Integrated technologies exceed well placement challenge

Abstract

Copyr,ght 1S% Soctety of Petroleum Engnwrs Imc Ths pap., was prepared for preseotatm at the 1996 SPE European Petroleum Conference held m M, Ian Italy 22-24 Ocfc4er 1996 Th,s paper was selected fm presentation by an SPE Prqram Co fnmflee follmw.g revmw of mfonnat, on contam'ad m an sbstract submmed by MM author(s) Comen!s of lhe paper as presemed have mm been revtewed by the Society of Petroleum Eng,neers ana are subject to correction by !he author(s) The matwlal, as presented does cot necessauly reflect anỹ s,llon of the %clety of Petroleum Engineers, Its Othcers or members Papim presented al SPE meemgs are subject to publocaf!w revmw by Eddoaal Commdtees of (he $x,ety of Petroleum Engineers Perm,ss,on to copy IS restllcted to an abstract 01 not more than 3C0 words Illustratmns may not be cop!ed The abstract should contain consp, c.ous scknolwedgmenl of where and by whom the paper was presented Wtle L,branan SPE P O Box 833836 Richardson TX 7S0SS3536 U S A fax 01.2 !4.952.9435 AbstractThe challenge to place wells accurately within the thin oil column of the Andrew Field has been met through the integration of drilling and data acquisition technologies in the subsurface and well engineering teams. The requirement for accurate placement derives from the need to optimize cumulative oil from each of the horizontal oil producers in the field prior to the inevitable break through of gas and water from the gas cap and aquifer, respectively. This critical requirement was captured as a Minimum Performance Standard for the Andrew well engineering alliance, which provided a focus for the team. It was met through using the Gas-Oil Contact as a local datum to reduce depth uncertainty and downhole engineering including a steering assembly with near bit directional and formation evaluation sensors. At the same time it was also important that a full, comprehensive and quality dataset that could be used for future well and reservoir management decisions be acquired in the wells, This necessity was met through integrated acquisition of data in both LWD and wireline.The data acquisition and well placement challenges converged in the last of the pre-drilled wells, A04, in which geosteering was adopted to change the stand-off about half way along the well,