Evaluation of an Independent Solution for Geosteering and Horizontal Well Placement – A Case Study for Dubai Ilam Reservoir

A combination of higher oil prices and need to replace reserves to offset natural decline from major fields means that the industry is targeting difficult to reach, heterogeneous and thinner reservoirs making well placement a key factor to optimize the reservoir inflow and access these reserves. Geosteering technology has been the subject of discussion for many years since horizontal well technology became available, but it was and is mainly managed by the services companies and limited to the assigned service company's Geosteering expert, the directional driller, and the well site geologist. In the current economic climate, Dubai Petroleum Establishment (DPE) made a decision to demonstrate the applicability of an in-house Geosteering workflow, which excludes expensive service company personnel and involves the integration of the Asset Team with the Operations Group running the software to improve well performance ensuring that the Drillers have all the information at hand to do proactive changes to the planned well trajectory based on real-time information. The approach adopted in DPE was to use a lower cost independent Geosteering solution, a technique very similar of what the services companies do, with a workflow that, if properly applied proves successful in placing wells and reducing costs.