Proceedings 20th NZ Geothermal Workshop 1998

DRILLING EXPERIENCE AT
DARAJAT GEOTHERMAL FIELD, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA
I.

B.R.

Amoseas Indonesia Inc., Jakarta, Indonesia

SUMMARY Slimhole drilling operations were successfblly conducted at the Darajat geothermal area,
The program
additional reserves in the Darajat resource and
West Java, Indonesia in
obtained important geological and reservoir infoxmation for modelling and for the planning of fbture
drilling work. The use of a slimhole rig allowed these objectives to be achieved more completely, at a
lower cost and in a less environmentally disruptive manner than if' a large rotary rig had been used. This
paper outlines the work done, the methodology and equipment used and the performance
It
highlights some of the problems encountered and the steps necessary to overcome or mitigate these in
drilling programs of this type.
1. INTRODUCTION

2.

Amoseas Indonesia Inc (an

of Chevron
Corp and Texaco Inc) as contractor to
Pertamina, the Indonesian national oil company,
has been developing the Darajat geothexmal
resource since 1984 to generate electricity. The
Darajat geothexmal field is located about 50
south-east of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia.

The Darajat geothermal field is situated on the

north-eastem side of Gunung Kendang, which is
long,
part of a North-South trending, 25
mountain range that includes the
Kamojang field to the north-east and the
dormant Papandayan volcano to the south.
There are numerous eruptive centers within the
range and volcanic activity has
occurred in recent historic times in at least two
places.

Amoseas Indonesia Inc became involved with

development of the Darajat resource when AI
signed a Joint Operating Contract with
Pertamina and a power sales agreement with
PLN in 1984. The existing 55
power
station at Darajat, operated by PLN, was
commissioned in late 1994.

GEOLOGY

RESERVOIR

The most significant structural features of the

Darajat geothermal field are four main NE-SW
trending faults and a NW-SE trending fault that
crosses these. These faults represent the major
permeability targets in the field. A
amount of minor
is also seen in the
reservoir rock also trending approximately NE-

In 1996 drilling of production wells and

construction
for two Amoseas
power plants on the Darajat field. At the same
time the 1996-98 Slimhole Program was
undertaken to prove additional geothermal
reserves at Darajat. A slimhole program was
chosen primarily because of the lower cost and
reduced environmental impact associated with
but also because the
slimhole
continuous coring of the reservoir offered
significant opportunities to expand knowledge
of the reservoir rock characteristics.

sw.

The Darajat geothexmal field is a vapour

dominated system producing mainly dry steam
at a pressure of approximately470 psi and a
condensible gas content of about 1.5%. The
faults and major fractures in the reservoir are 3
to 5 orders of magnitude more permeable than
the bulk volcanic rock matrix that makes up the
reservoir.

This paper examines the equipment and

techniques used, the problems encountered and
the results obtained during this slimhole drilling
program.

3. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The objective of the slimhole program was to

field
probe the outer regions of the then
area to:
Establish the existence of steam for
inclusion in reserves.
183

Locate the reservoir top (from temperature

gained during heating).
Determine the geology for later possible
use for a big rig program.
Allow
logging using the
Schlumberger Foxmation Microscanner
tool in the formations overlying the
outer part of the reservoir.

Planned well
were 5,200 feet for those
drilled with the UDR 1500 rig initially

CASING

All of these objectives could have been

achieved with a conventional rotary drilled
exploration program however there were
advantages in going to a slimhole
program. The most obvious of these is cost - a
slimhole rig package costing only about 40% of
the total daily rate for a large rig package.

The second advantage was the reduced footprint

required for a slimhole drilling package. In the
type of rugged
encountered at Darajat,
the smaller footprint equated to a
saving over the cost of constructing a
sized
site for a large rig.
The third advantage was the ability of the rig to
undertake continuous coring. For the geologists
this represented a
opportunity to be
able to examine the reservoir rock in detail, to
actually see the permeable features and
hydrothermal alteration mineralogy in the rock
data measured
and to correlate the
downhole with physical rock sample
measurements made on the core.

