An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Reservoir Navigation & Real-Time Well Placement
Running Real-Time Well Placement Operations
Secure your spot now!
Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
08 Mar 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Reservoir Navigation & Real-Time Well Placement
Reservoir Navigation & Real-Time Well Placement
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Reservoir Navigation & Real-Time Well Placement - GG-RNAV-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-RNAV-PEA27 | 08 - 12 Mar 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
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Reservoir Navigation & Real-Time Well Placement
This training covers reservoir navigation as an operational discipline. It works through operations centre setup and roles, deep reading and look-ahead technology, three dimensional navigation in complex targets, multi-well and multi-lateral campaigns, decision authority and escalation, handover and shift discipline, data management and integrity, performance measurement, cost and value of real-time operations and the development of a navigation capability.
Description
Reservoir navigation is the operational practice of placing wells in real time, and it is more than the technical interpretation of while-drilling data. It involves an operations centre, a team working shifts, a defined decision authority, data flowing from several contractors, a drilling crew executing the decisions and a cost of delay measured in tens of thousands per hour. Most failures in real-time well placement are failures of the operation rather than of the interpretation.
This training covers that operational dimension. Operations centre setup and roles are established first, covering staffing, shift patterns, physical and remote arrangements and the definition of responsibilities. Deep reading and look-ahead technology follow, covering the measurements that see ahead of and away from the bit and what they can and cannot resolve. Three dimensional navigation in complex targets is then developed, covering targets that require azimuthal as well as vertical control. Multi-well and multi-lateral campaigns follow, covering the compounding of learning across a campaign. Decision authority and escalation are then addressed. Handover and shift discipline follow, since handover is where most real-time errors are introduced. Data management and integrity are then developed. Performance measurement follows. Cost and value are addressed. The training closes with capability development.
Handover is where real-time operations fail. A shift change transfers an evolving interpretation, a set of pending decisions, an agreed plan and a mental model of what the formation is doing, and most of that is in the head of the person leaving. Without a structured handover covering the current interpretation, its confidence, the decisions taken and why, what was considered and rejected, and the triggers being watched for, the incoming shift rebuilds the picture from scratch and sometimes reverses a decision for reasons already dismissed. A written handover protocol is the single highest-value piece of operational discipline available.
Decision authority must be settled before the well, not during it. When the log indicates a possible exit and the drilling team is asking for an immediate answer, the question of who decides should already be resolved: what the geoscientist can direct, what requires the asset's agreement, what the drilling supervisor can refuse on operational grounds and who is called when the plan has to change materially. Fields where this is undefined lose hours to decisions circulating between people who each believe someone else owns them.
Look-ahead and deep reading technology changes the decision timing, not the decision quality. Measurements that resolve boundaries several metres from the wellbore allow an approaching boundary to be seen before it is crossed, which converts a reactive correction into a planned adjustment. The benefit is real and it is conditional: the inversion that produces the boundary position has multiple solutions, requires a reasonable starting model and degrades in complex geometry. Treating the output as a direct measurement rather than as a model-dependent inversion produces confident decisions on weak evidence.
