Hardening of DOE UQ Codes for Ultra-Deep Proactive Geosteering in Oilfield Service

Most of future oil and gas exploration and production will be moving into more challenging environments and directional drilling is an essential technique for tapping the “difficult” oil and gas deposits. As the key technology that enables directional drilling, geosteering is the act of adjusting the well trajectory on the fly. The goal of geosteering is to increase production, reduce cost and minimize environmental impacts during drilling. Successful geosteering jobs depend on accurate and fast inversion techniques, which reconstruct underground structure based on well logging measurements, to keep the wellbore in a hydrocarbon pay zone. Geosteering inversion in complex underground environments is challenging. This project will provide a low-cost and high-performance solution for the geosteering inversion problem. The related research will impact DOE Office of Fossil Energy by directly addressing the mission to ensure responsible development of America’s oil and gas resources. Under this proposal, Cyentech will develop a geosteering inversion and uncertainty quantification software product that provides proactive guidance for pre-job well placement planning and well trajectory adjustment while drilling. Cyentech accomplishes the above goal through hardening the advanced statistical inversion and uncertainty quantification library, QUESO, developed by DOE’s Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) institute. During the Phase I project, we validated the feasibility of using QUESO to solve geosteering inversion problem, tested the scalability in both standalone and parallel computing mode, and built and tested all necessary user interface components for a commercial geosteering software product. The overall objective of Phase II project is to complete the prototype geosteering software product and conduct comprehensive tests using synthetic, laboratory, and field data from collaborating oil operators and oilfield service companies. If the project succeeds, it will lead to a commercial software product for efficient geosteering services. This product will help medium and small size independent oilfield service companies and drilling tool manufacturers of the U.S. to enter the more advanced and lucrative global directional drilling market.