SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RELIEF WELLBORE PLANNING

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001]Wellbores may be drilled into a surface location or seabed for a variety of exploratory or extraction purposes. For example, a wellbore may be drilled to access fluids, such as liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, stored in subterranean formations and to extract the fluids from the formations. Wellbores used to produce or extract fluids may be formed in earthen formations using earth-boring tools such as drill bits for drilling wellbores and reamers for enlarging the diameters of wellbores.

[0002]In some cases, wellbores may experience a blowout in which subterranean fluid may flow up and out of the wellbore uncontrolled. Such blowouts can be dangerous, costly, and have significant environmental impacts. Relief wellbores may be drilled to intersect a blowout wellbore to provide remedial intervention in order to control blowout scenarios. Heavy drilling fluids and/or cement may be applied to the blowout wellbore via a relief wellbore in order to offer a more permanent solution for blowout wellbore containment.

SUMMARY

[0003]In some embodiments, a method for planning a relief wellbore includes identifying a blowout trajectory for a target wellbore, determining a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations around the blowout trajectory for a plurality of candidate relief wellbores to intersect the target wellbore at an intersection point. For each surface location, an operational difficulty is predicted for the surface location based at least in part on the plurality of candidate relief trajectories. The method further includes generating a heat map indicating the operational difficulty for the plurality of surface locations, and presenting the heat map via a graphical user interface (GUI) including presenting a normalized heat index overlayed on a geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations. In some embodiments, the method is peformed by a computer system. In some embodiments, the method is performed as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0004]This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additional features and aspects of embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth herein, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of such embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other features of the disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. For better understanding, the like elements have been designated by like reference numbers throughout the various accompanying figures. While some of the drawings may be schematic or exaggerated representations of concepts, at least some of the drawings may be drawn to scale. Understanding that the drawings depict some example embodiments, the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0006]FIG. 1 is an example of a downhole system, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0007]FIG. 2 illustrates another example of a downhole system, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0008]FIG. 3-1 illustrates an example environment in which a relief wellbore system is implemented, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0009]FIG. 3-2 illustrates an example implementation of a relief wellbore system as described herein, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0010]FIG. 4-1 illustrates a technique for determining a relief trajectory for a relief wellbore to intersect a target wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011]FIG. 4-2 illustrates a blowout trajectory with a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a given surface location for intersecting a blowout trajectory at an intersection point, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012]FIG. 4-3 illustrates a blowout trajectory with a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013]FIG. 5-1 illustrates an example heatmap for a plurality of surface locations about a blowout wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014]FIG. 5-2 illustrates an example heatmap for a plurality of surface locations about a blowout wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015]FIG. 5-3 illustrates an example heatmap for a plurality of surface locations about a blowout wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016]FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram for a method or a series of acts for planning a relief wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0017]FIG. 7 illustrates certain components that may be included within a computing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018]This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for planning for a relief wellbore. A computer-implemented relief wellbore system may identify a blowout wellbore and may receive a blowout trajectory for the blowout wellbore. The system identifies a plurality of surface locations about the blowout trajectory as potential or possible sites for implementing a relief wellbore. The plurality of surface locations may be determined based on one or more criteria, such as distributed according to a certain shape, distance, dimension, or other criteria about the blowout trajectory.

[0019]From each of the plurality of surface locations, the relief wellbore system determines one or more candidate relief trajectories to intersect the blowout trajectory at an intersection point. For example, the system may determine candidate relief trajectories by varying or changing various sections, points, curves, angles, etc., in order to determine the candidate trajectories having different variations that may be implemented at a given surface location. Based on the candidate relief trajectory(ies) at each surface location, the system determines an operational difficulty for each surface location. For example, the operational difficulty may be based on a quantity of candidate relief trajectories, a range of kickoff points, a characterization of the dog leg severity, etc., at each surface location. The relief wellbore system may also consider various other factors such as identified no-go zones associated with challenges or other risks at one or more locations, as well as environmental risk zones associated with environment-related challenges.

[0020]The relief wellbore system may represent the operational difficulty for each surface location as a heat index, and may present the heat index for the plurality of surface locations via a heat map. For example, the heat map may present a visual representation of the plurality of surface locations with the heat index overlayed thereupon. The heat map may be manipulated, augmented, or changed through user input, and the relief wellbore system may dynamically update the heatmap in order to facilitate a user consuming relevant information for making an informed decision regarding where to design, plan, implement, and/or operate a relief wellbore.

[0021]As will be discussed in further detail below, the present disclosure includes a number of practical applications having features described herein that provide benefits and/or solve problems associated with relief wellbore planning. Some example benefits are discussed herein in connection with various features and functionalities provided by a relief wellbore system implemented on one or more computing devices. It will be appreciated that benefits explicitly discussed in connection with one or more embodiments described herein are provided by way of example and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible benefits of the relief wellbore system.

[0022]For example, as described herein, a computer-implemented relief wellbore system may facilitate determining an operational difficulty for a relief wellbore at various surface locations about a blowout wellbore, and presenting the operational difficultly via a heat index of a heatmap. The heat index provides a useful, intuitive, and meaningful metric for assessing the viability, difficulty, opportunity, and/or accommodation for each surface location for implementing a relief wellbore to access a blowout wellbore. For instance, conventional solutions may typically rely on the experience, knowledge, and intuition of a skilled and practiced engineer to select a surface location, and evaluate whether the surface location is suitable for a relief wellbore. For instance, a planning engineer may utilize their experience and intuition to select a surface location (or possibly a few surface locations) and may determine or evaluate one (or a few) candidate relief trajectories from those surface location(s) in order to determine whether a given surface location is adequate. Such a technique may result in selecting a surface location and/or a relief trajectory that is satisfactory for implementing a relief wellbore, but may not fully consider or appreciate all surface locations in order to identify a best surface location having the ideal, optimal, or best opportunity for a relief wellbore. For example, it may not be practical or realistic to timely evaluate all surface locations and/or to evaluate many (or all) possible candidate trajectories at a surface location, in this manner. Accordingly, the relief wellbore may be implemented to determine, with higher accuracy, a surface location from which to implement a relief wellbore. The heatmap may visually present this information in order that a user can meaningfully and easily consume relevant factors for making an informed decision.

