Jan. 24, 2019
In today’s market, the spread cost for drilling operations—rig time, fuel, field salaries, associated rentals and services equipment—can be anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 a day.
Now, imagine if gathering your formation evaluation data took hours, not days.
Jan. 17, 2019
It’s about going to great lengths for the drilling and completions industry. In this case, world-class lengths.
In late November, in the Wattenberg gas field near Boulder, Colorado, Cordax Evaluation Technologies logged a 23,960-foot (measured depth) well for a Denver-based client, Great Western Oil & Gas Company.
Jan. 8, 2018
Information is king. And in the upstream energy sector, data simply dominates.
Next week, at Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser Hotel, Cordax Evaluation Technologies and Crescent Point Energy Corp. will be making a joint presentation on a multi-well collaboration in Saskatchewan that was based on Cordax’s proprietary Logging While Tripping (LWT) technology.
Dec. 6, 2018
It’s a place of courage, hope and new beginnings. And it’s a place where lives get rebuilt, one step at a time.
The Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre cares for the most vulnerable members of our society, and works with a network of agencies to end chronic homelessness in Calgary.
Nov. 29, 2018
Reliable data. Minimal risk. Virtually no extra rig time.
Those were the findings of a recently released Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) paper on Cordax’s proprietary Logging While Tripping (LWT) technology, whose case study focused on two ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) Onshore wells in Abu Dhabi.
Cordax will be exhibiting at the Annual Convention & Exhibition in Houston April 6-9th at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Stop by and we'll show you how to "Get Horizontal".
Send us an email and we'll get you set up with a complimentary exhibition floor pass.
The PRB has always been a hotbed for energy resources, mostly known for its abundant coal resources which supplies about forty percent of US coal. Associated with the coal is coal bed methane which has also been exploited making the basin one of the largest CH4 producers in the state. Oil activity is nothing new to the area either.
The basin is one of the richest petroleum provinces in the Rocky Mountains:
In about 700 fields since the discovery of the giant Salt Creek field in 1908 of which 225 are greater than 1 MMBOE in size:
More than 2.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil
And, over 2.3 TCF gas have been discovered
Exploration began in the late 1800's, with the first discovery in the Lower Cretaceous Newcastle Sandstone on the east flank of the basin
The basin has been through many booms, and is experiencing one today thanks to advancements in technology. Technologies such as:
Better drillbits
Horizontal drilling technology
Increased seismic clarity
Fracking
Coupled together, these technologies have unlocked tight oil within the upper cretaceous rocks such as the Frontier Ss, Sussex Ss, Shannon Ss, Niobrara Fm and the MesaVerde Fm. Production has historically been split between structural and stratigraphic traps but the resurgence in the area has been focused on the later. The stratigraphically complex exploration targets, with multiple stacked reservoirs, reflect changes in the eustatic sea level and high variability in sediment supply. Deltaic shoreline variations, transgressions, regressions and tectonism created plays that demand attention to changes across the field, from well to well and within the lateral length of a single well.
Reservoir evaluation through logs are important to understand and account for these changes. Acquiring logs in horizontal wellbores has been costly and time consuming in the past but with new technology such as Cordax's LWT (logging while tripping) collecting data is safe and efficient.
The basin is one of the richest petroleum provinces in the Rocky Mountains:
In about 700 fields since the discovery of the giant Salt Creek field in 1908 of which 225 are greater than 1 MMBOE in size:
More than 2.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil
And, over 2.3 TCF gas have been discovered
Exploration began in the late 1800's, with the first discovery in the Lower Cretaceous Newcastle Sandstone on the east flank of the basin
The basin has been through many booms, and is experiencing one today thanks to advancements in technology. Technologies such as:
Better drillbits
Horizontal drilling technology
Increased seismic clarity
Fracking
Coupled together, these technologies have unlocked tight oil within the upper cretaceous rocks such as the Frontier Ss, Sussex Ss, Shannon Ss, Niobrara Fm and the MesaVerde Fm. Production has historically been split between structural and stratigraphic traps but the resurgence in the area has been focused on the later. The stratigraphically complex exploration targets, with multiple stacked reservoirs, reflect changes in the eustatic sea level and high variability in sediment supply. Deltaic shoreline variations, transgressions, regressions and tectonism created plays that demand attention to changes across the field, from well to well and within the lateral length of a single well.
