Value Creation with Multi-Criteria Decision Making in Geosteering Operations

Abstract

Due to escalated drilling costs, the petroleum industry has been attempting to access the largest possible hydrocarbon resources with the lowest achievable costs. Multiple well objectives are set prior to the start of drilling. Then, a geosteering approach is implemented to help operators achieve these objectives.A comprehensive literature survey has been performed on geosteering case histories, including many cases with multiple objectives. We found that the listed objectives are often conflicting and expressed in different measures. Furthermore, none of the cases from the reviewed literature has discussed a systematic approach for dealing with multiple objectives in geosteering contexts. Without implementing a well-structured approach, decision makers are likely to make judgments about the relative importance of each objective based on previous experiences or on approximate methods. Research shows that such decision-making approaches are unlikely to identify optimal courses of action.In this paper, we propose a systematic method for making multi-criteria decisions in geosteering context. The method is constructed such that it is applicable for real-time operations. Results show that different decision criteria can have significant impact on well success as measured by its trajectory, future production, cost, and operational efficiency.

Man vs machine: an experimental study of geosteering decision skills

“…The ensemble of realizations is updated following each decision using the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) algorithm described in [4]. 1 For the update we use measurements produced from a synthetic EM tool which is located at the drill-bit and has look-around capability of +/-4.8 meters. The system performs one update between decision points which uses measurements in three equally distributed locations.…”

“…The literature review in [1] showed that there was hardly any prior publication that considered a consistent framework for geosteering decision making with several objectives. The authors prepared an alternative decision-focused approach.…”

A decision support system for multi-target geosteering

“…A natural requirement for any DSS is the possibility to take into account multiple objectives. The objectives used in modern geosteering operations include placing the well in a specific position in the reservoir, reducing costs and ensuring safety (Kullawan et al, 2016). For the use in a DSS the objectives need to be converted into objective functions defined on a common scale, e.g.…”