Sperry Drilling, a Halliburton (HAL) business, released the 9.5in Azimuthal Lithodensity (ALD) service, providing real-time density measurements and images in boreholes up to 17.5in.
ALD is designed to provide downhole density measurements, including high-quality borehole image logs, to help optimize wellbore placement through geosteering and to reduce geological uncertainties. The measurements, delivered via LWD (logging-while-drilling), can eliminate wireline conveyance runs and capture data immediately after drilling when the borehole is in the best condition.
The 9.5in ALD provides the same functionality as its smaller counterparts, including azimuthal density, and photoelectric and acoustic stand-off measurements. This information has a wide range of applications that can help determine a formation’s porosity, rock strength, pore pressure and borehole geometry.
“ALD addresses an important market need and is currently the only commercially available LWD density service designed for large-diameter boreholes,” said Corey Walker, vice president of Sperry Drilling. “In areas like the Gulf of Mexico and other regions where large boreholes are common, we are well positioned to meet increasing demand.”
In the Gulf of Mexico, ALD has demonstrated value to operators. In one case, an operator used the density measurement to identify shallow hydrocarbon deposits in a 17.5in borehole. In another case, an operator used borehole density images in real-time to determine the formation dip and reservoir structure immediately below a massive salt interval in a 16.5in borehole, where surface seismic data was poor.
Previously, operators had to perform wireline runs to retrieve these results, but ALD provided this information without adding expensive deepwater rig time, operation costs and risks associated with wireline conveyance.