Chapter 4

DIRECTIONAL WELL PLANNING

Careful planning before the well is spudded can lead to substantial savings
in the cost of drilling a directional well. Many factors influence the
trajectory of the borehole. Some of these may be difficult to estimate (for
example, the amount of bit walk that may occur in certain formations). The
experience gained from drilling previous directional wells in the same area
is therefore very useful and should be incorporated at the planning stage of
the next well.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Reference Points and Coordinates

It is not uncommon for directional wells drilled from one platform to cover
a reservoir several square miles in area. In planning wellpaths over such
large distances some attention should be paid to the coordinate system
adopted.
The most common method of fixing the position of a point on the Earth's
surface is to give its latitude and longitude (Fig. 4.1). A line of latitude runs
parallel to the equator, and is denoted by a number of degrees (0-90)
North or South of the equator. A line of longitude is perpendicular to the
equator and passes through the North and South poles and is denoted by a
number of degrees (0-180) East or West of Greenwich. However, for the
purposes of planning a directional well, it is more convenient if the curved
surface of the Earth is projected onto a flat surface on which maps can be
drawn. One such system is known as the Universal Transverse of Mercator
(UTM) *. This is basically a projection of the section of the Earth's surface
that contains the area of interest. In carrying out the projection there is
some distortion of the axes such that UTM North is slightly offset from
Geographic (True) North. This small difference is significant over large
distances and so must be taken into account when converting coordinates
from one system to another.
"(see Appendix, page 62).

T. A. Inglis, Directional Drilling

T. A. Inglis 1987
DIRECTIONAL WELL PLANNING 41

1> = Latitude
North pole = 90 0N
Equator = 0
Equator 50uth Pole = 905

e= Longitude
0 passes through
Greenwich, England

Eastward 0 - 1800E
Westward 0 - 1800W
5
Fig. 4.1. Latitude and longitude.

For the purposes of planning and monitoring, all measurements must be

tied back to a common reference point. On offshore platforms this point is
usually chosen to be the centre of the platform. All depths are measured
from the elevation of the rotary table. If the target coordinates are given in
the UTM system they must be converted and referenced back to the
platform centre. All calculations are then simplified by adopting Northing
and Easting coordinates. If the surface (slot) coordinate and the target

N25W (335)

\ N500E (050)

\""5 \
0 ---v/
50 /
/

W ...-------........,,:::=04~-------- ..
----.:--
E

580 0W (2600) \ 80
' ..... .......... -

5
Fig. 4.2. Compass bearings (azimuth equivalents).