[0023]Additionally, the heatmap may be interactive, such as by facilitating a user adding and/or modifying one or more elements. For instance, a user may add and/or modify one or more no-go zones and/or environmental risk zones, may exclude and/or reprioritize one or more candidate trajectories, and/or may expand, reshape, and/or reallocate the plurality of surface locations. Any of these user inputs may cause the determination of the operational difficulty and/or heat index at one or more surface locations to change, and the heatmap may accordingly automatically update in order to reflect the user modifications and/or preferences. This may facilitate a user quickly and efficiently exploring various different portions, scenarios, and/or conditions relevant to relief wellbore decision making which may not practically be possible by conventional techniques. For instance, to the extent that conventions (e.g., manual-based) techniques may evaluate candidate trajectories and surface locations, it may further be impractical and/or prohibitively difficult to iterate such a process one or more times for evaluating and/or exploring different scenarios, conditions, etc.

[0024]Further, the relief wellbore system may facilitate evaluating surface locations for relief wellbore planning by any number of users having any number of various levels of skill, experience, and/or intuition. For example, where conventional techniques rely on subject matter experts, which may be a valuable yet limited resource, the relief wellbore system described herein may facilitate identifying meaningful insights about surface location opportunities quickly and accurately with any level of skill.

[0025]Additional details will now be provided regarding systems described herein in relation to illustrative figures portraying example implementations. For example, FIG. 1 shows one example of a downhole system 100 for drilling an earth formation 101 to form a wellbore 102. The downhole system 100 includes a drill rig 103 used to turn a drilling tool assembly 104 which extends downward into the wellbore 102. The drilling tool assembly 104 may include a drill string 105, a bottomhole assembly (“BHA”) 106, and a bit 110, attached to the downhole end of the drill string 105.

[0026]The drill string 105 may include several joints of drill pipe 108 connected end-to-end through tool joints 109. The drill string 105 transmits drilling fluid through a central bore and transmits rotational power from the drill rig 103 to the BHA 106. In some embodiments, the drill string 105 further includes additional downhole drilling tools and/or components such as subs, pup joints, etc. The drill pipe 108 provides a hydraulic passage through which drilling fluid is pumped from the surface. The drilling fluid discharges through selected-size nozzles, jets, or other orifices in the bit 110 for the purposes of cooling the bit 110 and cutting structures thereon, and for lifting cuttings out of the wellbore 102 as it is being drilled.

[0027]The BHA 106 may include the bit 110, other downhole drilling tools, or other components. An example BHA 106 may include additional or other downhole drilling tools or components (e.g., coupled between the drill string 105 and the bit 110). Examples of additional BHA components include drill collars, stabilizers, measurement-while-drilling (“MWD”) tools, logging-while-drilling (“LWD”) tools, downhole motors, underreamers, section mills, hydraulic disconnects, jars, vibration or dampening tools, other components, or combinations of the foregoing.

[0028]In general, the downhole system 100 may include other downhole drilling tools, components, and accessories such as special valves (e.g., kelly cocks, blowout preventers, and safety valves). Additional components included in the downhole system 100 may be considered a part of the drilling tool assembly 104, the drill string 105, or a part of the BHA 106, depending on their locations in the downhole system 100.

[0029]The bit 110 in the BHA 106 may be any type of bit suitable for degrading downhole materials. For instance, the bit 110 may be a drill bit suitable for drilling the earth formation 101. Example types of drill bits used for drilling earth formations are fixed-cutter or drag bits. In other embodiments, the bit 110 may be a mill used for removing metal, composite, elastomer, other materials downhole, or combinations thereof. For instance, the bit 110 may be used with a whipstock to mill into casing 107 lining the wellbore 102. The bit 110 may also be a junk mill used to mill away tools, plugs, cement, other materials within the wellbore 102, or combinations thereof. Swarf or other cuttings formed by use of a mill may be lifted to the surface 111 or may be allowed to fall downhole. The bit 110 may include one or more cutting elements for degrading the earth formation 101.

[0030]The BHA 106 may further include a rotary steerable system (RSS). The RSS may include directional drilling tools that change a direction of the bit 110, and thereby the trajectory of the wellbore. At least a portion of the RSS may maintain a geostationary position relative to an absolute reference frame, such as one or more of gravity, magnetic north, or true north. Using measurements obtained with the geostationary position, the RSS may locate the bit 110, change the course of the bit 110, and direct the directional drilling tools on a projected trajectory. The RSS may steer the bit 110 in accordance with or based on a trajectory for the bit 110. For example, a trajectory may be determined for directing the bit 110 toward one or more subterranean targets such as an oil or gas reservoir.

[0031]In some cases, the wellbore 102 may experience a blowout condition. For example, subsurface fluids may flow (e.g., unregulated) up and out of the wellbore 102 based on a loss of control of a reservoir, elevated downhole pressures, failure of the wellbore 102, etc. In order to intervene, mitigate, remedy, or otherwise control the blowout condition, one or more relief wells may be drilled to intersect the blowout wellbore at an underground location. In order to control (e.g., and ultimately kill the blowout) a specialized liquid, such as a heavy (dense) drilling mud followed by cement can be pumped down the relief well in order to stop the flow from the reservoir in the blowout wellbore.

[0032]In some cases, the downhole system 100 may include or may be associated with a client device 112 with a relief wellbore system 120 implemented thereon (e.g., or with a client application implemented thereon for accessing the relief wellbore system 120 as described herein). The relief wellbore system 120 may facilitate determining a surface location for planning and/or implementing a relief wellbore for intersecting the wellbore 102, for example, to provide remedial intervention of the wellbore 102 in the event of a blowout.

[0033]FIG. 2 is another example of a downhole system 208, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Any of the features and/or components as described in connection with downhole system 100 of FIG. 1 may be combined with any of the features and/or components as described in connection with the downhole system 208 of FIG. 2.

[0034]The downhole system 208 may be configured to extract various minerals, such as oil, gas and/or hydrocarbons from the earth. In the illustrated embodiment, the downhole system 208 is subsea (e.g., a subsea system, an offshore system, etc.). In certain embodiments, the downhole system 208 may be land-based (e.g., a surface system). The downhole system 208 may include a surface vessel or platform 212, such as a rig, generally located at a first surface 214 (e.g., a sea surface or a land surface).

[0035]The downhole system 208 may include a wellhead assembly 218 (e.g., a wellhead system, a subsea wellhead assembly) located below the first surface 214. In some embodiments, the wellhead assembly 218 may be located at a second surface 224 (e.g., sea floor, seabed, mudline, etc.). For instance, the wellhead assembly 218 and/or the second surface 224 may be located at greater than or equal to approximately 500 meters (m), 1,000 m, 2,000 m, 3,000 m, or more below the first surface 214. The wellhead assembly 218 couples to a well 220 to enable extraction of minerals from a subterranean formation 222 (e.g., a reservoir, a mineral deposit, etc.) disposed below the second surface 224 of the earth. The wellhead assembly 218 may include a wellhead 226 (e.g., wellhead housing), which may be generally located at or near the second surface 224.