Reservoir evaluation through logs are important to understand and account for these changes. Acquiring logs in horizontal wellbores has been costly and time consuming in the past but with new technology such as Cordax's LWT (logging while tripping) collecting data is safe and efficient.
As the drilling of deviated and horizontal well bores continues to rise, now well over 70% vs. vertical wells, operators are constantly dealing with Directional Surveys, new techniques for viewing well profiles, and some of the differences when looking at Measured Depth (MD) vs. True Vertical Depth (TVD).
As covered in a previous post, certain aspects remain the same when looking at MD vs. TVD, while others change drastically:
Logging Measurements remains
Depth measurements, no matter what well deviation, is key measurement and is typically displayed in both MD and TVD
If the depth of any data readings, cuttings, etc. are off it puts the entire well in jeopardy going forward
Operators Success changes
Success is now measured by Meters Drilled vs. Rig Count due to the extended reach HZ and $$’s spent on completions of these lengthy HZs rather than # of wells drilled
When comparing Measured Depth (MD) & True Vertical Depth (TVD) of a well, many different scenarios arise:
1. Increasing MD – Constant TVD:
Formation Temperatures remain stationary
Temperatures are relative to the temperature gradient
Formation Pressures can change
Requiring different completion strategies through different portions of the HZ well
Geological factors of a well can change slightly or even track outside the Zone of Interest (ZOI) completely
Making technologies such as directional drilling very important in the HZ
2. Increasing MD – Increasing/Decreasing TVD:
TVD adjustments while HZ drilling
Thin bed formations may require adjustments to stay in the ZOI
Toe Up/Down well design
Create a single liquid accumulation point at the Toe or Heel of a well
Determine thickness of the formation by touching into the adjacent bed at the end of the lateral
With these thin formations, and to gain some extra well information, to compare On-Site Geology cuttings, Cordax's Logging While Tripping system can go anywhere the drill bit can. Aspects such as tough-hole conditions and dogleg severity have no impact on data quality or well safety.
Named after the city of Three Forks, Montana, the Three Forks Group is a stratigraphic unit in the Williston Basin. Below the surface the Three Forks is referred to as the Three Forks Formation, and lies below the Bakken Formation and above the Birdbear Formation. Straddling 5 states/provinces, The Three Forks Group covers parts of Montana, North/South Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The Three Forks Formation dates back to the Devonian Era (419-358 million years ago), and is composed of dolomite, mudstone and bituminous shale. Ranging in thickness from 35m-80m (110ft-260ft), the Three Forks Formation has 4 different layers. Below is a cross-section illustrating the deposition and structure of the Bakken and Three Forks groups.
The uppermost Three Forks layer (Three Forks 1) is producing, while Three Forks 2, 3, and 4 are still largely exploratory. Average log porosity for Three Forks 1 has been calculated at 7.9% and shows low permeability.
Bakken and Three Forks well spuds hit a new high last year, with 747 well starts in the Williston Basin in the 3rd quarter of 2013. This accounted for more than 8% of the 9,175 wells that were spud in the U.S. The number of wells started per quarter was up nearly 50% over the previous 18 months, while the rig count had fallen by just over 10%. How can this be? Experience and pad drilling continue to drive development times down. By utilizing multi-well pad drilling, more wells are drilling using the same number of rigs. While at the same time, as more wells are drilled, engineers get more and more efficient with their drilling practices.
Not every well in the Williston Basin targets the Bakken and Three Forks, but estimates suggest that the plays account for more than 95% of the activity in the Williston Basin.
