Three Ways Gyro Surveying Tools Contribute to Greater Operational Efficiency
Commonly called gyros, gyroscopes are very cool and have special properties that make them invaluable for many things including their use in down hole oil and gas applications. A traditional gyroscope includes a spinning “wheel” that maintains its angular momentum. When the gyroscope is subjected to a rotation rate, the ability to maintain angular momentum results in relative displacements of the spinning wheel and that can be used as a measurement of the rotation rate. Add sensors that can measure the angular velocity and allow the calculation of orientation in space and you have a recipe for greatness. Unlike a magnetic compass, a gyroscope indicates true north as opposed to magnetic north. Consequently, experts prefer to use them for high-precision navigation systems for drilling operations. Overall, our GyroGuide TM and OmegaX TM gyro systems have several key benefits.
Gyro Systems Provide Greater Accuracy – Maximizing Production and Well Integrity
Calculating the well path coordinates requires measurements of depth, inclination and azimuth at a series of points along the borehole. Traditional downhole survey systems do not always provide accurate orientation for the precise positional calculations. This contributes to the incorrect placement of wells that is vital to maximizing oil production. It can also cause collisions with existing wells, leading to well integrity breaches.
Gyrodata is equipped with efficient gyro surveying tools and technologies that allow us to provide operators with an extremely precise and accurate wellbore location. Through our GyroGuide services, we survey complex wellbore profiles at all inclinations, enabling our clients to map the well trajectory in reference to the reservoir. Through continual research and development, the use of advanced solid-state gyroscopic sensors has now become a viable option for high-accuracy wellbore placement. Our solid-state OmegaX delivers the most accurate and precise measurements to ensure safe and efficient drilling operations. For example, for an operator who was working in the Utica Shale (Ohio, USA), OmegaX significantly improved a wellbore’s ellipses of uncertainty by 151 percent, correcting the bottomhole location by 210 feet.
They are Not Magnetically Sensitive – Reduce Risk and Eliminate Collisions with Offset Wells
When operators work in harsh environments where precision is critical, they need a reliable tool for accuracy that is not affected by magnetic interference. “When drilling from a high-density well pad, the potential for well collision is significant and Measurement While Drilling (MWD) tools do not provide reliable data due to magnetic interference created by offset wells” (SPE-128299, 2010). Both our OmegaX and GyroGuide gyro-while-drilling (GWD) tools measure the earth’s rate of rotation and not the earth’s magnetic field. This means that they are not impacted by magnetic interference, which can impair conventional MWD tools during drilling operations. Also, when there is tight wellhead spacing at the surface, accurate drilling and surveying are able to prevent losing a slot due to path interference. Drilling wells in crowded oil fields is always a challenge because operators need to be able to eliminate potential collision risks/issues caused by closely-spaced wells. It is imperative to engage in anti-collision management when planning and drilling wells.
Gyro Systems Can Help Operators Save Rig Time.
Operators can avoid using additional rig time by utilizing the OmegaX with other logging tools. For example, for a client who was operating in the Utica Shale, experts from Gyrodata recommended running the OmegaX in combination with cement bond and casing collar logging tools on wireline while logging out of the hole on a single trip. The OmegaX operated without using any additional rig time from a total depth of 25,634 feet, providing high-accuracy, high-speed surveys. As a result, the operator saved 36 hours of rig time.
Conclusion
Gyro-based survey systems help mitigate wellbore collision risk, improve downhole well placement and provide operators with accurate survey measurements that can instill confidence during operations. This leads to improved efficiency and reduced risk exposure (SPE-128299, 2010).