[0036]The wellhead assembly 218 may include a plurality of coaxial strings 228 (e.g., pipes, casing, and/or tubing) that extend from the wellhead 226 into a wellbore 230 of the well 220. The strings 228 may be cemented into place in the well 220. In particular, cement 232 may be disposed between the strings 228 and the subterranean formation 222, for example, to block or prevent unintentional flow of fluids (e.g., oil, gas, and/or hydrocarbons) from the subterranean formation 222 to the second surface 224 or to other subterranean formations below the second surface 224. In some embodiments, the cement 232 may extend into annuli 234 formed between the strings 228. Further, the wellhead assembly 218 may include a plurality of perforations 236 (e.g., holes) that extend through the cement 232 and at least one string 228 of the plurality of strings 228 (e.g., casing strings) to establish fluid communication between the subterranean formation 222 and the wellhead assembly 218.

[0037]The wellhead assembly 218 may include multiple components that control and regulate activities and conditions associated with the well 220. For example, the wellhead assembly 218 may include components, such as bodies, valves, seals, a tree (e.g., a Christmas tree), and so forth, that route minerals extracted from the subterranean formation 222, regulate pressure in the well 220, and/or inject chemicals into the well 220. In some embodiments, the wellhead assembly 218 may be coupled to a blowout preventer (BOP) assembly 240 configured to seal the well 220 to block or prevent oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and/or other fluids from exiting the well 220 in the event of a blowout, or an unintentional release of pressure or an overpressure condition. In some embodiments, the BOP assembly 240 may include one or more of a BOP 242 (e.g., a BOP stack) and a lower marine riser package (LMRP) 244. The BOP 242 may include one or more preventers, spoils, valves, and/or controls and may be operatively coupled to the wellhead 226 of the wellhead assembly 218. The LMRP 244 may be operatively coupled to the BOP 242 and a conduit 246 (e.g., a riser, a marine riser, a pipeline, etc.) extending from the surface vessel or platform 212. The LMRP 244 may include a ball/flex joint coupled to the conduit 246, a conduit adapter (e.g., a marine riser adapter), and kill and auxiliary lines.

[0038]The downhole system 208 may include a control system 248 (e.g., a surface controller, a topside controller, a processor-based controller, a master control module, etc.) for providing communication (e.g., electrical or optical) and/or power transmission to various subsurface components. The control system 248 may be generally located at the first surface 214 but may be located and/or may include components located at any other location. In some embodiments, the control system 248 may be disposed on the surface vessel or platform 212. The control system may communicate with (e.g., data communication, power transmission, monitoring, controlling, etc.) various subsurface components for enhancing the efficiency and safety of producing minerals from the formation 222. For instance, the control system 248 may communicate with permanently installed downhole sensors, gauges and other instrumentation and/or may power downhole valves or other equipment.

[0039]In some embodiments, the downhole system 208 may include or may be associated with the client device 112 with the relief wellbore system 120 implemented thereon (e.g., or with a client application implemented thereon for accessing the relief wellbore system 120 as described herein). The relief wellbore system 120 may facilitate determining a surface location for planning and/or implementing a relief wellbore as described herein.

[0040]FIG. 3-1 illustrates an example environment 300 in which a relief wellbore system 120 is implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the environment 300 includes a server device 114. The server device 114 may include one or more computing devices (e.g., including processing units, data storage, etc.) organized in an architecture with various network interfaces for connecting to and providing data management and distribution across one or more client systems. As shown in FIG. 3-1, the server device 114 may be connected to and may communicate with (either directly or indirectly) a client device 112 through a network 116. The network 116 may include one or multiple networks and may use one or more communication platforms and/or technologies suitable for transmitting data. The network 116 may refer to any data link that enables transport of electronic data between devices of the environment 200. The network 116 may refer to a hardwired network, a wireless network, or a combination of a hardwired network and a wireless network. In one or more embodiments, the network 116 includes the internet. The network 116 may be configured to facilitate communication between the various computing devices via well-site information transfer standard markup language (WITSML) or similar protocol, or any other protocol or form of communication.

[0041]The client device 112 may be representative of one or multiple client devices, and may refer to various types of computing devices. For example, the client device 112 may include a mobile device such as a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a laptop, or any other portable device. Additionally, or alternatively, the client device 112 may include one or more non-mobile devices such as a desktop computer, server device, surface or downhole processor or computer (e.g., associated with a sensor, system, or function of the downhole system), or other non-portable device. In one or more implementations, the client device 112 includes graphical user interfaces (GUI) thereon (e.g., a screen of a mobile device). In addition, or as an alternative, one or more of the client device 112 may be communicatively coupled (e.g., wired or wirelessly) to a display device having a graphical user interface thereon for providing a display of system content. The server device 114 may similarly refer to various types of computing devices. Each of the devices of the environment 300 may include features and/or functionalities described below in connection with FIG. 7.

[0042]As shown in FIG. 3-1, the environment 300 may include a relief wellbore system 120 implemented on the server device 114. While shown on the server device 114, the relief wellbore system 120 may be implemented wholly or in part on the client device 112, across the server device 114 and the client device 112, or on or across one or more additional devices, such that different portions or components of the relief wellbore system 120 are implemented on different computing devices in the environment 200. The client device 112 may include a client application 118. The client application 118 may include an application or interface for interacting with and/or receiving the features of the relief wellbore system 120 as described herein. In some embodiments, one or more of the functionalities or features of the relief wellbore system 120 may be carried out or performed on or by the client application 118. In this way, the environment 200 may be a cloud computing environment, and the relief wellbore system 120 may be implemented across one or more devices of the cloud computing environment in order to leverage the processing capabilities, memory capabilities, connectivity, speed, etc., that such cloud computing environments offer in order to facilitate the features and functionalities described herein.

[0043]FIG. 3-2 illustrates an example implementation of the relief wellbore system 120 as described herein, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The relief wellbore system 120 may include a trajectory manager 122, a prediction manager 124, and a heatmap generator 126. The relief wellbore system 120 may also include a data storage 130 having trajectories 132 and heatmap data 134 stored thereon. While one or more embodiments described herein describe features and functionalities performed by specific components 122-126 of the relief wellbore system 120, it will be appreciated that specific features described in connection with one component of the relief wellbore system 120 may, in some examples, be performed by one or more of the other components of the relief wellbore system 120.

