Wellington KGS Well 1-32

KGS Database Page for this well

Additional photos from Berexco

Sept. 13, 2019

Rest of the Core Photos

Feb. 13, 2012

Final core analyses

Dec. 16, 2011

First core photos and analyses

Dec. 1, 2011

Replacement LAS file

March 5, 2011

New LAS file has SP curve added

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 10, 2011

Geologist's Report:

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 9, 2011

We reached TD of 5240' last night at 11:00pm. With granite at 5174', we should have 66' of rate hole cut into the basement for logging. Logging is now in progress. Loggers TD was 5242', which is close to driller's TD. We likely will be logging until around 3:00 this afternoon. Given the weather things will take a while. I will send the full report later.    

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 8, 2011

As of Tuesday morning, we have completed coring. We cut 5' of granite at the bottom of the last core--see pictures. We have now completed coring from the Cherokee section all the way through to basement granite. This morning it is snowing and blowing but not terribly badly. We are now going in the hole with a conventional bit to try to cut some rat hole for logs. However since we are apparently in solid granite we likely will not have much luck. We will try to drill for a while and upon giving up drilling granite, we will circulate clean and come out for logs. Loggers should be on location late afternoon. We should be running casing Wednesday.   

Granite core.

Granite core.

Granite core.

Granite core.

Drill crew at core bit showing granite.

Natural fracture in granity core, 5177 ft.

Gilbert holding granite core.

Core in liner showing fresh break.

Aimee holding granite core.

Photo showing wear on bit.

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 7, 2011

This morning we completed a 60' core with a TD of 5144'. We are coming out of the hole with that core now. We do not believe we are quite into the granite wash, but are very close. Our plans are to cut one more core this afternoon/evening, then go in with a conventional bit and cut rat hole for logs. This means we should be logging Tuesday night.    

[From Lynn Watney:] Photo is from base of last core, 5144 ft, that was just brought to surface. Last foot of this core is Lamotte (Reagan) Sandstone--a lt brown orthoquartizite with medium to coarse grained, well sorted, subangular to subrounded clear quartz grains. Sand is distinctly bedded. Coarse, clear dolomitic cement. The sand was accompanied by nice drilling break.   

Core from Reagan Sandstone.

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 4, 2011

Last night we recovered 60' of core from 4900' to 4960'. We then resumed coring this morning and cored from 4960 to 4990' and the core jammed. Current TD is 4990'. We believe the base of the Arbuckle is around 5040' and we intend to cut rat hole for logs to around 5200'. We have decided we will take two more cores and that is it.   

Here is the approximate schedule going forward: we should be back on bottom coring with the second to last core run around midnight tonight. That core will be pulled Saturday late morning. We will then go back in and start coring the final core Saturday evening and will pull that core Sunday morning. If by some miracle we get two 60' cores, then TD at that point would be 4990' + 120' = 5110'. More likely TD after these two coring runs will be in the mid 5050' range (or less), but who knows. Then Sunday afternoon we will go in with a conventional bit and cut to around 5200', which assumes we are able to cut the granite wash at a decent rate of penetration. We will then circulate and come out for Halliburton  logs Monday morning. We should be running logs Monday sometime. After logs we may or may not pause to run a drill stem test or two. However given budget constraints we may not run any tests. We will then run 5 1/2" casing to 5200' and cement using Basic Energy Services. We will then rig down and move to the Wellington KGS 28-1 and proceed to spud that well.  

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 3, 2011

Last night we went in with conventional bit and cut from 4821' to 4900' and are now going back in with coring bit. We should begin coring at any time. Hopefully we are past the fractured chert and can get back to full cores. We still estimate TD at 5050' to 5100'. Tomorrow morning we will have a much better feel for what we need to do in the next few days. We need to be logging within about 3 days to stay on track with budget.  

Daily Drilling Report

Feb. 1, 2011

We are trying to unthaw rig. We made good progress on the last core but weather conditions very tough today.  

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 31, 2011

As of 8:55 am we are now coring at 4770'. Yesterday afternoon's core was not a full core and we went back and continued coring. The current core started at 4750 so we have made 20' so far this morning.  

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 30, 2011

Following is summary of the last few days. Friday morning we were pulling a core which had jammed at 4659'. Attached are some pictures of that core, which was heavily fractured causing the core to come apart and jam. We also had experienced lost circulation. Friday afternoon/evening we went back in with a conventional bit, regained circulation and drilled from 4659' to 4680' (21') with a conventional bit. Since the drilling seemed to be fairly slow and it appeared we were through the worst section, we then resumed coring.  

