The Falklands: More on the rumours that Shell did have a major oil find
From the British Eye-to-Eye discussion Forum 03/10/98
Posted by Oily1
Rumours circulating the offshore drilling industry in the North Sea are that Shell did have a major find off the Falklands. If they did it's anyones guess as to why they ain't spilling the beans. Maybe this accounts for why they are doing a second well so soon down there ? It will all come out in the wash !
According to various people who've been doing wireline ops on the Borgny Dolphin, (the semi-sub doing the drilling), then it's one hell of a gusher. Very porous reservoir. I was told that magnetic resonance imaging wireline equipment was used down there - and you only use that when you've hit the jackpot. Time will tell.
Ciao for now, Oily1.
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04/10/98
Firstly please let me try to explain what wireline is. Wireline is used for a lot of uses down the hole. From trying to move something stuck down the well to using well logging equipment, which is attached to the end of the wireline and moved to the bottom of the well. Well logging is a widely used evaluation technique. Many different kinds of logging tools are available. Some measure and record natural and induced nuclear, or radioactive, attributes of a rock. Others measure and record the way in which formations respond to electric current.
Another log measures and records the speed with which sound travels through a formation. These are only a few of many logs available to the operator. By interpreting the recordings, or 'logs', the operator can usually tell if the well will be a producer.
The operator, (which in this case was Shell), gets the logging company on the rig to lower these logging tools into the well on 'wireline', (hence the term). They lower the tools to the bottom and then slowly reel them back up. When activated, the tools measure formation properties. The tools transmit the data they gather to the surface. There, special recorders and computers store the information. For on-site evaluation, computers in the 'wireline lab' print the data. These logs give the operator a first look at what a formation may yield. By carefully examining well logs, the operator can determine whether to complete the well. Well logs not only indicate the presence of oil and gas, they also indicate how much may be there.
NMR was used on the Shell well, (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). That's the same sort of thing which can do a whole body scan in a hospital, so the experts tell me. From this type of logging equipment you can get a good indication of permeability, porosity and fluid types all in one go.
As regards why Desire/Sodra aren't rocketing, who knows ?, I agree that Desire have been been pushed up and down in price by the speculation of what's going on down south. Maybe people are just waiting on something to be announced before they go near these companies, afterall, they are a speculative stock, but the rewards could be very high.
I just happen to be in the right business to know certain people whose companies are working on the Borgny Dolphin and knowledge of what's going on down there.
Nothing will come from Sodra or Desire about the Shell drill because they are bound by confidentiality. Grey Wolf on SI thinks that Sodra/Desire will be a lot more open about their well results. Let's hope so.
Ah well, time for another smoko. I'll soon be back on the beach.
Oily1.
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From Oily1's personal profile on Silicon Investor:
Name: Oily1
Company: Major drilling contractor, (offshore - semi-sub)
Location: Scotland
College: Portsmouth, England
(https://www.siliconinvestor.com/profile.aspx?userid=4848473) |
