Role of Petrophysics in Improving Production Efficiency

Conference will be held at The Regency Hotel& Resort, Al-Ta'awen St, Kuwait
Technical Conference Program

SPWLA Kuwait Topical Conference, Kuwait October 24 - 27, 2011

Role of Petrophysics in Improving Production Efficiency
Conference will hold in The Regency Hotel & Resort, Al-Ta'awen St, Kuwait
Agenda Conference Program

MONDAY, 24 OCTOBER
07:00 – 17:00	Failaka Island (Field Trip-free)*
19:00 – 21:00	Icebreaker Reception and Registration Welcome from SPWLA Kuwait Chapter Dinner

TUESDAY, 25 OCTOBER – DAY 1
07:00 – 08:00	Registration
08:00 -  08:30	Opening Ceremony – KOC Chairman
08:30 -  09:00	SPWLA President Address
09:00 -  09:30	Topical Conference Chairman – Paul Worthington
09:30 -  10:00	Break
10:00 -  10:30	Core Analysis: Capillary Pressure
10:30 -  11:00	Core Analysis: Relative Permeability
11:00 -  11:30	CT Scan Technology
11:30 -  12:00	Log CO2 Fluid
12:00 -  13:00	Lunch
13:00 -  13:30	Log Chemical Flood
13:30 – 13:45	Break
13:45 – 14:45	Breakout Session
14:45 – 15:15	Session Presentation
15:15 – 15:30	Wrap-Up
19:00 – 22:00	Dinner at Maadenaa Restaurant, Kuwait City

WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER – DAY 2
07:00 – 08:00	Registration
08:00 -  08:30	Dielectric Tool
08:30 -  09:00	Tracer
09:00 -  09:30	Production Logs/Core
09:30 -  10:00	Integrated Logs (I)
10:00 -  10:30	Break
10:30 -  11:00	Integrated Logs (II)
11:00 – 11:30	Pulse Neutron CO2 Monitoring
11:30 -  12:00	Miscible Gas Injection
12:00 -  13:00	Lunch
13:00 -  13:30	Flow
13:30 – 14:00	Asphaltene (I)
14:00 – 14:15	Break
14:15 – 15:45	Breakout Session
15:45 – 16:15	Session Presentation
16:15 – 16:30	Wrap-Up
19:00 – 22:00	Official Conference Barbeque Dinner at Marina Hotel, Kuwait City

THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER – DAY 3
07:00 – 08:00	Registration
08:00 -  08:30	Asphaltene (II)
08:30 -  09:00	Asphaltene (III)
09:00 -  09:30	NMR for Heavy Oil
09:30 -  10:00	Rock Typing (I)
10:00 -  10:30	Break
10:30 -  11:00	Rock Typing (II)
11:00 -  11:30	Rock Typing (III)
11:30 -  12:00	HPHT Sour Gas Solution
12:00 -  13:00	Lunch
13:00 – 13:30	Geomechanics
13:30 -  15:00	Breakout Session
15:00 – 15:30	Session Presentation
15:30 – 16:00	Wrap-Up
20:00 – 22:00	Dinner at Regency Hotel **

FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER
13:00 -  20:30	Golf Tournament at Sahar Golf Resort***

* Need to registor for field trip to Failaka Island before 10th of October.
** This will includes awards for conference sponsors.
*** Cost of Golf Tournament including dinner is 48 KD (Kuwaiti Dinar) per person. Registration for this event before 26th of October.

Pay Conference Fees

Through Conference Registration Link Below:
http://www.spwla.org/events/register/event/6/type/member
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These fees are for those people that selected the "Pay Later" option during conference registration. If you have not yet registered for a conference, please do so here http://www.spwla.org/events/

• 2011 Kuwait Topical Conference - Role of Petrophysics in Improving Production Efficiency (Member) - $520.00 Add to Cart
• 2011 Kuwait Topical Conference - Role of Petrophysics in Improving Production Efficiency (Non-Member) - $595.00  Add to Cart
• Onsite Registration Fees will be  $595.00 =KD 165.00

Role of Petrophysics in Improving Production Efficiency

Conference will hold in The Regency Hotel & Resort, Al-Ta'awen St, Kuwait
Technical Conference Program

Registration for this event before 10th of October 2011.

Solution to Well Placement and Well Completion Challenges in Fields with Variable Salinity due to Water Injection

Moustafa E. Oraby, Ph.D.
Halliburton Energy Services
In many fields in the Middle East as well as globally, water injection is used for enhancing fields' production through marinating field pressure and enhancing fluids recovery. Despite the importance of such operation, it may result in many challenges not only in field evaluation but also in placing the developing wells. This is because the injected water in many of these fields varies in its salinity from the original formation water salinity. This variation in salinity combined with the variation of rock properties in porosity and permeability result in variations in the current formation water salinity. In many fields, the current formation water salinity varies tremendously within few feet.

The above practice generated a huge challenge in well placement since injecting fresher water than the original connate water will lead to increasing the measured resistivity. This increase in resistivity may result in miss-interpretation of the zone as hydrocarbon zone rather than fresher water zone. This will lead to misplacement of wells and creates problems in well completion.

A new technology is developed to overcome such challenge by measuring the salt concentration on foot by foot basis. This tool differentiates the higher resistivity zones of being real hydrocarbon zones or they are zones swept by fresher water. Example from the prototype tool run in the Middle Easy will be discussed.

Biography

Moustafa E. Oraby, Ph.D.
Halliburton Energy Services
Dr. Moustafa Oraby is the Global Geo-Science Manager for Halliburton. He holds a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, USA, in formation evaluation. His Undergraduate and Master degrees are from Alexandria University in Egypt.

He worked for both operating and service companies throughout his career. He joined ARCO Exploration and production Technology based in Dallas, USA, where he worked for many fields in North America specially Kuparuk and Prudhoe Bay.

When he joined Halliburton, he started in Houston, USA, where he was leading all the developments of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technology. He then moved to the Middle holding different positions between technology and operation.

Dr. Oraby holds nine USA patents all in formation evaluation. He served as distinguished speaker for SPWLA and currently serving as Formation Evaluation Technical Editor for the SPE.

Role of Geomechanics in appraisal of a deep tight gas reservoir: A case history from the Amin formation in the Sultanate of Oman.

Satya Perumalla,Baker Hughes / GeoMechanics International.
Appraisal of deep tight gas reservoirs offers many challenges, including production ratepredictions when wells are drilled overbalanced. Overbalance leads to near wellbore porosity / permeability damage to the rock matrix and fractures. Furthermore, poro-elastic effects due to invasion contribute to difficulties initiating and propagating hydraulic fractures. Damage to natural fractures intersecting the well can prevent their detection leading to missed productive intervals.

Alternatively,under-balanced drilling (UBD) can avoid these effects and thereby better indicate the gas potential of these reservoirs. However, not all reservoirs are suitable for UBD as there can be a greater risk of mechanical wellbore instability. Hence, geomechanical analysis prior to drilling can help evaluate the feasibility of UBD operations.

Formation evaluation in UBD conditions also poses many challenges due to technical (temperature and pressure) limitations of tools and higher uncertainties with petrophysical calculations. Conventional core to log and porosity/permeability relationships are often inappropriate where matrix permeability is extremely low and fractures contribute to flow, therefore alternative ways of understanding and evaluating the reservoir are essential.

In this paper, we demonstrate how geomechanics was used in formulating a strategy for appraisal of a well placed in a tight gas reservoir and also as a decision support tool while drilling.

Planning of this Amin reservoir well involved geomechanical analysis prior to well spud to evaluate UBD feasibility based on offset well data, followed by updating the models as the well progressed.

Evaluation of natural fractures from image logs and identifying sets of critically-stressed fractures (hydraulically-conductive fractures) was an important component of the geomechanical analysis that played a key role in supporting the appraisal strategy. As detection of natural fractures is extremely difficult in acoustic image logs, this paper discusses an innovative approach used to identify natural fractures based on rotation of stress induced borehole breakouts and their correlation to real time gas flow.

