Subsurface formation bed boundary interpretation with depth and dip information for well systems

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for determining subsurface formation boundary information for a wellbore using a well drilling system. Primary boundary information for a formation bed boundary of a subsurface formation may be determined based on primary measurement data. Secondary measurement data may be obtained from one or more sensors of the well drilling system. The primary boundary information may be corrected using the secondary measurement data to determine corrected boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation. An uncertainty may be determined for the corrected boundary information. A drilling operation or a drilling attribute in the wellbore may be modified based on the corrected boundary information and the uncertainty.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for determining subsurface formation boundary information for a wellbore using a well drilling system, comprising:
 determining primary boundary information for a formation bed boundary of a subsurface formation based on primary measurement data;   obtaining secondary measurement data from one or more sensors of the well drilling system;   correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data to determine corrected boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation; and   determining an uncertainty for the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of a drilling operation or a drilling attribute in the wellbore is modified based on the corrected boundary information and the uncertainty. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 directing an operation to modify at least one of a drilling operation or a drilling attribute based on the corrected boundary information and the uncertainty.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 modifying at least one of a drilling operation or a drilling attribute based on the corrected boundary information and the uncertainty.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data includes:
 determining secondary boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation based on the secondary measurement data; and   correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary boundary information to determine the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary boundary information includes at least one of:
 performing a weighted average of the primary boundary information and secondary boundary information to determine the corrected boundary information; or   processing the primary boundary information and the secondary boundary information using a learning machine to determine the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the primary measurement data includes primary depth measurements, primary dip measurements, or both primary depth and dip measurements, and the secondary measurement data includes secondary depth measurements, secondary dip measurements, or both secondary depth and dip measurements. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the secondary measurement data includes at least one of:
 sensor measurements from different sensors compared to the primary measurement data;   sensor measurements from different locations in the wellbore compared to the primary measurement data; or   sensor measurements from different times compared to the primary measurement data.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining secondary boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation based on the secondary measurement data, wherein determining the uncertainty for the corrected boundary information includes at least one of:
 performing additional analysis on the primary boundary information and the secondary boundary information to determine the uncertainty for the corrected boundary information; or   processing the primary boundary information and the secondary boundary information using a learning machine to determine the uncertainty for the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the corrected boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation includes a curve indicating a location of the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the corrected boundary information and the uncertainty provides at least one of:
 a boundary interpretation curve with the uncertainty for a drilled section of the wellbore;   a projection curve of the formation bed boundary ahead of a drilling bit of the well drilling system during a drilling operation with the uncertainty; or   quality control information if conflicting boundary information is found for the wellbore during the drilling operation.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a projection curve of the formation bed boundary based, at least in part, on the primary boundary information with uncertainty information. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the uncertainty includes at least one of one or more confidence intervals, one or more variances, one or more percentiles, or one or more standard deviations. 
     
     
         14 . A well drilling system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the well drilling system to:
 determine primary boundary information for a formation bed boundary of a subsurface formation based on primary measurement data; 
 obtain secondary measurement data from one or more sensors of the well drilling system; 
 correct the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data to determine corrected boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation; and 
 determine an uncertainty for the corrected boundary information. 
   
     
     
         15 . The well drilling system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions that cause the well drilling system to correct the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data include instructions that cause the well drilling system to:
 determine secondary boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation based on the secondary measurement data; and   correct the primary boundary information using the secondary boundary information to determine the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         16 . The well drilling system of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions that cause the well drilling system to correct the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data include instructions that cause the well drilling system to perform at least one of:
 perform a weighted average of the primary boundary information and secondary boundary information to determine the corrected boundary information; or   process the primary boundary information and the secondary boundary information using a learning machine to determine the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         17 . The well drilling system of  claim 14 , wherein the primary measurement data includes primary depth measurements, primary dip measurements, or both primary depth and dip measurements, and the secondary measurement data includes secondary depth measurements, secondary dip measurements, or both secondary depth and dip measurements. 
     
     
         18 . The well drilling system of  claim 17 , wherein the secondary measurement data includes at least one of:
 sensor measurements from different sensors compared to the primary measurement data;   sensor measurements from different locations in a wellbore compared to the primary measurement data; or   sensor measurements from different times compared to the primary measurement data.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by one or more processors of a well drilling system, the instructions comprising:
 instructions for determining primary boundary information for a formation bed boundary of a subsurface formation based on primary measurement data;   instructions for obtaining secondary measurement data from one or more sensors of the well drilling system;   instructions for correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data to determine corrected boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation; and   instructions for determining an uncertainty for the corrected boundary information.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions for correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary measurement data include:
 instructions for determining secondary boundary information for the formation bed boundary of the subsurface formation based on the secondary measurement data; and
 instructions for correcting the primary boundary information using the secondary boundary information to determine the corrected boundary information. 
   
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the primary measurement data includes primary depth measurements, primary dip measurements, or both primary depth and dip measurements, and the secondary measurement data includes secondary depth measurements, secondary dip measurements, or both secondary depth and dip measurements. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the secondary measurement data includes at least one of:
 sensor measurements from different sensors compared to the primary measurement data;   sensor measurements from different locations in a wellbore compared to the primary measurement data; or   sensor measurements from different times compared to the primary measurement data.