Weatherford Surface Logging Systems

SPE talk: Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

Giovanni N. Pinna
1st of November 2012, Geneva - Switzerland

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

DEFINITIONS:

MUD

GAS CONSISTS OF HYDROCARBON AND NON HYDROCARBON VOLATILE

MOLECULES THAT CAN BE EXTRACTED FROM THE DRILLING MUD.

THE

COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF GASES PRESENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS AT

SURFACE REFLECTS THE FLUID PHASE OF THE RESERVOIRS AND PROVIDES

IMPORTANT INDICATIONS ABOUT THE PETROPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
DRILLED ROCKS.

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

WHY IS MUD GAS LOG AS IMPORTANT AS OTHER LOGS?
Fluid ID

Complex reservoirs
multi reservoirs.

Fractured and vuggy

reservoirs.

High pressure
zone/fluid ID

GOC, GWC, OWC

Green sands with low

resistivity.

Low resistivity pay

sands (conductive
minerals or diagenetic
clays with high CEC).

Casing points

Compartmentalisation

Immature sandstones
rich in radioactive
minerals.

Tuffaceous sandstones
with complex
composition.

Picking up coring
points

Optimizing mini DST

and DST

High CO2 content

Igneous reservoirs
where hydrocarbon
reserves are trapped in
fractures.

Optimizing completion

Optimizing downhole
sampling

Unknown water salinity,

unknown m and n
values.

Tight gas sandstones

Shale plays

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

COST VS INFORMATION (VALUE)

10%

100%

85%

80%
60%
40%

10%

20%

90%

0%

5%
Logging
Drilling
Geophysical
Survey

Logging
Coring/Cuttings

LOGGING REPRESENTS ON AVERAGE 10% OF THE WELL COST BUT IT PROVIDES APPROXIMATELY 90% OF
THE WELLBORE INFORMATION.

Modified from Well Logging Data Acquisition and Application O. & L. Serra. (issued by Serra Log 2004)
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

Well
Test

8
6

Mini
DST

Wireline
Logs

Coring

TIME DAYS

14
12
10

LWD including
Formation Testing

Mudlog

3
SERVICE COST MUS$

DW RESERVOIR EVALUATION: TIME VS SERVICE COST PER WELL

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Courtesy of ENI Indonesia

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

MAIN LIMITATIONS FOR RELIABLE INTERPRETATION OF THE MUD GAS:

DRILLING MUD ACTS AS BARRIER BETWEEN FORMATION AND SURFACE.

HYDROCARBON GASES ARE PARTIALLY DISSOLVED INTO THE MUD, ESPECIALLY WHEN USING SYNTHETIC OIL BASE
MUD.

THE DEGASSING EFFICIENCY IS A FUNCTION OF SEVERAL VARIABLES (EXTRACTOR EFFICIENCY, MUD TYPE,
TEMPERATURE, ETC.) AND IT IS DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT COMPONENTS (C1 TO C8 AND AROMATICS).

LOW MUD TEMPERATURE DUE TO

EFFICIENCY.

MUD LEVEL FLUCTUATION IN THE POSSUM BELLY AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF THE GAS DATA.

CIRCULATION THROUGH A RISER STRONGLY REDUCES THE DEGASSING

IN THE LAST 10 YEARS DEVELOPMENTS IN MUD GAS EXTRACTORS, IMPROVEMENTS IN ANALYTICAL DETECTORS,
INTERPRETATIVE METHODOLOGIES AND QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES STRONGLY INCREASED THE ACCURACY AND
RELIABILITY OF MUD GAS FINGERPRINTING.

Courtesy of Carlo Carugo (ENI)

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

1969 SPE: FORMATION EVALUATION BY ANALYSIS OF HYDROCARBON RATIOS.
PIXLER, B.O., BAROID DIV. NATIONAL LEAD CO.

1984 SPE: RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION

SHOWS.

BY

ANALYSIS

OF

LIGHT HYDROCARBON

HAWORTH, J.H., SELLENS, M.P., GURVIS, R.L., EXPLORATION LOGGING INC.

1999 SPLWA: GAS WHILE DRILLING (GWD); A REAL TIME GEOLOGIC AND RESERVOIR
INTERPRETATION TOOL.
G.BEDA, R.QUAGLIAROLI ENI AGIP DIV., MILANO, ITALY; G.SEGALINI, B.BARRAUD,
A.MITCHELL ELF EP, PAU, FRANCE.

