Abstract
Wellbore instability has been experienced in areas of the Marcellus Shale and can become particularly troublesome in the superlaterals that are becoming more prevalent in that play. Often the instability while drilling these very long lateral wells is minimal; problems are more likely to occur while tripping out after reaching TD. The most common instability events when pulling out of the hole appear to be tight hole, pack-off and stuck pipe. These problems often worsen with time, indicating there is some time-dependence to the failure mechanism.
In order to develop effective mitigation strategies to combat the instability, it is imperative that the failure mechanism be correctly identified. Previous publications (Kowan and Ong, 2016; Addis et al. 2016; Riley et al. 2012) have suggested that bedding planes may play a role in some of the drilling problems experienced in the Marcellus Shale. In this paper, we will present a case study from the Marcellus that shows conclusive proof of weak bedding plane failure along a lateral well, where thousands of feet of anisotropic failure were captured with a LWD image log.
This image provided confirmation of the presence and failure of weak bedding planes in the Marcellus Shale. The image was also used to validate an existing geomechanical model for the area and gave the operator more confidence in the mitigation strategies developed from that geomechanical model, which had been based on the assumption that weak bedding was contributing to difficulty experienced on multiple lateral wells when tripping out of the hole.
This case study will begin with an overview of the geomechanical model, including the drilling history, stress/pore pressure model and rock properties. Next, some highlights from the image log, showing anisotropic bedding plane failure, will be featured as well as a comparison of the image to the geomechanical model. This case study will conclude with a review of proposed mitigation strategies that could be implemented by the operator to limit the risks posed by weak beds and minimize instability, when drilling laterals in this area, or similarly complex areas, of the Marcellus Shale.
Speaker Biography
Julie Kowan has over 15 years’ experience enabling operators to drill safer, more cost-effective wells and plan field development by reducing non-productive time (NPT) due to wellbore instability and improving production. She has expertise in unconventional reservoirs, pore pressure prediction, stress constraint, wellbore stability, fracture permeability and compaction. Ms. Kowan began her career as a Geomechanics Associate at GeoMechanics International (GMI) in 2005 before being promoted to Specialist and Advisor positions at GMI and Baker Hughes. From 2016 to 2018, she ran her own successful consulting company, J. Kowan Consulting, LLC, before re-joining Baker Hughes in 2018. Ms. Kowan earned a Master of Science in Geology from Brown University and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Rutgers University. She served as Vice President of the Boston Chapter of the SPWLA from 2017-2019 and as Secretary from 2015-
2017.
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When
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Cost
At this time we are not going to charge anything for these webinars. We reserve the right to change this in the future.
Webinar reservation: 
Next Month's Talk
How to Use Dipole Sonic Velocities in Quantitative Petrophysics: Moving beyond the Wyllie and Raymer-Hunt-Gardner Equations
Tom Bratton
Consultant
Forward this newsletter to a friend to invite them to the webinar.
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From the President
Yulia Faulkner
Dear members and friends of DWLS,
I hope you are staying warm and safe!
Thank you for keeping attending Monthly Webinars, thank you for your support and interest, the greater the number of attendees at our web events, the more benefits we will get out of our networking and supporting each other.
Please watch the webspace for more details on our November and December luncheon webinars.
A lot of acquisitions and mergers are still happening in hopes to cut the costs and to ride out the pandemic. I know that we all want to return to some form of normalcy with our lives, but I would just like to say that we should all be a little patient with everything and everyone right now because we are in this together, and I know that we can succeed if we keep that in mind.
I kindly ask you to invite more participants to our webinars, send me suggestions on how we can increase the value of your membership, my address: President@dwls.spwla.org.
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From the VP - Technology
Jenny LaGesse
Welcome to November, DWLS members! Thank you to everyone who attended October’s meeting with Melanie Durand of Shell. We had great attendance and insightful questions and discussions following her presentation.
