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

Geosteering is the act of adjusting the borehole position based on real time measurements in the process of drilling, which is used to keep a well in a pay zone, prevent drilling risks such as water breakthrough, and increase hydrocarbon production. One of the most effective techniques used in geosteering is based on directional electromagnetic logging-while-drilling. One of the essential components in directional electromagnetic measurements is inversion, which is to interrogate complicated underground structure based on limited measurements while drilling. The next generation of ultra-deep directional electromagnetic geosteering tools are capable of a much larger range of detection. As these tools start to emerge on the oilfield market, geosteering inversion becomes much more critical to efficiency and success, and it also becomes more challenging. Stochastic inversion with uncertainty quantification will be studied and implemented in this project. Compared to deterministic inversion methods, which are extensively used in the previous generation of geosteering practices, stochastic inversion can handle more complicated earth models for a much larger range of detection. This project will build a robust and user friendly geosteering software package utilizing in- house programs for efficient well logging simulations and advanced high performance computing library developed by DOE for stochastic inversion. Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of hardening QUESO, a software library developed by DOE's Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) institute, for solving the inverse and uncertainty quantification problems encountered in using ultra-deep directional electromagnetic measurements in oilfield geosteering services. The proposal would lead to a commercial software package for underground formation characterization using electromagnetic logging data. The product would significantly improve the performance of the oilfield exploration and production, and be of great interests to other important subsurface technology areas such as enhanced geothermal systems, CO2 sequestration, and subsurface waste disposal and environmental remediation.