Canadian Well Identification System for Saskatchewan oil operations

The wheat fields of Saskatchewan are magnificent to behold as they undulate in the summer breeze. What the observer might not be aware of, however, is that another bounty rests below their roots; oil. Saskatchewan is second only to Alberta in production, pumping over 470 000 bpd from 27 000 wells nestled across the landscape.

Starting this autumn, every single one of those wells will be receiving a new label. “Saskatchewan will be the first regulator in Canada to adopt the Canadian Well Identification System (CWIS),” says Trudy Curtis, CEO of the Professional Petroleum Data Management Association (PPDM). “It will ring in a new generation of how data from wells is stored and retrieved.”

Advances in drilling and completion technologies necessitate identifier upgrade

For many decades, Canada’s Unique Well Identifier (UWI) system has served the oil and gas sector well, allowing operators, regulators, vendors and service companies to keep track of most information and functions associated with wells in a concise, easy-to-use fashion.

However, advances in drilling and completion technologies have overtaken the Canadian UWI and made it outdated. Deviated wellbores and multilateral completions (just to mention two examples) can no longer be uniquely catalogued in a consistent manner. The old system also relies on the bottomhole location, which can be amended when surveyed. “All of this creates the potential for failing to find all wellbores and completions that are related to each other and to the parent well,” says Curtis. “In today’s environment of costly wells and stiff competition, these are unacceptable risks.”

Modernising the UWI

Responding to requests from industry stakeholders, PPDM engaged in discussions with Alberta’s ERCB (now the AER). “At the time, the ERCB was looking at many of their systems, and they were interested in modernising the UWI,” says Curtis. “We eventually involved all regulators in Western Canada, as well as operators, vendors and service companies. But it wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without the initiative of the ERCB. There was no point in even trying without them.”

Early in 2013, the CWIS project was launched. Peter MacDougall is the Director of Client Solutions for IHS and an original member of the project. “The current UWI system is based on bottomhole location,” he notes. “When an operator submits an application for a well licence, the regulator asks for the proposed bottomhole. If the operator says LSD 10, Section 34, then the licence is issued as 10-34. If, however, the bottom hole ends up in 9-34, then the UWI is amended, and we have to ensure that all the associated data is moved to the new UWI. On some wells, the information changes almost daily.”

The CWIS project followed guidelines laid down by previous work on the Global Framework project. “We knew there were three important principles,” says Curtis. “The well had to be identified by its surface location, every wellbore had to have a unique identifier, and completions and fluid events had to have a unique identifier.”

After widespread consultation and expert volunteer participation, the first draft of a new system was released in mid-2013.

How it works

Essentially, the system comprises three related identifiers that recognise every well, every wellbore and every well reporting stream.

Figure 1. CWIS identifier construction.

1. The Well ID identifies a well. Most information is filed and retrieved according to the well it came from or relates to.

2. The Wellbore ID identifies a wellbore. All downhole measurements and construction, including tests and completions, can be located by depth and time intervals within the wellbore.

3. The Well Reporting ID identifies a well reporting stream for which the regulator requires information.

The CWIS is based on the tophole location, not the bottomhole. There is no operator or other information listed that can change with time. As a result, the new identifier is permanent.

The system allows all pertinent information to be assigned to each wellbore, eliminating confusion. Figure 2 and the below table illustrate how all the components of a multilateral well in British Columbia would be identified.

Figure 2. Illustration of how all the components of a multilateral well in British Columbia would be identified.

Event-limitations is another issue that will be resolved. “The AER, which is one of the main regulators in Western Canada, has a well system that can store up to nine events per well,” says MacDougall. “But there are a lot of wells that can have more than nine events; the new system will allow a much larger number of events to be stored.”

UWI to remain as an attribute

Participants note that the old UWI is not being abandoned; it will still be attached to the CWIS. “The old UWI will remain as an attribute,” says MacDougall. “That’s important, because the old UWI tells the geologist important locational information regarding fields and plays.”

The regulator in Saskatchewan also affirms that when the new system is launched, adoption will not be mandatory; if they so choose, operators will have time to become acquainted with CWIS and measure its merits, while still relying on the old UWI for their legacy systems and records.

PPDM and the industry partners who created the CWIS look forward to the system being widely adopted in the future, but acknowledge that hurdles remain. “Companies and regulators have large legacy systems that will require changes to their data models,” says Curtis. “They have to weigh the time and financial considerations against the value they will achieve with CWIS.”

Industry feedback

In the meantime, PPDM invites the oilpatch to visit www.ppdm.org to become acquainted with the system. “You are also welcome to submit feedback,” says Curtis. “We appreciate all assistance in making it the best system possible.”

“The bottom line is that there’s going to be fewer changes and less confusion,” says MacDougall. “The oil and gas industry will get better and more consistent information in the long run.”

Sent in by the Professional Petroleum Data Management Association (PPDM), edited for web by Cecilia Rehn.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/16072014/canadian_well_identification_system_for_saskatchewan_oil_and_gas_operations/