BUOG

w w w. b u o g . e d u . i q

PETE414 , 1st Semester

27_October_2022

Prepared by
Najah Saeed Abdulridha
Introduction
• There is a specific terminology that we need to understand for well trajectory design
• This directional terminology define the main characteristics for the well trajectory
• These terms describe how the well trajectory is built without the need of looking at the drawing
• The Directional Driller will use these terms to give a verbal update for the current status of the well trajectory
and he might ask for decisions to be taken based on the information given
Objectives
After completing this module, the student can:
• Understand of directional Drilling Terminology
• Understand the Reference System we used
• List and briefly describe the different types of survey tools Well Profile
• Differentiate between the Directional well Plot.
• Understand the DDI and Tortuosity
Are you familiar with basic terms?
Can you explain the following terms?
Surface Location
 Surface Location
Kick-Off Point (KOP)  KOP, EOC
 Total Depth, TD
End-of-Curve (EOC)
 Vertical Section
 Build Section
 Tangent Section
Total Depth (TD)  Drop Section
 Horizontal Section

 BR, TR, DLS

 Horizontal Displacement (HD) or Closure
 Vertical Section Departure (VS)
 Vertical Section Azimuth
 Tortuosity
 ERD Ratio
 DDI (Directional Difficulty Index)
DD - Well Design Terminology
1. Surface Location or Surface Coordinates
2. Kick off Point
3. Directional Drilling Sections
[Build Section, Drop Section and Vertical Section]
4. Directional Well profile.
5. Target and Target Shape
6. Inclination and Direction (Azimuth)
7. Measured Depth
8. True Vertical Depth
9. Horizontal Displacement
10. Vertical Section
11. Build Rate
12. Turn Rate
13. Dogleg
14. Dogleg Severity
15. Closure
16. Closure Azimuth
What is Location?
Location only makes sense when compared to some frame of reference.

Surface Location and Surface Coordinates

Well Origin or well reference point. Surface Coordinates represent the geographical location where the well is located.
Surface coordinates can be given as local or geographical.

Well profile is defined as the well trajectory from surface location to the well Total Depth. It is designed to avoid
Torque & Drag issues by reducing the doglegs to the minimum allowable
Torque and Drag
• Torque: is the rotational force between the drill string and the formation
• Drag is an axial force, generated between the drill string when it's moving and the
formation or the casing. Drag is the increase in string weight when pulling out of
the hole or the reduction in string weight while tripping in the hole.

Check the Article below

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-torque-drag-concepts-analysis-sixto-romero/
Datum
is a reference point from which measurements are made.
 In surveying and geodesy, a datum is a set of reference points on the Earth's surface against
which position measurements are made.

1.Horizontal Datums
A base reference for a coordinate system. It includes the position of an initial point of origin and the
orientation of an ellipsoid that models the surface of the earth in the region of interest
2.Vertical Datums
Vertical datums measure elevations or depths.

 Reference Datum Level Elevation-RDL

– Mean Sea Level (MSL)
– Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT)
– Rotary Kelly Bushing (RKB)
– Drill Floor (DF)
– Rotary Table (RT)
– Wellhead
– Ground Level
Onshore Offshore

User
For More Details check the Attached files on Google
Classroom : Datums in COMPASS® Software
Vertical Datums
 SSTVD “ Geologist”
 True Stratigraphic Position (TSP)

True Stratigraphic Position (TSP)

The position of the wellbore relative to a stratigraphic marker. The target horizon is designated as zero (0) TSP. If the well is
above the marker it has a negative (- TSP); and if the wellbore is below the marker it has a positive TSP (+), as shown in
previous slide .

Measured Depth (MD):

The entire length of the well, as measured from the rotary table or
Kelly bushing.

True Vertical Depth (TVD):

The true vertical depth of any point or station along a wellbore is
the vertical distance from the well surface reference point a datum
(usually the Kelly bushing or derrick floor). to the station of interest.
Kick Off Point
 is the location at a given depth below the surface where the wellbore is deviated in a given direction.
 The Kick off point is where the well is deviated to an specific direction (azimuth) to reach a given inclination with a
determined build/turn rate. The kick off point is selected based on:
 The well geometry profile
 The Formation lithology
The build/turn rate is how much the inclination and azimuth will change in a 30m interval or 100 Feet
Directional Drilling Sections
The Build Section
is that portion of the directional wellbore curve that generally extends from the Kick-Off Point (KOP) to the Last Chance
Marker, where the majority of the angle is built.

