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Title: USING RECENT ADVANCES IN 2D SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY AND SURFACE GEOCHEMISTRY TO ECONOMICALLY REDEVELOP A SHALLOW SHELF CARBONATE RESERVOIR: VERNON FIELD, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI

Abstract

Presented in this quarterly report is the Case History and Well Summary for the Vernon Field demonstration project in Isabella County, Michigan. This new case history and well summary format organizes and presents the technical and historical details of the Vernon Field demonstration, as well as the field demonstration results and the applicability of these results to other demonstration projects. This format could be duplicated for other demonstration projects and will be used on all subsequent field demonstrations as they near completion. Planning for the annual project meeting in Tampa, Florida has begun. This meeting will be held March 7-9, 2003 at the same site as the last three meetings. The goals of this project were to: (1) test the use of multi-lateral wells to recover bypassed hydrocarbons and (2) to access the potential of using surface geochemistry to reduce drilling risk. Two new demonstration wells, the State-Smock and the Bowers 4-25, were drilled to test the Dundee Formation at Vernon Field for bypassed oil. Neither well was commercial, although both produced hydrocarbon shows. An extensive geochemical survey in the vicinity of Vernon Field, covering much of Isabella County, has produced a base map for interpretation of anomalies in Michigan.more » Several potential new anomalies were discovered that could be further investigated.« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Michigan Technological University (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
(US)
OSTI Identifier:
824802
DOE Contract Number:
FC26-00BC15122
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Jan 2003
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; DIRECTIONAL DRILLING; GEOCHEMICAL SURVEYS; SEISMIC SURVEYS; HYDROCARBONS; RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT; OIL FIELDS; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; RESERVOIR ENGINEERING; MICHIGAN

