Calculation and visualization of relative position uncertainty between adjacent wellbores

Abstract

In directional drilling engineering of cluster wells and infill wells, it is important to scientifically assess the risk of wellbore collisions between wells being drilled and adjacent wells that have already been drilled. At present, the calculation results of adjacent well distance scanning and separation factors often used in drilling sites still cannot scientifically evaluate the risk of wellbore collision. This paper proposes to characterize the relative position measurement error between the reference well and the comparison well by the size of the combined error ellipsoid with the effect of well diameters of reference well and comparison well. And, the calculation model of the combined ellipsoid is established. This paper also introduces the 3D visualization method of relative position measurement error between adjacent wells based on OpenGL. The example calculating shows that the calculation results and 3D views of the relative position measurement error of the adjacent wells a can be used to judge the reliability of the calculation result of the pedal curve separation factors, and provide a more scientific basis for the implementation of anti-collision operations in directional drilling. So the research has important application value.