Drilling Activity Recommendations From Offset Well Probability Trees
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drill plans in the oil and gas field are often incomplete, leading to subjectivity and human error in drilling operations, as they rely on improvisation and lack comprehensive guidance based on drilling knowledge from offset wells.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a computing system and non-transitory computer-readable medium to generate drill plans by constructing an offset well drilling run statistical tree, which accounts for constraints such as geology, tool capabilities, and drilling risks, and applies this tree to modify and optimize the drill plan.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If drill plans rely on improvisation and experience from offset wells, then flexibility and adaptability are improved, but subjectivity and human error increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of offset well data and drilling constraints before generating the drill plan. By pre-processing historical drilling run data to create statistical models and probability distributions, the system establishes a structured knowledge base that guides subsequent drilling decisions, reducing the need for improvisation while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary computational layer between human operators and drilling decisions. This intermediary processes drilling data, applies statistical models, and generates recommended activities, thereby reducing direct human subjectivity while preserving the ability to adapt to changing conditions through data-driven insights.
2Ease of operation
If drill plans are generated without comprehensive guidance, then ease of operation is improved, but completeness and accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically generating comprehensive drill plans without requiring manual intervention for each drilling decision. The computational system independently analyzes data, applies models, and produces complete activity sequences, thereby maintaining ease of operation while significantly improving completeness and accuracy through systematic processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual drill plan creation (mechanical human process) with an automated computational system. This substitution eliminates the trade-off by providing comprehensive, accurate guidance through algorithmic processing while maintaining ease of operation through automated generation of complete drilling sequences.
3Manufacturing precision
If statistical models from offset wells are applied to subject well, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by creating a multi-functional platform that handles data collection, statistical modeling, probability calculation, and drill plan generation. This single unified system applies the same computational framework across different wells and scenarios, improving accuracy through consistent methodology while managing complexity through standardized processes rather than multiple specialized systems.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for drilling includes receiving an initial drill plan for drilling a well, obtaining one or more offset well drilling activity logs generated based on drilling offset wells, and generating a modified drill plan for drilling the target well by adding one or more new drilling activities to the initial drill plan between first and second consecutive activities of the initial drill plan, based on a conditional probability of an occurrence of the one or more new drilling activities between the first and second consecutive activities.