Last Chance Marker

The Last Chance marker is a stratigraphic marker that is used as the basis for making final adjustments prior to landing the
well into the target zone. This marker should be penetrated with a drillstring inclination of 45 -60 degrees.
The Last Chance Marker is so named for a reason:
when the Last Chance Marker is reached, it is the last opportunity for the Geosteering Team to decide whether to stay the
course or to adjust the build rate.
 If the well is on target line and the BUR is within tolerance, then simply continue drilling with the
same BHA.
 If the BUR is too high, and the well is above the projected line, then trip for a less aggressive BHA
to land in target, or rotate the drill string if the BHA allows.
 If the BUR is too low and the well is below the projected line, then trip for a more aggressive BHA.
The Landing Section
is that portion of the wellbore beyond the build section where the steering process is closely monitored and fine-tuned in
order to hit the target.
 This section is further subdivided into two segments:
 The upper portion of the Landing Section is called the:
 Approach section, where major corrections to the trajectory can be made to setup the drill string to hit the
target.
 The taper section forms a smooth transition at the end of the landing as the drillstring
enters the target zone.
 The Lateral Section is the section of the wellbore that extends horizontally from the end of the landing taper,
out to the end of the wellbore
Well Profiles:
 Vertical Well
 Directional Well Profile

Vertical Well
 Land jobs
 No space restrictions
 Cheap producers
 Even “vertical” wells have slight inclinations!
 Degree of change is generally limited to 3º for every 100 feet drilled
Directional Well Profiles:
In general, directional wells can be either:
 Vertical Well .
 Type l ( Build & Hold) Slant (J-type).
 Type 2 ( Build , Hold &Drop) ( S Type Well).
 Type 3 (Deep Kick off and buildup).
 Horizontal
 Extended Reach Wells
The type of profile selected will depend upon the geological objectives and the production mechanism of the well.
Slant Well [ J-Type ]:
Slant wells, sometimes called J-type wells, have a bore with a straight section, a build section, and a tangent
section straight to the target Slant or J-type wells are drilled where it is not desirable or possible to locate the
surface location directly above the target or a multiwall platform.
 S-Type Well:
S-type wells have a bore with a straight section, a build section, a tangent section, and a drop section. This type of
well is drilled to improve the efficiency of the well and to assist in the location of a blown-out well. In offshore drilling, S-
type wells can ensure accuracy in bottom hole spacing when multiple wells are drilled from the same platform.
Horizontal Well:
Horizontal wells have a bore with a straight section, a build section, tangent section, a second build section (most of
the time), and a horizontal section.

The well is drilled to a point above the reservoir; then it is deflected and the angle increases until it reaches 90 degrees
or more. When properly applied.
 One horizontal borehole can produce a reservoir better than several vertically drilled wells.
Horizontal Well:
Increased reservoir exposure
 Suitable for thin zones
 Contain naturally fractures area
 The leg that deviates from vertical is close to a 90º angle

23
Horizontal Well:

 Horizontal wells are divided into :

long, medium and short-radius designs, based on the curve radius used.

For More details

Check the Educational Videos Tap in Google Classroom

24
 ERD : stands for “Extended Reach Drilling”
Horizontal Departure
E R D _ Ratio 
TVD
 Industry defined ERD well as a well where the ERD ratio is above 2
 Extended-Reach Drilling
Replace sub-sea wells and tap offshore reservoirs from fewer platforms
•Develop near shore fields from onshore
•Reduce environmental impact by developing fields from pads
Extended Reach Wells:
 Well Profiles

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Well Geological Target
This is an area defined by local or geographical coordinates at
an specific true vertical depth or subsurface vertical depth. This
target must to have a defined shape with tolerance lines. This
area has to be well defined at the planning phase. It doesn’t
matter how well the surface and intermediate sections are
drilled if the target is not intersected. The actual well trajectory
has to be projected to the target it doesn’t have to be right on
the plan

Target Location:
is a point defined in space by geographical coordinates at a given true vertical
depth. A well profile could have multiple targets.
Inclination and Direction [ Azimuth ]
 Inclination or Drift Angle
The angle of inclination is measured between vertical and the tangent of the wellbore at a survey station

 Azimuth of Drift Direction

Angle between any point along the well trajectory and the north. If the well is drilled towards north the
direction is 0deg of azimuth. If the well is drilled towards east the direction is 90deg azimuth.

