SPE-201992-MS

Practical Application of the Geosteering Difficulty Index.

Kirill Valerievich Kudashov, Victor Petrovich Filimonov, and Mikhail Anatolievich Golovchenko, Rosneft; Timur
Rinatovich Rahimov, IGIRGI

Copyright 2020, Society of Petroleum Engineers

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2020. Due to COVID-19 the physical event was postponed until 26 – 29 October 2020 and was changed to a virtual event. The official proceedings were published
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Abstract
The development of drilling technologies, the constant increase in the complexity of the geological
conditions in the drilling areas, the need to involve hard-to-recover reserves in the development, and
economic aspects have stimulated the development of horizontal drilling in the Russian Federation.
Horizontal drilling volumes have increased several times over the past ten years. There are also changes in
the design and completion of horizontal wells (multi-laterals for example), increasing the variety of geology
of the target layers, the variability of the LWD. Therefore, taking into account the high volume of horizontal
drilling in Rosneft, it is became necessary to systematize and classify wells by degree of complexity for
geosteering in order to more effectively develop resources and improve the efficiency of geosteering of
horizontal wells.
This article will describe an approach to calculating the new parameter "Geosteering Difficulty
Index" (GDI), which characterizes a horizontal well, and classify wells by geosteering complexity.
Examples of optimization of used resources and services based on the presented classification are given,
which, as a result, reduce costs and increase the economic efficiency of drilling horizontal wells.
The drilling complexity index DDI (Drilling Difficulty Index) usually uses in international practice. The
higher the DDI for a well, the more complex the design of the well, the more complex the technologies
needed for drilling this well, the higher the qualification of personnel, etc. (Filimonov et al 2012). Similarly,
we introduce a new industry indicator-the geosteering complexity index. It will take into account the
geological features of the drilling area and may be used to rank wells by complexity for geosteering.

Practical application of the Geosteering Difficulty Index

Introduction
The development of drilling technologies, the constant increase in the complexity of the geological
conditions in the drilling areas, the need to involve hard-to-recover reserves in the development, and
economic aspects have stimulated the development of horizontal drilling in the Russian Federation.
Horizontal drilling volumes have increased several times over the past ten years. There are also changes in
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the design and completion of horizontal wells (multi-laterals for example), increasing the variety of geology
of the target layers, the variability of the LWD. Therefore, taking into account the high volume of horizontal
drilling in Rosneft, it is became necessary to systematize and classify wells by degree of complexity for
geosteering in order to more effectively develop resources and improve the efficiency of geosteering of
horizontal wells.
This article will describe an approach to calculating the new parameter "Geosteering Difficulty
Index" (GDI), which characterizes a horizontal well, and classify wells by geosteering complexity.
Examples of optimization of used resources and services based on the presented classification are given,
which, as a result, reduce costs and increase the economic efficiency of drilling horizontal wells.
The drilling complexity index DDI (Drilling Difficulty Index) usually uses in international practice. The
higher the DDI for a well, the more complex the design of the well, the more complex the technologies
needed for drilling this well, the higher the qualification of personnel, etc. (Filimonov et al 2012). Similarly,
we introduce a new industry indicator-the geosteering complexity index. It will take into account the
geological features of the drilling area and may be used to rank wells by complexity for geosteering.

Geosteering difficulty index

When developing the methodology for determining the geosteering complexity index, we used the results
of drilling more than 10,000 horizontal wells in various geological conditions and regions of the company's
operations. The geosteering Difficulty Index takes into account the following main criteria:

• Formation angle;

• Target interval thickness;

• Heterogeneity of the formation;

• Presence of fluid contacts;

• Presence of the faults;

• Study of the drilling area;

• Horizontal well drilling plan.

