Integrated well drilling and evaluation

An integrated drilling and evaluation system for drilling and logging a well and testing in an uncased well bore of the well, comprising:

• a drill string;
• a drill bit, carried on a lower end of said drill string, for drilling the well bore;
• a packer, carried on said drill string above said drill bit, for sealing a well annulus between said drill string and said uncased well bore above said drill bit means;
• a surge receptacle included in said drill string;
• surge chamber means, constructed to mate with said surge receptacle, for receiving and trapping a sample of well fluid therein;
• retrieval means for retrieving said surge chamber back to a surface location while said drill string remains in said uncased well bore;
• logging while drilling means, included in said drill string, for generating data indicative of the nature of subsurface zones or formations intersected by said uncased well bore;
• and
• a circulating valve included in said drill string above said surge receptacles.

An integrated drilling and evaluation system for drilling and logging a well and testing in an uncased well bore portion of the well, comprising:

• a drill string;
• a drill bit, carried on a lower end of said drill string, for drilling said well bore;
• a packer for sealing a well annulus between said drill string and said uncased well bore above said drill bit, said packer being selectively positionable between set and unset positions;
• a valve, included in said drill string, for controlling the flow of fluid between said well bore below said packer and said drill string when said packer is in said set position;
• logging while drilling means, included in said drill string, for logging subsurface zones or formations intersected by said uncased well bore;
• and
• a circulating valve included in said drill string above said valve.

A method of early evaluation of a well having an uncased well bore intersecting a subsurface zone or formation of interest, comprising:

• (a) providing a testing string in said well bore including:
• a tubing string;
• a logging tool included in said tubing string;
• a packer carried on said tubing string;
• and
• a fluid testing device included in said tubing string;
• (b) logging said well with said logging tool and thereby determining the location of said subsurface zone or formation of interest;
• (c) without removing said testing string from said well bore after step (b), setting said packer in said well bore above said subsurface formation and sealing a well annulus between said testing string and said well bore;
• and
• (d) flowing a sample of well fluid from said subsurface formation below said packer to said fluid testing device.

An integrated drilling and evaluation apparatus for drilling a well and testing in an uncased well bore of a well, comprising:

• a drill string;
• a drill bit, carried on a lower end of the drill string, for drilling the well bore;
• a packer, carried on the drill string above the drill bit, for sealing against the uncased well bore when in a set position and thereby isolating at least a portion of a formation or zone of interest intersected by the well bore and for disengaging the uncased well bore when in an unset position, thereby allowing fluid flow between the packer and the uncased well bore when the drill bit is being used for drilling the well bore;
• a fluid monitoring system, included in the drill string, for determining fluid parameters of fluid in the formation or zone of interest;
• and
• a tester valve, included in the drill string, for controlling flow of fluid from the formation or zone of interest into the drill string when the packer is in the set position;
• wherein, the well can be selectively drilled and tested without removing the drill string from the well.

A method of early evaluation of a well having an uncased well bore, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a drilling and testing string comprising:
• a drill bit;
• a packer for sealingly engaging the well bore;
• and
• a well fluid condition monitor;
• (b) drilling the well bore with the drill bit until the well bore intersects a formation or zone of interest;
• (c) without removing the drilling and testing string from the well after step (b), effecting a seal with the packer against the uncased well bore and thereby isolating at least a portion of the formation or zone of interest;
• and
• (d) without removing the drilling and testing string from the well bore, determining, with the well fluid condition monitor, fluid parameters of fluid in the formation or zone of interest.