Preliminary Findings of Patterson KGS 5-25, A New Deep Well in Kearny County, Kansas

Franek Hasiuk1, Eugene Holubnyak1, Jingyao Meng1, Jennifer Hollenbach1, Dana Wreath2

1) Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

2) Berexco, Wichita, KS

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Key Findings

778 ft of core were recovered from a new deep well in western Kansas

Lost circulation events and a bit drop occurred in the Upper Arbuckle

No Reagan Sand was observed

A methane kick was observed in the basement, possible from crossing a fault

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Patterson KGS 5-25 (API 15-093-21979) was drilled in Kearny County, KS, March-April, 2020. The well was the first of two planned for the Kansas portion of the Integrated Midcontinent Storage Hub research project funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CarbonSAFE Phase II program. The goals for the well were 1) to collect core samples from several stacked reservoirs and seals, 2) to collect well logs throughout the Pennsylvanian into the Precambrian basement, and 3) to conduct drill stem tests (DST) in prospective reservoirs. Pre-drill planning identified 780 ft of core (Figure 1), and 778 ft were recovered.

Drilling began on March 7 (3329 ft KB), surface casing was set on March 10 at 1770 ft, and coring commenced on March 22 at 4615 ft in the Atoka-Morrow section, the prospective primary caprock/topseal. Cores 1-3 (181 ft) were recovered from this unit from 4615-4796 ft. 4751 ft in core correlated with 4750 ft in logs. Cores 4 and 5 recovered 77 ft of the Meramec (Upper Mississippian), a prospective seal, from 4880-4957 ft. In Core 5, the porous interval at 4950 ft correlated with 4952 ft in logs. Core 6 recovered 59 ft of the Osage (Lower Mississippian), a prospective reservoir, from 5380-5439 ft. A DST was run in the Core-6 interval. Logging later indicated that the highest porosity zone in the Osage (5370-5380 ft) was just slightly missed.

Cores 7 and 8 recovered 79 ft from the Ordovician Viola Formation, a prospective reservoir, from 5640-5719 ft. Cores 9 and 10 recovered 46 ft of the Upper Arbuckle Group (Ordovician), a prospective reservoir, from 5780-5826 ft. Core recovery was hampered by two lost circulation events (LCE) in the Upper Arbuckle including a bit drop of approximately 1 ft (Figure 2). Further DST’s were cancelled due to worry about more LCEs. Cased-hole DSTs will be run after final well casing. From 5959-6222, Cores 11-15 collected 263 ft of the Lower Arbuckle Group. Logging suggested that this interval has a zone of 8-10% porosity from 6020 to 6090 ft.

Core 16 collected 51 ft including the Lower Arbuckle Group, Granite Wash (Cambrian), and a weathered contact with the Precambrian basement, the prospective base seal (Figure 3). No Reagan Sand, usually a white quartz sandstone, was observed in the recovered core. For the top of basement, 6273 ft in core correlates with 6252 ft in logs. Core 17 recovered 22 ft of the Precambrian potassium-feldspar granite; coring rate was 0.5 feet per hour. While drilling the rathole in the Precambrian basement, a methane kick was observed, cuttings were described as having a weathered appearance, and drilling rate increased (Figure 4). The rathole was deepened to ensure complete logging of this interval and additional cuttings were recovered. Spectral Gamma Ray logging (Figure 5) indicated high K in this interval consistent with the observation from cuttings of clay presence. We hypothesize that a basement fault was penetrated.

Total depth was 6550 ft was reached on April 19. Logging immediately followed April 19-20. Casing began on April 21. Hartland KGS 6-10 will commence drilling shortly after rigdown at KGS 5-25. It will not be cored, but otherwise its goals will be identical to KGS 5-25. After KGS 6-10 is complete, cased-hole DSTs will be run on 5-6 intervals in KGS 5-25 during Summer 2020 including 1) the weathered basement interval, 2) the basement-Granite Wash contact, 3) Lower Arbuckle, 4) Upper Arbuckle, 5) Viola, and 6) Osage. We will attempt to recover gas and fluid samples from the weathered basement interval to assess elemental composition as well as gas origin (carbon and hydrogen isotopes can distinguish between basement and thermogenic sources of methane). Intervals in KGS 6-10 for cased-hole DSTs will be picked based on results of well logging and correlation to KGS 5-25.

After core analysis, cores will be shipped to U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Center for computed tomography as well as geochemical and petrophysical scanning, before returning to KGS for permanent storage.

Figure 1. Key well log (Longwood Gas Unit 2), existing core analysis data (red dots) and planned core and DST intervals for the proposed Patterson KGS 5-25 well.

Figure 2. Lost circulation events coincide with thin, high porosity intervals on logs.

6273 ft

Figure 3. Phanerozoic-Precambrian boundary (6273 ft) represented by highly weathered granite. Granite Wash likes above the boundary up to 6256 ft.

Figure 4. Driller’s log indicating methane kick from 6400-6460 ft.

Figure 5. Well logs across methane interval in basement from 6415-6470 ft.

KICC 2020 Annual Virtual Meeting – Extended Abstracts

Longwood Gas Unit #2API 1509320815

0 150 0.3 - 0.1GR Porosity

1000 0.001

Core Perm (mD)

Meramec

Atoka-Morrow180’

U. MissMeramec60’

L. MissOsage60’

Viola60’

Simpson-U. Arbuckle120’

L. Arbuckle240’

Reagan &Granite Wash60’

DST

DST

DST

DST

Reagan &Granite Wash & Basement 60’

DST

181’

77’

59’

79’

46’

278’

22’

Longwood Gas Unit #2

API 1509320815

0 1500.3 -0.1

GR

Porosity

1000 0.001

Core Perm (mD)

Meramec

Atoka-

Morrow

180’

U. Miss

Meramec

60’

L. Miss

Osage

60’

Viola

60’

Simpson-

U. Arbuckle

120’

L.Arbuckle

240’

Reagan &

Granite Wash

60’

DST

DST

DST

DST

Reagan &

Granite Wash &

Basement60’

DST

181’

77’

59’

79’

46’

278’

22’

5826 ft in mudlog

5850 ft in mudlog

High Porosity Interval

High Porosity Streak

Lost Circulation Events

5826 ft in mudlog

5850 ft in mudlog

High Porosity

Interval

High Porosity Streak

Lost

Circulation

Events