SPE 159739-PP

Drilling Adjacent to Salt Bodies: Definition of Mud Weight Window and Pore
Pressure Using Numerical Models and Fast Well Planning
Jose I. Adachi, Schlumberger1; Zsolt R. Nagy, Schlumberger; Colin M. Sayers, Schlumberger; Martiris F. Smith,
WesternGeco; David F. Becker, WesternGeco

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in San Antonio, Texas, USA, 8-10 October 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
A 3D finite-element model covering more than 10 blocks in the deepwater Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico has
been used to calculate the stress distribution around an extensive salt body. The complex model geometry, and the
determination of rock properties and pore pressure, was based on multiclient seismic data and state-of-the-art imaging
techniques. The model has been used to determine the impact that salt geometry will have on drilling decisions. The
numerical model shows that the near-salt stresses are dependent mainly on the morphology of the salt body. Higher
compressive stresses were found in supra-salt minibasins and sub-salt concave-down embayments, resulting in higher mud
weight windows. Areas below convex-down allochthonous base salt show lower compressive stresses, resulting in narrow
mud weight windows.
A fast well planning tool has been developed to translate the results of the finite-element model to operational parameters
for well design. With this tool, the full stress tensors are extracted along any arbitrary well trajectory, providing a high-
resolution model for calculating the mud weight window. This allows the drilling engineer to create fast predictions along
any chosen trajectory within the study area and to make quick comparisons of the drilling mud weight window along multiple
trajectories, helping with the selection of the optimal wellpath design. The application of this tool is illustrated using a “case
study” focused on four proposed trajectories for a hypothetical well that has to reach the Eocene-Paleocene Wilcox
formation.

Introduction
The hazards of drilling through or near salt bodies are discussed extensively in the technical literature (e.g., Willson and
Fredrich 2005; Fredrich et al. 2007). These include (among others) the presence of tectonically-unstable areas outboard of
salt; near-salt gouge or rubble zones; and significant reduction of the fracture gradient below the salt base. The latter effect,
combined with the presence of overpressured areas, is of special importance in drilling design, because it can induce
significant mud losses and/or fracturing of the formation after exiting from the salt. Previous studies (e.g., Fredrich et al.
2003; Luo et al. 2012; Nikolinakou et al. 2012) have shown the presence of areas with low fracture gradient near the salt base
is very dependent upon the salt geometry. Stress rotations at the rock/salt interfaces are also controlled by the shape of the
salt body, as the principal stresses tend to align parallel and perpendicular to such interfaces. For all these reasons,
minimizing the risks of drilling through and/or near salt bodies requires the ability to predict the pore pressure and the
orientation and magnitude of the stresses around the salt. For complex salt geometries, this can only be achieved using
numerical models that can represent both the shape of the salt, the variability of the rock properties and pore pressure around
it. In this paper, we present an example of such a model, with the addition that the numerical results are further utilized by
using them as inputs for a well planning tool. This tool rapidly translates the calculated stresses into a conventional mud
weight window profile for any given well trajectory, allowing for the quick analysis of multiple well path alternatives.
The numerical model built as part of this study includes 10 OCS blocks (an area of approximately 24 × 10 km) in the
deepwater Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico (Fig. 1). The seismic velocities used for inferring the geology and the
rock properties were derived by WesternGeco, as part of the E-Wave multiclient survey. This survey, which includes a large
sector of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (Fig. 1), combines wide-azimuth (WAZ) data with true-azimuth 3D surface multiple

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Now with Chevron Energy Technology Co.
2 SPE 159739-PP

attenuation, full waveform inversion (FWI) methods and prestack reverse-time migration (RTM), which deliver significant
improvements in salt flank and subsalt imaging compared to conventional narrow-azimuth datasets.

Figure 1: Project location. The numerical model comprises 10 OCS blocks in the deepwater Green Canyon area of the Gulf of
Mexico, which are included within the E-Wave multiclient survey (left). The area of study (right) either includes or is located close to
several deepwater fields. The top of salt surface is shown in the right pane.

