Online Journal for E&P Geoscientists

Neal, Simon ^*1; Terres, Richard ¹
(1) Geology and Geochemistry, Josco, Amman, Jordan.

The Jordan Oil Shale Company (Josco) is operating a multi well, shallow and fast paced land exploration program in the mainly desert regions of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The objective is to assess the kingdom’s oil shale resource. With a low cost drive, Josco has adopted an “own and operate” model for all operations; including staff, Rigs, Wireline units, Logistics, Geochemical Lab, Core Scanning and subsurface.

With drilling times as low as 1-2 days, including rig move, this is an exceptionally fast operation that required a new and unique workflow to be developed for the full life-cycle of planning, executing and appraising all data related to operations and subsurface analysis.

A flexible database and chart plotting software is employed as the project “Total Integration” database and reporting tool. The flexibility of the software allows a fully customized set of charts and reports fed by a 100% fit for purpose database and user interface.

This platform is used by all departments as a one stop shop for all activities. Data tables and input forms are split into 3 phases of a well life-cycle: Planning (Prognosis), Actual (Wellsite) and Final (Quality Control). A few examples include: lithology prognosis, well designs, costs, daily drilling data, cuttings descriptions, wireline job reporting and data loading, core description and scanning data, geochemical lab performance and results, end of well reports and composite logs.

Operationally the software is deployed in the office, the rig-site, in the geochemical lab and with our wireline crew. All users connect to a single database to input data. Digital charts and reports are generated automatically and are available immediately.

With rigs moving location every few days, a spatial overview of the vast array of operational and subsurface data is also desirable. This overview is provided by linking the data captured in the software with GIS. Using a specially developed tool, it is possible to view any data generated, including charts and reports, spatially within GIS in almost real time, giving a “living overview” of all operations and resulting performance, cost and subsurface data.