PRESENTER RESUMES

Mr. Satya Perumalla, SrGeomechanics Specialist: Satya Perumalla is working in Oil & Gas Industry as a Drilling & Geology Consultant over 15 years at different levels, supportingWell-Engineering & Geoscience interests of various operators in the Middle East, Africa and India. He is associated with Baker Hughes / GMI in Dubai since 2007 and he worked on various consulting projects linking geomechanics to wellbore stability, pore-pressure and production related reservoir changes. Mr.Perumalla also authored SPE technical papers and delivered society speeches with topics related to geomechanics. He received M.Sc (Applied Geology) degree from Indian Institute of Technology- Roorkee, India in 1994 and General Management Diploma from Indian Institute of Mangement- Ahmedabad, Indiain 2010. Mr.Perumalla is a member of AAPG, SPE, SEG and local SPWLA chapters.

Presentation to the SPWLA Kuwait Section
Kuwait City, Kuwait
February 15, 2011

IMAGE BASED PETROPHYSICS RESULT FOR RESERVOIR CHARACTERISATION IN MIDDLE EAST CARBONATE

The characterization of carbonate reservoirs is a complex subject. Over the years there has been ongoing study to develop a number of different techniques and approaches, which are now available in the oil industry. This presentation will cover carbonate reservoir characterization methods with an emphasis on the use of bore hole image data.

In order to derive a much better idea of reservoir volumetrics, reservoir information such as porosity, its distribution, and textural information, can be obtained using a method called Image Petrophysics. In Carbonates, secondary porosity (a key element in well productivity) can be identified from the image, in the near well bore region. Image derived porosity distribution calibrated with either core data or open-hole log data can be obtained without losing the high resolution character of the image resulting in a high resolution petrophysical answer.

A typical image petrophysics workflow starts with estimating porosity and Vclay from the image and the standard open hole logs, followed by grain size, sorting and permeability distributions from the Kozeny-Carman and Coates-Timur relationships. Based on these image derived results, lithofacies can be defined using a neural network approach which becomes a useful tool for reservoir description.

The presentation includes discussion of a case study and outlines the workflow.

Presenter: Robert Kuchinski

Robert. Kuchinski is the Weatherford Wireline Business Development Manager for the Middle East - North Africa region. He has been involved in the acquisition of subsurface data since 1976. During this period he has worked as a geologist in both the mining and petroleum businesses in western Canada. In 1986 he joined Reeves Wireline where he worked in various roles including technical sales, sales management, and Senior Vice President. He played a key role in the development of the Compact technology which was acquired by Weatherford in 2005. Robert is a registered professional geologist in the province of Alberta, Canada. He has been located in Dubai for the past 4 years in his current role.

Single-well in-situ measurement of residual oil saturation after an EOR Chemical Flood

Raghu Ramamoorthy, Schlumberger Regional Technology Center – Abu Dhabi

Abstract
The Micro Pilot* is a log-inject-log technique providing a single-well in-situ measurement of enhanced oil recovery flood geometry and changed residual oil saturation. The fluid to be injected is transported down hole in a sample chamber and injected into the formation through a pencil sized hole. Borehole electric images and high resolution saturation logs are recorded before and after fluid injection. The logs show the change of residual oil saturation. The dimensions of the swept zone and surrounding oil bank are visible on the borehole image. These dimensions and saturations can be used to history match the reservoir simulation of the EOR process.

In this talk we will present results from the first Micro Pilot* operation in a heavy oil reservoir in the Middle East where we carried out an Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flood. We will present the pre-job investigations and consequent planning of the job operations. This will be followed by the results from the job along with post-job interpretation of the same. We conclude with the value perception by the customer.

Who should attend this talk:

Petro physicists – particularly those involved in EOR screening and implementation
Reservoir Engineers
Core Analysis Experts – particularly those involved in EOR SCAL

About the Speaker:

Raghu Ramamoorthy is currently the Petrophysics Advisor for the Schlumberger Regional Technology Center in Abu Dhabi. This center focuses on carbonates and EOR. He is also the recipient of the 2010 SPE Regional Award for contributions to Petroleum Engineering in the area of Formation Evaluation for the Middle East, North Africa, India region. Raghu joined Schlumberger in 1982 and served as a wire line logging engineer, and later as a log analyst in the Middle East. Raghu received his MS in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin in May 1994. He then spent an extended stint as Research Scientist (Petrophysicist) at Schlumberger-Doll Research in Ridgefield, CT, USA, where he worked on reservoir characterization and carbonate Petrophysics. In 1997 he returned to the field and served as Principal Petrophysicist in Australasia, East Asia, and Saudi Arabia.

Systematic Approach for Prevention and Remediation of Asphaltene problems for Kuwaiti Reservoirs

By: Dr. Reza P Oskui
Abstract
Asphaltene precipitation and deposition from oil reservoir fluids during production are serious problems for the oil industry, as it can cause plugging of reservoir formation, wellbore, tubing and production facilities. In this presentation the nature and behavior of asphaltenes in crude oils will be discussed. Asphaltene precipitation during primary depletion of highly under saturated reservoirs due to the changes in pressure, temperature and compositions or during application of any of the improved oil recovery (IOR) processes will be presented.

Currently Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is facing asphaltene deposition problems in the wellbore of some of the Marrat Jurassic reservoirs in West Kuwait (WK) and South East Kuwait (SEK). This has caused a reduction in production and shutting of some of the wells and a severe detrimental effect on the economics of oil recovery. In this presentation the results of the laboratory studies on the characterization and phase behavior studies of three different crude oil samples from Marrat reservoirs will be described. The results and finding of screening study using a number of commercially available inhibitors which were proposed as a remedy and prevention of asphaltene deposition for this reservoir will be presented.

PRESENTER RESUMES

Dr Oskui is Research Scientist working in Petroleum Research & Studies Center (PRSC) at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research( KISR) for the last 12 years. Since graduation from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST-UK ) in 1985 in Chemical Engineering, he has been working with International oil and service companies in Phase Behaviour and PVT studies for reservoir fluids, IOR/EOR and gas injection projects in the USA and UK.

His main interests in the oil industry are: Reservoir Characterization, routine and special core analysis, phase behaviour and PVT measurement and simulation studies for reservoir fluids, EOS modelling, CO2 and IOR gas injection processes, coreflooding and Asphaltene studies and Heavy oil. He has managed a number of gas injection IOR research projects during his working time in the oil industry.

President Position: (1 nominee)

Mr. Salem Al-Sabea (KOC)

Salem Al-Sabea is Specialist Petrophysicist with Kuwait Oil Company(KOC). He received a BSc degree in Geology from Kuwait University in 1990. The following year he joined KOC as a Wellsite Geologist. Since 1994 Salem has worked as a Petrophysicist in the Field Development Division (South). Since 2000 he has worked as a Senior Petrophysicist and has acquired new petrophysical analysis techniques (carbonate reservoir), mastering new Geolog software enhancements for formation evaluation. since 2009 handled all the responsibility related FE operation and studies through support other asset teams in providing all FE data required and organized the work for FE Team members through distribution petrophysical work with assistance as mentoring and coaching. Serving as President Local Kuwait SPWLA Chapter 2009/2010. Planning to have and complete 8 events through this year. KOC Sponsored first event on 8th December 2009. Planning to organize & conduct Topical Conference in Kuwait next year October 2011.

