AAPG Bulletin, V. 82 (1998), No. 8 (August 1998), P. 1445-1462.

Devonian Dundee Formation, Crystal Field, Michigan Basin: Recovery of Bypassed Oil Through Horizontal Drilling

Scott L. Montgomery,¹ James R. Wood,² and William B. Harrison III³

©Copyright 1998.  The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.  All Rights Reserved

¹Petroleum Consultant, 1511 18th Avenue East, Seattle, Washington 98112.
²Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan.
³Department of Geological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions made by a number of people and institutions over the course of this project: Wayne Pennington and Jackie Huntoon (Michigan Technological University), Craig Tester (Chartwell Properties, formerly Terra Energy Inc.), Eric Taylor (independent consultant, Traverse City), and Steve Chittick (Michigan Technological University). Gratitude is also expressed to a number of students who contributed to the project: Heidi Wines, Michael Foley, and Santis Limezs of Western Michigan University, and Bill Everham, Bill Houston, Buddy Wylie, Marsha Sivek, Vince Duperron, J. P. Suchoski, Julie Bailey, and Len Mankowski of Michigan Technological University. We also would like to thank the U.S. Department of Energy for their support of the project, particularly Chandra Nautiyal, program manager. We particularly want to thank Carol Asiala for her work on the project Internet home pages and for assembling and maintaining the project CD ROM. 

Send reprint requests to AAPG Publications Manager, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101-979.

ABSTRACT

Carbonate reservoirs of the Devonian Dundee Formation represent the most productive interval in the Michigan basin, yet have suffered widespread abandonment due to improper early reservoir management and completion practices. Dundee carbonate reservoirs, deposited in marginal-marine and shallow-marine environments, have produced over 351 MMbbl oil from 137 fields, most of which were discovered in the 1930s and 1940s. Initial potentials for many Dundee wells ranged from 2000 to 9000 bbl/day, presumably due to high- permeability fractures and solution-enhanced porosity in some areas and excellent primary interparticle porosity in other areas.

Crystal field, discovered in 1935 at a depth of less than 3500 ft (1060 m), was aggressively developed

and produced at high rates, causing widespread water coning, such that 95% of the field was drilled and abandoned in less than 5 yr, leaving considerable interwell reserves in the ground. No cores or wireline logs existed for the field prior to 1995, when the field became the subject of a multiyear study aimed at determining the feasibility of employing horizontal drilling to recover bypassed reserves. A vertical test portion of the TOW 1-3 horizontal well, located in a structurally elevated portion of the field, cored and logged the entire reservoir interval, yielding crucial new information. On the basis of relevant data, a horizontal leg was drilled, resulting in an excellent producer with estimated recoverable reserves of 200,000 bbl. Two subsequent horizontal tests with poor results were drilled in downdip locations and oriented perpendicular to the TOW well, suggesting the importance of both structural position and azimuth. Selective use of horizontal drilling is considered an appropriate, cost-effective means for recovering bypassed reserves in Dundee fields where sufficient geologic data exist to adequately characterize the reservoir and oil occurrence. For some fields, this may require new coring and logging operations.