Model Construction

Finite-Element Grid
The main challenge in building the finite-element model used for this study is the geometrical complexity of the salt bodies.
Processing and interpretation of the seismic velocities yielded surfaces that represent the top and bottom of the allochthonous
salt and the top of the autochthonous salt. The allochthonous salt geometry is fairly complex, with numerous overhangs
which made difficult the construction of a structured numerical grid. The requirement of a structured grid derives from the
fact that the model was built in Petrel2.
Figure 2 illustrates the process followed for the construction of the finite-element grid: the first step is to build a
structured grid that conforms as close as possible to the salt layers (Fig. 3). After that, layers that represent the overburden
(up to seabed), intra-salt and underburden sediments were added. Finally, the model was “encased” with sideburden layers
that have the double purpose of (i) “smoothing” the effect of the boundary stresses applied to the grid edges; and (ii)
containing the salt, preventing it from being “squeezed out” of the model due to the large vertical stresses to be applied.
The grid density was varied in such way that the cell size inside the 10-block study area is significantly smaller than in the
sideburden region of the model (Fig. 2). The final grid has 259 × 139 × 60 (approx. 2.16 million) elements. The 10-block
area of study accounts for 197 × 77 × 60 (approx. 910,000) elements, with a lateral size of approximately 405 × 405 ft.

Rock Properties and Pore Pressure

The seismic velocities were also used to estimate the pore pressure and the mechanical rock properties of the sediments. The
workflows used to estimate the pore pressure and rock density from the velocities and available public logs were previously
described in detail by den Boer et al. (2011) and Sayers and den Boer (2012); therefore, only a summary is provided below.
The approach used to estimate sub-salt pore pressure included tomographically derived 3D seismic velocity and 9
publicly available subsalt wells with well data including borehole deviation surveys, checkshot surveys, and various wireline
logs (sonic and density, and temperature-depth profiles). The analysis of formation temperatures in the study area suggested
that smectite-illite transformation was unlikely to occur within the depth range of investigations (<25,000 ft TVDSS);
therefore the temperature effect was neglected as an explicit parameter when calibrating the velocity to effective stress
transform. A locally optimal fit to the relationship between seismic velocity and subsalt effective stress was achieved using
an Eaton model (Eaton 1975). The results indicate that pore pressures in excess of 15 ppg are likely to be encountered at
depths >30,000 ft subsea and that may be amplified by clay diagenesis. An important feature is pressure
compartmentalization due to variations in both the lateral and vertical extent of the allochthonous salt canopy.

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Petrel is a mark of Schlumberger.
SPE 159739-PP 3

Figure 2: Stages in the construction of the finite-element grid. Starting from the salt surfaces (top left – blue and pink are the top
and bottom of the allochthonous salt, orange is the top of the autochthonous salt) we build a structured numerical grid that
conforms with all the surfaces (top right). Layers that represent the overburden, intra-salt and underburden sediments are added
(bottom left). Finally, the whole model is “encased” within sediment rock (bottom right).

W E
Figure 3: Cross section of the numerical grid, showing the conformance of the grid with the salt surfaces.
4 SPE 159739-PP

For calculating the other properties needed for this study (Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, unconfined compressive
strength or UCS, tensile strength and friction angle) we used proprietary velocity-based correlations. The shear velocity
(needed to calculate most of the properties) was created from the compressional seismic velocity using the conventional
Castagna mud-rock transform (1985) (Figs. 4 and 5). It has to be noted, however, that for the purposes of this project we did
not have access to any public laboratory measurements on cores from the area of interest. Therefore, the rock properties have
to be considered as “uncalibrated”. Only the density was calibrated against public log measurements. Proper calibration of
the correlations would decrease the uncertainty of the model results.
For the salt, we assigned to it the following set of constant properties: density = 2.165 g/cc, Young’s modulus = 4.5 Mpsi
and Poisson’s ratio = 0.25. These correspond to the average values for Gulf of Mexico salt cited by Fossum and Fredrich
(2002). The salt was modeled as a linear elastic perfectly-plastic Von Mises material with very low cohesion (~100 psi). The
objective was to ensure that the stresses inside the salt are nearly isotropic. The pore pressure in the salt was set equal to
zero.