By convention, 0.0 degrees of inclination describes a vertical well path, while a horizontal path is expressed as 90 degrees.
Hence, 10 degrees below horizontal is 80.0 degrees, and 10 degrees above horizontal is 100 degrees.
Plot Terminology
1: Plan View - A horizontal view of the well
The coordinates of a point in Plan View are introduced by North and East coordinates.
These are also called “Local Coordinates

 North and East are positive

TD/Targe
 South and West negative t

 Displacement or Closure is the Your current

position
hypotenuse of the latitude and
departure. It is the distance from the WRP North

to any survey or Total Depth

Horizontal Displacement (HD):

The horizontal displacement is the distance between any two
points along a wellbore
projected onto a horizontal plane or plan view.
Surface East
Location
 1: Plan View - A horizontal view of the well
The coordinates of a point in Plan View are introduced by North and East coordinates.
These are also called “Local Coordinates
1:Horizontal displacement (also called “Closure”) is accompanied by a Closure Angle

East
Closure_Angle= tan-1( )
North

Vertical _ Section _ Departure

= Cos( AZVS  AZ )
Closure
Horizontal _ Displacement
2.Vertical Section View
The horizontal distance of a well path projected on a vertical plane along a specific azimuth. The specific azimuth is
usually equal to the final target azimuth. It is a one-dimensional number expressed in feet or meters. If the well path
departs somewhere to either side of the vertical section plane (and it usually does), then the vertical section distance is
projected back perpendicular to the vertical section plan .
Vertical Section = Displacement X Cos (Target Azimuth – Closure Azimuth)
Closure:(Horizontal displacement) is accompanied by a Closure Angle
Closure Azimuth as shown in the Equation below:
2: Vertical Section View

is the Projection of the Survey Station onto the Plane of Proposal

Vertical Section = Displacement X Cos (Target Azimuth – Closure Azimuth)

Buildup Rate (BUR)
Tangent Section:
The tangent section (hold section) occurs after a buildup where the inclination of the borehole is held constant
for a certain distance. There could be an additional build or drop before reaching the target.

Start of Drop:
The start of drop is the location where the wellbore starts dropping inclination .

Dropping Section
Dropping section refers to the portion of the well from where there's start in decrease of inclination to the
final decreased inclination. Generally. it ranges from End of Hold (EOH) or Start of Drop (SOD) to End of Drop
(EOD).

Drop Off Rate (DOR):

The drop off rate is the rate at which the inclination decreases. The rate is usually expressed in degrees
per 100ft or degrees per 30m of the course length.

End of Drop (EOD):

The end of drop is the location where the wellbore finishes dropping inclination.
Target Displacement:
The target displacement is the lateral distance from the surface location to th.e target.
Station:
location within the wellbore where direction and inclination are recorded by a survey
instrument. Measured depth is recorded and is taken from drill string measurements.
Coordinates:
Cartesian and spherical orthogonal coordinates are used. Polar coordinates, which are often
confused with spherical coordinates, are not used.

x
y 
  

z z 
P P P

(x,y,z)  z 

CARTESIAN POLAR SPHERICAL
Dog leg
are referred as the crooked place in the course of well bore where profile of the well changes
.
rapidly High dog legs are generally associated with unwanted problems in the hole.
.In directional drilling, since the changes in the well bore profile are made intentionally there has
to be ways of measuring these changes.

Dog leg Severity (DLS) :

measures the changes in inclination and/or azimuth from one survey point to another
survey point. It's measured in deg /100 Ft. or deg/30 m.

North/South (N/S) and East/West (E/W):

North is a +ve number that indicates the distance NORTH from the rig location,
while a -ve number indicates a distance SOUTH.
East is a +ve number that indicates the distance EAST from the rig location, while a -ve
number indicates a distance WEST.
N/S and E/W are the RECTANGULAR CO-ORDINATES and are represented on a Plan View or
Horizontal Plot.
 Tortuosity, DDI, ERD and AHD
TD/Target
AHD – a sum of the
Nort h individual horizontal
displacement

AHD (Along Hole Departure) can be derived from

Pythagoras equation:
n
AHD    E a s t 2   N o r th 2
i i
i1

where n is a number if survey stations

Surface Location East

 DDI: Directional Difficulty Index
DDI (Directional Difficulty Index) is a index to quantify the Drilling performance. The higher
the DDI, the lower KPI’s. It can be used as a metric for directional Drilling performance too
by comparing the planned DDI to actual.

MD× AHD×Tortuosity
DDI = log 10
( )
TVD
Low tortuosity
Tortuosity is a cumulative value to reflect the
total curvature imposed on a wellbore
expressed in degrees

High tortuosity
Tortuosity Factors [ T&D input to better simulate the “as drilled” wellpath being
more tortuous than planned].

Tortuosity Factor is a measure of the excess curvature in an “as drilled” wellbore compared to the planned. It is
usually expressed as a value per unit length eg. 0.4deg/100ft .
It is a useful input when trying to predict torque and drag values for a particular profile.

Rotary steerable assemblies should significantly reduce tortuosity as compared with

steerable motors and will thus justify lower Tortuosity Factors
Tortuosity Factors [ T&D input to better simulate the “as drilled” wellpath being
more tortuous than planned].
Rotary steerable assemblies should significantly reduce tortuosity as compared with steerable motors and will thus justify lower Tortuosity
Factors