Each of the criteria is assigned a certain coefficient of complexity, derived using statistical methods and
based on expert evaluation of specialists involved in the geosteering.
The Geosteering Difficulty Index (GDI) is the sum of the complexity coefficients for each of the criteria.
The principle of determining coefficients is to increase the coefficient with increasing uncertainty and
complexity of the geological conditions for each of the criteria. Further, we will discuss in more detail the
principles of determining coefficients for each of the criteria.
Formation angle. Depending on the angle of occurrence of the formation, the complexity for geosteering
of a horizontal well also changes. Drilling on a sub-horizontal reservoir (the angle of growth or fall of
the reservoir is less than 0.2 degrees) is carried out with minimal risks. During horizontal drilling on such
formations, the reduction in the efficiency is minimal when entering the top or bottom of the formation and
can be from 20 m, if the trajectory is quickly adjusted.
When formation angle is high (5 degrees or more), the risk of losing reservoir increases. For example,
the formation grows 5 degrees, in this case drilling along the strata within the target interval become very
hard. It is likely to exit into the bottom of the formation, which, accordingly, entails:
a. Complication of the well trajectory due to the need to return to the target range;
b. Reduction of the effective length (by the distance necessary to return to the target interval), which
can be from 100 m or more, depending on the maximum DLS and zenith angle.
SPE-201992-MS 3

Thus, the higher the angles of the structure, the more difficult geosteering. (Fig. 1) (Barry et al., 1998).

Figure 1—Reduced efficiency due to high formation angle.

Thickness of the target interval. The thickness of the target interval can also affect the efficiency of the
horizontal drilling. The more thick the reservoir, the easier steer the horizontal well in it, taking into account
the resulting uncertainties. For example, if the top of the target layer is higher than expected, then in a high
thickness reservoir, taking into account technical restrictions, it is possible to maneuver and correct the
trajectory without losing the reservoir, i.e. without reducing the geosteering efficiency. In layers with small
thicknesses, this is much more difficult to do, and sometimes it is not possible.
In addition, in the drilling process, the geosteering engineer must take into account, in addition to
geological factors and technological ones. Such as BHA behavior, the distance from the bit to logging
sensors and others. The influence of these factors leads to the fact that drilling strictly along the planned
trajectory is not always possible. According to our company's statistics, the largest deviation is observed in
wells where the motors uses, it reaches an average of 0.5 to 1.5 m. Therefore, when drilling in formations
with a thickness of 2 m or less, technological factors can lead to the exit from the reservoir and reduce the
efficiency (Fig.2). Accordingly, the thinner the target object for horizontal drilling, the higher the complexity
coefficient (Barry et al., 1998).

Figure 2—The well steering example in the thin layer.

Heterogeneity of the formation. When planning wells, the factor of formation heterogeneity is taken into
account. Geosteering is statistically easier in homogeneous reservoir. The complexity of geosteerin in the
heterogeneous reservoir is fast determination of the cause of the loss of the collector. Either this is due to
pinch-outs of the reservoir, or by replacement, or due to some structural changes, etc. Depending on the
situation, the decision to correct the trajectory will be different (Fig.3) (Roger Griffiths., 2008).
4 SPE-201992-MS

For example, if the target interval is heterogeneous, then to increase the efficiency some maneuvers
are performed - build the Zenith angle in the collector and drop it in the non-collector. The number of
these maneuvers depends on the degree of heterogeneity. Thus, the complexity coefficient increases in
heterogeneous reservoir and formations that have pinch-outs.

Figure 3—Example of uncertainty in the reservoir.

Presence of fluid contacts. The presence of the gas-oil contact, gas-water contact, and oil-water contact
determines the strategy of drilling horizontal wells in reservoir. Depending on fluids contacts level the
thickness of the target interval may be very low. Moreover, if the contacts are not on the planned levels and
we realized that while drilling, the trajectory must be corrected quickly in order to optimally position the
horizontal well. Therefore, this factor increases the difficulty index of well placement if available.
Presence of faults. The presence of a network of faults or block structure increases the degree of the risks
while drilling. To date, the technology of seismic interpretation have reached a high degree of reliability. But
not so much that at depths of several kilometers allows you to determine the amplitude of the fault with an
accuracy of up to a meter. Of particular concern is the zone with low amplitude discharges and reverse faults,
which are not always clearly distinguished on the seismic sections. One of the main tasks of geosteering
is to fast correction of the well trajectory when facing a fault (Southcott et al., 2014). The engineer needs
to adjust the trajectory based on all the information received as quickly as possible in order to minimize
collector losses (Fig.4). Thus, the more tectonic disturbances in the drilling area, the more difficult the well
is for geosteering and requires a high degree of qualification of an engineer to support drilling.