[0044]By way of example, one or more trajectories may be identified and/or determined by the trajectory manager 122 or may be delegated to other components of the relief wellbore system 120. As another example, while operational difficulties, probabilities, opportunities, etc., may be performed by the prediction manager 124, in some instances, some or all of these features may be performed by the heatmap generator 126 (or other component of the relief wellbore system 120). Indeed, it will be appreciated that some or all of the specific components may be combined into other components and specific functions may be performed by one or across multiple components 122-126 of the relief wellbore system 120.

[0045]Additionally, while FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, depict the relief wellbore system 120 implemented on a client device 112 of the downhole system, it should be understood that some or all of the features and functionalities of the relief wellbore system 120 may be implemented on or across multiple client devices 112 and/or server devices 114. For example, one or more heatmaps may be generated on a (e.g., local) client device based on trajectories determined on one or more of a remote, server, or cloud device. Indeed, it will be appreciated that some or all of the specific components 122-126 may be implemented on or across multiple client devices 112 and/or server devices 114, including individual functions of a specific component being performed across multiple devices.

[0046]Turning now to FIG. 4-1, this figure illustrates a technique for determining a relief trajectory for a relief wellbore to intersect a target wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. As just mentioned, the relief wellbore system 120 includes a trajectory manager 122. The trajectory manager 122 may receive, identify, and/or determine one or more trajectories. In some cases, the trajectory manager 122 may receive or identify a blowout trajectory 142 for a blowout wellbore 140. The blowout trajectory 142 may be a trajectory for a wellbore (e.g., the blowout wellbore 140) that is or has experienced a blowout and for which one or more relief wellbores 146 may be implemented for intervention purposes. In some cases, the blowout trajectory 142 may be otherwise associated with a target wellbore or other wellbore of interest that has not necessarily experienced a blowout, but for which it may be desirable to determine one or more relief trajectories for one or more relief wellbores. For instance, one or more relief wellbores may be determined or planned as part of a contingency or failure plan for a target wellbore. The trajectory manager 122 may receive the blowout trajectory 142 and associated information about the blowout wellbore 140 through access to another computing system, database, library, etc. or through user input.

[0047]As described herein, the trajectory manager 122 may facilitate determining one or multiple candidate relief trajectories 148 for one or more candidate relief wellbores 146. The candidate relief trajectories 148 and candidate relief wellbores 146 may be candidates in that they may be possible, feasible, or otherwise potential wellbores/trajectories for intersecting the blowout wellbore 140 for the purpose of analysis to determine an opportunistic surface location upon which to design and/or implement a final or selected relief wellbore. In some embodiments, other identified surface locations may be excluded from selection. For example, where ten potential surface locations may be identified, fewer than ten surface locations may be selected (e.g., and accordingly fewer than ten relief wellbores/trajectories may be formed).

[0048]In some embodiments, the trajectory manager 122 may identify a plurality of surface locations 150 positioned around the blowout wellbore 140. For instance, the trajectory manager 122 may determine a grid, line, perimeter, or area around the blowout wellbore 140 having a plurality of discrete surface locations 150. Each surface location 150 may be a potential site or location for planning and/or implementing a relief wellbore. In some embodiments, the plurality of surface locations 150 is an area encompassing a plurality of discrete surface locations within a predefined range. In some embodiments, the plurality of surface locations 150 is a perimeter, for example, where each surface location 150 is a predefined distance from the blowout wellbore 140. The trajectory manager 122 may determine the area of surface locations 150 based on a certain shape or pattern around the trajectory manager 122, or based on any other criteria. For example, in some cases the plurality of surface locations 150 may be a circle or square having a diameter or side length of 1 km, 2 km, 3 km, 4 km, 5 km, or other dimension. In some cases, the plurality of surface locations 150 may be determined based on a plan, specification, or regulation associated with the blowout wellbore 140. For instance, in some cases, a contingency plan, governmental regulation, or organizational policy may determine a minimum and/or maximum distance (e.g., and a shape) at which the surface locations 150 may be with respect to the blowout wellbore 140.

[0049]Based on the plurality of surface locations 150, the trajectory manager 122 may determine a plurality of candidate relief trajectories 148 for intersecting the blowout trajectory 142 at an intersection point 152. The intersection point 152 may be a point at which it is determined that a relief wellbore will intersect the blowout wellbore 140. The intersection point 152 may be determined based on a specific measurement depth (MD) of the blowout wellbore 140, based on an MD of an associated reservoir, or based on some other policy, regulation, or criteria dictating at which point to intersect the blowout wellbore 140.

[0050]The trajectory manager 122 may determine one or more candidate relief trajectories 148 to reach the intersection point 152. For example, FIG. 4-2 illustrates the blowout trajectory 142 with a plurality of candidate relief trajectories 148 from a given surface location 150 for intersecting the blowout trajectory 142 at the intersection point 152, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4-3 illustrates the blowout trajectory 142 with a plurality of candidate relief trajectories 148 from a plurality of surface locations, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051]With reference again to FIG. 4-1, the trajectory manager 122 may determine candidate relief trajectories 148 based on the candidate relief trajectories being possible, feasible, or otherwise drillable to the intersection point 152 from the surface location 150. For instance, the trajectory manager 122 may implement one or more constraints, rules, guidelines, or other objectives in determining the candidate relief trajectories. For instance, a candidate relief trajectory 148 may be determined based on a variety of sections for the trajectory. For example, a candidate relief trajectory 148 may include a vertical portion 156 which may extend substantially vertically down from the surface location 150. From the vertical portion 156, the candidate relief trajectory 148 may begin to depart or deviate from the vertical portion 156 at a kickoff point 154. The kickoff point 154 may be defined by a certain MD from the surface location 150. The candidate relief trajectory 148 may include a building section 158. The building section 158 may be a section in which the candidate relief trajectory 148 may exhibit a curve or bend toward the blowout trajectory 142. Together with a tangent section 160, the building section 158 and the tangent section 160 may extend the candidate relief trajectory 148 to or toward the blowout trajectory 142 to a ranging point 162. The ranging point 162 may be a point at which a ranging tool implemented in the wellbore may begin to detect the blowout trajectory 142. For example, the ranging point 162 may be located a ranging distance 166, or a maximum or desirable distance at which a ranging tool may begin to locate the blowout wellbore 140. A ranging section 164 may proceed from the ranging point 162 in which a ranging tool may be implemented to bring the candidate relief trajectory 148 in toward the blowout trajectory 142. Together with an intercept tangent section 168, the ranging section 164 and the intercept tangent section 168 may intercept the blowout trajectory 142 at the intercept point 152. The intercept tangent section 168 may intersect the blowout trajectory 142 at an intercept angle 170. The intercept angle 170 may be a measure of inclination of the intercept tangent section to vertical or else may be a measure of the angle between the inclination of the intercept tangent section 168 and an inclination of the blowout trajectory 142 at or near the intersection point 152.

