Limit analysis of extended reach drilling in South China Sea

Extended reach wells （ERWs）, especially horizontal extended reach well with a high HD （horizontal displacement） to TVD （true vertical depth） ratio, represent a frontier technology and challenge the drilling limitations. Oil and gas reservoir in beaches or lakes and offshore can be effectively exploited by using extended reach drilling （ERD） technology. This paper focuses on the difficult technological problems encountered during exploiting the Liuhua 11-1 oil field in the South China Sea, China. Emphasis is on investigating the key subjects including prediction and control of open hole limit extension in offshore ERD, prediction of casing wear and its prevention and torque reduction, φ244.5mm casing running with floating collars to control drag force, and steerable drilling modes. The basic concept of limit extension in ERD is presented and the prediction method for open hole limit extension is given in this paper. A set of advanced drilling mechanics and control technology has been established and its practical results are verified by field cases. All those efforts may be significant for further investigating and practicing ERD limit theory and control technology in the future.

Zircon U-Pb Dating on Granitoids from the Northern South China Sea and its Geotectonic Relevance

Zircon U-Pb ages of 163.8-100.4 Ma and 146.6-134.5 Ma are obtained for the granitoids from the Pearl River mouth basin, and from southern Guangdong Province, respectively. These new dating data accord well with the crystallization ages of Yanshanian granitoids broadly in the Nanling. The active continental margin of South China, as revealed by a combination of zircon U-Pb data, underwent a key granitoid-dominated magmatism in 165-100 Ma. Its evolution varied temporally, and spatially, registering under control of the paleo-Pacific slab subduction. The granitoids that occurred in 165-150 Ma broadly from the South China Sea to the Nanling are preferably related to two settings from volcanic-arc to back-arc extension, respectively. The activities of Cretaceous granitoids migrated from the southeastern Guangdong （148-130 Ma） to the Pearl River Mouth basin （127-112 Ma）, corresponding to the model of a retreating subduction. The subduction-related granitoid magmatism in South China continued until 108-97 Ma. A tectonic transformation from slab-subduction to extension should occur at -100 Ma.

The Southward Extension of Cathaysia Block: Evidence from Zircon UPb Dates of Borehole Volcanics in the Northern South China Sea

Five Paleogene volcanics sampled from the northern South China Sea were analyzed via LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating, including basalt and andesite from Borehole SCSVI and volcanic agglomerate from Borehole SCSV2, respectively. A total of 162 zircon U-Pb dates for them cover an age range from Neoarchean to Eocene, in which the pre-Paleocene data dominate. The Paleogene dates of 62.5±2.2 Ma and 42.1±2.9 Ma are associated with two igneous episodes prior to opening of South China Sea basin. Those pre-Paleocene zircons are inherited zircons mostly with magmatogenic oscillatory zones, and have REE features of crustal zircon. Zircon U-Pb dates of 2518-2481 Ma, 1933- 1724 Ma, and 1094-1040 Ma from the SCSV1 volcanics, and 2810-2718 Ma, 2458-2421 Ma, and 1850-993.4 Ma from the SCSV2 volcanics reveal part of Precambrian evolution of the northern South China Sea, well comparable with age records dated from the Cathaysia block. The data of 927.0±6.9 Ma and 781±38 Ma dated from the SCSV2 coincide with amalgamation between Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks and breakup of the Rodinia, respectively. The age records of Caledonian orogeny from the Cathaysia block are widely found from our volcanic samples with concordant mean ages of 432.0±5.8 Ma from the SCSV1 and of 437±15 Ma from the SCSV2. The part of the northern South China Sea resembling the Cathaysia underwent Indosinian and Yanshannian tectonothermal events. Their age signatures from the SCSV1 cover 266.5±3.5 Ma, 241.1±6.0 Ma, 184.0±4.2 Ma, 160.9±4.2 Ma and 102.8±2.6 Ma, and from the SCSV2 are 244±15 Ma, 158.1±3.5 Ma, 141±13 Ma and 96.3±2.1 Ma. Our pre-Paleogene U-Pb age spectra of zircons from the borehole volcanics indicate that the northern South China Sea underwent an evolution from formation of Precambrian basement, Caledonian orogeny, and Indosinian orogeny to Yanshannian magmatism. This process can be well comparable with the tectonic evolution of South China, largely supporting the areas of the northern South China Sea as part of southward extension of the Cathaysia.

A novel purification technique for noble gas isotope analyses of authigenic minerals

Noble and active gases are released from geological samples during gas extraction for noble gas isotope analyses. The active gases should be removed before inletting to mass spectrometers for the analyses. The normal noble gas preparation systems can clean up most geological samples. However, authigenic minerals from sedimentary rocks in oil/gas fields contain organic matter, which cannot be cleaned up by the normal preparation systems and thus influence the noble gas analyses. We introduce a novel gas purification system （PRC patent No. ZL201320117751.2）, which includes several reversible purification pumps with different absorbing and degassing temperatures. It can well clean up water steam, carbon dioxide and organic gas- es. Mica minerals are often used for 40Ar/39Ar dating. A muscovite sample （2082MS） which could not be cleaned up by the normal preparation system with two SAES NP10 getters, becomes the test sample for a comparative experiment in this study. The experiment is assigned into 4 sections with the organic gas removal system （OGRS） ＂Closed/Opened＂ in turn. When the OGRS is closed only with two NP10 getters for purification, the 40At intensities increase in curves with inlet time because of impurities, the 40Ar/39Ar dating results yield age errors about ＋2%-±1% （20-）. When the OGRS is opened for purification, in contrast, the 40Ar intensities decrease linearly with inlet time. This indicates that the gases have been cleaned up effectively, and the 40Ar/39Ar results yield ages with errors in ±0.4%. The OGRS is very helpful to obtain high-quality analysis data.