Oil production for the Three Forks is often included in production statistics with the overlying Bakken Formation. While masking the actual productivity of the Three Forks itself, the two formations together show massive recovery potential. On April 30, 2013 the United States Geological Survey (USGS) combined potential production estimates of The Three Forks and Bakken. The USGS estimates that using current technology, 7.4 billion barrels of oil, 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 530 million barrels of natural gas liquids can be recovered from the Bakken and Three Forks formations!!
Companies have been combining horizontal drilling with multi-stage fracture stimulation and longer laterals to yield better productivity from each well. Over the past few years the number of frac stages has dramatically increased. Only a few years ago the number of frac stages were much lower (single digits), but now they are commonly above thirty, and many above forty. This increases initial production rates but also increases the cost of drilling. If frac stages could be strategically positioned to target the absolute finest points within the lateral section, this could yield the best well performance. Configuring frac stages in a way that 1 or more could be eliminated would substantially drive completion costs down. The retrieval of formation evaluation data provides Completions Engineers with the information required to customize their completion program. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney Shale is presently being developed and produced by numerous operators. Improvements of technology available, most notably in horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracture stimulation have made substantial advancements in the exploitation of this play. Recently, Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. provided an operational update of their current Phase VI Glacier Development program. Results showed that a new Upper Montney well was recently completed with a 14 stage high rate slick water frac utilizing an open hole packer system. The new Upper Montney well was production tested for 71 hours. The final gas flow rate normalized to the gas gathering system is 21.2 mmcf/d, with an average pressure of 3,000 kpa.
Nearly 80% of NuVista’s 2013 capital budget was allocated to the Wapiti Montney play. Birchcliff Energy Ltd. had a 2013 budget including 25 Montney/Doig horizontal natural gas wells and one Montney/Doig vertical exploration well. Of Birchcliff’s 25 horizontal wells, 24 wells are targeting the Middle/Lower Montney Play and one well is targeting the Basal Doig/Upper Montney Play.
This is a snapshot of today's active rigs in the region where the Montney is typically the target formation.
The Montney Shale possesses many attractive characteristics for exploitation, such as:
Highly pressurized formation with significant natural gas reserves
High NGL content
Very high estimated recoveries
Sweet gas
Intermediate drilling depths
Rock that is fracture capable
Relatively flat declines when compared with other shale plays
Although the Montney is commonly referred to as a “Gas Shale”, it actually contains very little “true shale”. The reservoir sediment is of fine sand to silt in size, containing variably thick carbonate beds. The illustration below shows microphotos of 4 distinct facies in the Montney moving from west to east across west central Alberta. Porosity, grain size, saturation, and permeability vary considerably.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
To the right is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Although the Montney is commonly referred to as a “Gas Shale”, it actually contains very little “true shale”. The reservoir sediment is of fine sand to silt in size, containing variably thick carbonate beds. The illustration below shows microphotos of 4 distinct facies in the Montney moving from west to east across west central Alberta. Porosity, grain size, saturation, and permeability vary considerably.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Although the Montney is commonly referred to as a “Gas Shale”, it actually contains very little “true shale”. The reservoir sediment is of fine sand to silt in size, containing variably thick carbonate beds. The illustration below shows microphotos of 4 distinct facies in the Montney moving from west to east across west central Alberta. Porosity, grain size, saturation, and permeability vary considerably.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Nearly 80% of NuVista’s 2013 capital budget was allocated to the Wapiti Montney play. Birchcliff Energy Ltd. had a 2013 budget including 25 Montney/Doig horizontal natural gas wells and one Montney/Doig vertical exploration well. Of Birchcliff’s 25 horizontal wells, 24 wells are targeting the Middle/Lower Montney Play and one well is targeting the Basal Doig/Upper Montney Play.
This is a snapshot of today's active rigs in the region where the Montney is typically the target formation.
