Erich Strasser Master Thesis Applicability of Ultra-Deep Vienna Basin Drilling Experience for Future Exploration Requirements Supervised by: Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont. Gerhard Thonhauser, MU Leoben Approval date: November 2015 Date: 27/11/2015 Affidavit (Eidesstattliche Erklärung) I declare in lieu of oath, that I wrote this thesis and performed the associated research myself, using only literature cited in this volume. Leoben, _______________ _____________________ Erich Strasser Acknowledgement First of all I want to thank OMV Exploration & Production GmbH for giving me the opportunity to write this master thesis and for sponsoring me during this period of time. Special thanks to my advisor at OMV DI Markus Doschek for the assistance and support during the development of this master thesis. Furthermore, I want to thank DI Hermann Spörker – former OMV Head of Well Engineering – who made this work possible, too. Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank my family for supporting me during my time in Leoben. Table of Contents Kurzfassung .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 10 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 11 2 History in Deep Drilling .................................................................................................................. 12 2.1 Definitions ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Milestones of drilling in Austria ......................................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Austria’s deepest wells ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 World’s deepest wells ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 3 Challenges in Ultra-Deep Drilling .................................................................................................................. 16 3.1 Planning ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Equipment ......................................................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Formation Evaluation ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.4 Drilling ............................................................................................................................................................................... 19 4 Drilling Technology ......................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Seismic ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20 4.2 Equipment ......................................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.3 Drilling mud ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.4 Casing ............................................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.5 Data monitoring ................................................................................................................................................................ 21 5 Geology of the Deep Vienna Basin .............................................................................................. 22 5.1 The Vienna Basin ............................................................................................................................................................. 22 5.2 Structure ........................................................................................................................................................................... 25 6 Well Reports of the Ultra-deep Wells ........................................................................................... 29 6.1 Zistersdorf ÜT1 / 1a .......................................................................................................................................................... 29 6.2 Zistersdorf ÜT2 / 2A / 2Aa ................................................................................................................................................ 32 6.3 Maustrenk ÜT1 / 1a .......................................................................................................................................................... 36 6.4 Aderklaa UT1 / 1a / 1b ...................................................................................................................................................... 39 6.5 Worldwide wells ................................................................................................................................................................ 42 7 Experiences & Lessons Learned ................................................................................................. 47 7.1 Drilling ............................................................................................................................................................................... 47 7.2 Casing ............................................................................................................................................................................... 55 7.3 Cementing ........................................................................................................................................................................ 58 7.4 Hydrocarbons ................................................................................................................................................................... 59 7.5 Planning ............................................................................................................................................................................ 61 8 Preliminary Well Design ................................................................................................................. 68 8.1 Zistersdorf Ultra-deep 3 .................................................................................................................................................... 68 9 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 89 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................... 90 Unit Conversion .................................................................................................................................. 92 References ........................................................................................................................................... 93 Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 98 A.1 Tables ............................................................................................................................................................................... 98 A.2 Figures ............................................................................................................................................................................ 107 A.3 Charts ............................................................................................................................................................................. 115 A.4 Formulas......................................................................................................................................................................... 121 List of Figures Figure 1: Vienna Basin / Wiener Becken [19] ..................................................................................... 22 Figure 2: The Steinberg fault [19] ......................................................................................................... 23 Figure 3: Development of the Vienna Basin [19] ................................................................................ 24 Figure 4: Base of Pannonian [19] ........................................................................................................ 25 Figure 5: Cross-section Zistersdorf [20] ............................................................................................... 26 Figure 6: Cross-section Aderklaa [20] ................................................................................................