[0052]The trajectory manager 122 may determine, for each surface location 150, one or more candidate relief trajectories 148 based on one or more constraints or objectives for one or more of the various sections and points just described. For example, as mentioned, the trajectory manager 122 may determine one of more candidate relief trajectories 148 based on the interception point 152 being at a certain MD of the blowout trajectory 142, or may incorporate the interception point 152 at several different MDs. In some cases, the ranging point 162 may be determined based on a given or identified ranging distance 166. For instance, the trajectory manager 122 may identify (e.g., from a tool specification of a ranging tool available or planned for use in a relief wellbore) a ranging distance 166 for the ranging tool, and the trajectory manager 122 may determine candidate relief trajectories 148 that at least satisfy that ranging distance 166. In another example, the building section 158 and/or the ranging section 164 may be associated with a specific (e.g., maximum) curve, angle, or dog leg severity (DLS) by which downhole equipment can form the candidate relief trajectory 148. For instance, the trajectory manager 122 may identify the capabilities of the various tools or other equipment that may be implemented for forming the candidate relief trajectory 148, and may incorporate those capabilities, such as a maximum DLS, into determining one or more candidate relief trajectories 148. In some embodiments, a desired and/or maximum DLS may otherwise be dictated by a regulation, policy, or objective associated with the candidate relief wellbore 146. The trajectory manager 122 may determine various candidate relief trajectories 148 that are within these DLS requirements. In another example, the trajectory manager 122 may determine one or more candidate relief trajectories 148 based on a specified or objective intercept angle 170. For instance, the intercept angle 170 may be specified to be a maximum, minimum, or range of angles by which the candidate relief trajectory 148 must intercept the blowout wellbore 140. In some embodiments, the trajectory manager 122 determines one or more candidate trajectories 148 based on a minimum or maximum length for one or more of the vertical portion 156, the tangent section 160, and/or the intercept tangent section 168. The trajectory manager 122 may incorporate any other criteria, constraint, rule, or objective. In this way, the trajectory manager 122 may determine one or more candidate relief trajectories that are feasible, possible, or otherwise drillable from a given surface location 150.

[0053]The trajectory manager 122 may determine various candidate relief trajectories 148 having different dimensions, curves, angles, kickoff points, or other variations and which are within certain constraints as identified in relation to the various points and sections just described. For instance, in some cases, the trajectory manager 122 may determine all possible or feasible candidate relief trajectories 148 for each surface location 150. In some embodiments, as described herein, the trajectory manager 122 determines one or more (e.g., several) candidate relief trajectories 148 through a range of possible kickoff points 154 of each surface location, for example, for the purpose of determining a range of possible kickoff points (e.g., a range of depths of the kick off points 154) that a given surface location 150 can accommodate. In some embodiments, as described herein, the trajectory manager 122 determines one or more (e.g., several) candidate relief trajectories 148 through a range of possible DLS (for the various sections of the trajectory) for each surface location, for instance, for determining a range of DLS that a given surface location 150 can accommodate.

[0054]As mentioned, the relief wellbore system 120 includes a prediction manager 124. The prediction manager 124 may facilitate determining an operational difficulty for implementing a relief wellbore at one or more surface locations 150. For instance, the operational difficulty may be a metric which may characterize the accessibility, flexibility, degree of accommodation, favorability, and/or potential of opportunity for designing, planning, and/or implementing a relief wellbore at one or more surface locations. For example, a high operational difficulty may indicate that a given surface location may allow less flexibility and/or may be less accommodating for planning and implementing a relief trajectory at the given location. For instance, given the geometry of the associated blowout trajectory, the relative position of the surface location with respect to the associated blowout wellbore, environmental challenges, geological obstacles, etc., a surface location may be characterized by a high operational difficulty. A surface location that is more flexible, has more potential for opportunity, and/or is otherwise more accommodating may be associated with a low operational difficulty.

[0055]The prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty based on one or more of the candidate relief trajectories 148 determined by the trajectory manager 122. For example, in some cases, the prediction manager 124 may access or receive the candidate relief trajectories 148. In some cases, the prediction manager 124 indicates to the trajectory manager 122 one or more candidate relief trajectories 148 to determine, such as by indicating one or more constraints or criteria to implement in determining one or more candidate relief trajectories 148 for one or more surface locations.

[0056]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 determines the operational difficulty based on a quantity of candidate relief trajectories for a given surface location. For example, the trajectory manager 122 may determine, for a surface location, all possible or feasible candidate relief trajectories 148 from that surface location to the blowout trajectory 142. For instance, the trajectory manager 122 may vary the various parameters, lengths, angles, curves, points, etc., as described above in order to determine each possible variation of relief candidate trajectory that a surface location may accommodate. The prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty based on the potential for different relief wellbores at the surface location in view of the candidate relief trajectories determined by the trajectory manager 122 at a given surface location. For example, a surface location that may accommodate more candidate relief trajectories may be associated with a lower operational difficulty score. A surface location with fewer feasible candidate relief trajectories may be associated with a higher operational difficulty score.

[0057]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 determines the operational difficulty based on a range of kickoff points, or a range of depths of the associated kickoff points, which are available at a given surface location. For example, the trajectory manager 122 may determine candidate relief trajectories for various kickoff points at depths of the vertical section as described above. The trajectory manager 122 may advance the depth of the kickoff point according to an interval in order to identify at which MDs for a surface location potential relief wellbore may kickoff from the vertical section. For example, the interval may be every 5 m, 10 m, 15 m, 20 m, 30 m, 40 m, 50 m, or another interval. Accordingly, the prediction manager 124 may determine a range of MDs for a range of kickoff points through which candidate relief trajectories span for a given surface location. For example, the prediction manager 124 may determine, for each MD, whether a kickoff point at the MD may accommodate at least one candidate relief trajectory, and in this way may determine what range of kickoff point MDs a given surface location can accommodate. The prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty based on the range of kickoff point depths for a given surface location. For example, a surface location having a wider range of kickoff points may be associated with a lower operational difficulty, and a surface location with less potential kickoff points may be associated with a higher operational difficulty.

[0058]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 determines the operational difficulty based on a DLS of one or more candidate relief trajectories for a given surface location. For example, the prediction manager 124 may determine a maximum and/or minimum DLS that is exhibited by the candidate relief trajectories for a surface location. In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 determines a range of DLS of the candidate relief trajectories for a surface location. The prediction manager 124 may determine a statistical property with respect to the DLS for the candidate trajectories for a given surface location, such as an average, mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation etc. The prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty based on characterizing the associated DLS for a surface location. For instance, a surface location that may accommodate a wide range of DLS may be associated with a lower operational difficulty. In some cases, a surface location that has a higher average DLS may be associated with a higher operational difficulty. In another example, a surface location with a higher minimum DLS (e.g., indicating that all candidate relief trajectories have at least the minimum DLS, and the minimum is relatively higher) may be associated with a higher operational difficulty.

