Professional Documents
Culture Documents
- Acknowledgement
- History
- Present Day Applications
- Hardware
- Measurement Sensors
- Error sources and Equipment Limitations
- Mathematics
- Legislation
Acknowledgement
This presentation has been inspired by many of the
items discussed in the publication at left.
It can be downloaded at:
http://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/researchenterprise/energy/wellbore-positioning-download
Additional material has been obtained from
publications of;
APSG, OGP, EPSG, C-NLOPB and others
History
Early drilling for oil and gas was almost always performed by drilling
vertical wells, usually considered to be within 2-3 of plumb.
In 1930, California driller John Eastman was granted a patent for his
techniques of conducting downhole surveys and intentionally
deviating a wellbore.
Hardware
Measurement Sensors
Retrievable Magnetic
Compass Survey
Equipment
Equipment Limitations
and Error Sources
Measurements are limited to:
Gyroscopes
Magnetometers
Accelerometers
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Mathematics
A
B
C
D
0
6
14
24
Azimuth
Angle
A, deg
20
6
20
80
N (y)
N
Dz
Z
D
D
Dy
E (x)
Dx
Average Angle
Balanced Tangential
Minimum Curvature
Radius of Curvature
Tangential Method
1,100
1,097
1,098
1,095
1,160
1,084
1,060
1,060
1,080
1,028
3,878
3,877
3,881
3,878
3,865
Legislation
Surface Location
Canada Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations - Section 74
Oil and Gas Conservation Regulations (Alberta) Section 2.020
Both require a licenced surveyor to certify plan
Directional Surveys
Canada Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations - Section 32
The operator shall ensure that:
(a) directional and deviation surveys are taken at intervals that allow the position
of the well-bore to be determined accurately; and
(b) except in the case of a relief well, a well is drilled in a manner that does not
intersect an existing well.
Legal Cases
East Texas Scandal 1962
Several land owners believed that deviated wells had been drilled beneath
their properties from adjacent lands.
Surveys were ordered and over 380 wells were found to be deviated across
land boundaries.
The validity of surveying equipment used was upheld after the Utah tests in
1964.
Bocardo SA v Star Energy UK Onshore et al 2009
Land owner, Mr. Al Fayed, alleged that 17 years earlier Star had drilled a
deviated well underneath his property to extract oil and gas.
Star denied the theft in initial negotiations but admitted it in court several
years later.
Judgement for trespass in Bocardos favour ; awarded 9% of income over a
limited period of time.