A new calculation approach of wellbore separation factor based on the relative position of adjacent wells

• Main Authors: Difeng HONG, Xueping TANG, Wenkai GAO, Weimin MAO, Peng WANG, Ke LIU
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2020-02-01
• Series: Petroleum Exploration and Development
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876380420600180

As the current calculation methods for wellbore separation factor have some deficiencies, we propose and analyze a new calculation approach for wellbore separation factor based on the relative position of adjacent wellbores, named as relative position method for short. Based on the trajectory error ellipsoid model of single wellbore, the error ellipsoids model of adjacent wellbore was derived considering the correlation of trajectory errors between adjacent wells. Furthermore, the calculation formula of the separation factor based on relative position of adjacent wellbore was derived and solved with the conjugate gradient algorithm. Case study shows that the new approach is more precise and higher in applicability than the ellipsoid scaling method and the minimum distance method, it can evaluate the state of well collision more reasonably. By doing batch calculation with the new method and following the criterion of well collision avoidance, the permissible ranges of key parameters in the well design can be worked out quickly. This method has good application in the design of cluster wells and directional wells. Key words: wellhole separation factor, wellhole collision avoidance, relative wellbores error, conjugate gradient algorithm, cluster wells