immediately deleted by crafters
"After an acid job is performed, the used acid and sediments removed from the reservoir are washed out of the well in a process called backflush."
what zn apparently is calling 'completion fluid'-a combination of dolomite and soft rock compounds and water created by acid stimuation of rocks plus the remaining acid
the acid removes these soft rock fillers to open up-similar to fracking- an otherwise tight area of permeability so it has a higher permeability
naysayers have turned this into a false issue of what is the composition of the completion fluid-which totally misses the point- the completion fluid
has nothing to do w the natural flow of oil and water which will occur as a result of opening up the pores
Item 8.01 Other Events.
Zion Oil & Gas Confirms Active Petroleum System in Megiddo-Jezreel #1 Well In Israel
Additional Testing is Needed to Evaluate Reservoir Potential
DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, August 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZN) announces that it is completing the initial testing program of its primary zones located within the Triassic-age Mohilla Formation of the Megiddo-Jezreel #1 (MJ #1) well.
Zion’s President and Chief Operations Officer, Dustin Guinn, makes the following statement concerning the MJ #1 well:
Zion has a sincere desire to be transparent in the details of our operations with our shareholders, for a number of reasons. Most of our shareholders share a passionate alignment with the vision of Zion that extends beyond financial success. We view our shareholders as partners in this journey, which has been difficult to say the least. As a result, this operations update will be longer and more detailed than most and will be subdivided to try to answer some of the most common questions.
Did We Find Oil?
1. We encountered oil at a depth of between 16,415 ft and 16,500 ft during drilling operations, when we circulated bottoms up.[see feb 13 pr] The oil was separated and tested internally and externally through our mudlogging company’s chromatograph, indicating “Light Oil” based on the chemical composition of the analyzed stream.
2. Third party petrophysical analysis of our open hole logs continues to suggest that oil is located in this zone as well as other zones of interest.
3. While testing the zone between 16,415 ft and 16,500 ft, we perforated the casing and performed a small acid stimulation job. Upon circulation of the acid out of the wellbore, minor amounts of oil were observed while taking small samples of the fluid being circulated out of the wellbore.
4. Following the circulation of the fluid after the stimulation job, we ran back in the hole and began to swab the well to attempt to see if the well would flow. As of the writing of this update, when swabbing, the data confirms the well artificially flows at a rate of approximately 90-110 barrels of fluid per day in the zone between 16,415 and 16,500 ft. We are still swabbing completion fluid as of this writing and the results of the well are inconclusive at this point as to whether the well will establish natural flow and what the volumetric contribution of oil and water will be.
5. We remain hopeful but do not yet know if there is producible oil in commercial quantities within our deep primary zones, and there are still many questions yet to be answered. However, we can say with reasonable confidence that the formation is tight with low permeability and has few natural fractures. This is not uncommon, and often times requires advanced stimulation techniques to help determine the well’s commercial potential.
Is the MJ #1 a Successful Well?
This is a question that can be answered in a number of ways:
1. In considering the success rate of wildcat wells, with little to no offset data, in our opinion the MJ #1 could be considered a geologic success as follows:
a. A very favorable Thermal Gradient has been shown to exist;
b.The MJ #1 has successfully demonstrated the existence of an active petroleum system. Oil has been encountered which we believe confirms that mature source rocks have expelled hydrocarbons that have migrated into a trap which was drilled by MJ #1; and
c. There are multiple identifiable targets and objectives that have been observed based on drilling, testing and petrophysical analysis, which we have yet to test.
2. Is the well commercially successful with the information that we currently have, as of the writing of this update, during the testing of the deepest zones of interest? The answer is no. The drilling and testing on this well was much more costly than we expected, and as of today cannot be considered commercially successful.
What Caused Delayed Testing Results?
Testing of the MJ #1 well has taken longer than anticipated for a number of reasons, some of which we wish to outline:
1. We made the decision to test this well only during daylight hours. Given that it was a wildcat well, we decided to only operate during daylight hours and emphasize safe operations over time and cost.