Core from Arbuckle.

Core from Arbuckle.

Core from Arbuckle.

Bit from 4659.

We then cored on Saturday afternoon from 4680-4692' (noting a 4' depth correction on rig depth), however the core then jammed again. We then went back in last night with a conventional bit and drilled from 4692 to 4727' with a conventional bit (35'). Then this afternoon we have resumed coring at 4727' and are now coring at 4735'--see screen capture.  We have had no further lost circulation since that first time on Friday. We are hoping we can get back to recovering 60' cores each run and if so, could be done coring in 3-4 days. However given the last few days troubles, I assume we have to expect more core jamming. [Next photos courtesy Kent Crisler. Core was heavily fractured and with vugs and effects of leaching.]  

Core from Arbuckle at 4680.

Core from Arbuckle at 4681.

Core from Arbuckle at 4682.

Core from Arbuckle at 4683.

Core from Arbuckle at 4684.

Core from Arbuckle at 4685.

Core from Arbuckle at 4686.

Core from Arbuckle at 4687.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 28, 2011

Last night we cut core from 4627-4659' and had to stop coring due to lost circulation. Attached is the latest geo report, mud reports and a picture of some core. The Arbuckle is heavily fractured and vuggy. Our intentions are to now go back in the hole with a conventional bit, attempt to regain circulation and drill another 20' or so conventionally. If circulation is good we will try to resume coring. If not we will have to continue drilling with a conventional bit.   

Core from Arbuckle.

Geologist's Report:

[Later: ] It looks like we are going to regain circulation and plan to drill around 20' with a conventional bit. If all goes well, we will resume coring.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 27, 2011

7:00 am, 4605' (18') Prep to resume coring. Had 10' core recovery.

[Later, from Lynn Watney:]

I see the corebit is off bottom at 4626 ft and today's coring has again been slow. We are getting closer to a decision point about continued coring in this well or perhaps drilling and then back to coring.

I promised Dana to revisit projections to refine the TD of this well, which we initially estimated to be between 5100 and 5200 ft. to the top of the Precambrian. Attached is a comparison of the Wellington #1-32 well information to date with several Arbuckle tests, with the qualification that these comparison wells are 10's of miles away. We also have maps of the Precambrian surface that are also noted in this illustration.

The Wellington well is the 2nd from left and the datum is the top of Arbuckle. The anticipated depth to basement at present is roughly between 550 and 600 ft below current depth, plus few 10's of feet to ensure that we are in basement and not granite wash with sufficient "rathole" to be able to record all the logging tools at least through the top of basement.

Strong seismic reflectors that extend well into the basement at Wellington and thick (1000+ ft) of what apears to be arkose-rich clastics (Keewenawan age?) from cuttings with ~10% porosity in the Stephens Trust (3rd well from left in the attached section) makes the basement rock rather intriguing at the location of #1-32. If porous, the "basement" may offer additional sequestration opportunities at even greater depths, obviously beyond the scope of this project.

Cross section showing correlations, Acrobat PDF, 2.2 MB

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 26, 2011

We only made 12' last night coring and are back going in hole to resume coring now.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 25, 2011

This morning we were conditioning the hole in preparation to resume coring late this afternoon. Plan is to core to TD of roughly 5100'-5200', run logs and possibly more DST's at that time.

Drill Stem Tests (revised files):

[Later...] We are getting ready to go back to coring. This is the new core bit Virgil is using.

Coring Bit.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 24, 2011

This morning we are conditioning the hole in preparation for running DST #4, which will be the third Arbuckle DST.  The first two tests had big water recoveries. The sulfur mentioned on the tests is black iron sulfide that settles out in the bottom of the pipe. We also ran intermediate logs which will be emailed out next.

The Arbuckle top is at 4164'. There are 4' of basal Simpson sand from 4160-64' and then the Arbuckle starts at 4164'.  We are shortening up the DST interval footage on the next test and if we get a big blow will also shorten up the time for the initial open.

The second load of cores were received in Houston OK yesterday. After we run this next DST today, we will be ready to resume coring tomorrow morning. We will then core to TD and run logs.

Drill Stem Tests:

Wireline Logs:

Halliburton Logging Truck.