Figure 4—Horizontal well drilling example through the faults.

Study of the drilling area. Before drilling begins, a geological model of the area is created. The main
uncertainties of the models are the behavior of the structure and the distribution of the reservoir in the
SPE-201992-MS 5

drilling area. It is obvious that the quality of the models depends on the number of offset wells in the drilling
area. The authors divide the study of the drilling area into three categories: low, sufficient and high, each
of which has its own complexity coefficient.
Low knowledge of the drilling area is characterized by:
a. the absence of a seismic model or its poor quality;
b. the absence of reference wells at a distance of more than 2 steps of the well spacing, which revealed
the entire stratigraphic section with a full complex of LWD (to identify the reservoir, evaluate the
reservoir properties and the saturation).
Sufficient study of the drilling area is characterized by:
a. availability of a seismic model of a reservoir of sufficient quality;
b. availability of reference wells with data enough to evaluate the reservoir properties, saturation, but
it is impossible to estimate the reservoir propagation in thedrilling area i.e., remain uncertainties
in behavior of the structure and the reservoir propagation.
High performance is characterized by:
a. Availability of a high-quality seismic model of the reservoir;
b. the presence of a sufficient number of offset wells to build a high-quality geological model, which
can be used to assess the behavior of the structure, determine the reservoir properties and saturation,
and predict the distribution of the reservoir in the inter-well space.
Horizontal well drilling plan. Depending on the design solutions, the profile of horizontal sections may
differ significantly from well to well. Based on our experience, we have identified six types of horizontal
sections profiles, which have been assigned coefficients depending on the complexity for geosteering:
Horizontal profile – characterized by a horizontal section drilled at one TVDSS level or parallel to the
layers. It is most often used on homogeneous reservoirs with minimal structural uncertainty, so there is a
minimum number of trajectory updates while geosteering such wells.
Draining profile – characterized by the horizontal section that drained the target interval from the top to
the bottom with almost constant zenith angle. This profile is used in layers with heterogeneous reservoirs
with thin bedding of rocks. The main geosteering task is tocross the top of the target formation with a given
zenith angle and the drill the horizontal section trough hole reservoir preventing exit into the bottom of
the formation.
Wavy profile – has the form of a sinusoid inside the target interval, in order to drain reservoir several
times. This profile is used in thick layers with high heterogeneity. The main geosteering task in this case is
to correct the trajectory constantly to keep the well within reservoir.
Step (stairs) profile – characterized by the presence of several sections of well stabilization and looks like
stairs. It is used in reservoirs with several separated productive layers. The task of the geosteering engineer
is to steer the well in each layer and with minimal collector lost while penetrating the non-reservoir layers,
taking into account the current formation deep.
The multi – lateral wells is characterized by the presence of several laterals in different directions and
sometimes vertical depth. Most often, they are designed on reservoirs where it is necessary to produce oil
at low depressions (close to fluid contacts) or on reservoirs where it is necessary to ensure the maximum
drainage area to achieve the project flow rate, etc. When drilling such wells, in addition to geological ones,
the geosteering engineer must also take into account technological features (runts, loads, inclination, etc.).
These wells has complex completion what also restrict some maneuvers during geosteering (Verma et al.,
2017).
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Thus, the more complex the well profile and the more maneuvers and tasks that need to be performed,
the higher the complexity coefficients (table 1).

Table 1—Difficulty coefficients.