Figure 4: View of the compressional seismic velocity (left) and the synthetic shear velocity (right) used for calculation of pore
pressure and rock mechanical properties. The salt was assigned a constant value of Vp = 14,750 ft/s.

Figure 5: Cross section through the center of the model showing contours of rock density (left) and Poisson’s ratio (right),
calculated using velocity-based correlations. The density and Poisson’s ratio of the salt were set equal to 2.165 g/cc and 0.25,
respectively.
SPE 159739-PP 5

Stress Calculation and Model Calibration

Once the numerical grid was built and the rock properties and pore pressure were properly distributed within the model, the
stresses were calculated using the finite-element code VISAGE3. The numerical model calculates the six Cartesian
components of the stress tensor (  xx ,  yy ,  zz ,  xy ,  yz ,  xz ) in each cell of the model, enabling the user to determine both the
orientation and magnitude of the in-situ stress. The model (grid, properties and pore pressure) was initially constructed in
Petrel, transferred into VISAGE for the stress calculations, and the results were transferred back into Petrel for analysis and
display.
The model requires that proper boundary conditions (in terms of lateral stresses applied to the model edges) are
introduced in order to match as close as possible any available stress measurements. For calibration purposes, the computed
minor principal stress (that we take as equivalent to the fracture gradient) along certain wells was compared against the
available formation integrity test (FIT) and leak-off test (LOT) measurements extracted from the public database. The
boundary conditions were adjusted by trial and error until a reasonable match was achieved. Figure 6 shows an example of
calibration along well GC-727-001 located in the Tonga field. Notice the relatively good match between the FIT
measurements and the computed stress. The model was able to capture a small decrease of the fracture gradient below the
salt recorded by one of the FITs.
Another important factor for quality-control purposes of the model is to determine if the computed stresses inside the salt
are nearly isotropic. Figure 7 shows contours of the ratio between the deviatoric stress q and the mean stress p inside the salt.
Notice that the deviatoric stress q should be zero if the stress state is to be perfectly isotropic. Hence, the q/p ratio shown in
Figure 7 is a good indicator of “isotropy” of the stresses. The contours indicate that except close to the top of the
allochthonous salt, and in some isolated cells (probably due to geometrical issues), the q/p ratio is very low, indicating that
the stresses inside the salt are fairly isotropic. On top of the allochthonous salt, the close presence of the sea bed (which is a
“free surface”) is probably the cause of the stress anisotropy. This is arguably a real physical effect, which in part explains
the drive of the salt (which, in geological time, behaves as a very viscous fluid) to creep parallel to the sea bed.

FITs from public data

Figure 6: Comparison of minor principal stress computed by the finite-element model and FIT measurements along well GC-727-001
(Tonga field). The first track is the seismic velocity (the high-velocity layer represents the salt), the second track is the pore
pressure, the third track is the minor principal stress and the fourth track is the vertical stress. Vertical scale is from 5,000 to
32,500 ft TVDSS. Horizontal scale on the first track is from 0 to 15,000 ft/s, and on the second, third and fourth tracks is from 0 to
30,000 psi.

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6 SPE 159739-PP

Figure 7: Contours of q/p ratio (q = deviatoric stress, p = mean stress) inside the salt, which indicate that except at the top of the
allochthonous salt, the stresses inside the salt are fairly isotropic.

The isotropy of the stresses inside the salt should induce rotation of the principal stresses at the rock/salt interfaces
(Fossum and Fredrich 2002; Fredrich et al. 2003). The principal stresses in the sediment near the salt are expected to be
oriented parallel and perpendicular to such interfaces. Figure 8 shows examples of orientation of the major principal stress
on two cross sections of the model. For clarity purposes, we have removed the salt from these plots. Both sections show that
the major principal stress near the rock/salt interfaces is in general not vertical, but tends to rotate either parallel or
perpendicular to the interfaces.

Figure 8: Orientation of the major principal stress on two cross sections passing near the center of the model. For clarity purposes,
only the stresses in the sediments are shown. The size of the vectors is proportional to the stress magnitude.
SPE 159739-PP 7

Figure 9: Contours of “mud weight window” (defined as the difference between the fracture gradient and the pore pressure gradient,
in ppg) in the sediments around the salt, for two cross sections of the model. For clarity purposes, the salt has been removed from
the plots. Red colors indicate areas with narrow window (< 0.5 ppg), blue colors indicate areas with wide window (> 2 ppg).