The Montney Shale possesses many attractive characteristics for exploitation, such as:
Highly pressurized formation with significant natural gas reserves
High NGL content
Very high estimated recoveries
Sweet gas
Intermediate drilling depths
Rock that is fracture capable
Relatively flat declines when compared with other shale plays
Although the Montney is commonly referred to as a “Gas Shale”, it actually contains very little “true shale”. The reservoir sediment is of fine sand to silt in size, containing variably thick carbonate beds. The illustration below shows microphotos of 4 distinct facies in the Montney moving from west to east across west central Alberta. Porosity, grain size, saturation, and permeability vary considerably.
The Montney is a NW-SE trending, lens-shaped formation that straddles the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The map below illustrates the major rock types throughout the Montney Formation. Along the eastern edge, the Montney Formation includes shallow-water marine interbedded sandstone and siltstone. At the northeastern edge, in the Ring-Border area of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, the Montney Formation comprises a series of shoreface sandstones and restricted lagoonal siltstones and shales. The shallow-water eastern facies thickens to the west into a deeper water sequence of siltstones and shales belonging to middle shelf, outer shelf and shelf-slope environments.
Below is a cross section of the Montney Formation throughout NW Alberta and NE British Columbia.
The growth of the Montney Shale Gas has yielded new gas opportunities in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia, modifying the dynamics of the infrastructure systems that are gathering, processing, and transferring products in these areas. Conventional natural gas production in most areas of Western Canada has steadily declined over the past decade. Growth from new Tight Gas and Shale Gas opportunities is contributing to the halt of this overall decline. The re-evaluation of how existing and future infrastructure is developed, managed, and operated, may be necessary going forward.
Application of horizontal well drilling and the related multi-stage fracture stimulation has allowed significantly more opportunity for exploitation of shale gas reservoirs. With lengthy lateral sections, petrophysical evaluation of the horizontal section becomes increasingly more significant. The retrieval of open hole logging data gives Completions Engineers the information required for the optimum placement of fracture intervals. Absence of this data and use of generic interval spacing (every ~100m as an example), could result in underperforming or futile fracture intervals, ultimately wasting tens of thousands of dollars. With Cordax's Logging While Tripping (LWT) system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any horizontal well.
Canadian's have typically measured success in the Oil and Gas industry by the number of active rigs, or rig count throughout the year. With long stretch horizontals and deeper formations such as the Duvernay, Montney and Wilrich, operators are utilizing less rigs, but with these rigs have increased to record numbers is the Total Meters drilled.
As charted by the Daily Oil Bulletin:
The biggest increase for meters drilled was seen in BC with an increased meters drilled of close to 20% over 2012
Progress Energy has proven to be one of the major factors for the increase in this Western Province
Western Canada so far overall with a 3.62% over 2012 numbers
21.11 million meters vs 20.37 million meters
With deeper drills and longer laterals comes the expectation for increased production, also increasing the risk of each well to the operator. Many operators are turning to new techniques as well as gaining further information in the laterals to help identify the best completions strategies for their play.
With Cordax's Logging While Tripping system, open-hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any HZ well. In turn, this will give the operator a cost effective solution to ensure maximized production from these wells.
Until a few years ago the Dunvegan was a relatively unheard of play. Seems that the times are changing and a number of Western Canadian producers are gaining success drilling it. It does not have the same size and scope of a true resource play as it is limited in areal extent and has variable reservoir thickness. On the contrary it is an interesting play. It shows you where you can apply new technology to get the most of your investment.
Numerous companies, especially those in the Kaybob area of northwestern Alberta, have been taking advantage of technological advancements in horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing to fully exploit light oil reserves from the Upper Cretaceous sandstone formation. It's a real emerging hot play as these active Canadian producers can attest:
Tangle Creek
Apache Corporation
Trilogy Energy Corp.
Mancal Energy Inc.
Progress Energy Resources Corp.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
ConocoPhillips Canada Operations Ltd.