[0059]In this way, the prediction manager 124 may determine an operational difficulty for one or more (or all) surface locations. In some cases, the prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty based on one of the techniques and/or measures described herein. For example, the operational difficulty may be based on the quantity of candidate relief trajectories for a given surface location, based on a range of kickoff point MDs for a given surface location, or based on a DLS characterization for a given surface location.

[0060]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 determines the operational difficulty based on several factors or measures. For example, the operational difficulty may be based on the quantity of candidate relief trajectories and the range of kickoff point MDs for a given surface location (or other combination of the metrics or criteria described herein). In some cases, the operational difficultly may be based on the quantity of candidate relief trajectories, the range of kickoff point MDs, and the DLS characterization at a given surface location. For instance, the measured or determined values for these various metrics may be normalized and may be combined in order to determine the operational difficulty, such as through a cost function. In some cases, one or more of these metrics may be weighted in order that they are considered at different proportions according to the weightings. The weighting may be based on user-defined weightings or preference. For example, in some cases, having a wider range of kickoff points MDs may be more valuable or may be more indicative of the potential opportunity for a surface location than the quantity of candidate relief trajectories from that surface location. Accordingly, the kickoff point MD metric may be more heavily weighted than the metric for the quantity of candidate relief trajectories in order to reflect this relationship. In another example, in some cases, having more restricting DLS characterization may be more indicative of a high operational difficulty than other metrics, and the DLS metric may accordingly be more penalized through weightings. In this way, the operational difficulty may be based on any (or all) of the criteria described herein for characterizing the potential for a surface location for implementing a relief wellbore.

[0061]The operational difficulty may be a (e.g., normalized) value on a scale representative of any of the criteria described herein. For example, the operational difficulty may be normalized to be represented as a heat index, for example, from 0 to 1 (or from some other minimum and maximum). The heat index may indicate surface locations with lower operational difficulty as hotter, and surface locations with higher operational difficulty as cooler. The heat index may be indicative of the result of the cost function and/or weighted measures as described above. In this way, the heat index may be a predictive measure for the potential of a surface location for implementing a relief wellbore.

[0062]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may identify and/or receive one or more no-go zones. The no-go zones may be areas, boundaries, locations, volumes, etc., in which a relief wellbore may not traverse, pass, originate, etc. For example, a no-go zone may be associated with one or more surface locations in which equipment is located and in which it may not be possible, feasible, or permitted to drill a relief wellbore. For example, a no-go zone may correspond with surface drilling equipment, a pipeline, or another wellbore located at or near a surface location. A no-go zone may be associated with the location of a planned wellbore, pipeline, or surface equipment. A no-go zone may be associated with a geographical boundary in which it may not be permitted to cross, such as a lease line or other boundary indicating the boundary of permitted drillable ground. In some examples a no-go zone may be associated with a geological feature which may be difficult, impassible, or otherwise undesirable to drill through, such as a specific formation, reservoir, or structure which may not be suitable for a relief wellbore to pass through. A no-go zone may be determined based on a level of risk for collision with another wellbore. A no-go zone may be associated with a specific (e.g., 2-dimensional) area at the surface of the earth, or may be a volume, boundary, or other demarcation of a subsurface space.

[0063]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty or the heat index based on one or more no-go zones. For example, the prediction manager 124 may remove, filter, or exclude one or more candidate relief trajectories that traverse, originate at, or are otherwise associated with a no-go zone. For instance, excluding one or more candidate relief trajectories may affect the determination of the range of kickoff point MDs, quantity of candidate relief trajectories, DLS characterization, etc., for a given surface location. In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may penalize or more heavily weigh against one or more candidate relief trajectories and/or surface locations associated with a no-go zone. For example, a no-go zone associated with a geological feature that is undesirable (e.g., but not impossible) for drilling through may be penalized or weighed against such that the heat index may be determined and may represent a commensurate operational difficulty for the associated surface location. In some cases, the prediction manager 124 may determine or represent the heat index so as to represent that a given surface location cannot accommodate a relief wellbore, such as in association with one or more no-go zones that are prohibitive of drilling a relief wellbore.

[0064]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may identify and/or receive one or more environmental risk zones. The environmental risk zones may be areas, boundaries, locations, etc. which may pose a risk or challenge for implementing a relief wellbore based on the environment at that location. For example, the prediction manager 124 may receive meteorological data associated with the geographical location of the blowout wellbore and the plurality of surface locations. The meteorological data may include present, historical, and/or forecasted data and may include sea current information, wind information, weather information, or any other relevant information associated with the local environment. Based on the meteorological data, the prediction manager 124 may predict or forecast one or more environmental conditions at one or more surface locations that may be associated with an environmental risk at the surface locations. For example, the prediction manager 124 may determine that a specific location may experience rough seas, strong ocean currents, storms or other meteorological events, etc., which may adversely affect the drilling and/or implementation of a relief wellbore at that surface location. The prediction manager 124 may characterize an environmental risk zone based on an average, maximum, minimum, mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation, or other metric for representing an environmental condition, for example, that may change over a window for drilling or implementing a relief wellbore.

[0065]In another example, the prediction manager 124 may forecast or predict, based on the meteorological data, an environmental risk zone that is a spillage or leak zone for fluid leaking from the blowout wellbore. For example, in an offshore implementation, a blowout wellbore may leak hydrocarbons or other fluid which may gather and/or float at the surface of the sea. Sea currents and/or weather patterns may cause the fluid to flow or migrate to a specific location (or a changing location), and the prediction manager 124 may forecast or predict where the leak zone may be for one or more future prediction windows. For example, it may be dangerous, costly, and/or otherwise undesirable to position and/or operate equipment (e.g., vessels, platforms etc.) within or near the leaked fluid. Accordingly, the prediction manager 124 may determine and identify an environmental risk zone. The prediction manager 124 may forecast or predict one or more environmental conditions for a forecast window, for example, associated with a drilling and/or operation of the relief wellbore.