Figure 9 shows contours of “mud weight window” in two representative sections of the model. For the purposes of this
figure only, we define the “mud weight window” as the difference between the fracture gradient (minor principal stress) and
the pore pressure gradient. We acknowledge that, strictly speaking, the mud weight window is a function not only of the
fracture gradient and the pore pressure, but also of the potential for shear failure of the rock and for tensile breakdown.
Therefore, the real mud weight window is a function of the relative orientation between the wellbore and the local stresses, as
well as of the rock properties (especially the UCS, friction angle and tensile strength). However, the contours in Figure 9
serve to illustrate the effects that the salt geometry has on the “drillability” of the formation. Notice that, in general, the areas
in which the salt is convex (i.e., where the salt “bulges” outward) show low values of “mud weight window”, due to the fact
that the minor principal stress or fracture gradient is also low. Conversely, areas in which the salt is concave (i.e., in which
the salt curves inward) show large values of “mud weight window” due to the relative large fracture gradient (similar findings
are described by Luo et al. 2012 and Nikolinakou et al. 2012, for example).
8 SPE 159739-PP

Interpretation of Results for Well Design Purposes

To successfully reach deep subsalt targets (such as the Eocene-Paleocene Wilcox formation in the deepwater Gulf of
Mexico), the well plan has to address several key engineering challenges. Some of the major geomechanics challenges
include the right surface location to avoid sea-floor obstacles and shallow hazards, reaching and entering the salt and keeping
verticality in the salt section, eliminate well-control and stuck bottom-hole assembly (BHA) issues in suture zones,
maintaining full returns in the “rubble” zone while exiting from salt, and optimizing the mud weight within the narrow
allowable pore pressure and fracture limits (e.g., Dusseault et al. 2004; Wilson and Fredrich 2005; Israel et al. 2008). The
configuration of the wellbore trajectory and its position and orientation relative to the in-situ stresses has significant effect on
wellbore instability. Therefore, it is desirable to understand the optimal drilling direction and its effect on drilling stability
prior the start of operation.
The conventional approach to pore pressure and wellbore stability modeling is to build a pre-drill model from offset data
by transferring (i.e. propagating) data from offset well to the planned well location along the equivalent stratigraphic
horizons. In some models, a single velocity trace is extracted from a 3D seismic volume (e.g. PSDM) along the planned well
trajectory to estimate the pore pressure at the planned location. This approach is reasonably reliable providing the offset wells
are nearby and the geological setting is not too complex.
The novel approach used in this study incorporates the stress tensor together with the necessary mechanical properties
(cohesion, friction angle, tensile strength, Biot’s coefficient, Poisson’s ratio and pore pressure) from a specific spatial
location in the 3D model as input data to calculate the wellbore failure. This approach provides more realistic input data to
the model; therefore, achieving a better accuracy of the results. The process was implemented in a Petrel Ocean4 plug-in that
enables the drilling engineer to create fast predictions along any arbitrary trajectory within the study area (Herrera 2009). In
this way, days of engineering time spent on pre-drill modeling on multiple 1D models was reduced to minutes. It also allows
the engineer to make a quick comparison of the drilling mud weight window along multiple trajectories and to assess the risk
in selecting the optimal wellpath design.