The Dunvegan shows a lot of promise for the oil and gas industry. It's not a huge play, but it can be quite an attractive play. The formation consists of a variety of sandstones in deltas and channels that are easily mapped and maintain continuity. The sandstones originally came from way up in the northwest in northeastern B.C. and the Territories. They sort of reach a limit in west-central Alberta, around Kaybob, Waskahigan, Fox Creek and areas like that. The producers can get some pretty good oil out of there, and its good-quality oil. It's light and it's sweet, and it's in an area that is great for infrastructure that can bring overall costs down.
The Dunvegan targets are quite attractive for producers to search after, extensive drilling in the deeper targets gathered a lot of information on them, because there are so many different drilling targets in those areas - from very shallow formations like the Cardium, down through a lot of the deep ones including the Montney and Duvernay plays that are very hot right now.
Although the play is hot right now a huge land rush is not anticipated. Most of these lands are already held for deeper zones, so as companies go in and do their drilling for their Montney’s and Duvernay’s and other things like that, they'll stumble across these smaller Dunvegan sands up-hole, and if it looks promising they'll do some more mapping and they might be able to make independent little projects out of them. The industry has known about the possibilities of the formation for some time, until horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technologies became more advanced, the prospects of developing the Dunvegan were fairly limited even in the area of Alberta where it now presents a promising resource.
As this play emerges Cordax's LWT system has been helping operators in the Dunvegan gather open hole logging data that can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any HZ well. This allows full optimization of these new completion techniques to get the most out of every well.
Cordax LWT can help your next Dunvegan well by:
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 (save days of rig time)
Frac and completion optimization
Mapping of sweet spots
The Montney Formation is 240 million years old and formed in the early Triassic period. It is situated below the Jurassic/Cretaceous Doig Formation and above the Permian/Carboniferous Belloy Formation. The Montney ranges from Fort St. John, BC and extends to the south-east toward Fox Creek, AB. The north-west region is typically considered "shaley", predominantly "silty" in the Dawson Creek area, and coarser toward Valleyview and Fox Creek. Drilling depth to the Montney follows the same trend in grain size, shallower in Northwest and deeper in the Southeast. The Montney reaches a maximum thickness of ~280 m (920 ft).
The Montney formation is not a "true shale" due to its high composition of siltstone, but rather considered as a "hybrid", due to the higher content of siliciclastics. Interbedded in the Montney are highly radioactive phosphate layers that can be correlated over much of the Northeast British Columbia basin. These phosphate layers are believed to be the result of rapid rise in sea level, resulting in organic rich layers being deposited over top of fine grained sand and siltstone. These cycles repeat, resulting in a Gamma Ray reading that varies from 150 API to <75 API. Below is an example of a well log showing the distinctive change from the Doig Formation to the Montney.
Oil is produced from the Western Alberta region of the Montney, where it presents a coarser sandy facies. Natural gas is produced from the gas rich silty shale occurring in the North-Western borders and Dawson Creek/Pouce Coupe Areas. It is estimated that the Montney contains over 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Shale gas extraction emerged in the late 2000’s where previously it was difficult and uneconomic to produce due to the low permeability. With advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, reliable and affordable production of natural gas from shale resources is attainable. The chart below outlines the highest gas producing shale formations. Notice that the Montney is 3rd with reserve estimates in excess of 300 trillion cubic feet.
The application of horizontal drilling with aggressive build sections has allowed the borehole greater access to target reservoirs. The utilization of horizontal drilling applications with open hole evaluations and multi-stage fracture sequences and has helped show the lucrative potential of the Montney Formation.
Recently recognized as the most economic gas reservoirs in Alberta’s deep basin "The Wilrich continues to rank as one of the most active and fastest growing plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB)," said Peters & Co. Limited.
As expected, oil and gas giants such as EnCana, ConocoPhillips, Husky and CNRL own land within this region. That being said, the main players currently taking advantage of the formation include:
Peyto Exploration
Tourmaline Oil Corp
Westbrick Energy
Santonia Energy
From the ~250 wells currently drilled into the Wilrich, it is said that the total natural gas volumes is currently at 0.42 bcf/day.