Vice President Position: (1 nominee)

Naim-Al Jabari (Schlumberger)

Dr. Naim Al-Jabari graduated in the year 2000 with a Bachelor's degree in General Electronics from Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordon. Subsequently he was awarded a PhD scholarship by the Geomechanics Research Group at Heriot-Watt University Petroleum Department, UK. While pursuing his PhD, he was in charge of the Petrophysics laboratory where he supported various research groups at Heriot-Watt University. Furthermore, in his third year, Dr. Al-Jabari was involved in the Geomechanics Laboratory and assigned as a Lecturer Assistant teaching Formation Evaluation for master students. His research resulted in patenting two novel techniques, first non-contact mini-permeameter and laser-acoustic sensor. In November 2005, he moved to Abu Dhabi where he worked as a Business Development Director for Abu Dhabi Industrial Development Co. (ADIDCO), in which we was responsible for marketing and technically supporting clients mainly in the UAE and Gulf region by developing their businesses in reservoir management and enhance oil recovery and monitoring solutions. In Oct 2007, Dr. Al-Jabari joined Schlumberger as Petrophysicist. Short time after his assignment to Kuwait he started forming the SPWLA Kuwait Chapter which was official recognized by SPWLA main body in Feburary 2008. Dr. Al-Jabari hold several positions in Kuwait chapter over the last two years. With 10 years serving in the industry, Dr. Al-Jabari now encompasses expertise in Formation Evaluation, Log Interpretation, Core Analysis, Rock Typing, Geomechanics and Well Integrity.

Secretary Position: (3 nominee)

Christophe Darous (Schlumberger)

Christophe Darous is a Petrophysicist working with Schlumberger. He started his carrier in 1995 for Elf Aquitaine (now Total) implementing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance applications. He joined Schlumberger in December 1996 as a log analyst in West Africa. In 1999, he moved to Latin America, where he has worked in petrophysics for various projects in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico. Since last year, he has been part of the Formation Evaluation unit of the North Koweit Jurassic Project. He holds a master degree in mechanical engineering from the Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieur de Tarbes in France. He has published technical papers in several professional associations and presented in SPWLA topical conference.

Bikramjit Dutta (Baker Hughes)

Bikramjit Dutta – Working 14 years with Baker Hughes Inc. in the Oil &Gas industry. Started career as Surface Logging Systems Geologist, working extensively in Oman, and Qatar. Moved to Logging While Drilling as Field service engineer specializing in Resistivity, Density, Porosity, and Gamma Ray tools. After working nine years in the field moved to office as the LWD Coordinator. In this role, managed several deepwater projects for Statoil Hydro, PEDCO, RasGas, and Qatar Petroleum. Continuing the operations management role, moved to Denmark as the LWD Manager for Maersk Oile & Gas helping to broaden my experience in North Sea Operations. After four years in Operations Management, moved to Baker Hughes HQ, in a global marketing role as the Product Manager- Resistivity Imaging and Gamma Ray. This provided a wide angle understanding of the global marketing trends, creating strategies, product development and managing New Product technologies. As a continuation of all round growth in career, moving to Kuwait as Business Development Manager to exploit my global operations and marketing experience in enhancing business growth.
Academic Qualification: Master Of Science (Geology), India.

Mona Al-Rushaid (KOC)

Mona Al-Rushaid graduated from Kuwait University (KU) in the year 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a minor in Marine Science. She began her career working for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) as a Petrophysicist in the Field Development of the South East Department in the Greater Burgan Studies team. Through her education at KU and her 8 years of experience at KOC, she has acquired proficient skills in open hole as well as cased hole log interpretation and evaluation. Furthermore, Mona knowledgeable various Petrophysics software's as a result of her long months of training with different Operating and Service Companies in the industry. In 2005 Mona has co-authored and presented a poster at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Applied Technology Workshop in France, Paris on the Interpretation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data acquired in the Burgan field in Kuwait. Additionally, she has presented a paper titled 'Characterization of the Tayarat Heavy Oil Carbonate Reservoir' at the AAPG in Kuwait.

Treasurer Position: (3 nominee)

Afzal Iqbal (JO)

Working with Chevron since 2006 as Earth Scientist. Did master degree in petroleum geology in 2001 form university of Punjab, Lahore-Pakistan. Then joined Landmark Resources Pakistan in 2001 and worked with them for five years at different location including Pakistan, UAE and Kuwait.

Steven JM Allan (Baker Hughes)

Steven Allan currently holds the position of District Manager for Baker Atlas Kuwait, a division of Baker Hughes Incorporated. He holds a 1st class BEng (Hons) in Mechanical and Offshore Engineering gained at Robert Gordon's University in Aberdeen, Scotland. He started his oilfield career with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in their wireline division. This took him to Nigeria, Norway, Denmark, UK, and Algeria, in positions moving through the field, to service quality and then into field management. At this point he moved to the Middle East with Baker Atlas and started in Kuwait as the Business Development Manager, moving onto the KOC Account Manager's position to now being the Country manager for Baker Atlas.Steven has always held a keen interest in all aspects of the oilfield and well data and to that front enjoys being associated with the SPWLA.

Yosra Abdel Rahman (Weatherford)

Yosra Abdel Rahman graduated from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in Jan 2008 with a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Engineering Management. She began her career working for Schlumberger as a Wireline Field Engineer in Aberdeen, UK. Consequently, her interest in Wireline log interpretation drove her to join Weatherford as a Formation Evaluation Engineer in Kuwait. Throughout her career, Yosra has travelled to various countries, gaining exposure to numerous case studies and becoming proficient in both open hole and cased hole log interpretation and evaluation. Furthermore, Yosra's experience and training in data processing has made her knowledgeable in various interpretation softwares. Yosra is currently responsible for processing Wireline data as well as providing log interpretation and data consulting services for operating companies.

Technical meeting 1 (2009/2010)
Tuesday 8th December 2010
Sponsor – Kuwait Oil Company
Location Hilton Hotel

Taher M. N. EL Gezeery (KOC, West Kuwait) "Utilizing Advanced Technologies in Horizontal Drilling, Mishrif Reservior, Minagish Field, West Kuwait"

We are pleased to announce that over 40 people attended the 8th December 2009 meeting of the Kuwait Chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - dedicated to fostering interest in Petrophysical matters and encouraging the exchange of experience within our local Petrophysical community. We now have 160 registered Members of the Kuwait Local Chapter of the SPWLA.

Prior to the Talk, the president briefed the audience with last session achievements, before introducing the speaker.

Taher has more than 23 years of oil industry experience in middle east, out of which 11 years were with Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co., Egypt, and 12 years with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Kuwait. Taher's main specialty is in Carbonate Sedimentology, Petrophysics, Sequence stratigraphic interpretation, Chemostratigraphy, Depositional and diagenetic interpretation, Litho-facies and rock typing, Structural Geology, Geophysics, Fault and fracture analysis, and 3D reservoir modelling. Taher is a member of many professional societies such as AAPG, SPE, and SPWLA, and has published several papers.

This talk described how Logging While Drilling (LWD) and Chemostratigraphy can be used to identify the different mechanical layers real time within the Mishrif reservoir and establish the relationship between the fracture corridors and the intersected faults in drilling the longest horizontal well in Kuwait.

The talk did spark a lot of interest in the audience as using chemostratigraphy to help steer drilling is not commonly used in Kuwait. Several interesting questions were put to the speaker during the question session.

After the talk the members had dinner where the discussion continued.

Profile

Name: Taher M. N. El Gezeery
Title: Senior Geologist
Department: Field Development- West Kuwait- Minagish Field

Taher El-Gezeery is a senior development geologist with more than 23 years of experience in the Middle East, out of which 11 years were with Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co., Egypt, and 12 years with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Kuwait. Taher's main specialty is in Carbonate Sedimentology, Petrophysics, Sequence stratigraphic interpretation, Chemostratigraphy, Depositional and diagenetic interpretation, Litho-facies and rock typing, Structural Geology, Geophysics, Fault and fracture analysis, and 3D reservoir modelling. Taher is a member of many professional societies such as AAPG, SPE, and SPAWLA, and has published several papers. In addition, Taher represented KOC in many regional and international conferences such as GEO, ADIPEC, IPTC and AAPG in Greece.