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

80

CF

FID

TG

90

00

10

20

QGM CVT-TCD-MEMBRANE
TG and CHROMATOGRAM

CT>1 min
C1-C5

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

CT30 sec
C1-C5

CT 30 sec
C1-C5
CT60 sec
C1-C8
Aromatics
CO2, N2

CT 30 sec
C1-C5
CT60 sec
C1-C8
CT 120 sec
C1-C10
Cycloalkanes
Aromatics
CO2, N2

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

Courtesy of ENI

GAS DATA ACCURACY DEPENDS ON SEVERAL FACTORS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN IN

CONSIDERATION FOR QUALITY CONTROL: DOWNHOLE INFLUENCES, FLOWLINE, GAS TRAP, GAS
LINE, ANALYSER.
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

GAS W HILE DRILLING METHODOLOGY (GWDTM)

THIS

METHODOLOGY IS BASED ON THE COMPUTATION AND ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL GAS RATIOS OBTAINED USING THE DIFFERENT GAS

(C1-C7) CONTINUOUSLY EXTRACTED FROM THE CIRCULATING MUD AND MONITORED AT THE RIG SITE
THE MUD LOGGING COMPANY.
THE METHODOLOGY HAS BEEN DEVELOPED IN THE FRAME OF A JOINT ENI-TOTAL R&D PROJECT.
COMPONENTS

Courtesy of ENI
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

IN

REAL-TIME BY

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

80

70

membrane
GC-Tracer

RFT 1

DST 1

agitator
Gas
Trap GC

DST 2

60

(mol%)

50

40

30

20

10

0
nC1

nC2

nC3

iC4

nC4

iC5

nC5

THE TRADITIONAL GAS TRAP WITH AGITATOR IS NOT CAPABLE TO RELEASE OF RELEASING HEAVY
COMPONENTS FROM THE MUD. THE RESULT IS THAT AGITATOR SYSTEMS OVERESTIMATE THE LIGHT
COMPONENTS AND UNDERESTIMATE THE HEAVIER COMPONENTS.
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

THE MUD LOGGING INDUSTRY HAS DEVELOPED ADVANCED GAS DETECTORS IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY.
THE OBJECTIVE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN TWO WAYS: ADOPTING A MUD HEATER OR ADOPTING THE SEMI-PERMEABLE MEMBRANE.

HIGH EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY

REAL-TIME FLUID PHASE CHARACTERIZATION

GAS RATIOS IN LINE WITH OFFSET WELLS

ANALYSIS.

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

PVT ANALYSIS, ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS, GEOCHEMICAL

