Coring

What is Coring ?

Oil well coring provides invaluable information to drilling teams and

oil and gas companies during the well drilling process. Coring is a
procedure that is meant to remove a small amount of rock sample
from within the oil well. This entails using a core bit to drill and
remove a cylindrical sample of the rock.
 Introduction

• The direct measurement of the earth's subsurface is by analyzing samples, or cores, that
engineers extract from the formation using special bits or wireline-conveyed coring tools. Once
the cores are cut, they are captured and retrieved to the surface.

• These cores are transported intact to laboratories located around the world to provide ground
truth for calibration of well logs and to reveal variations in reservoir properties that might be
undetectable through downhole logging measurements alone.

• Analysts use cores to characterize pore systems in the rock and model reservoir behavior to
optimize production based on the analysis of core porosity, permeability, fluid saturation, grain
density, lithology, and texture.
• Conventional cores, also known as whole cores, are continuous sections of
rock extracted from the formation during otherwise standard drilling
operations. The coring bit is hollow so that as it cuts through the formation it
creates and captures a solid cylinder of rock that can be brought to the surface
as a single piece.

• Sidewall cores (SWCs) are plugs of rock cut from the wellbore wall. These
cores are usually acquired by wireline-conveyed tools; SWC operations are
less expensive and time-consuming than those of conventional coring and can
recover cores from multiple zones of interest in a single wireline run. Because
SWCs are typically obtained after logging tools have been run, geologists can
use log measurements to pick the depths at which the SWCs should be
taken. The produced samples range in size from 0.75 inches in diameter to
0.75 to 4 inches in length.
Informations Provided
• Core drilling is used to assess the productivity of oil well drilling.
• The coring procedure provides valuable information about the makeup
of the rock being drilled.
• Oil well coring is also used during the exploration for oil and gas
reservoirs.
• Obtained core samples hold valuable information. These samples are
carefully washed to remove all foreign matter, and then analyzed and
labeled. This gives a drilling team information about the depth at
which certain rock formations occur at a specific drill hole.
• Also, oil and gas levels can be estimated based on coring samples.
Conventional Coring
• The drilling assembly for
conventional bottomhole coring
consists of two parts: the core
head or bit and the core barrel
or retainer.

• Above the coring assembly a

conventional bottomhole
assembly of driII collars and
stabilizers is run.
The Core Bit
• Core bits are similar to conventional driII bits in design and function.
Unlike driII bits, however, they do not cut a complete cylinder of
formation. Instead, they are designed to cut "an annular ring or kerf of
formation, leaving a solid cylinder of uncut formation to pass through
the center of the bit into the core barrel above.
• Like drill bits, core bits are available in various mechanical designs.
• Drag-type and rotary cutter-type core bits are available and are used in
coring soft to medium formations.
• However, diamond core bits which offer long life and the ability to cut a
range of formation types have become the predominant type of core bit
in use
• Commonly only two types, unconsolidated/soft and medium-medium hard
formation bits, and one size, the smallest expected hole size, are kept
available.
• Reason for keeping only one size of core bit on hand is the strong
relationship between the success rate in core recovery and the ratio of the
size of core to the size of the hole.
• The larger the kerf, the more likely the core will be damaged by vibration
and mud circulation erosion, and therefore the poorer the likely recovery.
• Economy and standardization dictate the latter solution, and most drilling
operations have core bits and core barrels of only a single size, Most
commonly an 8-1/2-inch bit which cuts a 3-1/2-inch core.
• To ensure good recovery it is necessary to either have available a range of
core barrels to give large core-to-hole size ratios for all hole sizes or to
choose a single core size and limit the range of bit sizes with which it is used.
• If it is decided to core in a larger size hole, a small size bit is used, leaving an
undersize hole (a 'rat hole') which must later be reamed.
• Operating procedures like those for a diamond bit should be used.
The hole must be free of junk. Running in the hole should be done
slowly to avoid damaging or plugging the bit by hitting a bridge or
dogleg. Initial weight-on-bit and rotary speed should be very low and
increased slowly up to the operating levels which should then be held
constant. Pump pressure and flowrate should be held low to prevent
the bit from being pumped off bottom and bounced.
The Core Barrel

1. The Outer Barrel

2. The Inner Barrel

Sidewall Coring
• Sidewall cores taken from the borehole wall after drilling generally
produce samples of inferior quality to bottomhole cores.
• They are smaller in size and contain material which has been close to
the exposed borehole wall for some time prior to the core being
taken.
• However, sidewall cores can commonly be obtained in less rig time
and at less cost than bottomhole coring.
• Sidewall core points may also be selected after the hole is drilled and
logged, reducing the risk of unnecessary coring of inappropriate
zones.
• The sidewall coring gun, or Chronological
Sample Taker (CST), is lowered into the
hole on a logging cable and a sample of the
formation is taken at the desired depth.
This is done by shooting a hollow 'bullet'
into and pulling it out of the wall of the
hole.
• There can be twelve, twenty-four or thirty
bullets per gun.
• By combining guns, up to seventy-two
cores can be obtained during one run. If an
electric log has been obtained previously, a
spontaneous potential (SP) or gamma ray
(GR) curve run in conjection with the
samples can position the samples by direct
log correlation.
 Wireline Core Slicer
• In well-consolidated formations, it is possible to obtain larger
sidewall samples using a diamond core slicer or Tricore tool run
on a logging cable.
• The tool is run to the appropriate depth for coring and a rubber
pad is activated, forcing the tool against the borehole wall.
• Two diamond-edged circular saws mounted at 60° to each
other move up the tool and out into the formation, cutting a
triangular section core.
• The core is up to three feet long and approximately 1-1/2-
inches on each side, with tapered ends following the path of
the blades out of and into the tool.
• On completion of the cut, the pad is retracted and the core
falls into a core catcher below. The core catcher is divided into
sections, allowing up to four cores to be caught on a single run
in the hole.