Facts and Logic Speak Louder than Sense of Smell

I have always heard about Rig-134 but I have never been on it. So, it was with tremendous exhilaration that I boarded the chopper on Sunday afternoon. I thought I’d never set foot on offshore rigs again. But lo and behold! The opportunity presented itself once more!

For this well, all the facts indicated that the zone perforated contained water. From the logs, and samples taken, it all showed that it was water. Theoretically, water is denser than oil. So, if a well is drilled at the crest, and it already shows water, there is no possibility that oil is present anywhere else. However, the well-site geologists refused to believe, trusting that the oil just wasn’t able to flow because it was too viscous. In fact, when the sample was shone under UV light, the water samples indicated moderate to strong fluorescence. He said he smelt oil from the water.

Normal Water

Water with Moderate Level of Oil Content

And so we began drilling and persisted with our decision to continue testing, despite the obvious display of facts. Needless to say, our efforts proved futile. The pressure of the well just managed to push to water level for 500 m before it died down. There was no flow of fluids whatsover to the surface at all. In due time, the well was plugged and abandoned after results of static pressure gradient survey showed water too!

This proves that as engineers and geologists, we must choose to believe the facts and figures instead of our instincts. Unless we have very solid reasons and logic to back us up.