
interval. Mud volume losses estimate the
volume of mud lost in the pore spaces of
the formation when a fracture is identified.
The larger the loss, the larger the size of
the fracture. An increase in the presence
of mud gas matches with the identification
of open fractures and microfracture zones.
The transformation of rock properties
is clearly indicated by the changing trend
in the XRF elemental analysis. XRF calcium (Ca) content indicates fractures in
the presence of carbonates (blue box
areas), while strontium (Sr) and magnesium
(Mg) are used as proxies to identify fractures in carbonate and dolomitic rocks
(brown box areas), respectively, as well
as to identify potential diagenesis. The
green box areas indicate fractures detected
in transition zones with neither higher
calcium nor magnesium content.
Zirconium (Zr) was used as a proxy
for siliceous content in the rocks. Increased
zirconium at the landing point of the lateral, as well as toward the toe-end of the
lateral, indicates sandy/silty zones in a
fractured formation. AFA identified multiple fractures throughout the formation,
which could also be correlated with the
presence of helium. It is likely that helium
is trapped within the available pore spaces
and seems to have been released while
the rock was being drilled, consequently
indicating localized seals in porous zones.
The increase in magnesium content,
indicating dolomitic properties of the
rock, further confirms this theory. AFA
identified fractures with relatively large
volume losses every time the dolomitic
content increased, indicating potentially
large-aperture fractures as well as interim
total mud loss at high flow rates.

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for this spring and summer.

Optimized Bit Runs
The drilling team was able to further
push the boundaries of conventional surface
logging by utilizing real-time alkenes detection and analysis to optimize bit runs.
Since the field supervisor no longer had
to rely on just traditional offset bit run
data, he could track the generation of
alkenes in the drilling mud continuously.
In conjunction with penetration rate, weight
on bit, torque, cuttings and XRF rock
properties analysis, incorporating realtime streaming of this gas parameter optimized the bit run. The geosteering team
was kept abreast of formation changes,
especially abrasive siliceous content in
the formation, to proactively steer away
from these formations to prolong the life
of the bit and the overall bit run while
staying in the target zone.
The first bit drilled with a lower ROP
and increasing quantity of alkenes in the
background for a prolonged duration.
When the bit was pulled to surface for a
replacement, the driller determined that
it was worn and damaged beyond repair.
The subsequent bit run drilled with an
optimized penetration rate and the gradual
TROY TITTLEMIER is an asset geologist at Trey Resources Inc. in Midland.
His responsibilities include optimizing
assets by characterizing reservoir targets,
conducting well site geology from conception to completion, geosteering horizontal wells and conducting exploration
geology for acquisition opportunities.
While at Trey Resources as data manager
and geological technician, Tittlemier
was also an adjunct professor at the
University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
He holds a B.S. in geology from California Lutheran University and an M.S.
in geology from the University of Texas
of the Permian Basin.
JOHN SPEIGHT is exploration man-

ager at Trey Resources. He joined the
company in 2011, and his responsibilities
include overseeing all aspects of the
geosciences conducted within Trey Resources and conducting technical analysis of all potential deals. Speight has
significant experience in the reservoir
characterization of multiple unconventional horizontal resource plays in the
lower-48.
CHARLES HAGER is vice president
of engineering at Trey Resources. With

increase in alkenes were actively tracked.
The second bit was pulled in a repairable
condition and with nominal wear. This
technology adds a valuable component
in the decision making process, helping
the drilling team reach a decision whether
to either continue drilling ahead or pull
the assembly to change bit.
As this case study demonstrates, advanced surface logging technologies can
provide high-quality data to characterize
reservoir source rocks and fluids in near
real time at the well site while drilling to
assist in formation evaluation and provide
valuable inputs to drilling, completions,
production and future well planning. ❒
Editor's Note: The co-authors acknowledge Barzin Chiniwala and Alberto
Martocchia at GEOLOG Surface Logging
for their technical contributions to the
integrated reservoir characterization project
in the southern Delaware Basin. For more
information on the project, see URTeC
2902718, a paper prepared for presentation
at the 2018 Unconventional Resources
Technology Conference, held July 23-25
in Houston.
nearly three decades of industry experience, he has developed and licensed
novel technologies in rate transient
analysis and generating synthetic sonic
shear through geomechanical relationships. Hager began his career in Amoco's
research center and subsequently served
as senior reservoir engineer at Enron
Oil & Gas, reservoir engineering manager at Tom Brown Inc., consulting adviser for special projects and technology
development at NSI Technologies, and
technical adviser at Range Resources.
He holds a B.S. in petroleum engineering
from the University of Alabama.
ISAAC EASOW is advanced technologies champion at GEOLOG International in Houston. With almost 25
years of industry experience, he provides
real-time interpretation support for the
company's unconventional and conventional reservoir characterization services
and is responsible for its formation
evaluation services. Before joined GEOLOG in 2014, Easow worked as a remote services support manager for a
multinational mud logging company,
focused on interpretation and operations
support. He holds an M.S. in geology
from the University of Mumbai.
APRIL 2019 65

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019

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