Geosteering for Dummies

Geosteered horizontal well, cross-section

We have people on staff who know stuff; enough that they could probably compete on Jeopardy! and win a couple of games. One of them knows a lot about the oil industry, which is why we let her peruse anything that comes up on the staff's radar that has to do with oil and gas exploration and production. She's often disturbed by the lack of knowledge displayed by someone who seems to be one of the  WiseGEEK.com "experts" on the subject... mostly because Mary McMahon seems pretty ignorant of the topics she wrote about; topics like "What Is Geosteering?"

Right up front, geosteering is a complicated process by which exploration companies purposely control the direction, in three dimensions, in which a wellbore is being drilled based on real-time information coming from measurement while drilling (MWD) logs. The purpose is, usually, to keep a wellbore within a productive layer, often one that's relatively thin. Geosteering is most often used in horizontal wells, which are deliberately turned parallel to the bedding of a reservoir layer. For more information, see the Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary...

With that in mind, let's see what Mary had to say:

"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. "

Right: it sounds impressive, but in reality McMahon's "definition" is pretty anodyne. In fact, it sounds a heckuva lot like all her oil and gas posts, where "technicians" are always "adjusting" according to "information." In reality, geosteering is carried out by a drilling engineer with specialist training, based on the wellsite geologist's interpretation of well logs. No "technicians" are involved.
Moving right along, Mary then informs her readers that,

"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. "

Again, anodyne — and clearly written by someone who simply doesn't understand the process. Oh, and by the way, Mary? Everything is taking place at the "drill site" — The geosteering specialist is concerned with what is happening at the drill bit, several thousand feet away, both horizontally and vertically.

McMahon follows up with lots of boilerplate about how time-consuming, expensive, and data-intensive geosteering is. What she never does is mention is the purpose of a geosteering operation, beyond her mention of something she calls "optimal results on a drilling project, ensuring maximum efficiency."

Well yeah, Mary: as you happened to mention, "Sinking [sic] a well can be a costly endeavor": perhaps you should have mentioned that exploration companies use geosteering to place the well in the most profitable position they can.
The fact that McMahon doesn't seem to understand the purpose of a well, much less of geosteering the wellbore, is a darned good reason to name her our Dumbass of the Day yet again. This is Mary's seventh DotD award, her fifth related to geology, and her third about the oil industry. We sure wish she'd give up...

Confidential to MM (and WiseGEEK): the image of a "technician" performing geosteering while dtilling a wellbore is actually of someone standing in front of a pumpjack. Pumpjacks are placed after well drilling is completed. Idiots.

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