Well Collision Risk Management by Fully Automated Wellbore Surveying

Abstract

A survey program is designed for every well to meet the well objective of penetrating the target reservoir and avoid colliding with other offset wells. The selection of the wellbore survey tools within the survey program is limited in number and accuracy by the surveying technologies available in the industry currently. Quality Control QC measures are regularly in place to ensure the wellbore surveys’ accuracy is validated. However, wellbore surveys often delivered without conducting the full QC measures and sometime are delivered with failing QC measures. This increases the risk of missing the survey program's objective and more critical escalates the risk of the well collision with other wells. Hence, quality control of survey correction is a key to the success of the overall objectives of the well construction. As automated survey-correction software is becoming commonplace among oil and gas operators it is important to consider its use in relation to the overall well risk management strategies. This paper is presenting the latest developed automation workflows to strictly guarantee the quality control and quality assurance of the wellbore survey while placing the well in real-time. Automated Survey QC and correction platforms go a long way to reduce gross error or human related errors with algorithms and machine to machine data transfer protocols. Automated survey QC and correction platforms can be key components in robust risk management solutions for well construction. When implemented appropriately, they allow quick and automated quality check and corrections on wellbore trajectory position which is critical in Anti-Collision and tight target wells. Even though the correction platform is automated it still requires clarity and confidence in the algorithms. This can be achieved with features that are easily accessible, clear, and understandable to inexperienced users. In addition, there should be readily reachable domain experts who can confirm and further interpret the results quickly and clearly, especially when well objectives are in peril of not being met. In this paper, automated survey QC and correction enablers are detailed. How quality control of survey correction are automated, strictly controlled and easily auditable. Additionally, case studies of well construction risk management are presented as well as the successful proof of eliminating human/gross error and non-compliance are demonstrated. The wellbore position is calculated using wellbore surveys. The fact the surveys inherit errors due to tools and environment, the quality of surveys must be ensured and corrected in real-time. The presented technique automates the survey QC and correction process in real-time with a main objective to minimize the risk of colliding with another well or missing the production zone targets while being part of a robust risk management structure.