[0066]In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may determine the operational difficulty or the heat index based on one or more environmental risk zones. For example, the prediction manager 124 may remove, filter, or exclude one or more candidate relief trajectories that traverse, originate at, or are otherwise associated with an environmental risk zone. For instance, excluding one or more candidate relief trajectories may effect, the determination of the range of kickoff point MDs, quantity of candidate relief trajectories, DLS characterization, etc., for a given surface location. In some embodiments, the prediction manager 124 may penalize or more heavily weigh against one or more candidate relief trajectories and/or surface locations associated with an environmental risk zone. For example, an environmental risk zone associated with a fluid spillage may be penalized or weighed against such that the heat index may be determined and may represent a commensurate operational difficultly for the associated surface location. Similarly, an environmental risk zone associated with predicted rough seas or other undesirable weather conditions may be incorporated by weighing or penalizing some surface locations proportionately. In some cases, the prediction manager 124 may determine or represent the heat index so as to represent that a given surface location cannot accommodate a relief wellbore, such as in association with one or more environmental risk zones that are prohibitive of drilling a relief wellbore.

[0067]FIG. 5-1 illustrates an example heatmap 500-1 for a plurality of surface locations 550-1 about a blowout wellbore 540-1, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5-2 illustrates an example heatmap 500-2 for a plurality of surface locations 550-2 about a blowout wellbore 540-2, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5-3 illustrates an example heatmap 500-3 for a plurality of surface locations 550-3 about a blowout wellbore 540-3, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGS. 5-1 to 5-3 will be discussed together, with occasional references collectively to heatmaps (collectively 500), surface locations (collectively 550), and blowout wellbores (collectively 540).

[0068]As mentioned above, the relief wellbore system 120 includes a heatmap generator 126. The heatmap generator 126 may facilitate generating one or more heatmaps 500 for displaying or representing the operational difficulty, or heat index 502, for one or more surface locations 550. The heatmap may illustrate or represent the plurality of surface locations, for example, arranged in accordance with a geographical orientation of the plurality of surface locations. In some embodiments, the heatmap 500 may include one or more geographical and/or geological features relevant to or associated with the plurality of surface locations. For example, the heatmap 500 may illustrate a geographical depiction of an oilfield or basin in which a blowout wellbore 540 is located, and may illustrate the plurality of surface locations in that oilfield or basin. The heatmap 500 may illustrate surface or other downhole equipment, one or more other wellbores, natural features of the geography, etc.

[0069]The heatmaps 500 may visually present the heat index 502, for example, through a spectrum of colors, shading, pixel or dot density, or other distinguishing pattern or visual representation for presenting the spectrum of the heat index 502. For instance, the heat index 502 may be a scale from 0 to 1 (or other range) for representing the potential for each surface location to host a relief wellbore as described herein. The heat index 502 may be an overlay on top of the geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations. As shown in FIG. 5-1, the surface locations 550-1 may be distributed as a line or perimeter about the blowout wellbore 540-1. The surface locations 550-1 may be distributed about the blowout wellbore 540-1 in any shape, form, or pattern, such as a circle, square, triangle, rectangle, other n-sided shape, non-uniform shape, etc. As shown in FIG. 5-2, the surface locations 550-2 may be distributed as an area about the blowout wellbore 540-2. The area may be partially or fully filled in. The area may be any shape or pattern as described herein. In some embodiments, the heatmap 500 may be 2-dimensional, for example as shown in FIGS. 5-1 and 5-2. In some embodiments, the heatmap 500 may be 3-dimensional, for example, as shown in FIG. 5-3 and may include 3-dimensional representation of one or more other features.

[0070]The representation of the heat index (e.g., coloring, shading, etc.) of the plurality of surface locations 550 may present a visual representation of the areas around the blowout wellbore 540 which may be most fruitful or advantageous for designing, drilling, implementing, and/or operating a relief wellbore. For example, as described herein, the heat index 502 may be determined based on a number of different factors indicative of the ability of a surface location to accommodate various relief wellbore trajectories, risks and/or advantages associated with a specific location, etc. In this way, the heatmap 500 may facilitate a user conceptualizing, internalizing, and/or understanding an opportunity associated with the plurality of surface locations. For example, the heatmap generator 126 may generate and present the heatmap 500 via a graphical user interface (GUI) of a client device for a user to consume.

[0071]In some embodiments, the heatmap generator 126 illustrates or represents one or more no-go zones on the heatmap 500. For example, as shown in FIG. 5-3, the heatmap 500-3 includes a no-go zone 560. The no-go zone 560 may be at a surface area, boundary, or line, or may be a subsurface area or volume. In some embodiments, the heatmap may illustrate an environmental risk zone. For example, the heatmap 500-3 includes an environmental risk zone 562, which may be associated with a leakage area of fluid from the blowout wellbore 540-3. In some embodiments, the heatmap generator 126 may illustrate one or more candidate relief trajectories on the heatmap 500. For example, the heatmap 500-3 includes several candidate relief trajectories 548 from a given surface location. The heatmap 500 may include any number of candidate relief trajectories 548 associated with any number of surface areas.

[0072]In some embodiments, the heatmap generator 126 may update the heatmap 500. For example, a user may interact with the heatmap and/or may provide user input, and the heatmap generator 126 may dynamically update the heatmap 500. For instance, the heatmap 500 may be dynamically resized, repositioned, and/or rotated based on a user input. In some embodiments, the heatmap generator 126 may present additional information on the heatmap, such as an overlay on one or more surface locations. For example, a user may select one or more surface locations and the heatmap generator 126 may present additional information about that surface location. For instance, the heatmap generator 126 may provide information about associated candidate relief trajectories such as the quantity, the kickoff point range, and/or the DLS characterization for a given surface location.

[0073]The heatmap generator 126 may facilitate a user filtering one or more relief trajectories, adjusting a weighting of one or more candidate relief trajectories or surface locations, adjusting a no-go zone, adjusting an environmental risk area, adjusting a penalty or weighting associated with a no-go zone and/or environmental risk area, adjusting the distribution of surface locations, or combinations thereof. The heatmap generator 126 may dynamically update and refresh the heatmap 500 based on one or more user adjustments. In this way, the heatmap may be dynamic and interactive, which may further facilitate the user consuming relevant information for informing a decision on where to design and/or implement a relief wellbore.

[0074]In some embodiments, the relief wellbore system 120 may facilitate selecting a surface location for implementing a relief wellbore. For example, based on the heat index and/or operational difficulty, the relief wellbore system 120 may identify a surface location with a highest heat index and may indicate this surface location as a best candidate for implementing a relief wellbore. In some embodiments, the heat map generator 126 may illustrate or otherwise indicate this surface location on the heat map as a selected (i.e., best) surface location for a relief wellbore. In some embodiments, the relief wellbore system 120 may communicate with the selected surface location. For example, the relief wellbore system 120 may provide a notification, flag, or other indication of the selected surface location to a user. In another example, the relief wellbore system 120 may communicate the selected surface location to another system or device, for example for facilitating designing, planning, drilling, and/or operating a relief wellbore at that surface location.