Finally, performance has to be measured or it does not improve. The useful metrics are the fraction of each lateral placed within the target, the footage lost to excursions and corrections, the number of unplanned sidetracks and the correlation between placement quality and well productivity. Recorded well by well across a campaign, these show whether the operation is improving and which wells and which crews are performing. Campaigns that measure this routinely improve measurably through the campaign; those that do not are at the end where they were at the start.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Set up and staff a real-time operations centre
- Define roles, decision authority and escalation routes
- Select and interpret deep reading and look-ahead measurements
- Assess the reliability of boundary inversion outputs
- Navigate in three dimensions in complex targets
- Manage placement across multi-well and multi-lateral campaigns
- Conduct structured shift handovers
- Manage real-time data flow, quality and integrity
- Measure well placement performance
- Assess the cost and value of real-time operations
The training runs simulated real-time operations with data delivered sequentially, shift handovers between participant groups and decisions required under time pressure. Handover quality is assessed by how well the receiving shift maintains the interpretation. Placement performance is measured for each exercise. Operational failures from real campaigns are analysed for their causes.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Run real-time operations with defined roles and authority
- Reduce errors introduced at shift handover
- Use deep reading technology with appropriate confidence
- Measure and improve placement performance across campaigns
- Reduce unplanned sidetracks and lost footage
- Build a repeatable real-time operations capability
Participants will:
- Operate effectively in a real-time environment
- Conduct and receive structured handovers
- Interpret deep reading outputs critically
- Navigate complex three dimensional targets
- Measure their own placement performance
- Take operational responsibility confidently
- Reservoir navigation and geosteering staff
- Operations geologists and real-time centre staff
- Drilling engineers and well delivery staff
- Petrophysicists supporting while-drilling operations
- Campaign and drilling programme managers
- Development geologists in horizontal well campaigns
- Technical staff setting up real-time operations
Module 1 - Operations Centre Setup
- Operations centre functions
- Wellsite against remote operation
- Physical layout and display requirements
- Connectivity and data feeds
- Software and licence arrangements
- Staffing levels and shift patterns
- Roles and their definition
- Contractor personnel integration
- Communication arrangements with the rig
- Backup and contingency arrangements
- Fatigue management
- Cost of running the centre
Module 2 - Deep Reading and Look-Ahead
- Deep reading resistivity principles
- Distance to boundary measurement
- Multiple boundary resolution
- Depth of detection by tool and formation
- Look-ahead resistivity
- Look-ahead seismic while drilling
- Inversion of boundary position
- Starting model dependence
- Non-unique inversion solutions
- Resolution limits in complex geometry
- Appropriate confidence in the output
- Integrating with forward modelling
Module 3 - Three Dimensional Navigation
- Azimuthal as well as vertical control
- Targets requiring three dimensional navigation
- Structural dip and azimuth determination
- Cross-dip and its recognition
- Fault crossing while drilling
- Navigating relative to multiple boundaries
- Thin target navigation
- Standoff from contacts
- Steering relative to fluid contacts
- Navigating in stacked targets
- Complex structural settings
- Updating the three dimensional model
Module 4 - Campaign Management
- Multi-well campaign planning
- Learning transfer between wells
- Model updating across the campaign
- Standardising the approach
- Multi-lateral well navigation
- Lateral spacing and placement consistency
- Pad drilling considerations
- Batch operations and their effects
- Crew consistency and rotation
- Campaign performance tracking
- Mid-campaign reviews
- Capturing campaign learning
Module 5 - Authority and Escalation
- Decision types in real-time operations
- Decisions the geoscientist owns
- Decisions requiring asset agreement
- Operational veto by drilling
- Escalation triggers and routes
- Out of hours arrangements
- Material change definition
- Stop and sidetrack decisions
- Documenting authority before the well
- Resolving disagreement in real time
- Accountability for outcomes
- Common authority failures
Module 6 - Handover and Shift Discipline
- Handover content requirements
- Current interpretation and its confidence
- Decisions taken and their reasons
- Options considered and rejected
- Triggers being monitored
- Pending decisions and their timing
- Written handover formats
- Verbal handover protocols
- Overlap time between shifts
- Handover at crew change and between centres
- Errors introduced at handover
- Auditing handover quality
Module 7 - Data Management and Integrity
- Data sources and contractors involved
- Real-time data transmission and its failures
- Depth and survey data integrity
- Time against depth based data
- Data quality control in real time
- Recognising bad data under pressure
- Tool failure and its management
- Data loss contingency
- Version control of interpretations
- Logging decisions and their basis
- Post-well data assembly
- Archiving real-time data
Module 8 - Performance, Cost and Capability
- Placement performance metrics
- Percentage in target measurement
- Footage lost to excursions
- Unplanned sidetrack counts
- Productivity against placement correlation
- Benchmarking across wells and campaigns
- Cost of real-time operations
- Value of improved placement
- Technology cost and benefit assessment
- Building in-house navigation capability
- Training and competence requirements
- Service contract specification and management
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