Figure 1 Well configuration.

employed in the drilling, and
for those
drilled with the
5000 rig which joined the
program at a later time.

The program philosophy was to drill these wells

to enable the collection of this infomation. At
some later date in 5- 10 years time, it is proposed
to abandon these wells and in the interim, these
wells will be used as reservoir pressure
monitors.
4.

WELL, WELLHEAD
CONFIGURATION

A simple wellhead, comprising an SOW casing

side valve
head incorporating two
outlets, and a 4-1/16 master valve, was used on
top of the
casing.
All wellhead
equipment was API 2000 rating. Wellhead
configuration is shown in Figure 2.

SITE

The design of the wells was based on coring

most, if not all, of the reservoir section of the
with the HQ coring system. This governed
the sizes of the casings to be used in the well.
X
with
The production casing was
special clearance couplings to allow adequate
annular space for cementing inside the
drilled hole and inside the next outer casing
Setting depths for these
which was 7 X
casings were 2,000-2,400 feet for the
casing and 800-1,000 ft for the
casing
depending on where good casing seat points
could be found.
casing was set at
300 feet, and the outermost casing string
conductor to 10 feet
comprised a 16
pre-installed before the rig arrived on site.
Casing configuration of a typical Darajat
slimhole well is as shown in Figure 1.

Line

Figure 2 Wellhead Drawing

All wells were drilled on separate sites from
shallow 1.0 m deep concrete cellars. Site
much less than
dimensions were 125 X 95
184

the 270 X 180

site at Darajat.

and coring of the first four wells

done with
Universal 1500 rig. For the
wells (S5
S6) and the
remaining
of S3, and DRJ
a
subsequent
Universal 5000 rig was used.

required for a single big rig

5. DRILLING METHODOLOGY

All hole sizes down to the

casing shoe were
rotary drilled using conventional water based
muds, sealing losses as they were encountered.

The Universal Drill Rig model 1500

is a truck mounted hydraulic
multipurpose rig. This type of rig is primarily
seen doing coring work in the mining and
minerals exploration industries. The rig has an
overall mast length of 15.8 meters, adjustable
angle capability to slant drill up to 45 degrees
off the vertical and is equipped with a multi
speed top drive system with 24 foot travel. The
rig has a pullback capacity of 32,000 lbs, a
pulldown capacity for coring of 15,400 lbs, and
and 41
can handle casing up to
feet long. It has a nominal capacity to rotary
hole size to 1000 depth and
drill up to
to core in HQ to 5,200 and NQ to 8,000

At the start of the program, the

hole
134
section was cored continuously using
to
equipment and a special wide kerf
134
achieve the required hole diameter.
equipment
produces a hole size of 134
(5-9/32) diameter. There were two reason
hole size. The first
for the selection of
was that this was the minimum size in which it
was considered an acceptable cementing job
could be obtained in the
outside the 4casing.
The second was that
Schlumbergers
tool, used to log fractures
tool, used to log porosity,
in the well an d
could both be run in this hole size (but not in the
subsequent smaller hole sizes). These logs could
then be conducted in the formation immediately
overlying the steam reservoir. Obtaining core
for this hole section allowed the electronic logs
to be correlated against the core.

The substructure height was 8 from ground

level to the underside of the rig floor to allow
BOP equipment to be installed. Ancillary
equipment with this rig included a 100 barrel
closed mud system, a medium capacity duplex
pump for rotary drilling in addition to the small
capacity triplex pumps used for coring, a double
screen shale shaker and a centrifuge.

Continuous coring of the

section was at
times difficult and always slower than rotary
four
drilling of the same section of hole.
wells it was decided to abandon coring and
change to rotary drilling of this section. This
contributed to reducing the drilling time on
subsequentwells.

is
Universal Drill Rig model 5000
a trailer mounted larger version of the UDR
1500. It has a longer overall mast length at 17.1
and higher pullback and pulldown
capacities at 101,000 lbs and 29,400 lbs
respectively. This unit has a nominal capacity
to rotary drill up to
hole size to 2,000
depth and to core in HQ to 8,200 and NQ to
12,000
The substructure height was higher,
being 11- 6 above ground level to the
underside of the rig floor. Ancillary equipment
with this rig was essentially the same as for the
UDR 1500. Layout of rig site and equipment is
as shown in Figure 3.