Example 1: Fast Wellbore Stability Modeling Engine

Figure 10 shows an example of application of the Petrel-Ocean plug-in for a set of fictitious wells located in the study area.
The planned wells are visualized in the geomechanical context such as critical mud weight limits. This display allows the
drilling engineer to quickly screen for locations of field-scale wellbore instability; therefore, the plug-in facilitates the
discrimination of trajectories that could yield unstable wellbore designs.
The results from the finite-element model can be used for selecting potential exit-of-salt locations, using, for example, the
“mud weight window” contours described in the previous section. In addition, the numerical model also provides the
orientation of the principal stresses, which can also be visualized in the Petrel model (Fig. 10). Once the potential trajectories
have been selected, mud weight window profiles can be quickly calculated using the Ocean plug-in by dropping the well
object, property grid and necessary mechanical properties and stress tensors. The plug-in calculates the mud weight critical
limits using a specified failure model (e.g., Mohr-Coulomb, Drucker-Prager, Modified Ladé), and the limits can be visualized
and ranked based on risk tolerance.
In another approach, the mud weight limits are generated along a single trajectory and the model sensitivity to the change
in inclination and azimuth of the trajectory is visualized instantaneously by moving the nodes of the trajectory using the
Petrel Well Path Design module (Fig. 10). As the trajectory is changed to a new (X, Y, Z) coordinate position, the relevant
mechanical properties and stresses from the same position are automatically extracted from the 3D model and used as inputs
for the calculations.
In this particular example (Fig. 10 – bottom), four proposed trajectories for a well that has to reach the Wilcox formation
have been analyzed. The point for exit-of-salt has been chosen based on the contours of the “mud weight window” calculated
by the finite-element model defining an area with a relatively wide window (> 1 ppg). However, once the four trajectories
are delineated and analyzed using the Ocean plug-in, only trajectories #1 and #2 show a “drillable” window. Trajectories #3
and #4, on the other hand, show that the shear failure limit (yellow) is so high that it practically closes the mud weight
window, making them more challenging to drill. It has to be noted that the main cause for the significant difference in the
shear failure limits between the different trajectories is related to the relative orientation between the well trajectories and the
calculated stresses. The stress tensors shown in Figure 10 indicate that, in the region between the base of salt and the top of
the Wilcox, the major principal stress is not always vertical, and the minor principal stress is experiencing significant
azimuthal rotation too. Hence, this example demonstrates the value of combining the stress calculations from the finite-
element model with the rapid wellbore stability analysis performed by the Ocean plug-in.

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SPE 159739-PP 9

Figure 10: Different well designs (Proposed 1 to 4) to reach the Wilcox target are shown (only below the base of salt – pink surface)
within geomechanical context (top image). The “mud weight window” property (only a single cross-section is shown) indicates the
effect of the base salt geometry on the “drillability” of a particular trajectory. Crosses represent the orientation of the minor
(approx. horizontal) and major (approx. vertical) principal stresses. Notice the rotation of the principal stresses that follow
parallel/perpendicular the salt/sediment interface. The mud weight window outputs are calculated using the Ocean plug-in (bottom
image), which defines pore pressure (gray), shear (yellow) and tensile failure (dark blue), and minimum horizontal stress (light blue).
Note that if the well trajectory is modified (top image, cursor on the well node), the mud weight window will be re-calculated
instantaneously and visualized (bottom image, from 12.0 to 18.0 ppg scale).

Example 2: Near-Wellbore Numerical Model

Conventionally, the computation of the critical mud weights for shear or tensile failure is done using analytical formulas that
take into account the well trajectory, stresses, pore pressure, rock properties and a given failure criterion. In the example
shown in Figure 10, even though the stresses along the wellbore paths were extracted from the large-scale finite-element
model, the calculation of the critical mud weights followed this conventional workflow. There is the possibility, however, to
extend the applicability of more sophisticated numerical methods to the calculation of near-wellbore stresses and to assess the
potential for formation failure for a given mud weight. This is done by constructing a wellbore-centered finite-element
model along the path of a given well (Fig. 11).
10 SPE 159739-PP

For this purpose, we use another Ocean plug-in. This plug-in constructs a well-centered grid around the designated well,
taking into account the user-defined number of grid cells in the tangential, radial and axial directions. The plug-in
automatically upscales the rock properties and pore pressure from available logs or, in case log data are not available, it can
downscale the properties and pore pressure from the large-scale finite-element model. As boundary conditions for this
wellbore-centered model, the plug-in applies the stresses calculated by the large-scale finite-element model. The wellbore-
centered model is then run using VISAGE, which computes the stresses in the wellbore vicinity, which allows for the
analysis of failure potential by shear or tension, as well as the orientation of the breakouts and/or tensile fractures.

Figure 11: A near-wellbore numerical model along the trajectory of the GC 727 #1 well (Tonga) is illustrated. The properties are
upscaled from the well logs or 3D model and numerical calculations (elastic, plastic) are launch to determine the safe mud weight
window profile.

