Survey Data

Interactive Well Site > Available Daily Operations Data

The Survey form is used to record wellbore trajectory information that assists engineers in determining the position and direction of the wellbore.

OpenWells® software allows for the recording of surveys while active work on a Well is ongoing. Surveys entered in OpenWells are stored in the EDM database as groups of surveys with names, start/end dates and depths. These surveys are used for Well path calculations that are displayed on the morning reports generated on the rig.

OpenWells uses the Minimum Curvature method in all survey calculations. The Minimum Curvature method is based on the wellbore following an arc on the surface of a sphere between the start and end survey station vectors. It has a constant radius in 3D space from the center of the sphere. It is also known as the ’r;Circular Arc’ method.

Survey data is recorded from the surface and subsurface Daily Operations link.

The Survey form appears allowing the user to add, review, modify and delete survey data on a daily basis.

For information on how to enter Survey data, see the Recording Survey Data topic.

Special Fields and Functions

Survey Prerequisites

Prior to entering a Survey verify the following data has been entered:

• Default Reference Datum is selected in the Well Properties dialog

• Wellhead Location values are entered in the Well Properties dialog

• Vertical Section Angle is entered in the Wellbore Properties dialog

• Kick Off MD is entered in the Wellbore Properties dialog

• Plugback TD is entered in the Wellbore Properties dialog (optional)

Notes on Surveys in OpenWells:

• A survey run represents the start of the first or a new series of surveys stations recorded on the wellbore. A new run occurs when there is a change in the survey tool or method or tie-on.

• The Survey Run spreadsheet displays all survey runs defined for the wellbore on or before the current report date.

• Survey Run information is shared with the COMPASS™ application using the same EDM database. Survey Runs created in COMPASS are available in OpenWells. Surveys locked in COMPASS are also locked in OpenWells.

• EDM Integration Note: All survey stations entered OpenWells are classified as the "Principle Plan" (ACTUAL). COMPASS™ allows users to create multiple planned surveys, but only the one classified as "Principle Plan" (ACTUAL) appear in OpenWells.

• Survey's open in COMPASS are temporarily locked in OpenWells.

• Survey Stations are sorted by the MD field, therefore to insert a survey station add the row, enter the MD and the spreadsheet automatically inserts the row by its measured depth.

• OpenWells validates two items in the All Survey Stations spreadsheet:

• the depth of a survey station. A normal, misrun or checkshot survey station cannot have a measured depth less than the tie-on's measured depth

• the time of the survey cannot fall prior to the tie-on's survey time

• Rules that apply to the survey editor:

• the first row, row 1, is the tie-on point that is defined in Survey Properties and may not be changed in the Survey Editor

• the MD of each survey station must be greater than the MD of the tie-on point

• Inc (Inclination) must be in the range 0-180 degrees

• Azi (Azimuth) must be in the range 0-360 degrees

Well Azimuth Reference

The Well Azimuth Reference is an OpenWells Calculated field. This field displays the Well's azimuth reference based on the Azimuth Reference entered in the Site Properties dialog (only available in OpenWells Classic) and the Convergence angle entered in the Well Properties dialog. These properties dialogs are only available in the Classic OpenWells interface for users with permission to the Site and Well Properties tokens.

Note: These fields are sometimes defined in the COMPASS application.  

  SAM Indicator

The SAM column displays a red same icon  when another user has the current survey open. The survey cannot be edited when open by another user.

Survey Run Data

Survey Name

The survey header Name must be unique within the current Well.

Note: If a name is not entered in this field and the user tries to exit the Survey Properties dialog, the following message appears, "The survey name cannot be empty." The survey name is also checked against all other survey names used for the Well. If the name entered is not unique to the Well, the following message appears, "The survey name already exists within this Well."

Survey Tools

Survey Tools appearing in this picklist are created in the Survey Tools tab of the Company Properties dialog. This dialog is only available in the Classic OpenWells interface for users with permission to the Company Properties tokens.