Utilizing Advanced Technologies in Horizontal Drilling Mishrif Reservoir, Minagish Field, West Kuwait

The Minagish field, in West Kuwait, is a North-South trending asymmetrical anticline, dipping from east to west with hydrocarbons contained in six major reservoirs ranging in age from Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Mishrif is a tight, fractured carbonate reservoir of Upper cretaceous age developed in a shallow marine deposition environment. The average thickness is about 300 ft with an average Net of 170ft in the upper layers. The observed porosity in the upper reservoir layers ranges between 10-30% and permeability measured from vertical wells ranges between 0.001–17 mD. The oil in the Mishrif is highly viscous and production is normally enhanced by fractures in the upper Mishrif layers as they act as the main permeability conduit for the main storage below. The second Mishrif layer unit 2 (M9 & M8) is a fairly high porous peloidal packstone to grainstone sequence that is highly fractured at the upper 15 feet of the layer's "dual porosity system". The fracture corridors within the layer improve permeability, thereby making it a good potential for horizontal well placement. It was impossible to reach the observed production rates from matrix without one or two major fluid conductive fracture corridors. A high geological risk in horizontal drilling is coming from the formation dip uncertainties, which were expected to vary between 2.5- upward up to 4-5 degrees downward, with an intensity increase close to the highly faulted areas. Previous wire line image studies carried out identified these layers and their corresponding fractures, but because most of the studied wells were vertical, the fracture corridors could not be properly related to presence of faults in the field. This paper aims at showing how effective Logging While Drilling (LWD) and Chemostratigraphy were useful in real to/near-real time to identify the different mechanical layers within the Mishrif reservoir and establish the relationship between the fracture corridors and the intersected faults in drilling the longest horizontal well in Kuwait.

IMPORTANCE OF POROUS PLATE MEASUREMENTS ON CARBONATES AT RESERVOIR CONDITIONS

Porous plate method has been used for years in acquiring reliable capillary pressure data, representative of reservoir rock-fluid properties. In recent years, the method has been found to be reliable and subject to less experimental errors and analysis when used for electrical resistivity (RI) measurements as well. A major problem has been the long time scales required for achieving reliable data. This work describes the recent advances made in water-oil capillary pressure measurements in carbonates, that is fundamental to consistent and reliable static models in reservoir engineering. A coherent Sw-RI measurement is the basis of defining reservoir fluid saturations accurately and in validating logs used to interpret these saturations.

The study focused on acquiring reliable and consistent water-oil Pc and Sw-RI measurements on carbonate reservoir cores using a variety of techniques including Porous Plate method, Continuous Injection technique (CI), Centrifuge and Fast Resistivity Index Measurements (FRIM). More than 70 reservoir cores, comprising four different carbonate reservoirs are investigated. The pitfalls of each technique is discussed with the data examined, and a rigorous development of porous plate is presented to capture the important primary drainage, spontaneous imbibition and forced imbibition cycles at reservoir stress conditions and reservoir temperature.

Biography

Moustafa Dernaika is the Regional SCAL Manager at Weatherford Laboratories - Abu Dhabi. He joined ResLab in 2001, which substantially became Weatherford Laboratories in 2007.

Moustafa holds BS and MS degrees from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, both in Chemical Engineering. He is currently continuing his PhD study in Petroleum Reservoir Engineering at Stavanger University in Norway.

Moustafa has co-authored 10 technical papers on capillary pressure/electrical property measurements and relative permeability.

Rock Mineralogical Analysis Reduces Interpretation Uncertainty: The GEM Tool

One of the most important parameters in understanding tools responses, and in turn provide accurate reservoir evaluation, is to have a clear idea of the mineralogical components of a formation rock. For example; dealing with clay minerals without knowing the type of clay will have a serious effect on the calculated porosity regardless of the sophistication of the software used in the analysis. This is because every clay mineral has a completely different response on the basic logging tools like the neutron, density and sonic. Also, it is known in carbonates and clastics that the existence of some elements provide better identification of the formation permeability which leads to identifications of the thief zones while injection activities.

Therefore, having a tool that accurately determines the yields of the different elemental composition of a rock, on foot-by-foot basis, enables the interpreters to reduce the uncertainty and provide more accurate reservoir and reserve analysis. Some of the values of the having elemental data is to have better estimate of matrix sigma, matrix density and permeability. Field examples and applications from the Middle East using the GEM tool will be presented and discussed.

From Pore to Core: Multi-scale Digital Rock Physics

Gary Sinclair – ME Regional Manager - Ingrain Inc.
Digital Rock Physics has emerged as a valuable tool to provide a deeper understanding of rock properties in challenging reservoirs in a very rapid timeframe.

This technology has wide application, ranging from computation of rock properties and fluid flow characteristics, reservoir rock typing, to improving reservoir simulations. Digital Rock Physics can be used in all reservoir types including; carbonates, sandstones, shales, tight gas sands and oil sands. The technology is routinely used on core samples but is effective on sidewall cores and cuttings because it works with small physical sample sizes.

Digital rock physics utilizes state of the art CT scanning and SEM imaging to capture high-resolution 3D images of the reservoir rock from the whole core at the micron scale down to pores, grains and TOC at the nanometer scale. The 3D image of micro- and nano-scale samples captures the rock fabric, grain structure and pore space geometry at resolutions from 1 micron down to 3 nanometers. Reservoir rock properties are computed directly from these 3D images.

This presentation will include examples of Digital Rock Physics as applied on actual ME reservoirs.

Gary Sinclair - Regional Manager MENA
Gary Sinclair joined Ingrain with over 30 years experience in the core analysis industry. He has worked with Core Laboratories, Fugro Robertson and ResLab, (Weatherford Laboratories) and has been responsible for laboratories in the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Egypt, and in the Middle East. His major areas of expertise include operations management, optimum core analysis study design, data evaluation and interpretation, project management, training and quality assurance. For the past 12 years he has been working exclusively in the Middle East as Regional Manager for ResLab where he was responsible for the set up and management of core analysis laboratories in Abu Dhabi, Oman and Kuwait.

Technical meeting 2 (2009/2010)
Tuesday 19th January 2010
Sponsor – Baker Hughes
Location Marina Hotel

Dr. Guy Vachon (Technology Director, Baker Hughes) "Reservior Justification of New Completion and Reservoir Monitoring Technologies"

We are pleased to announce that over 50 people attended the 19th January 2010 meeting of the Kuwait Chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - dedicated to fostering interest in Petrophysical matters and encouraging the exchange of experience within our local Petrophysical community. We now have 160 registered Members of the Kuwait Local Chapter of the SPWLA.

Prior to the Talk, the speaker introduced by local chapter secretary

Dr Guy Vachon received his Bachelor's through PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and MBA from University of Texas at Austin. He worked for Schlumberger from 1984 to 1999 as an engineer and manager. In 1997 he joined the Schlumberger/Baker Intelligent Well Systems joint venture. From 1999 to 2003 he managed Industrial Automation and Technical Data Management Software at National Instruments. In 2003 he joined Baker Oil Tools where he served as Product Line Director for Intelligent Completions and Director of Product Line Strategy. In 2006 he became Director of Optimization Solutions for Baker Hughes and in 2008 became Director of Reservoir Technology. He is currently Director of Enterprise Technology Programs.

This talk described novel smart completion technologies and how can each be used to be better manage reservoirs. Each reservoir provides unique challenge to petroleum engineers. Hence no unique completion technology can provide the answer for all types of reservoirs. Good planning, understanding of the reservoir challenges and selecting of appropriate completion technology can significantly increase production. Several examples were given from the Middle East, showing how different types of completion when properly used increase return on investment.

After the talk the members had dinner where the discussion continued.

