Without an actual GPS downhole, engineers rely on combining directional measurements that come with inherent errors. Magnetic MWD surveys measure wellbore orientations throughout the well which are combined to give a wellbore position using minimum curvature. These orientation measurements are impacted by errors such as uncertainty in North reference, magnetic interference, misalignments, calibration errors and data frequency.
Think about the disconnect between the size of a driller’s target window (~30 ft) and the amount of uncertainty that may exist in the wellbore position at the end of a long lateral (~300 ft). With well objectives such as well spacing, collision avoidance concerns and lease lines relying on such narrow windows, oftentimes a traditional 300 ft uncertainty is insufficient to confidently place a well, even if all drilling practices are perfectly executed.
While decisions on how to survey are assigned to the Drilling group, these decisions impact nearly everyone who will work with the well, from running casing and installing pumps, to production analysis and future campaigns.
That is what makes accurate wellbore positioning an important piece to the overall health of a drilling operation. Accurate data empowers confidence because of the elimination of unknown variables. With H&P Survey Management, we are able to reduce uncertainty by nearly 60% in some scenarios. Decision makers make better decisions when they have better data at their disposal. Improving the data you leverage to make decisions helps improve performance execution by significantly reducing positional uncertainty.
Think about the disconnect between the size of a driller’s target window (~30 ft) and the amount of uncertainty that may exist in the wellbore position at the end of a long lateral (~300 ft). With well objectives such as well spacing, collision avoidance concerns and lease lines relying on such narrow windows, oftentimes a traditional 300 ft uncertainty is insufficient to confidently place a well, even if all drilling practices are perfectly executed.
While decisions on how to survey are assigned to the Drilling group, these decisions impact nearly everyone who will work with the well, from running casing and installing pumps, to production analysis and future campaigns.
That is what makes accurate wellbore positioning an important piece to the overall health of a drilling operation. Accurate data empowers confidence because of the elimination of unknown variables. With H&P Survey Management, we are able to reduce uncertainty by nearly 60% in some scenarios. Decision makers make better decisions when they have better data at their disposal. Improving the data you leverage to make decisions helps improve performance execution by significantly reducing positional uncertainty.