Comprehensive Well Planning Software: CoViz 4D and WellArchitect

Accurate and cost-effective well planning is strongly correlated with a detailed and timely understanding of the interrelationship of the various types of data that characterize a particular geospatial volume. The most immediate challenge for petroleum engineers when planning a well is the integration, visualization, and interpretation of the relevant data that characterize subsurface conditions. Well planning software achieves the best results when it utilizes all the relevant data related to a specific hydrocarbon asset to determine the optimal wellpath.

Contending with Disparate Data Sources and Formats

Exploration and production data vary greatly in their sources and formats. The data can be as simple as spreadsheets or as sophisticated as proprietary or industry-standard data formats generated by discipline-specific software products from Halliburton Landmark, Schlumberger, ESRI, etc.

For example, 3D and 4D seismic volumes are provided to operators by service companies contracted to conduct seismic surveys of the operator’s assets. These data are supplied in industry-standard formats and often tied to the service company’s software. Data sources may also include well-specific data sold to oil and gas operators by companies that collect, collate, and edit information on a well-by-well basis over the course of a well’s life. Many of these companies also supply software that enables operators to explore and analyze their proprietary data formats.

Taken individually, these disparate data types and software tools provide only a partial view of the field. To obtain the maximum value from these data, they need to be integrated into an environment that permits visualization and analysis by geoscientists and drilling engineers.

CoViz 4D Provides a Comprehensive View of Subsurface Data

CoViz 4D solves the problem of integrating, visualizing, and analyzing disparate data sources and formats to provide an accurate and comprehensive view of a field in preparation for well planning. By integrating seismic, geologic, reservoir models, completion diagrams, and other relevant subsurface data—and presenting this information in a detailed 3D and 4D visualization environment—well planners and drilling engineers can identify targets and propose drilling paths that minimize risk and optimize recovery.

WellArchitect Leverages the Insight Provided by CoViz 4D

The best well planning software keeps geologic models tightly integrated with well planning and drilling by allowing geoscientists and well planners to exchange relevant information as part of a collaborative planning process. WellArchitect leverages the detailed insight provided by CoViz 4D to enable well planners and drilling engineers to identify the optimal wellbore placement.

WellArchitect is an advanced well planning software solution for integrated planning and drilling of directional wellpaths. It uses geologic context and subsurface detail provided by CoViz 4D to confirm the validity of earth models and make appropriate adjustments to derive the optimal wellpath. In particular, WellArchitect can:

• clearly show proximity to faults and horizons
• show minimum allowable separation distance (MASD) from the reference wellpath based on anti-collision rules
• accommodate sidetracking, multi-lateral wellpaths, and re-entry drilling requirements
• perform clearance scans and display data via varying projections
• indicate the space available for steering away from nearby wells using collision-avoidance symbols

WellArchitect combines powerful directional drilling software with advanced 3D visualization capabilities to help well planners to optimally place wellbores in new fields or successfully navigate the subsurface complexity associated with multi-site ⁄ multi-lateral wellpaths.

Real-Time Updates Mitigate Drilling Risk

WellArchitect also plays a critical role in the drilling process. Advanced capabilities for managing collision risk can automatically incorporate new data. WellArchitect monitors and updates the 3D visualization of subsurface conditions using data from a WITSML server obtained during the drilling process. Real-time updates allow rig site geologists and the drilling engineers to accurately determine their current position relative to the earth model and ensure the drilling path remains within the target zone.

WellArchitect also runs automated clearance calculations on projections ahead of the drill bit to help visualize the path in context with offset wells, targets, and ellipsoids of uncertainty to avoid collisions and determine optimal wellbore placement. Once completed, WellArchitect can incorporate well logs and repeat formation testing (RFT) data to continually update well performance characteristics.

Well Planning Software: A Tightly-Integrated Solution

The combination of CoViz 4D and WellArchitect provides the ideal well planning software solution for accurate identification and resolution of problem areas throughout the well-planning and drilling processes. Together, this integrated software solution allows well planners and drilling engineers to identify the optimal wellbore paths and modify plans as additional data is acquired in real-time during the drilling process. With all of the relevant information integrated into a powerful visualization and analytic environment, geophysicists and petroleum engineers can quickly identify potential risks and plan and execute optimal wellbore placement.