Horizontal Well Drilling and Geosteering Optimization with Integrated Innovation Technologies: Case Studies from the World Largest Conglomerate Reservoir in West China
Authors: Yu Jingfeng , Zhou Diao , Zhang Bo , Meng Haiping , Li Tong , Wang Li , Wang Yong , Wang Fei , Wang Chao , Chen Chengqian , Hu Zhong , Lan Wencheng , Liu Guoyu , Wang Shuai 
Published: March 2021

MH oilfield is a fan delta deposited unconventional tight oil reservoir with complex lithology of volcanic rocks, metamorphic rocks, conglomerate, and claystone. The drilling efficiency was optimized by using the first-generation boundary mapping technology with Rotary Steering System (RSS) during the first batch drilling campaign (H2-2016∼H1-2017), which was mentioned in IADC/SPE-190998-MS. But with the development going further, more and more wells drilled into shale interbed causing low pay zone exposure, long drilling duration, and numerous drilling hazards. The overall drilling performance was not optimistic as before, the average Rate Of Penetration (ROP) decreased by 30.7% and the average footage per run decreased by 38.9% during horizontal section operation in some specific blocks of MH oilfield.

By reviewing the detailed drilling and geology material of the first batch drilling, the challenges were defined. There is lateral irregular thin shale interbed existing in this conglomeratic reservoir which is rarely observed from the nearby wells in the first batch drilling zone. That unstable shale interbed with 0.5-2m thickness isolated the target into 2 to 3 components. The first-generation boundary mapping technology can only detect the nearest up or down boundary, with this limitation, it is difficult to reveal these laterally unstable shale interbed. It is crucial to precisely delineate the irregular thin interbed to develop this complex reservoir. Meanwhile, the bit selection which didn't catch up with the formation change is another issue that needs to be optimized timely.

To solve the above challenges, the new generation boundary mapping while drilling technology was introduced to this project, it has 3 or more boundaries detecting ability at the same time, which can delineate the irregular thin interbed and optimize real-time Well Placement decision making. Meanwhile, the bit design and selection based on the timely geological data interpretation helped to improve drilling efficiency.

This innovative integrated method deployed in phase II horizontal well drilling campaign proved to be an effective approach to optimize geosteering and drilling performance. The clear reservoir geometry delineation effectively helps avoid entering the irregular shale interbed in real-time, thus improve the pay zone exposure and trajectory smoothness. Till 2018, more than 50 wells were completed, the overall drilling performance of 2018 has been improved by 47.2% of footage per run and 42.2% of ROP compared with statistical results of H2-2017 of the M131 block and nearly back to the normal level.

In this paper, the authors will demonstrate how this integrated approach helps optimize Well Placement, enhance drilling efficiency and save budget with some exemplary case studies. With this success, the authors believe this approach and techniques could effectively address the following horizontal well drilling campaign in this unconventional tight oil reservoir.