Well Construction Decision Support for Real-Time Plan Deviation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drillers face challenges in making optimal well construction decisions due to the lack of effective decision support tools for leveraging real-time and historical data, leading to inefficiencies and errors in wellbore construction operations.
Innovation Solution
A system that measures drilling operating parameters, calculates well state parameters, and adjusts the well plan when deviations exceed thresholds, providing users with corrective tasks to ensure safe and efficient wellbore construction by displaying necessary modifications to drilling personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If drillers rely on their own skills and experience to make well construction decisions, then they can operate without external support, but decision quality varies and optimal decisions cannot be consistently achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors drilling operations and provides real-time feedback to drillers through alerts, notifications, and recommendations. This feedback loop enables drillers to adjust their decisions based on objective data analysis, improving decision quality and consistency without requiring complex manual analysis processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically analyzes drilling data, identifies issues, and generates recommendations without requiring external intervention. This self-service capability allows the system to support multiple drillers simultaneously, improving decision reliability while maintaining manageable complexity through automated rather than manual processes.
2Reliability
If multiple personnel are involved in monitoring and decision-making, then diverse expertise can be leveraged, but coordination becomes difficult and response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it monitors drilling operations, analyzes data, generates alerts, provides recommendations, and coordinates communications. This multi-functionality allows diverse personnel to access the same comprehensive information platform, improving decision accuracy while reducing coordination time through centralized rather than distributed communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary between multiple personnel and the drilling operations. It collects data from various sources, processes information, and distributes relevant information to appropriate personnel. This intermediary role streamlines coordination by eliminating direct person-to-person communication chains, reducing response time while maintaining collaborative decision-making.
3Reliability
If real-time monitoring of multiple drilling parameters is implemented, then operational hazards can be detected early, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and focuses on the most critical drilling parameters and hazards that require monitoring. Rather than attempting to analyze all possible parameters equally, it identifies and prioritizes key indicators of operational hazards. This extraction approach enables effective hazard detection while managing system complexity by concentrating resources on high-impact parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different monitoring and analysis intensities to different drilling parameters based on their criticality. High-priority parameters receive more sophisticated analysis and alerting, while lower-priority parameters receive standard monitoring. This localized quality approach optimizes hazard detection capability while controlling overall system complexity through differentiated resource allocation.
4Productivity
If comprehensive drilling data is collected and analyzed, then better operational decisions can be made, but information processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes and organizes drilling data as it is collected, structuring information in advance for rapid analysis. It maintains pre-computed baselines, historical comparisons, and parameter relationships that enable quick decision support without requiring intensive real-time computation. This preliminary action reduces data processing time while maintaining comprehensive data collection for productivity improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system processes only the portion of data necessary for current decision-making needs rather than analyzing all available data equally. It prioritizes processing critical parameters and uses approximation methods for less time-sensitive analyses. This partial action approach maintains drilling efficiency improvements while minimizing data processing time and computational resource requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for wellbore construction management includes measuring at least one drilling operating parameter during drilling of a wellbore. At least one well state parameter is calculated from the measured drilling operating parameter. A difference between the calculated well state parameter and a predetermined value of the well state parameter is determined. When the difference exceeds a selected threshold a modified well plan is calculated comprising at least one drilling task to enable construction of at least part of the wellbore to conform to the modified well plan. The at least one drilling task is displayed to a user.