Formation deep Difficulty coefficient

befor 0.2 degree 0,2

0.2-1 degree 0,4

1-2 degree 0,6

2-5 degree 0,8

more then 5 degree 1

Target interval thickness

less than 1 m 1

1-2 m 0,8

2-5 m 0,6

5-10 m 0,4

more than 10m 0,2

Heterogenity

Vertical and lateral homogeneous 0,2

Vertical heterogenious, lateral homogeneous 0,4

Vertical homogeneous, lateral heterogeneous 0,6

Vertical and lateral heterogenious 0,8

Fluid contacts

GWC 0,4

WOC 0,4

GOC 0,4

GOC+WOC 0,8

Faults presence

no faults 0

one fault 0,5

many faults 1

Level of drilling region study

Low 0,6

Sufficient 0,4

High 0,2

Well Trajectory

Horizontal 0,1

Draining 0,2

Wavy 0,3

Step profile 0,4

Multi-lateral 0,5

Multi-lateral (different tvd) 0,6

SPE-201992-MS 7

Depending on the values of the geosteering complexity index obtained for each well, wells are divided
into 5 levels (table 2), where the first - level wells are relatively simple for geosteering, and the fifth-level
wells are the most complex (Fig.5).

Table 2—Classification by level of complexity

Difficulty level

GDI 1 2 3 4 5

Less 1,2 before 1,6 befor 1,8 befor 2,1 more 2,1

Figure 5—First level (left) and 5 level (right) examples.

Application of GDI in production activities

The purpose of introducing the GDI is to optimize organizational and technological processes for supporting
of horizontal drilling (table 3) (Golovchenko et al., 2019).

Table 3—Resource allocation Option depending on the GDI wells in one of the company's subsidiaries.

GDI Planned Well project Geosteering LWD Mud logging Additional services

5 Individual High level engineer+ Advanced (azimuthal 4-5 level Multidisciplinary

model logging), boundary team (maximum
mapping number of services)

4 Advanced High level engineer Advanced (azimuthal 4-5 level Petrophisics, seismic,
logging) geomechanics, servey
management

3 Advanced Engineer with middle Usual 3 level Petrophisics

experience

2 Simplified Autogeosteering + Adequate 2 level

engineer

1 Simplified Autogeosteering adequate 1 level

Organizational measures include the following: optimization of the planning process, labor expenditures,
distribution of work volume, and measures to increase the efficiency of decision-making. Already at the
planning stage, the GDI is evaluated for each well (Fig. 6) as a result, we are able to plan the necessary degree
of elaboration of geological projects. If earlier, with small volumes of drilling, the degree of elaboration of
geological projects was comparable, now with the increase in drilling volumes, the geological conditions,
as well as the variability of well designs. In this regard, the degree of elaboration of geological projects
varies for different geological conditions and well designs.
8 SPE-201992-MS

For example, wells of the first and second level, in which a high or sufficient degree of study, a relatively
stable reservoir, small reservoir angles, and the main task is to drain very thick reservoir from the top to the
bottom. To successfully complete this task, a minimum amount of geological information is sufficient – a
structural map, a geological well section, a well correlation, and a planned trajectory.

Figure 6—Horizontal wells distribution with GDI in one of the subsidiaries.

Wells of the fifth level, which are expected to have large reservoir angles, replacement zones, faults, low
thickness of the target zone, and restrictions on fluid contacts, require detailed study of the geological project
with the involvement of additional highly specialized engineers in the field of seismic, hydrodynamics,
geomechanics, etc. As a result, there is quite a lot of additional information in the geological project aimed
at achieving the most effective horizontal well placement. Thus, the distribution of well complexity levels
allows you to save resources when planning wells of 1 and 2 levels.
The volume of horizontal drilling in the company is constantly increasing (Fig. 7), there is an increase
in the number of employees in the divisions engaged in geosteering. The qualifications and experience of
well geosteering engineers are usually different.

Figure 7—Horizontal drilling volumes.

