10th Biennial International Conference & Exposition

P412

Assessing Rock Compressive Strength and Predicting Formation

Drillability using Sonic, Gamma & Density Logs
Sanjay K. Shrivastava*, Ahmad Javed, K.Krishna Pratap

Summary

Formation Drillability is one of the most important aspects for planning and designing a new oil/gas well since the factors
affecting the drilling performance have complex relationships between Formation Properties, Drilling Bit Design and
Operational parameters.

In this study, Sonic, Gamma and Density digitized logs have been extensively used as Logs are the real indicator of formation
drillability and also represent one or the other physical properties of formation. Rock Compressive Strength has been
calculated based on Compressional / Shear travel time (Sonic log), Bulk density (Density log), Shale content (Gamma log)
and detailed depth wise Lithology of offset wells.

Globally Rock Compressive Strength is calculated using proprietary softwares by Bit manufacturers to decide on formation
drillabilty aspects but in the absence of any such software with ONGC, an effort has been made to evaluate formation
drillabilty using standard tables, charts, formulae based on the best Industry experience and practices. Considering this as
inputs a Computer Spread-sheet Programme has been developed in-house at Institute of Drilling Technology which computes
Rock Compressive Strength.

In view of high operating cost of Drilling Rigs, if Rate of Penetration can be enhanced by any means, it will reduce open-hole
formation exposure time & any complications associated with it and eventually significant savings in Drilling Time & Drilling
Cost can be realized. Keeping this motto in mind, Compressive Strength studies for 25 major ONGC’s Onshore development
fields have been worked out.

Based on Rock Compressive Strength, recommended Bit Selection in different fields has been implemented. Very encouraging
results are being acknowledged from fields and on an average there is an increase of 150% to 300% in ‘Formation-
Drillability’ has been reported from different ONGC fields.

Introduction formation property for determining the drillability of

formations.
Drilling bit is the most important and crucial tool for
smooth and economic drilling of an oil well. Around 120 Leading Bit manufacturers like Hughes, Smith, and
rig-days per year have been lost in ONGC due to Bit Halliburton recommend, manufacture & supply bits based
Failures based on last three years complications data. on formation characteristics (Compressive Strength)
Technological advances in bit design and cutter which is calculated by using propriety softwares. They use
technology are greatly assisting drilling engineers in bit formation logs primarily Sonic, Gamma & Density logs in
selection for any given application Now-a-days great digitized form as inputs which they feed in their softwares
emphasis is given to petro-physical properties of & offer a particular bit suitable for a particular formation.
formations for selection of appropriate bit, since these
properties have direct bearing on bit life. Compressive In the present paper wells drilled in Assam, Tripura,
Strength analysis has been widely accepted as a key Kolkata, Krishna Godavari Project (Rajahmundry),

Drilling R&D and Technology Group, Institute of Drilling Technology,ONGC,

Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun – 241 895, Uttarakhand, India
E-mail : skshrivastavaongc@gmail.com
Karaikal (Cauvery), Ahmedabad Ankleshwar, bit performance and cannot guarantee selection of the
Mehsana and Frontier Basin have been analyzed. optimum bit type.
Accordingly Milled Steel-Tooth, Tungsten-Carbide Insert,
PDC and Impregnated Bits have been recommended to The problem with using Offset Bit Record method is that
different ONGC onshore fields based on the study which they contain no lithology or strength information. Bit
are being trial tested. The results realized so far have been records indicate only how the bits performed over the
encouraging from ROP/drillability point of view. This intervals drilled and under what conditions they were
paper will help field engineers in improved and cost operated. All these methods, in-fact reflect the bit
efficient ‘Bit Selection’ predominantly for 17½”, 12¼” & capability i.e. individual bit’s efficiency to drill a
8½” phases. formation and not the formation drillability. Thus a bit
selected on the basis of above methods will only give an
Bit selection by IADC code is prevalent everywhere, idea about the performance of selected bit with respect to
considerations for assigning IADC code to a bit by previously used bits.
manufacturer are not broad based. Though, IADC code
gives a picture of intended formation application, still two The log values assist the Drilling Engineer in making
different bits of same IADC code may differ in design economical bit selections. In case of present study,
details, quality and performance. With advancements in different types of logs have been extensively used which
metallurgy, cutting structure, bearing, gauge protection, represent one or the other physical properties of the
fluid course, nozzle orientation, a number of bits are formation. Thus the selected bit has direct bearing on
available with same IADC code but with different special formation properties. Once the field is mapped in respect
features and hence a drilling engineer has to be very of compressive strength, the formation can be categorized
specific about bit selection. Now it has been established as soft, medium, hard etc. Such grouping of formation will
that attributes/features of TCR bits play an important role, help in selecting a suitable bit for a particular formation.
so an effort has been made in this paper to evaluate the
compressive strength and correlate drillability aspect of the Various indirect measuring techniques are presently
formation. employed for estimating formation strength, which in turn,
is correlated with drillability and bit selection. Formation
The method followed for evaluating compressive strength drillability is best determined from Unconfined
is based on Compressive Strength using Sonic, Gamma & Compressive Strength (UCS). It is one of the most basic
Density logs. Digitized value of compressional travel time, parameters of rock strength, and most common
gamma ray log and bulk density are put in formulae to find determination performed for boreability predictions. The
the compressive strength of these formations (Fig. 3) and unconfined (or uniaxial) compressive strength (UCS) of a
plotted against depth as shown in Fig. 4 & 5. This plot is rock is a common measure of the strength of intact rock. It
then used to select a suitable bit for any desired interval. is normally measured on cylinders of rock core by
compressing the core between two platens and measuring
Conventional Bit Selection Methods the maximum load at which failure occurs.