Mapping Water Saturation between wells using Crosswell Electromagnetics

Michael Wilt
Schlumberger Regional Technology Center Abu Dhabi UAE
Crosswell Electromagnetics (EM) is a recently developed technology that applies induction EM principles to map electrical resistivity between boreholes spaced up to 1km apart. The technology was initially developed in the US and recently brought to the middle east to map interwell water saturation for management of water floods, locating by passed hydrocarbons and finding interwell oil/water contacts.

In this talk I will briefly describe the principles behind the technology and illustrate its application with a case history from the middle east.

Crosswell resistivity image during water flooding at a middle eastern oil field. Well marked INJ is a horizontal water injector; logs at the margin are water saturation from PNL measurements.

Bio for Michael Wilt

Dr Michael Wilt is a Schlumberger Advisor in Deep Reading Electromagnetic (EM)Technologies and he is stationed at their Regional Technology Center in Abu Dhabi. He received his B.S (1973) and M.S. (1975) in Geophysics from the University of California, Riverside and received his PhD from U.C. Berkeley in 1991 in applied geophysics. He was employed as a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories between 1977 and 1997. In 1997 he joined Electromagnetic Instruments Inc (EMI) where he lead research and development projects in crosshole EM and extended induction logging. EMI joined Schlumberger in 2001 and Dr Wilt leads the development effort in deep reading EM technologies, which continues today.

IMPORTANCE OF POROUS PLATE MEASUREMENTS ON CARBONATES AT RESERVOIR CONDITIONS

Porous plate method has been used for years in acquiring reliable capillary pressure data, representative of reservoir rock-fluid properties. In recent years, the method has been found to be reliable and subject to less experimental errors and analysis when used for electrical resistivity (RI) measurements as well. A major problem has been the long time scales required for achieving reliable data. This work describes the recent advances made in water-oil capillary pressure measurements in carbonates, that is fundamental to consistent and reliable static models in reservoir engineering. A coherent Sw-RI measurement is the basis of defining reservoir fluid saturations accurately and in validating logs used to interpret these saturations.

The study focused on acquiring reliable and consistent water-oil Pc and Sw-RI measurements on carbonate reservoir cores using a variety of techniques including Porous Plate method, Continuous Injection technique (CI), Centrifuge and Fast Resistivity Index Measurements (FRIM). More than 70 reservoir cores, comprising four different carbonate reservoirs are investigated. The pitfalls of each technique is discussed with the data examined, and a rigorous development of porous plate is presented to capture the important primary drainage, spontaneous imbibition and forced imbibition cycles at reservoir stress conditions and reservoir temperature.

Biography

Moustafa Dernaika is the Regional SCAL Manager at Weatherford Laboratories - Abu Dhabi. He joined ResLab in 2001, which substantially became Weatherford Laboratories in 2007.

Moustafa holds BS and MS degrees from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, both in Chemical Engineering. He is currently continuing his PhD study in Petroleum Reservoir Engineering at Stavanger University in Norway.

Moustafa has co-authored 10 technical papers on capillary pressure/electrical property measurements and relative permeability.

Advanced Carbonate Interpretation Using Neutron Capture Spectroscopy and Magnetic Resonance Data

Djisan Kho (Senior Petrophysicist - Schlumberger)

Abstract: Evaluation of porosity and lithology has always been done through a combination of density, photoelectric factor (PEF), neutron, gamma ray, and sonic measurements. None of these gives porosity or lithology directly. Therefore, common practice includes building petrophysical models to extract these reservoir properties. Geoscientists involved in petrophysical analysis using multi mineral solvers are aware of the difficulty and the uncertainty of the process; for example, changing a fluid property in the model will change the lithology as well as the porosity. The logs themselves are also known to have their own measurement uncertainties. The density log, for example, is affected by bad hole, lithology, barite, and light hydrocarbons. The neutron log is affected by lithology, fluid hydrogen index, and the borehole properties (temperature, pressure, hole size, stand-off, mud cake, mud weight, etc.). The interpretation is also complicated by the fact that different neutron tools from different logging companies have different sensitivities to lithology. Sonic log data is also used for interpretation even though it is affected by fractures, vuggy porosity, anisotropy, etc. The PEF curve is commonly used as an additional tool to solve for the lithology. However, if the mud contains barite the measurement becomes unusable.

Dolomite and solid bitumen quantification has been the challenging issues in carbonate evaluation. The dolomite diagenesis involves the recrystallization which makes the dolomite less susceptible to porosity reduction caused by overburden pressure. This unique characteristic of the crystallized dolomite makes it as an important reservoir rock especially in deep carbonate reservoirs. On the hand, the presence of solid bitumen is always associated with poor reservoir quality. Also, the physical properties of the solid bitumen cause it to appear as hydrocarbon. If not corrected, the formation evaluation result will give incorrect porosity and water saturation computation.

New development in neutron capture spectroscopy tool provides significant data to quantify the mineralogy in carbonate, especially the dolomite content. Combination of the spectroscopy data and magnetic resonance data can be used to identify and correct the solid bitumen effects. Real examples from deep carbonate reservoir in northern Kuwait fields and the validation against core data will be presented.

About the presenter:

Djisan Kho is a formation evaluation technical advisor in the Schlumberger–KOC North Kuwait Jurassic Gas Development Project in KOC Gas Development Group. He received his engineering degree from Bandung Institute of Technology and joined Schlumberger as wireline field engineer in 1994. He was assigned in different countries in the Far East and the Middle East of Asia, before attending Schlumberger Log Analyst Training in Houston in 2000. He has held several positions including marketing staff, senior petrophysicist, and technical team leader. He was the project manager of Schlumberger Log Processing Project involved in re-processing and interpretation of more than 9,000 wells in Saudi Aramco before moving to Kuwait.

President Speach

"Good evening,
First I would like to thank you all for attending the seventh SPWLA event of this session.
I would like also to thank Baker Huges for sponsoring this event.
This will not be our final event as we did cancel an event on March which we will substitute by holding an event next month.
Tonight's event is a special one as we will be holding the election for next year office bearers.
As you all know we have four officers position President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Please vote by ticking the box beside the name of the candidate you are voting for.
We will collect these before the presentation and announce the results after questions session.
Since last year we have came a long distance.
We have currently almost doubled the number of our members to 167 from the last years figure of about 80.
We have been registered officially with Kuwait Engineering Society.
We have been able of holding an event each month despite the economic crisis put on us. In league of best performing societies in the Middle East, according to SPWLA regional director, we are setting an example for other chapters.
This could have not been achieved without our officers, board members and member's commitment to support SPWLA Kuwait.
For next session which will start next Oct, we are considering hosting a tropical conference here in Kuwait. We will start a website to enable members to get in touch with our latest activity and achievements.
At the end I extend my special thanks to the office bearers (Names) and all the board members for the year round hard work and support."

Technical meeting # 7 (2008/2009)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Sponsor – INTEQ , A division of Baker Hughes Inc.
Location – Al-Manshar Rotana Hotel, Fahaheel, Kuwait
Mr. Raymond Chew (INTEQ-Regional Petrophysicist)

Characterization of Arab Formation Carbonates Utilizing Real-Time Formation Pressure and Mobility Data

We are pleased to announce that about 45 people attended the meeting of 21st May 2009 organized by the Kuwait Chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - dedicated to fostering interest in Petrophysical matters and encouraging the exchange of experience within our local Petrophysical community. We now have about 170 registered Members of the Kuwait Local Chapter of the SPWLA.

At the beginning of the event, the president addressed the chapter and updated the chapter on the various achievements throughout the year as this was also the annual meeting. The president also put forth the board's idea of holding a topical conference in 2010 and this was very much welcomed by the members. At the end of his introductory speech he requested people to vote for the new office bearers. Then the speaker was introduced by the secretary of the society and following this the ballots were collected from the members prior to start of the presentations.