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

Concentration Plot 13

Color by
Well
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
9
8

Compartment 3

Compartment 1
12

C2_norm

11
10

Compartment 2

9
8

Compartment 4
7
6

10

11

C3_norm
Ratios 11
10

C1/C2

9
8
7
6
5
7

10
C1/C3

Courtesy of SHELL
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

11

12

13

Shape by
Analysis
GCTracer
SSF GAS Data
Single Stage Flash

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

REAL-TIME ADVANCED GAS DETECTION FLUID COMPOSITION
C1 %

C2 %

C3 %

iC4 %

nC4 %

iC5 %

nC5 %

C6 %

C7 %

C8 %

81.06

10.64

5.13

0.68

1.45

0.59

0.46

0.00

0.00

0.00

81.20

10.56

5.09

0.67

1.44

0.58

0.45

0.00

0.00

0.00

81.34

10.42

5.10

0.67

1.45

0.58

0.44

0.00

0.00

0.00

81.00

10.47

5.26

0.69

1.51

0.60

0.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

81.00

10.47

5.26

0.69

1.51

0.60

0.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

80.53

10.59

5.39

0.73

1.60

0.68

0.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

80.87

10.33

5.23

0.78

1.58

0.66

0.49

0.00

0.00

0.06

80.97

10.25

5.19

0.79

1.57

0.66

0.49

0.00

0.00

0.08

80.94

10.35

5.27

0.74

1.57

0.62

0.49

0.00

0.00

0.02

80.89

10.35

5.28

0.71

1.56

0.69

0.51

0.00

0.00

0.00

80.41

10.55

5.43

0.74

1.61

0.71

0.55

0.00

0.00

0.00

MDT GAS ANALYSIS

C1 %

C2 %

C3 %

iC4 %

nC4 %

iC5 %

nC5 %

C6 %

C7 %

C8 %

81.76

10.95

4.04

0.68

1.18

0.44

0.43

0.22

0.16

0.13

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

REAL-TIME FORMATION EVALUATION
ray Res. N&D
C1/C2
THC C1%
G/L FS

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

HC
ARO/ALK

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

FLUID PHASE ID

High
pressure
zone

Condensate

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Wet Gas

15

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

COMPARTMENTALISATION

GAS CONDENSATE
OIL

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

1) IDENTIFY THE SIGNIFICANT GAS EVENTS
2) FLUID PHASE CHARACTERIZATION
3) SWEET SPOTS
ray

Res. N&D

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

C1% HC
THC
ARO/ALK

G/L
LHR

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Carlo Carugo (ENI)
Graziano Capone (ENI Indonesia)
Luca Magini (Total Angola)
Hani Elshahawi (SHELL)

2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

19

Mud gas analysis in formation evaluation

REFERENCES
A.Mitchell, B.Barraud, G.Segalini, Elf Exploration Production, CSTJF; G.Beda, R.Quagliaroli, EM Agip Div. GAS WHILE DRILLING (GWD); A
REAL TIME GEOLOGIC AND RESERVOIR INTERPRETATION TOOL. SPWLA 40 Annual Logging Symposium, 1999
P. Blanc, Total; J. Brevire, Geoservices; F. Laran, Total; H. Chauvin, Geoservices; C. Boehm, Total; N. Frechin, Geoservices; M. Capot,
Total; A. Benayoun, Geoservices. Reducing Uncertainties In Formation Evaluation Through Innovative Mud Logging Techniques. SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 5-8 October 2003, Denver, Colorado.
Daniel McKinney, Matthew Flannery, and Hani Elshahawi, Shell International E&P Inc.; Artur Stankiewicz and Ed Clarke, Shell
International E&P B.V.; and Jerome Breviere and Sachin Sharma, Geoservices. Advanced Mud Gas Logging in Combination with Wireline
Formation Testing and Geochemical Fingerprinting for an Improved Understanding of Reservoir Architecture. SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, 11-14 November 2007, Anaheim, California, U.S.A..
Giovanni N. Pinna, Douglas J. Law International Logging Inc. ADVANCES IN MUD GAS INTERPRETATION WHILST DRILLING. 49th Annual
Logging Symposium, May 25 - 28, 2008 , Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ton Loermans, Saudi Aramco; Farouk Kimour, Geoservices; Charles Bradford and Yacine Meridji, Saudi Aramco; Karim Bondabou, Pawel
Kasprzykowski, Reda Karoum, and Mathieu Naigeon, Geoservices; and Alberto Marsala, Saudi Aramco. Results From Pilot Tests Prove
the Potential of Advanced Mud Logging. SPE/DGS Saudi Arabia Section Technical Symposium and Exhibition, 15-18 May 2011, Al-Khobar,
Saudi Arabia.
D. Tonner, Weatherford Surface Logging Systems - J. Chopty, M. Jaipersad, Weatherford - K. Al-Maslout, G. Pinna, D. Forber, W. Davies,
Weatherford Surface Logging Systems. THE BENEFITS AND APPLICATION OF SEMI-PERMEABLE MEMBRANE GAS DETECTION DURING
MANAGED PRESSURE DRILLING. Offshore Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition, March 23 - 25, 2011 , Ravenna, Italy.
C. Carugo (Eni), S. Joshi (Shlumberger), L. Magini* (Eni Ghana) & G.N. Pinna (Weatherford). A Multidisciplinary Application for an
Exploration Well in the Tano Basin, Ghana. SPE Europec/EAGE Annual Conference, 4-7 June 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Talal Al-Adwani, Sunil Singh, Badruzzaman Khan, and Jalal Dashti, Kuwait Oil Company; and Gionata Ferroni, Alberto Martocchia, and
Javad Estarabadi, GEOLOG International. Real Time Advanced Surface Flow Analysis for Detection of Open Fractures. SPE Europec/EAGE
Annual Conference, 4-7 June 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2008 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

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