Integration Note: The survey tool used here is very important if OpenWells survey data is shared with COMPASS™, where it is used to assign a survey tool error model. The specified tool is used in all anti-collision calculations. Therefore, proper selection and definition of each tool’s errors and tolerances is critical to proper compilation of positional uncertainty in COMPASS.

Survey Date Range

The Start and End date fields define a date range in which the header appears in Daily Operations reports. Survey headers with a start and end date on or before the current report date appears in the survey header spreadsheet for that report date.

Tie-on Point area

• User Defined - This option allows the user to enter MD, Inc , Azi, TVD, N/S and E/W information directly. Use this option when you have a known Tie-on Point.

• From Wellhead - This option forces the MD to 0, but allows for values to be entered in the Inc and Azi fields. Use this option when beginning a new Well the Inc and Azi fields should be zero.

• From Survey - This option displays a list of the previously entered survey headers in the Survey Name picklist. Once a survey is selected the tie-on point is entered as the maximum MD entered in the selected group of surveys.

Note: Typically there are two situations in which a survey tie-on would be entered:

• to initialize the origin of the Well survey (for the first entry of these surveys)

• to establish a new starting point for a survey tool (for all subsequent surveys)

Locked

Activate the Locked check box to lock the survey header at the end of the survey tool run. This prevents the survey stations from being edited by other users who do not have the locked data password.

Note: Surveys locked in OpenWells are also locked in COMPASS™ and visa versa.

Survey Readings

Editing Rules

The following rules apply to editing in the Survey spreadsheet:

• the first row is the tie-in point that is defined for the Survey Run and may not be changed in the spreadsheet

• the MD of each survey station must be greater than the MD of the tie-on point

• Inc (Inclination) must be in the range 0 -180 degrees

• Azi (Azimuth) must be in the range 0 -360 degrees

• The depth of a survey station. A Normal, Misrun, or Checksum Station Type cannot have a measured depth less than the Tie-on's point measured depth.

• The Date/Time of the survey cannot fall prior to the Tie-on's points survey Date/Time.

Station Type

The Station Type field is used to communicate to OpenWells what surveys it should use in calculating the wellpath. Set all surveys that should be used in calculating the wellpath to NORMAL.

The Station Type picklist contains the following options:

• Tie On - The first row appearing in the spreadsheet is the Tie-on Station Type. This row is populated from the Survey Properties dialog's Tie-on area when the survey header is created. The Station Type picklist does not list this as an option.

• Normal - This option specifies the survey data as normal and correct and is used in the survey calculation to complete the wellpath trajectory.

• Misrun - This option specifies bad or suspect survey stations. A row with Misrun selected is not used in the survey calculations but will be recorded for later data analysis or survey performance analysis.

• Checkshot - This option specifies a survey that is run a second time to verify the data. Checkshots can be run at any time and in any depth order, they do not necessarily follow a depth sequence. A row with Checkshot selected is not used in the wellpath trajectory calculation but its location parameters are calculated.

Note:  OpenWells software uses the Minimum Curvature method in all survey calculations.

MD

Enter the MD where the survey occurred. The current MD (Measured Depth) must be greater than the tie-on MD. The depth in the first row is defined by the survey header's tie-on point.

Inc

Enter the hole angle from vertical at the MD where the survey occurred. The inclination must be in the range 0-180 degrees.

Azi

Enter the azimuth at the MD where the survey occurred. The azimuth must be in the range 0-360 degrees.

TVD

The True Vertical Depth (TVD) is calculated based on the survey station's measured depth and inclination.

N/S

The Northing (N/S) is calculated based on the survey station's measured depth, inclination and azimuth.

E/W

The Easting (E/W) is calculated based on the survey station's measured depth, inclination and azimuth.

Vertical Section Azimuth, DLeg, TFace, Build and Turn

These fields are calculated based on the survey station's measured depth, inclination and azimuth.

For more information see Survey Technical Notes.