In terms of the drilling, the objective of the

wells was to obtain continuous core from the
reservoir section of the well and accordingly
casing shoe all wells were
below the
drilled in this manner. The preferred size of this
equipment was HQ, however the option existed
(and used in some wells) of drilling through the
HQ string with NQ if the HQ string became
irretrievably stuck in the hole.
6. WATER SUPPLY
Water supply for the drilling of these wells was
obtained by damming local streams and
This required
installing a water pump.
waterlines comprising
or
tubing
being
up to
from the water pump to the
drill site. Capacity of the water supply was 250
gallons per minute to accommodate water
demand for the rotary drilled sections of each
well.
7.

Rigs for the Darajat Slimhole Program were

Drilling
USA. Drilling
supplied by

Figure 3 Layout of rig site and equipment.

185

Blowout Prevention Equipment (BOPE) on both

rigs comprised a conventional stack - annular
preventer and double ram BOP, all with surface
accumulator and control units. A wireline BOP
(stripping gland) was installed on the drill rods
in use while retrieving the core barrel. BOP
arrangement is as shown in Figure 4.

The main objective in continuous coring is a

percentage recovery of good quality core
to enable reliable
over the cored
to be obtained. The
formation
quality of the core recovered is a function of the
correct choice of the core barrel assembly, the
selection of coring bit for the specific formation
and the correct diameter of reaming shell

8.1 Bit
The coring bit consists of the crown which
contains the diamond cutting elements in a
matrix. Two type of coring bit were used in the
Darajat operation:

I
Master Valve
4 1/16" x 2m

a.

Surface Set bits.

The surface set bit has natural stones
embedded in the surface of the crown.
The depth to which stones are
embedded depends on the size of
diamonds - typically 213 of the overall
diameter of the stone.

b.

Impregnated bits.
In the impregnated bit, the crown
matrix is impregnated with diamonds.
As the diamonds are exposed and
away, new
ultimately
diamonds with sharp cutting edges are
exposed. Synthetic diamonds are used
predominantly.

I
I

Figure 4 BOP equipment while coring.

8. CONTINOUS CORING EQUIPMENT
, When

bit wear is considered, some abrasion of

'impregnated bits is desirable to wear away the
matrix material to expose new diamonds to the
rock enabling the bit to cut.

The basic components of a continuous coring

assembly are core bit, reaming shell, core barrel
comprising outer barrel and inner tube, drill
rods, overshot assembly and the core recovery
wireline. A diagram of the basic components is
shown as Figure 5.

Based on the coring experience gained at

Darajat, Series 6 impregnated bits proved to be
the most suitable bit in the medium-hard
formations such as andesite lava, tuff breccia or
andesite encountered in the reservoir. This bit
consistently gave more footage, more
productive drilling time and less frequent trips
in and out the hole than the other bits that were
used. It therefore provided the lowest cost per
foot performance.
General rig operating parameters when coring
lbs weight on bit,
and
were
20-35 gpm of circulating fluid pumped through
the core barrel.

Drill Rods

8.2 Reaming Shell

The functions of the reaming shell are to

slightly enlarge the hole drilled by the core bit,
to stabilize the bit and core barrel and introduce
turbulence to the flow in the annulus as it passes
though the reaming shell. The reaming shell is
located on the outer core barrel directly above

sheu
Lifter

case
Head

186

9.

the coring bit and operates with the bit as a

single working unit.

DRILLINGFLUIDS

Drilling fluids used during the rotary drilling

section of the slimholes were lime spud mud for
hole section and gel-lignite polymer
the 12section. Coringpolymer mud
mud for the
was used when coring operations were in
progress and although quite expensive, was
useful in alleviating some of the problems
associated with slimhole coring.

