Structural Steering—A Path to Productivity

摘要

The number of oil and gas wells drilled horizontally continues to increase as operators strive to maximize contact with target formations, develop more-efficient completion programs and optimize recovery from complex geologic structures. Structural steering, a method by which operators direct horizontal and high-angle wellbore trajectories, integrates data from deep-reading LWD resistivity tools and high-resolution imaging devices to create structural models of the geologic conditions encountered by the drill bit. This technique allows drillers to correct wellbore trajectories in anticipation of structural changes ahead of the bit and helps operators better understand the formations already drilled.