Geosteering, a Dummy Definition

Geosteering in a nutshell

A former colleague of one of our staffers was, to be polite, a bit of a know-it-all (he'd fit right in here, come to think of it). He had a poster in his cubicle that said. "Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do"... or something like that, anyway. Our problem here at the AN is that the freelancers who pretend to know something do annoy the hell out of the ones who actually know it: sort of like WiseGEEK.com writer Mary McMahon and the time she pretended to know, "What Is Geosteering?"

McMahon, as is her wont when assigned a technical topic, basically reworded the Wikipedia entry on geosteering. Since that's rather... sparse, it should be no surprise that Mary, most likely ignorant of even the existence of geosteering before encountering the assignment, didn't do a particularly good job with her rewording.

According to McMahon,

"Geosteering allows technicians to perform real-time adjustments as they drill a wellbore. They use incoming information to adjust the drilling for best results, relying on computer analysis and the skill of engineers with specific training in this field. "

As we've noted before, just because Mary does not understand the technical aspects of a job does not mean that the person performing it is a "technician." Geosteering could be likened to a highly technical pas de deux performed by logging engineers and drillers, both with extensive training in their fields. Calling them "technicians" is like calling one of McMahon's fellow "communications" graduates a "doodler." But we digress...

If you believe McMahon, you'll learn that,

"Before the drilling process begins, geologists conduct a careful series of surveys to collect as much information as possible about the area."

Oh, for Pete's sake, Mary: the geologist specifies a target zone in three dimensions and the driller plugs the wellbore in. It's once the target zone has been penetrated that geosteering comes into play. And how does that work? Well, McMahon goes into gruesome detail:

"As the technicians start drilling, continuous logging provides feedback. This enriches the available information with data directly from the drilling site, which may change the overall profile and picture. In response, it may be necessary to adapt in real time to steer the drill bit appropriately for optimal results. Geosteering can involve hours on the job, carefully monitoring as the drill moves forward and returns new information to technicians waiting for data. Geologists work with engineers and assistants to continuously update their plans."

Ummm, yeah: but WTF are they doing all that time? McMahon never says... but we'll be happy to say:

Geosteering is the use of logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement while drilling (MWD) to "aim" a directional well, usually horizontal or approximately so, to keep the wellbore in a narrow zone within a productive horizon. Logging results captured in real time tell the geosteering crew when they have drifted out of a sweet spot, and the drilling team uses a mud motor on the drillstring to change course as needed. The two components combine for the process of geosteering.
McMahon never even mentioned the "why" of geosteering, glossed over the interpretation of MWD logs with "enriches the available information with data directly from the drilling site," confused a target zone with a "drilling site," didn't bother to mention horizontal wells, and reduced the complex process of directional drilling to "steer the drill bit appropriately for optimal results." Is it any wonder why our staff petroleum geologist threw up his hands in disgust? or that he would like to personally deliver a Dumbass of the Day award to McMahon? It shouldn't be...

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