Dynamic infill producer well placement

Abstract

In a computer-implemented techniques for dynamic infill producer well placement, a computer system identifies an area of interest in a hydrocarbon field. The area of interest represents a geographical area in which multiple infill producer wells are to be formed to produce hydrocarbons. Within the area of interest, the computer system identifies multiple sweet spot areas. The computer system receives well criteria associated with the multiple infill producer wells and a trigger event to trigger forming the multiple infill producer wells in the multiple sweet spot areas. The computer system determines that the trigger event has occurred. In response, the computer system controls wellbore drilling machinery to form the multiple infill producer wells according to the well criteria in the multiple sweet spot areas.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 identifying, by one or more processors, an area of interest in a hydrocarbon field, the area of interest representing a geographical area in which a plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed in a subterranean zone extending from a surface to a hydrocarbon reservoir in the hydrocarbon field, the plurality of infill producer wells to be formed through the subterranean zone to produce hydrocarbons;   identifying, by the one or more processors and within the area of interest, a plurality of sweet spot areas, each sweet spot area residing within the geographical area in which the plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed, each sweet spot area representing a geographical area in which hydrocarbons are entrapped in the hydrocarbon reservoir;   receiving, by the one or more processors, well criteria associated with the plurality of infill producer wells;   receiving, by the one or more processors, a trigger event to trigger forming the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas;   determining, by the one or more processors, that the trigger event has occurred; and   in response to determining that the trigger event has occurred, controlling, by the one or more processors, wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells according to the well criteria in the plurality of sweet spot areas.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger event is a decrease in production flow rate from the producer wells, wherein receiving the trigger event comprises receiving a threshold production flow rate for a plurality of producer wells drilled in the hydrocarbon field and through which hydrocarbons are produced. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein determining that the trigger event has occurred comprises:
 receiving, by the one or more processors, a production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells; and   determining, by the one or more processors, that the received production flow rate value is less than the threshold production flow rate.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , further comprising, after controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas:
 monitoring a modified production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells and a production flow rate through one or more of the plurality of infill producer wells through which hydrocarbon production has commenced;   in response to the monitoring, determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate;   in response to determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate, controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to stop forming additional infill producer wells.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving, by the one or more processors, the well criteria comprises, for each infill producer well, receiving a respective well length, azimuth angle, production constraints, collision distance with existing wells in the hydrocarbon field and spacing relative to other infill producer wells. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of sweet spot areas within the area of interest comprises:
 determining the plurality of sweet spot areas using a sweet spot formula; and   implementing a clustering algorithm on the plurality of sweet spot areas.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein identifying the area of interest comprises:
 computationally simulating the hydrocarbon field to generate a computational model of the hydrocarbon field; and   identifying, within the model, the area of interest in the hydrocarbon field.   
     
     
         8 . A computer-readable medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 identifying an area of interest in a hydrocarbon field, the area of interest representing a geographical area in which a plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed in a subterranean zone extending from a surface to a hydrocarbon reservoir in the hydrocarbon field, the plurality of infill producer wells to be formed through the subterranean zone to produce hydrocarbons;   identifying, within the area of interest, a plurality of sweet spot areas, each sweet spot area residing within the geographical area in which the plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed, each sweet spot area representing a geographical area in which hydrocarbons are entrapped in the hydrocarbon reservoir;   receiving well criteria associated with the plurality of infill producer wells;   receiving a trigger event to trigger forming the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas;   determining that the trigger event has occurred; and   in response to determining that the trigger event has occurred, controlling wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells according to the well criteria in the plurality of sweet spot areas.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the trigger event is a decrease in production flow rate from the producer wells, wherein receiving the trigger event comprises receiving a threshold production flow rate for a plurality of producer wells drilled in the hydrocarbon field and through which hydrocarbons are produced. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining that the trigger event has occurred comprises:
 receiving a production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells; and   determining that the received production flow rate value is less than the threshold production flow rate.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise, after controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas:
 monitoring a modified production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells and a production flow rate through one or more of the plurality of infill producer wells through which hydrocarbon production has commenced;   in response to the monitoring, determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate;   in response to determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate, controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to stop forming additional infill producer wells.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein receiving the well criteria comprises, for each infill producer well, receiving a respective well length, azimuth angle, production constraints, collision distance with existing wells in the hydrocarbon field and spacing relative to other infill producer wells. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein identifying the plurality of sweet spot areas within the area of interest comprises:
 determining the plurality of sweet spot areas using a sweet spot formula; and   implementing a clustering algorithm on the plurality of sweet spot areas.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein identifying the area of interest comprises:
 computationally simulating the hydrocarbon field to generate a computational model of the hydrocarbon field; and   identifying, within the model, the area of interest in the hydrocarbon field.   
     
     
         15 . A computer system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a computer-readable medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 identifying an area of interest in a hydrocarbon field, the area of interest representing a geographical area in which a plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed in a subterranean zone extending from a surface to a hydrocarbon reservoir in the hydrocarbon field, the plurality of infill producer wells to be formed through the subterranean zone to produce hydrocarbons; 
 identifying, within the area of interest, a plurality of sweet spot areas, each sweet spot area residing within the geographical area in which the plurality of infill producer wells are to be formed, each sweet spot area representing a geographical area in which hydrocarbons are entrapped in the hydrocarbon reservoir; 
 receiving well criteria associated with the plurality of infill producer wells; 
   receiving a trigger event to trigger forming the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas;
 determining that the trigger event has occurred; and 
 in response to determining that the trigger event has occurred, controlling wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells according to the well criteria in the plurality of sweet spot areas. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the trigger event is a decrease in production flow rate from the producer wells, wherein receiving the trigger event comprises receiving a threshold production flow rate for a plurality of producer wells drilled in the hydrocarbon field and through which hydrocarbons are produced. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein determining that the trigger event has occurred comprises:
 receiving a production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells; and   determining that the received production flow rate value is less than the threshold production flow rate.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise, after controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to form the plurality of infill producer wells in the plurality of sweet spot areas:
 monitoring a modified production flow rate value representing the production flow rate through the plurality of producer wells and a production flow rate through one or more of the plurality of infill producer wells through which hydrocarbon production has commenced;   in response to the monitoring, determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate;   in response to determining that the modified production flow rate value is greater than the threshold production flow rate, controlling the wellbore drilling machinery to stop forming additional infill producer wells.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein receiving the well criteria comprises, for each infill producer well, receiving a respective well length, azimuth angle, production constraints, collision distance with existing wells in the hydrocarbon field and spacing relative to other infill producer wells. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein identifying the plurality of sweet spot areas within the area of interest comprises:
 determining the plurality of sweet spot areas using a sweet spot formula; and   implementing a clustering algorithm on the plurality of sweet spot areas, wherein the clustering algorithm is a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN).