Cordax LWT Panning for Bakken Gold at the WBPC 2012 in North Dakota

With the recent success continuing to drive interest in the Bakken formation in the Williston Basin this year's conference theme of "Bakken Gold" is quite appropriate. The "Bakken Gold" rush has been driving the industry activity to record levels in North America without any signs of letting off the gas. This week's North Dakota rig count is at a staggering 197, up 22% from last year's count of 162.

Of the 197 rigs drilling, the majority are horizontal wells. Current production for North Dakota are 395 to 425,000 bbl/day range and will continue to increase with the current drilling activity and the new exploration horizons such as the "Tyler formation."

With the surge in activity levels there is a dedicated session for Emerging Bakken Technologies at this year's Williston Basin Petroleum Conference. Cordax LWT Inc has been invited to introduce our technology specializing in horizontal well logging, and will also have an exhibit booth at the conference.

Stop by booth #11 at WBPC 2012.

Logging Horizontal Wells – The Game is Changing

Canada and the United States are leaders in best practices of designing and innovating horizontal well technology. Horizontal wells now account for a large portion of all wells drilled in both countries. One best practice often neglected by some oil/gas companies is logging horizontal wells.

New Approach to Horizontal Wells

The long period when horizontal wells were considered a ‘last resort’ is underlined by the under-development of logging systems and interpretation for horizontal wells. The methods available have lagged behind the advanced interpretative techniques developed for vertical wells, but this situation is changing. Research and development programs are at the forefront to yield new approaches to log analysis in horizontal wells.

New logging methods that have emerged as horizontal wells become standard practice are:

• Logging While Tripping (LWT)

• Pipe Conveyed Logging (PCL)

• Shuttle/Garage System

• Logging While Drilling (LWD)

Each system produces similar results in that logging data is the final product, though there is some variance on the delivery methods.

Benefits of logging the horizontal sections:

• Recognition of changing reservoir quality such as porosity or fluid content

• Measurements of resistivity with minimum invasion

• Revealing faults early enough to react to potential problems

• Detection of fluid boundaries

• Replacement of pilot holes

• Frack and completion optimization

• Mapping of sweet spots

Still Not Convinced?

All of the above mentioned has the potential to make or break a well. While logging waivers may seem like the easy way out and may potentially save minor costs on the overall AFE, the overall benefits from the potential missed information could affect the final oil/gas production of that well. The lack of data could also affect future well placements and missed opportunities on lucrative land sales.

So when it comes to your conventional thinking on logging horizontal wells, turn your ideas sideways and think horizontal!

VP of Exploration: 3 Ideas to Reduce AFE by Benchmarking the Bakken!

Horizontal wells continue to increase well costs! According to the Daily Oil Bulletin, the first three months of 2011 required more days to drill a well in Western Canada compared to any other winter since 1990. 

Despite the efficiencies gained from modern drilling rigs, the increased cost arises from:

• Complex well geometries

• Greater lengths and depths

• Increased fracture/treatment intervals

Due to these factors, Canada’s contractors required more days drilled, resulting in an increase of 27% from the same time the previous year. This was the highest level since the boom in the winter of 2006, when the industry activity spiked with abnormally high natural gas prices. 

In the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB):

• Average well took on average 12.6 days to drill

• Deeper parts of the WCSB average more than 25.0 days

• Wells averaged 2,011 meters during the first quarter of 2012, up from 1,717 meters in the first quarter of 2011

A case example to combat these rising costs is found in the Canadian Bakken formation. It is shallower and thinner than its American cousin in North Dakota. Drilling time and multi-staged fracturing has to be monitored closely.

However, modern technology has alleviated some of the escalating well costs in this area by:

• Multiple well pads offer a smaller surface footprint accessing multiple bottom hole locations

• Utilizing Rotary Steerable Technology keeps the horizontal well in the target formation

• Horizontal Formation Evaluation is used to optimize fracture location/size

Can You Save $80k by Optimizing Your Next Horizontal Well?

When in the context of a horizontal well and the investments made throughout the start to finishing process, saving any amount of rig time will instantly decrease the bottom line costs. As a VP of Exploration, horizontal drilling is a huge investment with many risks, so why not look for getting the most bang for your buck during the operation.

Most horizontal drilling operations, during the timeline of spud to completion tend to:

• Cause your company nuisances with the rig time they consume

• Are attached with what seems to be an inflated costs to get to the production stage

A few points to consider

If the option to get a logging waiver from the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) arises, most companies might think this is a huge incentive and will end up saving them money, but

• A geologist can take the guess work out of future growth opportunities for your next horizontal well

• A geologist can verify if he has gotten actual cuttings from the drilling operation and not caving from formations higher up

• Fracture stages can be minimized

• Fracturing in an unrecognized fault may cause a term called “watering out your hole”, which will reduce the production amount of hydrocarbons

For the fracking process alone, each stage is a costly process at $80,000 a pop. With placing a dollar figure on only one aspect of the completions operation we can see how these costly processes can be a waste if that area of the formation turned out to be toed in or out of the required fracture formation. In addition to fracking into a fault, which was described earlier as “watering out your hole”, this could very well be the answer to why some wells are producing more or less hydrocarbons even though they are drilling through the same formation.

How to use formation evaluation data to your benefit:

Formation evaluation may very well end up saving you bottom line costs in the long run by:

• Optimizing the completion stages of your well

• Providing accurate data for the geologists for future growth opportunities in that same formation or field

Bottom line: Formation evaluation typically costs less than one frack stage alone; see for yourself with a formation evaluation quote.

Determining Formation Water Saturation from Open Hole Logs

Water saturation in a formation can be calculated by using the correct variables inserted into Archie’s equation. It is understandable how the typical way has grown to simply estimate water saturation using an offset well to determine that particular formations wetness, but by using this formula on your particular application you are able to verify this formation wetness for your specific well. The variables required to use Archie’s Equation can be found using open hole logging tools such as Density and Neutron Porosity, Resistivity in conjunction with the known formation water Resistivity for that formation, which is tabulated in Rw Catalogs available with CWLS.

The porosity variable is found using two methods depending if you in gas or oil-bearing zone.

For an oil bearing zone: 

For a gas bearing zone: 

Why would we want to know the true amount of water saturation in your particular formation?

When determining the type of porosity in a given formation we know this porosity can be made up of two things, water or hydrocarbons. With finding out the amount that is water we then can determine the ratio of water to hydrocarbon saturation which is as simple as 1-Sw.

Some typical cut-offs for economically producible hydrocarbons depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to bed thickness, permeability, reserve capacity, depletion rates, market price of hydrocarbons at that time, production costs and of course local history.

General rule of thumb as the possible cut-offs depend on the regional characteristics. After a calculation is complete the following can be used as a rough guideline as to if that formation is considered “wet”, simply too much water, or having the capability to be your next pot of gold.

Cordax at AAPG 2012

It's time for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 2012 Annual Convention & Exhibition. ACE will be held 22-25 April 2012 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California, under the theme Directing the Future of E&P: Starring Creative Ideas and New Technology.

In keeping with the theme, Cordax will be exhibiting our innovative technology to the U.S. market place.  With having just recently opened a base in Bismarck, ND, the AAPG Annual Conference is the perfect place to introduce our services to the Geoscience Community.  Please stop by our booth, #1603, to find out how we can reduce open-hole logging risk, reduce rig time, and reduce cost on your next well.

We look forward to seeing you there!

North Dakota Oil Output at Record High

Crude oil output in North Dakota reached record levels in February as a mild winter boosted drilling activity in the Bakken Shale play. The play consists of the Three Forks formation and the Bakken formation. These production numbers are slowly creeping up to Alaska's 612,000 bpd (barrels per day), making North Dakota the third largest oil producer in the United States behind Alaska and Texas.

Here are the actual output numbers:

• Total Output for North Dakota = 558,000 bpd

• Bakken Formation = 494,000 bpd

The boom in North Dakota has unleashed furious activity in the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies. Cordax has just opened up a brand new base in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) is a patented formation evaluation technique in which quality open hole logs are acquired in a method that is more cost effective, uses less rig time, and has fewer inherent risks than wireline, drill pipe conveyed, shuttle, or logging-while-drilling methods.