Acoustic ranging of multiple nearby wells using dipole acoustic logging

ABSTRACT The increasing use of cluster wells in recent oil and gas drilling has raised concerns about well collisions. Although the successful application of single-well acoustic reflection imaging for nearby well detection has made it a potential ranging technique for collision prevention, further analyses are needed to demonstrate its utility for detecting multiple target wells around the measurement well. We develop a multiple-well acoustic ranging method that uses 4C dipole logging data to azimuthally scan multiple nearby wells and determine their distances and directions. To this aim, we develop a fast analytical method to model elastic wave radiation from the measurement well and wave scattering from multiple nearby wells and analyze the sensitivity and effectiveness of the 4C dipole tool in the generation of the transmitted wave and detection of the scattered waves. By means of 4C rotation and migration, the scattered wave data, as measured by the tool, are used to image the targeted wells and determine their distance and azimuth relative to the measurement well. Field data application is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this multiple-well acoustic ranging technique.