The wellbore stability analysis using this wellbore-centered model is conducted at various mud weights to estimate the
failure at different depths of investigation. The results are usually presented in the form of a conventional mud weight
window (Fig. 11), with the difference that the mud weight limits have been computed using a finite-element method instead
of the conventional analytical approach. Elastic TIV anisotropy (Transversely Isotropic with a Vertical axis of symmetry)
and the effects of planes of weakness can also be incorporated as part of the modeling provided that the input data required
are available. In certain cases, it would also be possible to update the wellbore-centered model in real time, i.e., to re-
calculate the pore pressure and rock properties from look-ahead LWD measurements, re-run the model, and re-compute the
mud weight window with enough ancipitation to adjust the parameters during the drilling operations.

The Future: Geomechanically-Constrained Wellpath Design

The traditional approach used by the industry to date consists of estimating the wellbore instability limits along an already
designed well trajectory, with the objective of minimizing shear and tensile failure of the wellbore wall by designing the
optimal casing and mud weight program. An alternative but purely graphic method includes analysis of parameter sensitivity
with a combination of varying wellbore azimuth and inclination (i.e., “polar plots”), to provide the allowable limits of
stability conditions (e.g., Zhang et al. 2008).
A novel approach, introduced by Herrera (2009) is based on the use of ‘stability volumes’, which involves the
computation of the set of all possible geomechanically stable positions in space. Within the study area, these positions are
defined in the 3D stress model. A search algorithm has been developed to determine the points defining a geomechanically
stable well path inside the model, constrained by the allowable curvature to minimize dogleg severity. The algorithm can
also be coupled with reservoir properties, e.g. permeability, to consider important reservoir engineering parameters in
horizontal well planning.
 SPE 159739-PP 11

Conclusions
Numerical models have been intensively used in the last decade to predict changes in stress magnitude and orientation around
a salt body (e.g., Fossum and Fredrich 2002; Fredrich et al. 2003; Sanz and Dasari 2010; Luo et al. 2012; Nikolinakou et al.
2012). The implications of such effects on drilling and completions have also been thoroughly discussed in many
publications (e.g., Dusseault et al. 2004; Willson and Fredrich 2005; Israel et al. 2008). In this paper, we have shown the
combination of a large-scale finite-element model (based on a marine multiclient seismic survey in the deepwater Gulf of
Mexico and public well logs) with a fast well planning tool that allows the drilling engineer to account for the stress effects
around the salt body when calculating the critical mud weights for different proposed well trajectories.
The results of the finite-element model can be used to provide an initial assessment of the best location for exiting the salt
body. Furthermore, because of its large scale, the results from the finite-element model can be used to analyze the stability of
wellbores in many potential locations.
The fast well planning tool is designed in such way that different trajectories can be introduced easily using an interactive
well-path application. This feature allows the user to quickly analyze many alternatives for wellbore placement without
having to re-calculate the rock properties, stresses and pore pressure (these are all extracted and upscaled automatically from
the 3D model).
Further refinements, such as wellbore-centric finite-element models built around any proposed trajectory, can also be used
in combination with the large-scale finite-element model. Once a nearly-optimal trajectory is selected, the mud weight and
casing designs can be refined using such a technique, that allows for a more rigorous computation of the stresses and failure
points in the near-wellbore region.
Finally, the future approach for wellbore design starting from an existing 3D stress model is based on the concept of
“stability volumes” (Herrera 2009), in which the optimal wellbore trajectory is determined by an algorithm that seeks to
minimize the potential for wellbore failure within given constraints of drilling center location, target location, mud weight,
casing points and dogleg severity. This type of approach will help to further reduce the amount of time and work involved in
wellbore design, especially in challenging environments such as sub-salt plays.

Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge public domain well-logs supplied by IHS Energy Log Services, Inc. © 2012. Important
contributions to the project were also provided by some of our colleagues at Schlumberger and WesternGeco: Fred Snyder,
David Derharoutian, Sheila Noeth, Lennert den Boer and Andy Hawthorn, to whom we are very grateful.

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