Tourmaline expects to drill 45-50 Wilrich wells in 2013
Initial prediction was 4.5-5 bcf wells, and they are currently exceeding these expectations.
With this success and well costs coming down due to knowledge of the play, 6 rigs are running for them with a pad drilling program that will help drop costs even more.
Despite the fact that gas wells aren’t thought to be sought after as much as oil at this time, the Wilrich has shown to have a breakeven point of $2/mcf and still maintaining economic numbers as low as $3/mcf.
The composition of the Wilrich member, pre horizontal drilling, was thought of as tight shale that didn’t have much potential under the Fahler sand formation. The geology has since been proven as a number of different individual sandstone and siltstone stringers containing different:
Reservoir compositions
Hydrocarbon Characteristics
Both Oil & Gas, depending on location
With Cordax's LWT system, open hole logs can be obtained safely and more cost effectively in any HZ well. This allows full optimization of these new completions techniques to get the most out of every well.
By taking a quick glance at any well log a lot can be determined about the rock. Formations/Hydrocarbons provide different gamma ray, density, neutron and/or resistivity tool responses making it easy to get a detailed look into what is downhole. Typical Sandstone, Limestone and Dolomite formations
Sandstone
Pe = 1.81
Gamma Ray <20 API
NPor = DPor (SS Scale)
Limestone
Pe =5.08
Gamma Ray <20 API
NPor = DPor (LS Scale)
NPor > DPor by 6-9% (SS)
Dolomite
Pe = 3.14
Gamma Ray <20 API
NPor = DPor (DOL Scale)
NPor > DPor by 12-14% (LS)
HydroCarbon (Oil)
An oily formation can be spotted typically by an increase in resistivity over a watery formation with a pinching effect on the porosity curves. This pinching effect becomes more noticeable when the logs are plotted on the correct matrix for that formation.
Ex. A possible oil hydrocarbon zone in a sandstone formation, plotted using a sandstone matrix as shown by the PE of ~1.8.
HydroCarbon (Gas)
A gas formation can be spotted also with an increase in resistivity over a watery formation, but mainly due to the crossover shown by porosities. The crossover is due to Gas Effect, which supresses the neutron curve due to low hydrogen content.
Ex. Shows a possible gas hydrocarbon zone in a sandstone formation, plotted using a sandstone matrix as shown by the PE of ~1.8.
Coal
A coal, having a great amount of bound water, creates a distinct high porosity reading on both the neutron and density porisity curves. High resistivities are also seen due to this bound water. Expected PE for a coal is very low at only 0.2.
Anhydrite
Anhydrites are typically spotted using the porosity curves. As shown below in a sandstone matrix, the neutron reading hovers close to 0% pu while the density reads -15%. Being that anhydrite is that much denser than a Sandstone formation. PE for an anhydrite is typically close to 5.
Heavy Minerals (Barite)
Heavy minerals such as Barite area spotted mainly using the PE curve (Density tool). Being such a heavy mineral, it is very dense and has an extremely high PE of 267.
Shale
Shales are very noticeable when using both porosity curves as well as the resistivity curves. With no invasion present the resistivity curves overlay while the porosity curves spread apart.
The spreading of the porosity curves is due to Shale Effect, which exaggerates the neutron curve due to high hydrogen content of the clay itself.
Metal Downhole
Tools such as your induction can provide erratic responses when metal is found in the hole. Casing shavings could be a cause for this type of response.
To do more in depth calculations on a given formation, including porosity matrix adjustments as well as water saturation, calculators are available.
We provide innovative formation evaluation solutions to the global petroleum industry using our proprietary Logging While Tripping (LWT) method. Combined with the Zone Grader and Zone Tuner interpretation analysis, Cordax helps you make the right decisions for your well.
See how Cordax can improve your operations and save you money by giving us a call or, sending a quick email. A team of experts are waiting to help you optimize the producibility of your resource.