Mr. Raymond Chew is the Regional Petrophysicist at Baker Hughes in Middle East. He received a B.Sc in Petroleum Engineering from the University Technology of Malaysia. He started his career in the field of log analysis and petrophysics in 1991 with Petronas in Malaysia and moved to Baker Hughes in 1998. He worked as Log Analyst, Petrophysicist, Wellsite Consultant,Geoscience Manager and Geoscience Advisor in a variety of countries in Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Abstract of the Presentation:

Wireline logging formation testing tools have long been used in the Arabian Peninsula for open hole formation pressure testing.Presently, a large number of wells are being drilled horizontally as producers and injectors, and often even as multilateral wells. This aggravates or prevents the use of conventional wireline logging technology. Formation pressure data are required to monitor the efficiency of production and injection for pressure maintenance.

The Arab formation is a very prolific producing formation that consists of several members deposited in a carbonate shelf environment. Besides formation pressure, a representative permeability is an important element of the data acquisition. The Arab formation porosity and permeability are variable and dependant on original facies, mineralogy and diagenesis. Highly porous rock can have variable permeability dependant on a number of these factors.

Conventional logs can show zones to be porous and hydrocarbon filled. These zones can be difficult to produce or inject due the presence of viscous heavy oil and tar. Therefore complicating the geosteering of the horizontal producers and injections. It has been found that the best way of recognizing such zones reliably, is through the utilization of real-time formation pressure testing data while drilling, preferably combined with magnetic resonance data.

This paper will discuss examples of carbonate reservoir characterization utilizing formation pressure testing in combination with a full LWD logging suite. Operating procedures were specifically optimized to allow quality control of each acquired data set. An extensive, highly detailed, data set was transmitted to the end user, displayed real time both on the rig-site as well as in the operator data-center to properly place the horizontal well for its intended objective.

After the talk there was a question and answer session, following which the results of the election was declared by the treasurer and the following members were elected as the new office bearers for the 2009-2010 chapter year:

President: Mr. Salem Al-Sabea (KOC)
Vice President: Dr. Naim Al-Jabari (Schlumberger)
Secretary: Dr. Girija Shankar Padhy (Schlumberger)
Treasurer: Mr. Steven J.M. Allan (Baker Atlas)
At the end all members had dinner where the discussion continued.

Technical meeting # 6 (2008/2009)
Monday 27th April 2009
Sponsor – Kuwait University
Location – KU, President Building- Conference Room Number 119
Mr. Khalid Ahmed, (Specialist Petrophysicist, KOC)

CORING UNCONSOLIDATED FORMATION – LOWER FARS: A CASE STUDY

We are pleased to announce that about 30 people attended the meeting of 27th April 2009 organized by the Kuwait Chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - dedicated to fostering interest in Petrophysical matters and encouraging the exchange of experience within our local Petrophysical community. We now have over 115 registered Members of the Kuwait Local Chapter of the SPWLA.

Prior to the Talk, the speaker was introduced by the Secretary of the society.

Mr. Ahmed Khalid Ahmed is currently working as Specialist Petrophysicist with the Heavy Oil Group in KOC. He joined KOC in April 2002. Prior to KOC, he served Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), the premier Oil & Gas development company in India.

With over 28+ years of industry experience, Mr Ahmed has served in various capacity in both offshore and onshore. He has got three ONGC internal publications on Log Interpretation, Cement Evaluation and General Logging Practice. His technical papers have been published in various journals including ARMA &SPE. He is currently a member of AAPG, SPE & SPWLA. The evening's talk was based on the Coring practice developed entirely indigenously by Mr Ahmed for the unconsolidated sand of Lower Fars heavy oil deposition. Last month this was presented at MEOS 2009.

Abstract of the Presentation:

Lower Fars is a shallow unconsolidated sandstone reservoir with high inter-granular porosity filled with heavy oil in southern part of Ratqa Field in Kuwait. The shallow depth (500' to 800'), friable sand laminated with shale and high viscosity heavy oil in pores have made coring this sand quite challenging. Last recovered core with rubber-sleeved core barrel in the eighties was only up to 60%. We describe how thoughtful mix-up of technology, innovative techniques and proper coordination by aligning all concerned has helped in meeting the challenge of coring unconsolidated sand and it's processing. Using low invasive core fluid, shorter core length, Aluminum inner core barrel, separate core bit to cut major sand / shale, full core catcher system, vertical slabbing at well mouth and on-site freezing have improved core recovery in excess of 85%. While low-solid content coring fluid with a pH of 9 resulted in low mud invasion, reduced WOB, ROP and SPM ensured fewer washouts during coring. Low abrasive core head with clam shell full closure core catcher produced good recovery. Core barrel length was reduced from standard 30' to 10', which was slabbed to 3' size keeping barrel vertically at well mouth. At well site it was frozen vertically with foam on top to minimise lateral movement and transported in freezer. At Core Lab it was kept frozen with dry ice, slabbed and plugged with liquid N2. It is expected that the obtained core plugs from similarly cored 6 wells shall lead to meaningful Routine and Special Core Analysis, which was suspected in old cores. This would help in developing the depositional geological model in conjunction with the image logs.

After the talk the members had dinner where the discussion continued.

Girija Shankar Padhy
Secretary – SPWLA, Kuwait

Request Letter

The Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) Kuwait local chapter would like to hold April event in Kuwait University.

The Society of Petrophysicsts and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the advancement of the science of petrophysics and formation evaluation, through well logging and other formation evaluation techniques and to the application of these techniques to the exploitation of gas, oil and other minerals. Founded in 1959, SPWLA provides information services to scientists in the petroleum and mineral industries, serves as a voice of shared interests in our profession, plays a major role in strengthening petrophysical education, and strives to increase the awareness of the role petrophysics has in the Oil and Gas Industry and the scientific community.

SPWLA local chapter aims are:

• To create a society dedicated for Petrophysicists in Kuwait.
• Promote education and technology in the area of formation evaluation in Kuwait. (Away from commercialization)
• There will be a monthly technical presentation on a subject that is of a local interest to Kuwait formation evaluation Society. Ensuring knowledge transfer between local oil companies and service companies to better understand our reservoirs.
• The monthly presentation will normally take place on third week Tuesday of each month. From September to May each year

Holding the April event in the University will enable students to

Technical meeting # 5 (2008/2009)
Monday 23rd February 2009
Sponsor – Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR-PRSC)
Location – KISR- PRSC Auditorium

Dr. Reza P. Oskui, PRSC-KISR "SYSTEMATIC APPROACH FOR PREVENTION AND REMEDIATION OF ASPHALTENE PROBLEMS FOR KUWAITI RESERVOIRS"

We are pleased to announce that about 33 people attended the meeting of 23rd February 2009 organized by the Kuwait Chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - dedicated to fostering interest in Petrophysical matters and encouraging the exchange of experience within our local Petrophysical community. We now have over 115 registered Members of the Kuwait Local Chapter of the SPWLA. Prior to the Talk, the speaker was introduced by the Secretary of the society.

Dr Oskui is Research Scientist working in Petroleum Research & Studies Center (PRSC) at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research( KISR) for the last 12 years. Since graduation from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST-UK ) in 1985 in Chemical Engineering, he has been working with International oil and service companies in Phase Behaviour and PVT studies for reservoir fluids, IOR/EOR and gas injection projects in the USA and UK. His main interests in the oil industry are: Reservoir Characterization, routine and special core analysis, phase behaviour and PVT measurement and simulation studies for reservoir fluids, EOS modelling, CO2 and IOR gas injection processes, coreflooding and Asphaltene studies and Heavy oil. He has managed a number of gas injection IOR research projects during his working time in the oil industry.

The talk outlined Asphaltene precipitation and deposition from oil reservoir fluids during production and its consequences. The nature and behaviour of asphaltenes in crude oils was discussed. Local examples of Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) were presented and the discussion was on : asphaltene deposition problems in the wellbore, how this has caused a reduction in production, shutting of some of the wells and a severe detrimental effect on the economics of oil recovery.