Geologist's Report:

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 22, 2011

We finished marking and cutting the core around 6.30 am. Just now started logging and all of you will get a chance to look at the logs in 4-5 hrs. Second load of core (C10-C20) to Weatherford labs, left the location around 9 am this morning.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 21, 2011

This morning we are at 4537' at 10:00 am having started a core at 4520'. Assuming we get anywhere close to a 60' recovery we will be at the logging point--hopefully 4580' depth. We have notified Halliburton to be ready to run logs this evening (Friday). We anticipate running DST #2, which will be the first Arbuckle DST Saturday morning early. Depending on logs we may run a couple additional DST's with the intent of testing different Arbuckle flow units. For those folks who want to catch Arbuckle water samples, you will want to be on location Saturday and/or Sunday.

After we complete this round of drill stem testing, we will resume coring (hopefully Monday--but maybe Tuesday--depending on how many DST's we run) and then core to TD. Then we will run the full log suite and potentially some more DST's, then run and cement casing to TD. At least that is the plan. As we get deeper into the Arbuckle the odds of lost circulation or other problems go up, so we will have to handle things as they come.

[Later:] We are coring at 4551' as of 1:15 pm.  We should be logging in the night, barring problems.

Field trip visitors looking at core.

Field trip visitors looking at core.

Field trip visitors looking at core.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 20, 2011

Update: at 5:30 pm Thursday afternoon we are coring at 4512'. This core started at 4464' and should end at 4524' if we get a full recovery.  Then we would take one more core if a full recovery and reach logging point at a TD of roughly 4584' late Friday afternoon, if all goes well. That means we could be logging Friday evening, drill stem testing Saturday. I will send a more detailed report in the morning on timing. [Pictures taken by Kent Crisler.]

Cutting core.

Cutting core.

Field trip visitors.

Field trip visitors.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 19, 2011

This morning we are finishing a second core this 24 hour period. TD is 4414'. The rig is coming out now and the core should be cut around 10:30 this morning, but we will save cutting the last portion of the core to do so when the tour is on site at 1:00.  Coring operations have gone better the last 24 hours. We hope to be at the logging/DST depth Friday.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 18, 2011

We are coring this morning at 4336' as of 10:00 am.  Therefore this current core has cut 42' so far and has not jammed yet. We have been having some trouble in the last 100' with cores jamming. Please see report from wellsite geologist below. Since we are doing better on this current core, perhaps the lithology has changed a bit. Our plans are to core to roughly 4600', run a basic suite of logs and then 2 or 3 drill stem tests depending on what we see on logs.  After that we will continue coring to TD, run the full log suite and possibly run additional drill stem tests in the lower Arbuckle.

We had cut 26 feet from 4267 to 4293  when the core barrel was plugged. We recovered from 4267-4281.6  and had a 3 inch piece stuck in the bit from 4293. We lost 11.15 feet in between. The Arbuckle at this level is a vugular cherty silicious dolomite with high angle fracture planes which break and slide one way or another to bind the core in the aluminum sleave. The material lost was probably caught between rotating and non rotating pieces of core and ground fine enought to be lost. Again we are going in with a tri-cone to clean the hole and trip out to start core-16.  Hopeful we will get a litho change to less brittle rocks.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 17, 2011

7:00 am, 4267' (41') Reamed bottom of hole and return to coring. As of 5:00 pm we are at 4303'. [Photos by Lynn Watney and Aimee Sheffer.]

Pipe used for coring ready to go on drilling deck.

Stack of liners and core barrels.

Laying down core barrel.

Core barrels on catwalk.

Marking core barrels.

Cutting core barrels to length for shipping and storage.

Core on pallet.

Survey observers with well crew.

Core in tent.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 16, 2011

7:00 am, 4226' (88') Coring.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 15, 2011

We are just now finishing a core at around 4190', which is just above the projected Arbuckle top of 4195'.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 14, 2011

7:00 am, 4038' (76') Coring. Loading out cores to send to Houston.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 13, 2011

We are averaging about 90' a day--which is an average of 1.5 cores at 60' each per day.  We are now coring in the lower Miss and should be to the Kinderhook in about another 70'.  Attached are some pictures taken by Kent Crisler. [Click on image to view larger version.]

View of tent and well site in twilight.

View of core in tent.

View of core workspace.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 12, 2011

So far, coring still going ok.  It seems likely things will slow down as we get into harder rock.  We are getting close to having a load of core to send to Houston.

7:00 am, 3870' (102'). Trip in w/coring tools to cut core #7. Core from 3768-3810' was full recovery.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 11, 2011

Barring problems, we should be getting ready to have a truckload of core to send to Houston later this week.  Temps are very cold at rig, but will be improving tomorrow.