Citation Formats

James R. Wood, and W. Quinlan. USING RECENT ADVANCES IN 2D SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY AND SURFACE GEOCHEMISTRY TO ECONOMICALLY REDEVELOP A SHALLOW SHELF CARBONATE RESERVOIR: VERNON FIELD, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI. United States: N. p., 2003. Web. doi:10.2172/824802.
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James R. Wood, & W. Quinlan. USING RECENT ADVANCES IN 2D SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY AND SURFACE GEOCHEMISTRY TO ECONOMICALLY REDEVELOP A SHALLOW SHELF CARBONATE RESERVOIR: VERNON FIELD, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI. United States. doi:10.2172/824802.
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James R. Wood, and W. Quinlan. Wed . "USING RECENT ADVANCES IN 2D SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY AND SURFACE GEOCHEMISTRY TO ECONOMICALLY REDEVELOP A SHALLOW SHELF CARBONATE RESERVOIR: VERNON FIELD, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI". United States. doi:10.2172/824802. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/824802.
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@article{osti_824802,
title = {USING RECENT ADVANCES IN 2D SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY AND SURFACE GEOCHEMISTRY TO ECONOMICALLY REDEVELOP A SHALLOW SHELF CARBONATE RESERVOIR: VERNON FIELD, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI},
author = {James R. Wood and W. Quinlan},
abstractNote = {Presented in this quarterly report is the Case History and Well Summary for the Vernon Field demonstration project in Isabella County, Michigan. This new case history and well summary format organizes and presents the technical and historical details of the Vernon Field demonstration, as well as the field demonstration results and the applicability of these results to other demonstration projects. This format could be duplicated for other demonstration projects and will be used on all subsequent field demonstrations as they near completion. Planning for the annual project meeting in Tampa, Florida has begun. This meeting will be held March 7-9, 2003 at the same site as the last three meetings. The goals of this project were to: (1) test the use of multi-lateral wells to recover bypassed hydrocarbons and (2) to access the potential of using surface geochemistry to reduce drilling risk. Two new demonstration wells, the State-Smock and the Bowers 4-25, were drilled to test the Dundee Formation at Vernon Field for bypassed oil. Neither well was commercial, although both produced hydrocarbon shows. An extensive geochemical survey in the vicinity of Vernon Field, covering much of Isabella County, has produced a base map for interpretation of anomalies in Michigan. Several potential new anomalies were discovered that could be further investigated.},
doi = {10.2172/824802},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2003},
month = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2003}
}
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Technical Report:
View Technical Report (1.55 MB)
DOI:  10.2172/824802
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  • ; ; ; ...
    A principal goal of the Budget Period I was to demonstrate that surface geochemistry could be used to locate bypassed hydrocarbons in old fields. This part of the program was successful. A surface geochemical survey, employing 5 different techniques, was carried out in the Spring and Summer of 2000 and a demonstration well, the State Vernon & Smock 13-23 HD1 (permit number: PN 53945) was drilled in Vernon Township, Isabella County, Michigan in the late fall of 2000. A demonstration well was selected and drilled based on geologic considerations and surface geochemistry. Over 460 soil samples were collected and analyzedmore » over the drill site. A good anomaly was detected near the proposed well site and the demonstration well, the Smock 13-23, was drilled to a depth of 3157 feet by November 17, 2000. Two laterals were drilled, and hydrocarbons were located in a zone approximately 175 feet in length. However, it was determined that the pay zone was too small and difficult reservoir conditions (water production) prevented putting the well in production. The Smock 13-23 was shut in and abandoned January 15, 2001. A post-mortem determined that the main reason the well was not economic was because the zone was nearly completely flushed by earlier recovery operations. The post mortem also revealed the presence of an unmapped shale plug crossing the first lateral. It appears that this shale was detected by the geochemical survey, but its significance was not appreciated at the time. It is possible that sections of the well were faulty, ''porposing'' up and down so as to create water blockages. We are continuing to use the Vernon Field and the demonstration well to calibrate the geochemical data. Eventually, this study may provide a standard site that can be used to test and calibrate geochemical anomalies, something that does not presently exist. A postmortem report on the well, including the geology and geochemistry used to site the well, is presented in Appendix I. Five geochemical techniques have been tested in Phase I. These include surface iodine, microbial, enzyme leaching, soil gas and subsurface iodine. We are most comfortable with the results of the microbial surveys but feel that direct measurement of soil gas is the best method if analytical difficulties can be overcome. The reason the microbial surveys are presently favored is because they provide a logical, consistent picture that is easy to interpret and easy to explain. This in turn is because the microbial anomaly is manifested as an ''apical'' as opposed to an ''edge'' or ''halo'' anomaly. Several lessons were learned during Phase I activities. The main one was that surface geochemistry could locate anomalies over old fields such as Vernon. We also learned that horizontal drilling has advantages and disadvantages in situations such as this. On the plus side, it does provide a means to probe for pockets of bypassed oil, but it is expensive relative to vertical (or slant wells?) and is difficult to control in a narrow pay zone. We tentatively conclude that horizontal wells do not provide a cost-effective solution in this setting and suggest that geochemical anomalies be investigated via a single vertical well or multiple vertical wells.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    Two major accomplishments resulted from Phase I. One is the success of the surface geochemistry program, which collected over 800 samples from the site of the 1st demonstration well in Vernon Field and has pretty well provided us with the tools to delineate favorable ground from unfavorable. The second is the recent detailed mapping of the Central Michigan Basin that for the first time revealed the presence of at least two major faults that control the location of many of the reservoirs in the Michigan Basin. These faults were located from structure maps obtained by contouring the surface of themore » Dundee Formation using top picks from 9861 wells in 14 counties. Faults were inferred where the contour lines were most dense (''stacked'').« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    In this reporting period, we extended the fault study to include more faults and developed new techniques to visualize the faults. We now have used data from the Dundee Formation to document 11 major faults in the Michigan Basin and are in the process of reviewing data from other horizons. These faults appear to control the locations of many of the large anticlinal structures in the Michigan Basin and likely controlled fluid movements as well. The surface geochemistry program is also moving along well with emphasis on measuring samples collected last sampling season. The new laboratory is now functional andmore » has been fully staffed as of December. The annual project review has been set for March 7-9 in Tampa, Florida. Contracts are being prepared for drilling the Bower's prospects in Isabella County, Michigan, this spring or summer.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    The fault study continues to find more faults and develop new techniques to visualize them. Data from the Dundee Formation has been used to document 11 major faults in the Michigan Basin which have now been verified using data from other horizons. These faults control the locations of many of the large anticlinal structures in the Michigan Basin and likely controlled fluid movements as well. The surface geochemistry program is also moving along well with emphasis on measuring samples collected last sampling season. The new GC laboratory is now functional and has been fully staffed as of December. The annualmore » project review was held March 7-9 in Tampa, Florida. Contracts are being prepared for drilling the Bower's prospects in Isabella County, Michigan, this spring or summer. A request was made to extend the scope of the project to include the Willison Basin. A demonstration well has been suggested in Burke County, N. Dakota, following a review of 2D seismic and surface geochem. A 3D seismic survey is scheduled for the prospect.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    The geochemical sampling team collected additional 148 samples at Vernon Field along 5 new traverses. Most of the locations were sampled for three types of analyses: microbial, iodine and enzyme leach; no results from the second batch of samples were available in time for this report. In addition to the sampling, a study was begun on the feasibility of collecting and analyzing hydrocarbon gases (C1-C8) directly. Although several companies offer these services, the cost ($200-300/sample w/o sampling fee) is high, on par with the cost of a 3D seismic survey, and may not include the raw data. However direct samplingmore » of reservoir gases collecting in the soil appear to offer the best approach and should be included in this study. It would probably work well at Vernon Field. It may be possible to lower costs considerably; initial estimates of $20/sample for GCMS (Gas Chromatography--mass spectrometry) analysis are attractive and might induce to Michigan producers to include soil surveys in their routine field work-ups. A complete set of digital data was assembled for Vernon Field and nearby locations. The set consists of well locations, formation top picks, lithologies and scanned images of driller's reports and scout tickets. Well logs are still being located. The annual meeting for the Class Revisit work group is tentatively scheduled for the week of March 1-7 in Tampa, Fl. By that time all of the geochemical data will be available and final decisions regarding drilling can be made.« less