An optimal ratio exists between the outside

diameters of the bit and the reaming shell. If the
difference between the outside diameters is too
large, the reaming shell will wear out
prematurely because it is doing too much of the
hole cutting and vibration may ensue. On the
other hand if the outside diameter difference is
too small, the reaming shell will have longer life
by assuming the bit gauge does not wear to fast.
The optimum ratio varies depending on the
formation being drilled and the drilling fluid
being used.

Polymer mud functions as an inhibitive mud to

prevent clay-shale formations fiom hydrating,
reducing fiction in turbulent flow in the
annulus. Since polymer mud has very low solid
system, hole stability in shale areas is better and
reducing friction in turbulent flow minimized
pressure loss in the drill rods. Torque problems
were reduced by the addition of torque
reduction additives to the polymer mud during
drilling.

8 3 Core Barrel

The core barrel is a swivel type, double tube,

mechanism to
barrel and incorporates a
ensure that the inner tube assembly is held in
place against being pushed upwards inside the
outer barrel. The advantages of this type of core
barrel are firstly that the core is protected as
soon as it enters the inner tube - the outer tube
rotates but the inner tube remain stationary
and
guarding the core against
and secondly, because the drilling fluid flows
through the annulus between the inner and outer
tubes of the barrel, the core is protected fiom
any washing effect of the drilling fluid.

Maintaining drilling fluid properties during

slimhole coring is as critical as with
conventional rotary drilling. The inclusion of a
in the mud cleaning system was
useful in this respect until circulation was lost
and returns were no longer being obtained.
10. DRILLING PERFORMANCE

Over the almost two years of the Darajat

Slimhole program, six new wells were
successfully drilled and cored, and three
existing wells were deepened. The objective in
deepening existing wells was to gain more
geological data and to better define reservoir
characteristics in the particular area of the field.

The 20 HQ and NQ core barrels used at Darajat

consisted of two 10 tube sections attached to a
134 core barrels were 10
head piece. The
long comprising only a single tube section.
When coring in whatever size, two core barrel
assemblies were used allowing one barrel to be
cleaned and adjusted while the other was in
operation. This allowed operations to continue
with a minimumof downtime.

Drilling Performance for drilling and deepening

of wells is as summarised in Table I.
Problems impacting on drilling
in
the rotary sectionswere:
Lost Circulation often requiring multiple
cement plugs to remedy.
Fishing Jobs - rotary tools provided and run
by mineral drilling personnel are not as
routinely or rigorously inspected as on
conventional rigs due to the crews lack of
familiarity. Drilling Supervisorsneed to be
aware of and act to overcome this.

8.4 Drill Rods

Drill rods (drill pipe) for coring are hollow flush

jointed pipes, internally flush in order to allow
retraction of the inner tube with wireline and
externally flush to reduce fiction loss and
improve flushing characteristic in the annulus
between the pipe and the hole wall, and to
reduce vibration effects in the drillstring.

Problems impacting on performance in the

cored sections of the hole were:
Increasing torque problems as the well
depth increased - remediated by the
addition of lubricantmaterials to the mud
Sections of unstable friable red clay
material in the well - solved by cementing
these zones after drilling through them.
Drilling through the zones was time
characterised by slow

8.5 Overshot Assembly

The overshot assembly is the
tube retrieval
tool. It is lowered on the wireline and latches
mechanism of the
onto the
inner tube allowing the inner tube to be released
and pulled out of the hole for core recovery.

187

penetration and
blocking of the
around the core barrel.
Fishing Jobs - there are reduced options
when fishing for core string components
and hence
compared with traditional
side tracking was required on occassions to
get past fish in the hole.
Total lost circulation while coring - set up
for backfill pumping through the annulus to
balance the hydrostatic pressure. Normally
5-10 gpm proved enough to keep the
operation safe.
gas
Hydrogen Sulphide Gas - Some
returns occurred while coring, setting off
the gas alarms.Normal practice was to shut
the well in and pump down the coring
string and the annulus to stabilise the well.