The results of the laboratory studies on the characterization and phase behavior studies of three different crude oil samples from Marrat reservoirs were described. Also, results and finding of the screening study using a number of commercially available inhibitors was discussed. The presentation gathered a good interest from operating companies, resulting in long discussions and remedial action plans.

After the talk the members had Snacks where the discussion continued.

Non-Resistivity Based Saturation Determination

Resistivity has always been the primary log evaluation technique for saturation determination. The limitations in fresh and variable water salinity environments and rocks with non-standard Archie parameters have been documented over the years. Alternate techniques have been used, but always suffer from relatively shallow depth of investigation and limitations imposed due to signal to noise and dynamic range.

Advanced in technology has resulted in techniques which while still shallow in nature, provide radial information to help better estimate saturation. We will discuss two recent publications. In SPWLA 2008 Akkurt etal presented "NMF Rabial Saturation Profiling for Delineating Oil-Water Contact in a High-Resistivity Low-Contrast Formation drilled with Oil-Based Mud." This technique utilizes advanced NMR radial saturation estimates based on diffusion measurements to estimate oil-water contacts in a challenging reservoir. Later in 2008 Hizem etal presented SPE 116130 "Dielectric Dispersion: A New Wireline Petrophysical Measurement" which demonstrated saturation determination by dielectric measurements. These technologies will be reviewed and examples presented from various reservoirs around the world.

Steve Crary is the Domain Champion in Saudi Arabia. He joined Schlumberger as a Field Engineer in Monahans Texas in 1975, after graduating from Purdue University with a degree in Physics. Beginning in 1980, he held various sales and management positions in Texas, Calgary Canada and New Orleans, Louisiana until August 1997 when he transferred to Schlumberger's Sugar Land Product Center as Petrophysical Expert for the Magnetic Resonance Department. He transferred to Moscow Russia in January of 2002 and Saudi Arabia in 2005. He has published many papers on different aspects of Formation Evaluation, and is a member of SPE, SPWLA, and SEG.

Using whole-rock elemental data for chemostratigraphic correlation, improved geosteering, and enhanced formation evaluation

Rachad Zereik
Halliburton – Sperry Drilling Services
East Ahmadi, Kuwait

The elemental composition of sedimentary rocks is a rich and powerful data set that is only now being exploited to full advantage in the oil and gas industry. Historically, this type of data has not been widely used. Even advanced laboratory measurement techniques have long turnaround times and few geologists or organic geochemists are trained to interpret elemental data. While wireline geochemical tools have done well in pioneering the application of elemental data for formation evaluation since the late 1980s, they are inherently limited by the small number of elements they can measure, and by their inability to operate in the LWD environment, especially in horizontal wells.

With the introduction of portable Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology in 2001, it became possible to greatly expand the utility of elemental data for drilling and formation evaluation. The LIBS spectrometer is a compact, robust surface instrument that can rapidly measure the elemental composition of cuttings at wellsite, allowing near real-time data generation to aid in drilling decisions. Innovative processing of LIBS optical spectra allow the acquisition of 15-25 elemental values in clean sandstones, carbonates, and evaporites, and up to 42 elements in shales and shaley lithologies. Cuttings-based elemental measurements also provide a significant advantage over LWD and wireline tools in HT/HP wells, as the LIBS spectrometer is unaffected by hostile downhole conditions.

Whole-rock elemental data has three primary uses in exploration and production programs:

• Chemostratigraphic correlation. Laboratory-based studies can generate data for up to 55 elements, a large data set that allows the detailed geochemical fingerprinting of stratigraphic units for high-resolution correlations. It also provides a wealth of geological information on provenance, weathering, paleosol development, depositional redox conditions, maximum flooding surface development, diagenesis, and reservoir quality – all important inputs to better constrain conventional sequence stratigraphic models.
• Improved wellbore positioning and geosteering (Chemosteering®). The results from laboratory chemostratigraphy studies can be immediately used to custom-calibrate LIBS instruments to recognize a zonation from cuttings analysis while drilling. This enables better-informed decisions for picking casing points, coring points, TD, and most importantly, for improved steering of horizontal wells.
• Enhanced formation evaluation. Elemental data can be used to model mineralogy, lithology, TOC, immobile hydrocarbons ("tar mats"), reservoir quality, and other rock attributes if properly calibrated to core and log data. LIBS instruments can provide this data at wellsite while drilling.

Hundreds of chemostratigraphic studies have been completed on every continent except Antarctica, in strata ranging in age from latest Precambrian to Pliocene, and from virtually every depositional environment. LIBS technology has been successfully employed for a variety of wellbore positioning applications on 71 wells in nine countries, in siliciclastic and carbonate reservoirs.

In Kuwait, LIBS-based wellsite chemostratigraphy has been performed on nine wells in Minagish Field, in three different reservoir sequences (Minagish Oolite, Mishrif, and Burgan-Wara). A case study will be presented for the Minagish Oolite, illustrating the construction of a chemostratigraphic zonation and its application at wellsite using LIBS technology for borehole positioning and tar mat recognition.

Chemosteering® is a registered trademark of Halliburton.

Rachad M. Zereik

Rachad Zereik is Halliburton's Middle East Regional Product Champion for Geochemical Services. He obtained a B.S. in Geology from the University of Alexandria (Egypt) in 1980, and has 27 years of professional experience in the petroleum industry. Rachad has worked throughout the Middle East as a logging geologist and senior pressure engineer for Baroid Logging Systems and then Halliburton Sperry Drilling Services, gaining experience with a variety of reservoir types and a wide range of difficult drilling situations. He subsequently worked eight years as the coordinator of Halliburton's Surface Data Logging services in Saudi Arabia. In 2006 Rachad accepted the position of Regional Product Champion, and is now responsible for promoting and implementing the innovative LaserStrat® and POPI geochemical technologies in Middle East drilling operations. Rachad is an active member of AAPG since 1985 and of SPE since 2003.

Elemental Yields to Minerals – An Expert System for Mineral Identification from Logs

Ulrich Herz, Staff Petrophysicist
Geoscience Manager Baker Atlas Kuwait
Abstract:
Mineralogy logs help to resolve ambiguities in the traditional logging methods and open up the possibility for obtaining new information to optimize hydrocarbon production. Knowledge of the formation matrix components can be used to provide a more accurate porosity through an enhanced interpretation of the neutron and density data. In general, the interpretation of any measurement can be enhanced when the formation matrix is understood. Modern logging has taken spectral analysis from the lab into the borehole. Current generation tools can detect more than the naturally occurring radioactive elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. Using chemical or pulsed neutron sources they also detect other elements associated with subsurface rock formations like calcium, silicon, magnesium, carbon, sulfur, aluminum, iron and others.

Elemental concentrations from subsurface nuclear spectroscopy, provide an opportunity to quantify the mineralogy of formation rocks using element to mineral transformation algorithms. Many of the methods utilized in the past have lead to non-unique solutions. Most difficulties evolved from underdetermined systems. With these difficulties in mind, a new system was developed which begins with a broad evaluation of the general lithology, followed by a more detailed assessment of the specific lithology, ultimately leading to a determination of the mineralogical content of the formation. The purpose of the middle step is to provide the opportunity to identify and place constraints on the subsequent mineral evaluation of the rock.

Biography:

Uli has 20 years of experience as geologist and petrophysicist.

At the moment, next to his responsibilities as supervisor, he performs petrophysical and NMR analysis. He also conducts processing and interpretations for horizontal well production logging and cased-hole pulsed neutron logging as well as acoustic and geomechanical processing.

The last years he was involved in similar tasks in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Prior to coming to the Middle East, he was working mainly on petrophysical field studies.

Before joining Baker Atlas, Uli spent several years for oil companies in Germany working as a geologist and later as a petrophysicist on projects in Germany, Holland, Libya, and countries of the former Soviet Union.