2. We continued to observe Shabbat, which limited testing operations from 7:00 am Sunday morning through 7:00 pm Friday evening.
3. In our opinion, the most impactful operational delay resulted from what appears to have been ineffective casing guns and charges, sourced locally in Israel and initially used to perforate all the zones. We purchased additional casing guns and charges from the United States at the commencement of testing, which fortunately, allowed us to re-perforate all the zones of interest to achieve injectivity and properly stimulate the well.
4. The primary zones we have been testing are all located at depths greater than 16,000 feet. Every time we had to run in the hole and out of the hole took, on average, four days.
5. Every time we wanted to isolate a particular zone to test, we had to install an isolation tool called a packer, which contains rubber elements. Due to the very high well temperature, these packers would only last, on average, approximately five days. When they failed, we had to pull the pipe out of the hole and replace the packer, which added, on average, four days.
2
What are the Future Plans?
1. We have gained a tremendous amount of geological knowledge, but there are still a lot of unresolved questions that need further evaluation:
a. Have we swabbed enough completion fluid and formation fluid from zones 16,415-16,500 ft and 16,080 – 16,215 ft to effectively allow for the formation to naturally flow, and will the encouragement of that natural flow, if established, allow for commercial amounts of oil to flow?
b. Drilling analysis and petrophysical analysis suggest that there may be more potential oil-bearing zones above the Triassic boundary, which was internally picked at approximately 15,175 ft. Zion chose to focus on the Triassic because of the regional success in Givot Olam’s Meged Field. Subject to raising adequate financial resources, of which no assurance can be provided, we plan to continue with testing of the multiple zones of interest higher in the well.
c. We know that the primary zones located within the Triassic-aged formations have proven to have low permeability and few natural fractures. If the questions above continue to provide answers that suggest producible oil, advanced stimulation techniques could be used to help create an environment of higher permeability and a fracture regime more conducive to commercial flow rates.
"After an acid job is performed, the used acid and sediments removed from the reservoir are washed out of the well in a process called backflush."
what zn apparently is calling 'completion fluid'-a combination of dolomite and soft rock compounds and water created by acid stimuation of rocks plus the remaining acid
the acid removes these soft rock fillers to open up-similar to fracking- an otherwise tight area of permeability so it has a higher permeability
naysayers have turned this into a false issue of what is the composition of the completion fluid-which totally misses the point- the completion fluid
has nothing to do w the natural flow of oil and water which will occur as a result of opening up the pores
Item 8.01 Other Events.
Zion Oil & Gas Confirms Active Petroleum System in Megiddo-Jezreel #1 Well In Israel
Additional Testing is Needed to Evaluate Reservoir Potential
DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, August 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZN) announces that it is completing the initial testing program of its primary zones located within the Triassic-age Mohilla Formation of the Megiddo-Jezreel #1 (MJ #1) well.
Zion’s President and Chief Operations Officer, Dustin Guinn, makes the following statement concerning the MJ #1 well:
Zion has a sincere desire to be transparent in the details of our operations with our shareholders, for a number of reasons. Most of our shareholders share a passionate alignment with the vision of Zion that extends beyond financial success. We view our shareholders as partners in this journey, which has been difficult to say the least. As a result, this operations update will be longer and more detailed than most and will be subdivided to try to answer some of the most common questions.
Did We Find Oil?
1. We encountered oil at a depth of between 16,415 ft and 16,500 ft during drilling operations, when we circulated bottoms up.[see feb 13 pr] The oil was separated and tested internally and externally through our mudlogging company’s chromatograph, indicating “Light Oil” based on the chemical composition of the analyzed stream.
2. Third party petrophysical analysis of our open hole logs continues to suggest that oil is located in this zone as well as other zones of interest.