There are several methods prevalent for bit selection, such Log Based Bit Selection Method
as Cost per Meter method, Dull Bit Grading method, Offset
Bit Record method, Specific Energy methods etc. Identified 5 to 6 drilled wells in identified fields.

The commonly used criteria for selecting the bit for the Recorded broad lithology, well configuration and casing
next interval is the bit type with the highest ROP or the bit policy followed in each field.
with minimum Cost per Meter. In addition, factors such as
hydraulics, formation hardness, bit design, and operational Collected Sonic, Gamma and Bulk Density logs for 17 ½”,
parameters are considered in the selection process. Due to 12 ¼” & 8 ½” phases in digitized form.
the number of variables considered, the selection process
is a trial and error procedure. In many cases, this approach Developed a computer spreadsheet programme with the
can ignore some of the important parameters affecting the help of standard empirical formulae / tables ((Fig. 4) and
entered the digitized log data in respect of selected wells.

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Calculated the UCS for each 15 centimeters. Took moving LKAU Cost/Meter also came down to just 66 % as
average of 3 meters to avoid sharp ups and down and compared to its offset well as shown in Fig.9.
plotted the same against the depth. (Fig. 5)
Jabera Field (Frontier Basin) :
Drew charts between Compressive Strength and Depth for Performance comparison has been made for 17½” phase of
17½”, 12¼” & 8½“ Phases for concerned fields (Fig. 4 & 1500m section of very hard formation (Fig.10), where
5). conventional bit-selection could attain hardly 16m/bit as
against 119m/bit with Log based Bit Selection. ROP
With the help of IADC, TCR & PDC Bits classification achieved was more than 150 %, thus Cost/Meter came
charts and Bit Selection Guide for most economic Bits down to almost half.
Selection (Fig. 1), made the criteria and classified the
intervals as (Very soft, Soft & Sticky, Soft, Soft Medium, Conclusion and Recommendations
Medium, Medium Hard, Hard and Extremely Hard) for
selection of TCR and PDC bits (Fig.6). Prevailing methods of bit selection like Cost per Meter,
Dull Bit Grading, Offset Bit Record and Specific Energy
Studied the performance of previously used bits in these methods in-fact reflect the bit capability i.e. individual
fields. Noticed the attributes of such bits, their wear bit’s efficiency to drill a formation and not the formation
pattern, bit life and reasons for poor performance. drillability. Logs, not bit records are an indicator of what
a bit penetrated. Therefore, the log values support in
Recommended suitable bits for different fields based on making economical bit selections.
inputs/analysis and observations (Fig.11).
Suitable Bit Selection have been recommended to all
Techno-Economics : Results based on Log Based concerned fields for 17 ½”, 12¼” & 8½” phases. Very
Bit Selection encouraging and positive outcomes are being received
from different work centers where the recommended bits
Performance comparison has been anlysed with Log based are being trial tested. In general, following are the
Bit Selection and conventional Bit Selection and shown in recommendations based on the compressive strength
Fig. 9, 10 ,11 & 12. study:

