Logging-while-drilling azimuthal measurements optimize horizontal laterals

More than 100 horizontal laterals averaging 4,600 ft long have been drilled in a shallow, heavy-oil reservoir in eastern Venezuela. Measurement-while-drilling (MWD) continuous directional measurements and logging-while-drilling (LWD) azimuthal measurements were used to steer the wells through the reservoir, along a specific wellpath chosen from vertical stratigraphic wells and 3D seismic data. Experience from drilling the horizontal wells has shown that this reservoir is laterally discontinuous between the vertical stratigraphic wells and that this discontinuity cannot always be predicted from surface seismic data. LWD azimuthal measurements, presented in the form of a 3D image, indicate wellbore orientation relative to channel geometry.