Application of Far Field Shear Wave Reflection Imaging To Identify The Precise Location Of A Horizontal Well In A Formation

In recent years imaging of near wellbore structures using reflected shear wave energy from full waveform wireline acoustic logging tools has become an accepted technology in formation evaluation.

The technique enables imaging and identification of geological features up to approximately 30 metres from the borehole axis on a scale and resolution between those of borehole images and vertical seismic profiles, so filling the resolution gap between these two techniques. High resolution borehole images resolve features located millimetres to centimetres from the borehole wall, whereas vertical seismic profiles image geological features on a metre to tens of metre scale and located between tens and hundreds of metres from the wellbore.

In this extended abstract we present the application of single well imaging using shear energy to visualize the location of a horizontal well in a formation, and a technique to easily visualize the data. We then present a case study where the location of a horizontal well in a formation has been precisely identified using the technique.