Real-Time Directional Guidance Through Cloud-Based Well Path Optimization

This paper shares an implementation of a cloud-based framework that tracks the well position and, in real-time, recommends corrective actions to ensure that the well efficiently follows the well plan. This directional guidance framework can differentiate between vertical, curve, and lateral sections and modify the recommendations accordingly. This paper will share the methods and results from the case studies to validate the directional guidance framework. This cloud-based directional guidance workflow kicks in as soon as the drilling starts. In real-time, the system tracks the bit position and identifies the active section (vertical, curve, lateral, tangent) for the well. Vertical and lateral sections use recommendations previously reported using particle swarm optimization in SPE-206170 (Cardoso Braga et al., 2021). Equations for curve sections are provided that fit the proposed wellbore trajectory to a 3D spheroid using the current motor yield as calculated using the three most recent slides. A real-time assessment of the estimated actual landing point is presented, and warnings of missing the planned landing point are provided. The drilling guidance algorithm was tested for individual sections (vertical, tangent, curve, lateral) on three wells. The recommendations were evaluated to ensure they met each section's optimization goals. The optimization goals for the straight sections are to maximize the ROP, maximize the footage in the window, and minimize tortuosity. Weighting factors for each goal adjust the optimum recommendations based on user requirements. The optimization goals for the curve section are to minimize the distance between the planned landing point and the recommended landing points Then, the guidance system was tested on the complete wells to ensure that the algorithm could correctly identify the section and use the appropriate method. The recommendations from all three wells were evaluated to confirm that the recommendations met the specific criteria applied. Close attention was paid to the transition zones between various sections. The directional guidance workflow resulted in real-time recommendations throughout the well profile for all sections. It was consistently able to output specific steps that the directional driller can take to optimally get closer to the plan. This paper follows up on the previous publications on directional guidance by the authors (SPE 206170 (Cardoso Braga et al., 2021) and SPE 204065 (Cardoso Braga et al., 2021).). It completes the loop on automated directional guidance by adding the missing piece of directional guidance in the curve section and handling transitions between straight (vertical, lateral, tangent) and curve sections. This enables cloud-based automated directional guidance for the entirety of the drilling process.