Remote Well Site Biostratigraphy and Advances in Automated Fossil Analysis

Abstract

Real time well site biostratigraphy monitors the stratigraphic progress of drilling wells, advising if the well is conforming to or deviating from predicted stratigraphy, including determining if TD criteria have been met. It is the only offshore technology that can provide absolute age information. New technology now makes it possible to do well site biostratigraphy remotely. An automatic microscope has been developed that can scan and photograph nannofossil and palynology slides at a quality almost indistinguishable from conventional microscopy. A technician present on the well will make a slide from cuttings and place it on the microscope where software takes over and scans the slide at several focus levels, compresses the files and transfers the images to the office. A biostratigrapher in the office looks at the images and make taxonomic identifications, just as if present at well site. The technology has been implemented on several wells and provided adequate stratigraphic support. Remote well site biostratigraphy creates a verifiable record, makes it possible to QC biostratigraphic calls, releases up space on the rig and improves HSE for biostratigraphers. Development in progress of automated image recognition will further speed up analysis and improve on accuracy. The software identifies possible fossil candidates and cuts them out from the background. Discarding of the background reduces file sizes. Directed shape sorting allows the analyst to quickly focus on marker species without lengthy searches. Statistical counts of abundances and size sorting of large data sets can be done in seconds.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90259 ©2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 19-22, 2016