Uli holds a M.Sc. in Geology from the Gubkin Institute for Oil and Gas in Moscow (Russia, 1988). He is member of the SPWLA

Get The Basic Fundamental Petrophysical Relationships Right And The Rest Is Easy

William T. Bryant
Kuwait Oil Company

Abstract:
This presentation demonstrates how the basic data shared by the different disciplines, porosity, water saturation, permeability, and net to gross, are interrelated. Data needs are different. What porosity is needed by reservoir modelers? Not all porosity is the same. Cross-plot porosity, different types of total porosity and effective porosity values are available and then there is oven dried core porosity and humidity dried core porosity and others to compare with. All are all valid forms of porosity, each with their own definition, and each has a different numerical value. The water saturation in terms of total porosity is different numerically than the water saturation for effective porosity. Oven dried porosity has its unique associated water saturation and humidity dried porosity has a different one.

Core based integration of data provides a framework for valid reservoir properties; oil in place, reserves, and data for models. The process of integrating core and logs to yield meaningful reservoir properties is known, but is not often used. Measurements of core data at surface conditions must be adjusted through valid confining stress relationships to the reservoir conditions at the time of logging to properly compare with log measured values. The selection of core plug depths is also critical for valid comparisons. After core calibration, log data can be further adjusted to past or future stress conditions; initial reservoir pressure through to reservoir abandonment pressure.

Often the largest errors associated with oil in place and reserves (more than 50%) are caused by ignoring the fundamental relationships between log and core. Rigorous interpretation procedures often yield invalid porosities because fundamentals are ignored. Often the porosity does not match the water saturation which in turn yields invalid permeability results which in turn makes invalid reservoir models.

Biography:

William Bryant , Senior Petrophysical Advisor for Kuwait Oil Company KOC, is presently working for North Kuwait Field Development NKFD. He has been working in the oil industry for over 37 years for Schlumberger, Amoco, BP, Petrophysical Technologies, and now KOC. He was the petrophysical coordinator of the Amoco Research Center, senior instructor for NeXT Training and is an adjunct professor for Tulsa University. William holds a BS degree in Engineering Science from Florida State University. He authored and co-authored numerous papers and served in many SPWLA committees, including past President of the SPWLA chapter in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Borehole Resistivity Images A powerful Tool for Reservoir Architecture Modeling

M.A Abdel Fattah
RES, Halliburton, Cairo, Egypt

This presentation highlights the value of borehole image logs for reservoir characterization, particularly when fully integrated with core and seismic data. Some implications for reservoir model construction are also emphasized. It presents the applications of resistivity images in enhancing reservoir evaluation through detailed structural and sedimentological interpretation.

Structural interpretation includes defining structural dip zones and any angular unconformities. It is important tool in identifying the orientation of faults and fractures as well as the present-day tectonic stress field orientation from drilling induced features.

Sedimentary dip types were used in order to define lithofacies, depositional packages based on lithofacies association and to determine palaeoslope and palaeocurrent orientations.

The images have added finer scale detail to the vertical facies succession and stratigraphic dip changes, and have enabled the identification of significant depositional surfaces. Finally, the recognized depositional packages are interpreted in terms of an overall depositional model.

Correlation based mainly on the image sedimentological facies analysis is an approach for high resolution reservoir anatomy to clarify the lateral facies changes and consequently to solve many problems related to the reservoir geometry and shed light on reservoir connectivity.

PORE-CONNECTIVITY BASED PERMEABILITY MODEL FOR COMPLEX CARBONATE FORMATIONS

SPWLA Kuwait
April 29th, 7:00PM at Al Manshar Rotana Hotel, Fahaheel

Presented by
Jannes Kloos, Log Analyst, Baker Atlas

The Coates and SDR models for deriving permeability from NMR T2 distribution data are based primarily on pore-body sizes and are thus more valid for rocks where a good correlation between pore-body-size to pore-throat-size exists - a characteristic not observed in many carbonate rocks. In this presentation, we show a modified Coates permeability model which takes into account the pore connectivity in carbonates. This model is applicable not only for vuggy carbonates but also to formation rocks that contain abundant mud and/or intragranular porosities.

We have used (DiRosa et al., 2006) simple approach of generalizing the Coates equation by introducing a pore connectivity coefficient. By that we achieve a remarkable fit to core data.

Examples and case histories from the Middle East are shown that use core, formation multi-test, or image data to estimate the pore connectivity parameter and consequently, improve the accuracy of permeability estimation for complex carbonate formations where multiple facies are present.

About the presenter:

Jannes has 15 years of oil industry experience, 13 of which with Baker Atlas, in openhole logging technologies, formation evaluation, core logging and borehole image interpretation. He has extensive experience with borehole image interpretation projects from Africa, Europe, Russia and Middle East. He holds an M.Sc. in Earth Sciences from the University of Utrecht (1991, The Netherlands) with a major in Structural Geology. He is member of the SPE and SPWLA.

Effect of Resistive Invasion on Resistivity Logs Presented by Steve Crary Wireline Domain Champion Saudi Arabia

One of the more difficult decisions facing the petrophysicist is deciding which resistivity tool to use. Induction tools are best in low-resistivity formations (fresh or nonconductive muds). Laterolog or resistivity tools are best in the opposite conditions. An important effect to consider when choosing the tool is the contrast of flushed zone resistivity (Rxo) to formation resistivity (Rt). Resistivity tools have a difficult time estimating true formation resistivity when Rxo is greater than Rt. This effect, though well known, still seems to catch petrophysicists by surprise and causes serious errors in the formation analysis. In this paper we demonstrate the potential problems by examining three case studies where both induction and resistivity tools were run and comparing tool response to forward modeling results to help explain the readings.

The first case study could be considered a classic case of resistive invasion. The mud resistivity was 0.78 ohm-m at bottomhole temperature. In a wet sand, the deep resistivity measurement is affected by the higher flushed zone resistivity and consequently reads much higher than the deep induction measurement. The resistive invasion is clearly seen on either the resistivity or induction measurements and can therefore be detected, although it is easier to estimate Rt with the induction. Resistive invasion effects are much more difficult to see on our second case study. A fractured carbonate with high formation resistivity of around 100 ohm-m was drilled with fresh mud. The fresh mud invasion in a wet zone results in Rxo greater than Rt and the deep resistivity was consequently higher than the deep induction by almost one decade. However, the natural fractures resulted in the deep resistivity reading being greater than the shallow resistivity, which is typical of pay zones, and made detection of the shallow resistive invasion difficult using only a deep and shallow resistivity. Forward modeling suggests that the deep induction provides the best estimate of Rt in wet zones, while the deep resistivity measurement is best in hydrocarbon intervals. The final case study demonstrates this effect on a resistivity measurement made while drilling. The measurement was to be used to stop drilling at the top of a water leg. Unfortunately, the fresh mud filtrate and rapid spurt resulted in a flushed zone resistivity higher than formation receptivity in the water leg. Comparison between the bit resistivity (earliest measurement on the tool) and later measurements provided an indication of the effect. However, the difference is subtle and difficult to see on the field logs. Again, comparisons with the induction data clearly demonstate the limitations of resistivity measurement in this environment.

About the presenter:

Steve F. Crary is currently the Schlumberger Wireline Domain Champion in Saudi Arabia. He joined Schlumberger as a Field Engineer in Monahans Texas in 1975, after graduating from Purdue University with a degree in Physics. Beginning in 1980, he held various sales and management positions in Texas, Calgary Canada and New Orleans, Louisiana until August 1997 when he transferred to Schlumberger's Sugar Land Product Center as Petrophysical Expert for the Magnetic Resonance Department. He transferred to Moscow Russia in January of 2002, and Saudi Arabia in 2005. He has published many papers on different aspects of Formation Evaluation, and is a member of SPE, SPWLA, and SE