Geleki Field (Assam) :  Special featured, high performance TCR bits or

Two recently drilled wells G-191-A & GCG (with Log suitable PDC bits may be preferred (Fig. 2) for
based Bit Selection) have been compared with their offset long sections having comparable Compressive
wells GKED & GKBF respectively (Fig. 7 & 8) : Strengths in 17 ½”, 12¼” & 8½” sections for
improved ROP and cost benefits due to reduced
 12 Days each could be saved on each well. numbers of trips resulting in fewer
complications.
 Approx. 70 $/M could be saved on GCG well of
4200 TD.  The Matrix body for PDC bit is suggested to
avoid erosion due to sand/sand stone if
 150 % increase in ROP on both the wells. encountered during drilling. Also Matrix body
PDC bit is suggested for long sections to cover
 Well G-191-A could be completed with only 7 entire section to avoid intermediate bit change
bits as against 20 on offset well. So saving of 13 instead of lowering Steel bodied PDC bit of
bits cost & saving of 13 trips. same IADC code first and then switching over to
Matrix bodied PDC bit.
Lakwa Field (Assam) :
Performance comparison has been made for 12¼” phase of  Hydraulics is vital as it improves bottom hole
1600m section of well LKAU (offset LMAA), where Log- cleaning and ROP. So, maximum possible
based Bit Selection could attain ROP 14 M/Hr against 9 Discharge should be maintained while using
M/Hr. & section was completed in just 5 days (Fig.11). So, PDC Bits.

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Nomenclature  18166 “Relationships between Formation
Strength, Drilling Strength and Electric Log
PDC : Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Properties”.
TCR : Tri Cone Roller
ROP : Rate of Penetration [Meter/Hour]  11032 “Shear Wave Travel Time Determination
TD : Target Depth [Meter] Using an unconventional approach”.
UCS : Unconfined Compressive Strength [PSI]
IADC : International Association of Drilling Contractors  77217 “Cumulative Rock Strength as a
GPM : Gallons Per Minute quantitative means of Bit Selection & Emerging
C/M : Cost Per Meter PCD Cutter Technology”
DBG : Dull Bit Grading
OBR : Offset Bit Record
SE : Specific Energy

Acknowledgement

Authors are grateful to ONGC management for having

given permission to publish this paper. The authors also
thank to team members of various drilling fields of ONGC
who have provided the technical inputs and active support
throughout the study. The authors acknowledge the
contributions of EPINET Center and CEGDIS library of
KDMIPE, Dehradun for providing digitized Logs / Well
Completion Reports, M/s Smith International for
providing useful inputs reg. the bits under rate contract and
the colleagues of IDT,ONGC for continuous technical
value additions.

References

 Petroleum related rock mechanics by E. Fjaer,

R.M. Holt etal.
Fig. 1 : Roller Cone Bit Selection Guide

 Bit Manufactures Catalogue From “Smith ,

Hughes, Gear Hart, Rabia Etc.

 Well Completion Reports of different ONGC

fields

Few SPE Papers :

 68089 “An Unconventional Approach for Drill-

Bit Selection”.
 37582 “Improved Roller Cone Bit Selection
through the use of an attribute based Bit
Classification System”.

 13256 “Three Cone Bit Selection with Sonic

Logs”.
Fig. 2 : Ratio of Shear to Compressive Travel Time

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Fig. 3 : Glimpse of Computer Spread Sheet Programme to evaluate Compressive Strength of formations using Sonic, Gamma & Bulk
Density Logs

Fig.4 : Compressive Strength vs Depth Charts for 12¼” & 8½“ Phase in Periyapattnam (Cauvery Field)

Fig.5 : Compressive Strength vs Depth Charts for Assam (Laipling Gaon) & KG (Pasaralapudi) Fields

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Fig. 6 : Bit Selection Guides for Roller Cone & PDC (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) Bits

Performance Comparison & Improvement in Productivity in Different Fields

Fig. 7 : No. of Drilling Days and Drilling Cost comparison in Geleki, Assam Wells (Comparison between G-191-A & GCG with their offset
wells GKED & GKBF)

Fig. 8 : Average ROP and No. of Bits Consumption comparison in Geleki, Assam Wells (Comparison between G-191-A & GCG with their
offset wells GKED & GKBF)

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Fig. 9 : No. of Drilling Days in 12¼” Phase and Drilling Cost comparison in Lakwa, Assam Well (Comparison between LKAU & its offset
well LMAA)

Meters Drilled / Bit:Frontier Basin:Jabera # 2 Drilling Cost ($/Meter) : Frontier Basin : Jabera #2

739
119

16 1553

Prevailing Methods Log Based Study

Prevailing Methods Log Based Study

Fig. 10 : Meterage per Bit and Drilling Cost comparison in Frontier Basin Well (Comparison between Jabera # 2 & its offset well Jabera
#1)

Fig.11 : “Bit Selection” accomplished for major fields in above area