This month we are excited to host another SPWLA Distinguished Speaker, Julie Kowan (Baker Hughes). Her talk, “Conclusive Proof of Weak Bedding Planes in the Marcellus Shale and Proposed Mitigation Strategies” will cover geomechanics, pore pressure, and image logs in super-laterals of this important and complex Appalachian basin. Her presentation will be held via webinar, on Tuesday November 17th, 2020, at 11 am Mountain Time. The talk is free, but you must register to attend. You can register at this link, which will also be available on the DWLS website.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6729735051152847120
In the months ahead, we are planning to keep our meetings online only. Keeping everyone safely distanced but still plugged in with engaging talks is our goal. We are incredibly pleased to welcome several SPWLA Distinguished Speakers this year, as well as local Denver subject matter experts. Here is a brief rundown of who and what is coming up next:
- December 15, 2020, Tom Bratton (Consultant, Tom Bratton LLC): “How to Use Dipole Sonic Velocities in Quantitative Petrophysics: Moving beyond the Wyllie and Raymer-Hunt-Gardner Equations” https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4386633990921146640
- January 19, 2021, SPWLA Distinguished Speaker Nikita Seleznev (Schlumberger): “Determining Water-Filled Porosity of Tight Oil Reservoirs with a New Interpretation Method for Dielectric Dispersion Measurements” https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1598991583486169360
- February 16, 2021, SPWLA Distinguished Speaker Luis Quintero (Halliburton): “Reservoir Pressure in Tight Gas Formations from a Pressurized Core System” https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4834879592798702096
- March 16, 2021, Greg Salter (Core Laboratories): “Pressure-Dependent Permeability of Shale Reservoirs and Implications for Estimated Ultimate Recovery” https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/545638553356562448
- April 20, 2021, SPWLA Distinguished Speaker Luis Stinco (Consultant, Olempetra LLC): “Formation Evaluation Applying Deductive and Inductive Methodologies: Which One to Use When Characterizing Reservoirs” https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/891529518292350480
All webinars will be held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, at 11 am Mountain Time. The talks will be free but registration is required to attend. Abstracts and bios will be available in future newsletters and on the DWLS website.
The 5th Annual RMAG-DWLS Fall Symposium “Maximizing Value of Core and Fluid Analysis” was held on October 27, 2020. Over 30 attendees including 9 speakers met for this day-long webinar, featuring new research, networking, and stimulating discussions around the applications of core and fluid analysis. DWLS thanks RMAG for their continued partnership during this challenging time, and our members who attended and made the symposium a success.
Call for Abstracts! The DWLS Spring Workshop will be held online this April 2021. We are recycling our last year’s topic which was canceled due to the pandemic: “Horizontal Petrophysics: Applications and Interpretation Techniques in Reservoir Characterization.” Please send abstract submissions to: VP_Technology@dwls.spwla.org.
We welcome abstracts in the following categories:
- Deviated/horizontal well petrophysics
- Applications to geosteering
- Vertical log concepts as applied to horizontal targets
- Applications to reservoir characterization in unconventional reservoirs
- Applications to optimizing completions, production, and estimating OOIP
- LWD interpretation techniques
Finally, we are looking for more speakers to fill out our luncheon series! Please submit presentation abstracts or suggestions for talks you would like to hear to: VP_Technology@dwls.spwla.org.
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From the VP - Membership
Rich Whittington
Lifetime members you can stop reading here. For those who choose the annual membership option this message is for you! Now is the time to renew for next year so you can continue to receive the monthly newsletter and gain access to the great set of speakers we have lined up next spring for the monthly luncheons.
To renew please visit the DWLS homepage and go to the bottom. There you can find a link to PayPal where you can continue your $10 annual subscription or step up to the lifetime membership for $75 and relieve some of the FOMO you may be experiencing for future DWLS functions.
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Calendar of Events
Click the calendar to the right to view events on the web.
Other Important Events
2021 SPWLA Annual Symposium, May 15-19, 2021 (Boston,MA) - Note this will be held virtually
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DWLS Sponsors
Click here to view the sponsors on the website, or click on any image to contact a sponsor.
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Chapter Statistics
Statistic
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This Year
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3-Year Average
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| # of Active members * |
284 |
348 |
| # that are New members |
9 |
15 |
| # that are Students * |
7 |
7 |
| # that are Lifetime Members * |
249 |
263 |
| September luncheon meeting attendance |
49 |
48 |
| October luncheon meeting attendance |
31 |
37 |
| November luncheon meeting attendance |
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32 |
| Holiday party attendance |
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21 |
| January luncheon meeting attendance |
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48 |
| February luncheon meeting attendance |
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60 |
| March luncheon meeting attendance |
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35** |
| April luncheon meeting attendance |
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29** |
| May luncheon meeting attendance |
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64 |
* Note that we did a thorough cleanup of bad email addresses that resulted in some of our members being removed until they can be tracked down again. So this year's membership numbers are going to be a bit lower.
** These numbers are skewed due to COVID-19 luncheon cancellations.
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The DWLS Newsletter is published monthly September through June by the Denver Well Logging Society. For information on membership or advertising, contact the editor. For other inquiries, contact a member of the Board of Directors.
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