Despite these problems core recovery over the

entire Darajat Slimhole Program averaged better
than 90 %. Average rate of penetration when
coring ranging from - 25 ft per drilling hour.

Figure 6 Typically plot

temperature vs depth

record

11. LOGGING OF SLIMHOLES

Schlumberger
Microscanner
logs were run in the
and
hole
sections of each well prior to
the 7 and
casing strings respectively. One
Accelerator Porosity Sonde (APS) log was run
in the
hole section of well S3 to compare
the porosity values obtained from this tool with
what was physically observable in the core. The
good correlation obtained gave
in
the use of the
tool for the production
drilling program. In the HQ and NQ sections of
the well, Kuster pressure temperature surveys
were conducted after the well was completed
liner run.
and the

12. CONCLUSIONS
the almost two years of the slimhole
program, six new wells were successfully
drilled and cored, and three existing wells were
deepened.
The program was very successful in obtaining
the geological & reservoir information which it
set out to achieve. Core analysis data and log
interpretation yielded consistent and reliable
information. The availability of core from the
hole sections in four of the wells was
valuable in allowing direct comparison with the
FMS logs obtained from the same section.

During coring operations, a maximum recording

thermometer
was run approximately
every 100 to determine temperature near well
bottom. The MRT was installed onto the inner
barrel overshot on the wireline and the
temperature taken immediately prior to
unlatching the inner barrel. The purpose of these
measurements was to give some indication
during drilling as to whether the well had
reached the top of the reservoir. The
temperature data obtained needed to be
interpreted with care as changes in the
circulating rate while coring had a strong effect
on the temperatures measured on well bottom
A typical MRT graph with depth
by the
well
is shown as Figure 6.

The 1996-98 Slimhole Drilling Program has

demonstrated the ability of this type of drilling
in a
system to obtain quality
geothermal environment in a cost effective
manner with minimal environmental impact.
Some very useful drilling lessons and
experience were gained from this program,
which, when implemented on the next program,
should result in reductions to drilling time and
cost.

188

Table 1: Darajat SlimholeDriliing Performance

Well Name TD

Core Interval

4402

Top Resv Max Record Drilling

Hole Problem
Temp deg F Days
Yes
423
51
None

Comment

HQ 1978
S-2

4730 CHD 134 1514

HQ 1643

S-3

5087

S4

5200

390

85

cement plugs ( 6 times )

stuck pipe ( 9 days )
one sidetrack
left HQ pipe in hole

NO

228

65

one cement plug

NO

275

52

None

hole caving
bridge off
fishing

HQ 2871

S-5

7467

HQ-4719

412

56

None

S-6

6273

HQ-3348

No

300

58

stuck pipe ( 3 times )

one sidetrack
left HQ pipe in hole

S-3A
7578
(deepening)

HQ-2319
NQ 173

Yes

350

35

stuck pipe ( twice )

tight hole
HQ NQ pipe left in hole poor hole cleaning

7185

HQ-7926

Yes

304

93

two sidetracks

encounter red clay

encounter red clay

stuck pipe ( 3 times )

HQ pipe left in hole
a lot of cement plugs

(deepening)

6282

No

225

47

(deepening)

cement plugs ( 5 times )

encounter red
hole caving

13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

14. REFERENCES

B. Hulen, Brian. A.
L.
Nielson, The Geyser Coring Project,
County,California - USA.
M.
B.
Slimhole Drilling Technology - Past, Present
and Future.

Berry B R
Iskandar Riza, Well Control
Issues for Dry Steam Geothermal Wells at
Darajat Field West Java IADC Asia Pacific
Well Control Conference, Singapore, 1997.

Slimhole
S.B Randolph, A.P.
Continuous Coring and Drilling in Tertiery
Sediment", IADC Drilling Conference,
Amsterdam, March 1991.

John. T. Finger, Ronald. D. Jacobson, Charles.

E.
Roger. E.
Slimhole Drilling
for Geothermal Exploration

W. F.

The authors
acknowledge the
permission of Pertamina and Amoseas
Indonesia Inc. to publish thispaper.

189

"Diamond Drilling Handbook"