INTEGRATING PILOT AND LATERAL OPENHOLE MEASUREMENTS FOR LATERAL LANDING POINT ASSESSMENT AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURE DESIGN—A CASE STUDY FROM THE DELAWARE BASIN, WEST TEXAS

摘要

Well landing zone selection and a tailored lateral stagingand perforation design can have a large impact on wellproductivity. A successful field development isintrinsically related to both landing and completionoptimization, in particular where several stackedproducible horizons can be targeted such as in theDelaware basin in West Texas. Understanding reservoirand completion properties is key in the decision processfor optimal well landing selection and completionoptimization. Two quality factors are defined for thisoptimization: (1) reservoir quality (RQ) and (2)completion quality (CQ).RQ encompasses petrophysical properties such asporosity, permeability, saturation, and total organiccarbon (TOC). RQ is of most importance in pilot wellsto identify and rank the most prolific horizons in stackedhorizons but is sometimes overlooked or dismissed inlateral wells. Typical evaluation techniques to define RQinclude using data from basic logs such as triple combo,but the complexity of the unconventional reservoirs hasshown that advanced wireline logs such as spectroscopy,magnetic resonance, and images are needed to accuratelyquantify petrophysical properties. Completion propertiessuch as Poisson’s ratio, Young’s modulus, minimumhorizontal stress, and natural fractures can also begrouped to define the CQ of a given rock. CQ is themain input for the hydraulic fracture simulators whichaim to achieve the primary objective of determiningfracture height growth, overall geometry, and pinchpoints. Previous revisions have shown the importance ofaccounting for the anisotropic nature of theunconventional rock and its mechanical properties inwhich the rock layering intensity and weak interfacesinfluence the minimum horizontal stress. Hence, datafrom borehole images coupled with advance acousticdipole data and mini stress tests are instrumental for thecalibration of the hydraulic fracture model.Placing stages and perforations using log data has had apositive impact on production in vertical and lateralwells. Success is based on the use of dipole sonic derivedanisotropic mechanical properties and stress calculationsto improve the fracturing results; petrophysical rockproperties, which define the quality of the reservoir; andgeological information from borehole images such asfractures and lateral facies variation that either impactthe reservoir quality or the completion quality.In this paper, we will present a case history that showsthe integration of an in-depth evaluation of variousreservoir properties grouped under RQ and CQ factorsapplied to a pilot and a horizontal well using the latestadvance wireline logs for well landing selection andcompletion optimization in West Texas. Lateral andvertical information from the borehole images were usedto build a 3D geomodel in which the main RQ and CQproperties were propagated with the goal of improvingthe hydraulic fracture model.