H&P SURVEY MANAGEMENT

When drilling in congested fields, there is significant danger of catastrophic
collisions with an existing (offset) wellbore. Apart from the economic damage of
destroying two valuable wellbores, a collision may also result in a health, safety
and environmental event. That is why many operators maintain anti-collision
policies aimed at reducing the risk of such events.
These policies define the safe distance that must be maintained between two
wellbores to increase the separation factor (SF). To increase the SF between a
planned wellbore and its offset wells, the planned wellbore can sometimes be
moved or shortened. However, these modifications to the well plan can result in
suboptimal drainage and field development, stranded reserves, added drilling
complexity or additional directional work.