Over the years Horizontal Drilling and Geosteering have become common practices within the industry. Geosteering data is typically used to place the wellbore in the correct zone while drilling using real time gamma information. Utilizing the data generated after a well has been geosteered has not always been a common practice. The industry has begun to realize the importance of that information and how applying it to a regional geologic model can help predict the outcome of future wells.
Geosteering data can be used for regional evaluation and optimization of specific target intervals giving operators a better understanding of their assets and how they can be drilled to enhance production. Utilizing geosteering data from multiple wells, an operator can create a regionally consistent stratigraphic framework (figure 1). Once the number of sequences has been determined within a zone, drilling data can be applied to those sequences along with production data for each well. After applying drilling data, like ROP and WOB, as well as production data to that framework an operator can then get a better sense of how the next well should react in that same zone and what that production output should look like.
Taking the information that has been discussed so far, an operator can eventually build a model that can be used to predict the outcome of any future well drilling in that area. Before even drilling the next well, operators will be able to predict the trajectory, number of drilling days, possible steering challenges, and production output. Building the regional stratigraphic framework from geosteering data is key. Then applying that framework and drilling parameters to as many horizontal wells as possible within that area would be the foundation for a predictive regional geologic model.