Summary of Results from a Joint Industry Study to Develop an Improved Methodology for Prediction of Geopressures for Drilling in Deep Water

Abstract

Abstract This paper summarizes some results from a joint industry project organized through the Drilling Engineering Association to develop an improved methodology for pre-drill pore pressure and fracture gradient prediction for wells in deep water. The project known as DEA 119 was sponsored by Chevron and funded by a group of 21 organizations that included oil and gas operating companies, service companies and government organizations. Phase 1 of DEA 119 began in early 1999 and was completed in November 2001. Phase 2 began thereafter and is scheduled for completion in late 2003. This paper will provide an overview of the project and summarize some of the findings. Project activities ranged from industry surveys and in-depth reviews of various models and methods to detailed geopressure analysis of 100+ deep water Gulf of Mexico wells using a wide variety of approaches. Results from Phase 1 of the project were documented in a 300+ page best practice manual and a five day training course as well as a sizable database that includes analysis results and input data for the wells used in the project. Based on the consensus of participants, the project was limited to the Gulf of Mexico and geologically similar areas in other parts of the world. Virtually all the well data submitted by project participants was from the Gulf of Mexico. An argument can be made that the results are broadly applicable to geologically similar regimes in other parts of the world, i.e. deltaic basins with reservoirs in relatively young geologic strata that have undergone fairly rapid deposition. Phase 2 of the project is focused on further utilizing the database built in Phase 1 along with additional geologic and seismic data to construct geopressure models for several deepwater basins in the Gulf of Mexico and also to develop an improved methodolgy for fracture gradient prediction in deep water wells.