3. While testing the zone between 16,415 ft and 16,500 ft, we perforated the casing and performed a small acid stimulation job. Upon circulation of the acid out of the wellbore, minor amounts of oil were observed while taking small samples of the fluid being circulated out of the wellbore.
4. Following the circulation of the fluid after the stimulation job, we ran back in the hole and began to swab the well to attempt to see if the well would flow. As of the writing of this update, when swabbing, the data confirms the well artificially flows at a rate of approximately 90-110 barrels of fluid per day in the zone between 16,415 and 16,500 ft. We are still swabbing completion fluid as of this writing and the results of the well are inconclusive at this point as to whether the well will establish natural flow and what the volumetric contribution of oil and water will be.
5. We remain hopeful but do not yet know if there is producible oil in commercial quantities within our deep primary zones, and there are still many questions yet to be answered. However, we can say with reasonable confidence that the formation is tight with low permeability and has few natural fractures. This is not uncommon, and often times requires advanced stimulation techniques to help determine the well’s commercial potential.
Is the MJ #1 a Successful Well?
This is a question that can be answered in a number of ways:
1. In considering the success rate of wildcat wells, with little to no offset data, in our opinion the MJ #1 could be considered a geologic success as follows:
a. A very favorable Thermal Gradient has been shown to exist;
b.The MJ #1 has successfully demonstrated the existence of an active petroleum system. Oil has been encountered which we believe confirms that mature source rocks have expelled hydrocarbons that have migrated into a trap which was drilled by MJ #1; and
c. There are multiple identifiable targets and objectives that have been observed based on drilling, testing and petrophysical analysis, which we have yet to test.
2. Is the well commercially successful with the information that we currently have, as of the writing of this update, during the testing of the deepest zones of interest? The answer is no. The drilling and testing on this well was much more costly than we expected, and as of today cannot be considered commercially successful.
What Caused Delayed Testing Results?
Testing of the MJ #1 well has taken longer than anticipated for a number of reasons, some of which we wish to outline:
1. We made the decision to test this well only during daylight hours. Given that it was a wildcat well, we decided to only operate during daylight hours and emphasize safe operations over time and cost.
2. We continued to observe Shabbat, which limited testing operations from 7:00 am Sunday morning through 7:00 pm Friday evening.
3. In our opinion, the most impactful operational delay resulted from what appears to have been ineffective casing guns and charges, sourced locally in Israel and initially used to perforate all the zones. We purchased additional casing guns and charges from the United States at the commencement of testing, which fortunately, allowed us to re-perforate all the zones of interest to achieve injectivity and properly stimulate the well.
4. The primary zones we have been testing are all located at depths greater than 16,000 feet. Every time we had to run in the hole and out of the hole took, on average, four days.
5. Every time we wanted to isolate a particular zone to test, we had to install an isolation tool called a packer, which contains rubber elements. Due to the very high well temperature, these packers would only last, on average, approximately five days. When they failed, we had to pull the pipe out of the hole and replace the packer, which added, on average, four days.
2
What are the Future Plans?
1. We have gained a tremendous amount of geological knowledge, but there are still a lot of unresolved questions that need further evaluation:
a. Have we swabbed enough completion fluid and formation fluid from zones 16,415-16,500 ft and 16,080 – 16,215 ft to effectively allow for the formation to naturally flow, and will the encouragement of that natural flow, if established, allow for commercial amounts of oil to flow?
b. Drilling analysis and petrophysical analysis suggest that there may be more potential oil-bearing zones above the Triassic boundary, which was internally picked at approximately 15,175 ft. Zion chose to focus on the Triassic because of the regional success in Givot Olam’s Meged Field. Subject to raising adequate financial resources, of which no assurance can be provided, we plan to continue with testing of the multiple zones of interest higher in the well.
c. We know that the primary zones located within the Triassic-aged formations have proven to have low permeability and few natural fractures. If the questions above continue to provide answers that suggest producible oil, advanced stimulation techniques could be used to help create an environment of higher permeability and a fracture regime more conducive to commercial flow rates.