7:00 am, 3768' (78') Coring. Core from 3690'-3750' was full 60'.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 10, 2011

This morning we are pulling the Mississippian DST. Yesterday we cored the top 30' of Miss. Attached are some pictures I took of that operation, numbered in sequence. The rig has about 3" of snow on location today. [Click on image to view larger version.]

Rig pulling core.

Core Bit.

Draining upper core barrel.

Handlging core barrel with fork lift.

Laying out core barrel pritor to cutting.

Cutting core barrel.

Cutting core barrel.

Stacking core on pallet.

Core stored.

Here are the results from DST #1 in the Miss. Since no oil on top of the water was recovered on test, that means the Miss at this location is essentially at waterflood residual oil saturation and the core info here will tell us that saturation amount--as well as log calculations. Drill stem charts look good. Please note the charts show some extra data on the left which was a result of running the tool in the hole and having a problem with the tool that required pulling it and then it was run right back in with no further problems.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 9, 2011

We have begun coring the Mississippian oil reservoir. Currently we are at 3673' having cut about 13' of pay. You can see from the plotted drilling time on the screen capture the porous Miss is cutting faster. Plans are to cut a 30' core this morning and come out to run a drill stem test in the Miss. This test should be run in the night and pulled out in the early morning. After that we will resume coring. [Click on image to view larger version.]

Drilling progress shown on PC screen; click to view larger image

 

While I am hesitant to say it for fear of jinxing the whole operation, thus far coring operations have gone well. The first two 60' cores came out with full recovery and the fellows are in good shape cutting, marking and storing cores on location. Of course with bad weather coming it will be more difficult to get things done. However the folks on the rig are working well together and doing a good job.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 7, 2011

We are now at 3494' drilling at 2-3 min/ft. We should be to the core depth of 3540' by around 1:00 pm today. We will then circulate clean, make a short trip up into surface pipe, go back to bottom , circulate clean and then come out of the hole with the bit. That should be done around 8:00 tonight. We then will go in with the coring bottom hole assembly. 

 

Weather is supposed to turn very cold and crappy Saturday/Sunday and the cold will apparently stick around for 4-5 days.  Of course this had to be right when we start coring....

[Later] We are at core depth 3540'.

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 6, 2011

We were at 2735' as of 7:00 am Thursday morning. Core point is at 3540'. We will mud up this morning and should be to the core point tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

[Later] At 4:00 pm today we are at 3040' drilling at around 1.25 min/ft. (48'/hr).  We are just now getting into the LKC and lower Penn section and things should slow down--maybe 2-3 min/ft.

Pictures courtesy Jason Bruns, Berexco foreman.

picture of tent where core can be examined

picture of drilling rig

picture of drilling rig

picture of wellsite trailer

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 5, 2011

Drilling at 1745' at 7:00 am.  Drilling at about 1.5 min/ft.  By Thursday morning we should be around 2600'.  Most likely we will not be to the core depth until later Friday. They are 1873' as of 11:25 am.  

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 4, 2011

This morning we are drilling. As of 10:15 am we are at 965'. The surface pipe and cementing job went well.  Basic Energy Services did a good job--we circulated cement to surface and the cement quality appeared very good.  We are now drilling ahead.  Core point of 3540' should be reached Thursday evening--give or take.  

Daily Drilling Report

Jan. 3, 2011

This morning we are logging the surface hole with sonic and GR. We will then set surface pipe later this morning and cement. Versions of Borehole Compensated Sonic log by LogTech:

Daily Drilling Report

Dec. 30, 2010

The well spudded Wed 12/29/2010. We have set conductor pipe at 130' and cemented in place. We have shut down the rig until Jan 2 (Sunday) to give the crew time off for the New Year. They had little time off at Christmas due to delays on the prior well for this rig. We felt it best to give them a few days off and then hit the ground running on the 2nd. The next step is to cut to 600', run a sonic log and cement 8 5/8" surface casing. Coring probably won't start until around the 6th or so.

Pictures courtesy Jason Bruns, Berexco foreman.

picture of drilling rig at twilight

picture of drilling rig at twilight

picture of drilling rig at twilight

picture of Kelly and derrick floor

picture of drilling rig with sunset in background

Well Spudding

Dec. 27, 2010

Intent to Drill (Adobe Acrobat PDF file, 488 kB)

The drilling rig should be moving to the Wellington KGS 1-32 location Monday Dec 27, 2010 and spudding Wed Dec 29, 2010.  Location is built. The rig will not stop for New Years.  Coring should begin sometime around Jan 3 or 4th.

Map

Berexco Wellington Unit field road map (Adobe Acrobat PDF file, 184 kB)

Image of aerial photo showing well location.

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