How long does drilling a well take?
Great interest in the Hickory-1 Well and how long does it take to actually drill the well. There is no exact ability to know because the daily events and progress control the time involved. Drilling engineering is specialized and incorporates multiple sciences for the drilling fluids, well control, type of drilling bit used, time to "trip" out the drilling BHA (Bottom Hole Assembly) for a new drilling bit, perhaps change the LWD (Log While Drilling) equipment, running and cementing the casing strings, down time for rig maintenance and a list too long to itemize. The ability to drill a hole in the earth and then evaluate the rocks is dependent on the earth and the earth negotiates with no one. Also, as the TV commercial Ad says; "everything breaks." In the oil and gas industry, a lot can happen but there are proven solutions. It is part of the O&G business nature. A problem recognized is already half solved.
Icewine-1 Drilling Days vs Depth
So, as an example of drilling days vs depth, I have accessed the log data for the Icewine #1 well that 88 Energy LTD drilled in the October-December 2015 time period and extracted the days and the depths for each day and then created a graph. Some critical events are posted to see what occurred and the progress. From SPUD to Total Depth was 65 days.
Will the Hickory-1 well take less time? It has been planned to take less time, but the day-to-day operations will be the determining factors.
The Icewine-1 was drilled to a total depth of 11,600 feet. The Hickory-1 well is being drilled to 12,500 feet; an additional 1000 feet.
Icewine-1 Well Depth vs. Days Graph.
Should anyone have an interest to see the log I used for the data, you can access and download the PDF using this link to my google docs. >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hVxQ7R19MVDEGMM3rAjT6Xx-HJ18M_kf/view?usp=share_link
Log Header
Legend
Track Curve Legend
Example of log section where the surface casing was set in the Icewine-1 well. First track on left is the Rate of Penetration (ROP). Gamma Ray (GR) Weight on Bit (WOB) and Rotations Per Minute (ROP). Yellow color is sandstone. Other tracks are the type of hydrocarbons detected as gasses. The Black Triangle is the depth of the surface casing as set and cemented.
Example of log section at the top of the SMD (Shelf Margin Deltaic) sandstones, which are a primary target in the Hickory-1 Well. Left side is Gamma Ray, then yellow color is rook type (sandstone), then the Red curve is Total Gas in Units. One Unit of GAs is equal to 1% Methane in Air. Next track has five colored curves that represent the Parts Per Million of Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane, and Pentane. Note the annotation "Fair Fluorescence Streaming Cut." This is a crude oil. Next tracks are notes about the well depth and the far right track is the well site geologists rock sample description.
As mentioned, the SMD is primary target in the Hcikory-1 well. According the published Seismic AVO data, the Hickory-1 should encounter a more massive, thicker sandstone have better reservoir properties.
Kuparuck
A total of 58 feet of high pressure hydrocarbon saturated sandstone was encountered in the Icewine-1 well from 11,262' MD to 11,320' MD. The Kuparuck is one of the 6 targets of the Hickory-1 well.
Many other types of logs were run and created in the evaluation of the Icewine-1 well. In addition, some Whole Cores were taken of a potential source rock reservoir.
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