Formation Evaluation Services for Geoscience, Drilling, CCUS and Geothermal
Formation evaluation is a crucial process across various sectors, including petroleum engineering, the oil and gas industry, carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities, and geothermal engineering.
Petroleum Engineering and Oil & Gas Industry:
Formation evaluation helps determine the ability of a borehole to produce petroleum. It involves assessing key properties like porosity, permeability, fluid saturation, and lithology. Accurate evaluation ensures wellbore stability, optimizes production strategies, and mitigates drilling risks.
Lithology Identification: Techniques like logging while drilling (LWD), mud logging, and core sample and testing.
Porosity and Permeability Assessment: Tools include sonic and density log analysis and calibrating it with selected core test results
Fluid Saturation Analysis: Utilizes resistivity, neutron porosity, and formation testing tools.
Pressure Evaluation: Pressure-while-drilling (PWD) and formation pressure testing are used.
Carbon Capture and Storage Facilities:
Role and Importance: Formation evaluation in CCS projects focuses on determining storage capacity, injectivity, and containment. It involves assessing the interaction between rock matrix, brine, and CO2 streams to ensure effective and safe CO2 sequestration4.
Techniques and Tools used:
Logging Tools: Adapted from oil and gas sectors, but modified for CCUS needs to evaluate lithology, porosity, permeability, and pressure.
Special Core Analysis (SCAL): Determines CO2 storage efficiency and relative permeability. Bulk volume compressibility testing and calibrating.
Geomechanics Studies: Assess the impact of rock-brine-CO2 interactions and helps in predicting CO2 plume behavior.
Geothermal Engineering
Importance: In geothermal projects, formation evaluation provides insights into subsurface geology and the developed geothermal system. It helps in determining the best strategies for field development and improving drilling performance which is one of key area of concern due to crystalline and low porosity in rocks..
Techniques and Tools used:
Drill Cutting Examination and Analysis: Helps in identifying the rock types and their properties.
Well Logging: Includes acoustic and electric borehole imaging to analyze formation characteristics.
Pressure and Temperature Logging: Evaluates subsurface conditions during drilling.
Formation evaluation plays a pivotal role in drill bit selection and drilling engineering.
Drill Bit Selection:
Importance: Formation evaluation informs the selection of the most suitable drill bit by providing detailed insights into the geological characteristics of the subsurface. Understanding formation properties like hardness, abrasiveness, and heterogeneity ensures the right bit is chosen, optimizing drilling performance and reducing costs4.
Techniques and Tools used: Lithology Identification: Determines the type of rocks and their structures. This helps in selecting bits tailored to specific lithological challenges.
Porosity and Permeability Assessment: Offers information on the formation’s fluid content and flow characteristics. Bits are chosen to handle the expected fluid influx and drilling fluids’ interaction with the formation1.
Formation Mechanical Properties: Assessing hardness, abrasiveness, and other properties that influence bit wear and penetration rates. Tools like sonic and density logging are commonly used1.
Optimization: Formation evaluation data, when integrated with software-based services, can analyze parameters from offset wells to enhance bit selection and optimize operational parameters.
Drilling Engineering:
Importance: Formation evaluation ensures comprehensive understanding and planning for drilling operations3. It helps in predicting and mitigating potential drilling risks, maintaining wellbore stability, and optimizing drilling performance.
Techniques and Tools used: Formation Testing Tools: Used for downhole fluid sampling, pressure measurement, and formation integrity testing.
Mud Logging: Evaluates drill cuttings and mud properties during drilling. Real-time data is crucial for making adjustments to drilling operations1.
Core Analysis: Provides in-depth data on formation properties such as porosity, permeability, fluid saturation, and grain density.
Conclusion
Integrating formation evaluation into drill bit selection and drilling engineering optimizes drilling performance, reduces costs, and ensures safety6. By leveraging advanced tools and techniques, engineers can make informed decisions to enhance drilling operations and achieve desired outcomes