Case Study: Shell achieves optimized horizontal well steering in deepwater Brazil with SLB GeoSphere reservoir mapping-while-drilling service

Shell Accurately Steers Reservoir Well Sections in Deepwater Reservoir Offshore Brazil

Shell faced the challenge of steering horizontal well sections within deepwater reservoirs offshore Brazil, where multiple fault blocks and uncertainty in seismic depth data made it difficult to stay in the target zones. SLB provided the GeoSphere reservoir mapping-while-drilling service to help guide drilling decisions and improve reservoir understanding.

Using SLB’s GeoSphere service, Shell optimized reservoir steering in two wells and additional campaign wells, avoiding unplanned exits from the target reservoirs despite model depth discrepancies. The service also helped refine geological and structural models, improve production management, and delineate reservoirs for better subsurface characterization, including detecting reservoir boundaries more than 100 ft from the wellbore and revealing unexpected fault and stratigraphic features.

Shell