Because of the increase in drilling volume, the geosteering process in our company become non-
individual (individual - when 1-2 specialists are assigned to a particular well from the beginning of drilling to
its end). Now it has a "flow" character, when a specialist, taking over the shift, participates in the geosteering
of several wells at the same time. This leads to the need to distribute a large number of different wells
in accordance with the qualifications of specialists. GDI use allows you to assign a certain level of well
complexity to the appropriate specialist. The implementation of this principle in the information system for
the distribution of work volume allows eliminating the human factor in the distribution of wells between
specialists. In other words, a trainee or non-experienced engineer will not be able to be responsible for
conducting wells of the fifth level of complexity.
In addition, an engineer can switch wells of first or second levels to the "auto-geosteering" mode
("autopilot"). The main task of autopilot is to reduce the workload on engineers when drilling routine wells
due to deep automation of actions. This includes updating the drilling data and reservoir model in real
SPE-201992-MS 9

time using the WITSML, determining the entry point to the target reservoir, well correlation, identifying
the reservoir structure and its position relative to the well trajectory, predicting the further drilling, and
sending standardized geosteering commands to the drilling rig. The task of the geosteering engineer is to
set the boundary values of parameters (cut-offs), if they are exceeded, the system will require the engineer's
intervention through notifications for further decision - making.
The variety of geological conditions for drilling and the different level of complexity of the well for
geosteering dictate the need to use different BHA. Depending on the tasks, the composition of the BHA
can vary and measurements can be carried out using a wide range of methods: electromagnetic, radioactive,
density, neutron, acoustic, etc. The use of IGS is necessary not only for planning human resources, but also
to a greater extent for optimizing the set and level of services when drilling a well.
For example, pilot project began to optimize the BHA in one of the Company's large subsidiaries based
on GDI methodology. Previously, all wells used identical LWD in spite of different geology. Because of
the analysis, optimization of the LWD was performed. So, for example, horizontal wells of 1-2 levels
of complexity with a drainage profile and hydraulic fracturing have abandoned azimuthal measurement
methods during drilling, since the placement of ports for hydraulic fracturing is of key importance in them.
For wells without hydraulic fracturing in low-capacity formations, where the well's efficiency will depend on
the effective length within reservoir, the key importance is the speed of decision-making when the geological
situation changes. It directly depends on the distance of the telemetry sensor location from the bit (the non-
measuring zone is the "blind zone"). For such wells, the application of the near bit logging tool has been
introduced in addition to azimuthal research methods. So, for example, for the GR sensor, the "blind" zone
is reduced from 10-18 m to 0.5 m, as a result, the net-to-gross on average increased by 3%.
In another subsidiary, all horizontal wells were divided into 2 groups – injection wells with an equilateral
profile of the third-level GDI and production wells with complex profiles (fourth level GDI). Moreover,
both groups of wells used an identical set of services and an expensive complex of LWD. AS a result,
the LWD programs were revised, so the LWD complex was simplified for wells of 3rd level, and on the
contrary, it was strengthened for wells of 4th level, and a deep azimuth measurement device was added in
the most difficult zones. In this particular case LWD costs were slowly cut, but the volume of geological
useful information increase.
We also implemented a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of changes in the geosteering complexity
index over time (Fig. 8), which turned out to be a convenient tool in planning and allowed us to predict
changes in labor costs, human resources, and select the necessary set of services in accordance with the
complexity of the well for the next 2-3 years.

Figure 8—Average GDI changing in one of the subsidiaries.

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Conclusions
1. Based on the experience of drilling more than 10,000 horizontal wells and sidetracks, Rosneft is
implementing a new industry indicator, the well geosteering complexity index (GDI).
2. Methodology has been developed and classification of horizontal wells by GDI has been carried out.
3. Pilot studies show that the use of well classification based on the level of GDI will allow further
reallocation of resources, eliminating redundant services and achieving significant economic and
technological effects when drilling a huge amount horizontal wells annually.

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Roger Griffiths Well Placement Fundamentals. 229 с.
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