[0075]FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram for a method 600 or a series of acts for planning a relief wellbore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. While FIG. 6 illustrates acts according to one embodiment, alternative embodiments may add to, omit, reorder, or modify any of the acts of FIG. 6. In some embodiments, the acts of FIG. 6 are performed as a method. In some embodiments, the acts of FIG. 6 are performed by a system. In some embodiments, the acts of FIG. 6 are performed as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0076]In some embodiments, the method 600 includes an act 610 of identifying a blowout trajectory for a target wellbore.

[0077]In some embodiments, the method 600 includes an act 620 of determining a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations around the blowout trajectory for a plurality of candidate relief wellbores to intersect the target wellbore at an intersection point.

[0078]In some embodiments, the method 600 includes an act 630 of, for each surface location, predicting an operational difficulty for the surface location based at least in part on the plurality of candidate relief trajectories.

[0079]In some embodiments, the method 600 includes an act 640 of generating a heat map indicating the operational difficulty for the plurality of surface locations.

[0080]In some embodiments, the method 600 includes an act 650 of presenting the heat map via a graphical user interface (GUI) including presenting a normalized heat index overlayed on a geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations.

[0081]In some embodiments, the target wellbore is a blowout wellbore that has experienced a blowout.

[0082]In some embodiments, the method further includes updating the heat map and presenting the updated heat map via the GUI based on user input.

[0083]In some embodiments, the user input includes modifying at least one of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories and dynamically updating the heat map including dynamically determining an updated operational difficulty for at least one surface location of the plurality of surface locations.

[0084]In some embodiments, the method further includes selecting a surface location of the plurality of surface locations for implementing the relief wellbore to access the target wellbore based on the heat map.

[0085]In some embodiments, the method further includes causing the relief wellbore to be drilled at the selected surface location to access the target wellbore.

[0086]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a range of kick off points of one or more respective candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0087]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a characterization of a dog leg severity of one or more respective candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0088]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a quantity of respective candidate relief trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0089]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one no-go zone and excluding one or more candidate relief trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one no-go zone.

[0090]In some embodiments, at least one no-go zone corresponds with one or more of a geological feature, a geographical boundary, or one or more collision risks.

[0091]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one environmental risk zone based on meteorological data and excluding one or more candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one environmental risk zone.

[0092]In some embodiments, the meteorological data includes sea current information and forecasted information, and identifying the at least one environmental risk zone includes predicting a predicted leak area from the target wellbore.

[0093]Turning now to FIG. 7, this figure illustrates certain components that may be included within a computer system 700. One or more computer systems 700 may be used to implement the various devices, components, and systems described herein.

[0094]The computer system 700 includes a processor 701. The processor 701 may be a general-purpose single-or multi-chip microprocessor (e.g., an Advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) Machine (ARM)), a special purpose microprocessor (e.g., a digital signal processor (DSP)), a microcontroller, a programmable gate array, etc. The processor 701 may be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Although just a single processor 701 is shown in the computer system 700 of FIG. 7, in an alternative configuration, a combination of processors (e.g., an ARM and DSP) could be used.

[0095]The computer system 700 also includes memory 703 in electronic communication with the processor 701. The memory 703 may include computer-readable storage media and can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. Computer-readable media that store computer-executable instructions are non-transitory computer-readable media (device). Computer-readable media that carry computer-executable instructions are transmission media. Thus, by way of example and not limitations, embodiment of the present disclosure can comprise at least two distinctly different kinds of computer-readable media: non-transitory computer-readable media (devices) and transmission media.

[0096]Both non-transitory computer-readable media (devices) and transmission media may be used temporarily to store or carry software instructions in the form of computer readable program code that allows performance of embodiments of the present disclosure. Non-transitory computer-readable media may further be used to persistently or permanently store such software instructions. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include physical memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), optical disk storage (e.g., CD, DVD, HDDVD, Blu-ray, etc.), storage devices (e.g., magnetic disk storage, tape storage, diskette, etc.), flash or other solid-state storage or memory, or any other non-transmission medium which can be used to store program code in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, whether such program code is stored or in software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof.

[0097]Instructions 705 and data 707 may be stored in the memory 703. The instructions 705 may be executable by the processor 701 to implement some or all of the functionality disclosed herein. Executing the instructions 705 may involve the use of the data 707 that is stored in the memory 703. Any of the various examples of modules and components described herein may be implemented, partially or wholly, as instructions 705 stored in memory 703 and executed by the processor 701. Any of the various examples of data described herein may be among the data 707 that is stored in memory 703 and used during execution of the instructions 705 by the processor 701.

[0098]A computer system 700 may also include one or more communication interfaces 709 for communicating with other electronic devices. The communication interface(s) 709 may be based on wired communication technology, wireless communication technology, or both. Some examples of communication interfaces 709 include a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an Ethernet adapter, a wireless adapter that operates in accordance with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless communication protocol, a Bluetooth® wireless communication adapter, and an infrared (IR) communication port.

[0099]The communication interfaces 709 may connect the computer system 700 to a network. A “network” or “communications network” may generally be defined as one or more data links that enable the transport of electronic data between computer systems and/or modules, engines, or other electronic devices, or combinations thereof. When information is transferred or provided over a communication network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computing device, the computing device properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media can include a communication network and/or data links, carrier waves, wireless signals, and the like, which can be used to carry desired program or template code means or instructions in the form of computer-executable instruction or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

[0100]A computer system 700 may also include one or more input devices 711 and one or more output devices 713. Some examples of input devices 711 include a keyboard, mouse, microphone, remote control device, button, joystick, trackball, touchpad, and lightpen. Some examples of output devices 713 include a speaker and a printer. One specific type of output device that is typically included in a computer system 700 is a display device 715. Display devices 715 used with embodiments disclosed herein may utilize any suitable image projection technology, such as liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED), gas plasma, electroluminescence, or the like. A display controller 717 may also be provided, for converting data 707 stored in the memory 703 into one or more of text, graphics, or moving images (as appropriate) shown on the display device 715.

[0101]The various components of the computer system 700 may be coupled together by one or more buses, which may include one or more of a power bus, a control signal bus, a status signal bus, a data bus, other similar components, or combinations thereof. For the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in FIG. 7 as a bus system 719.

[0102]The techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof, unless specifically described as being implemented in a specific manner. Any features described as modules, components, or the like may also be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be realized at least in part by a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform one or more of the methods described herein. The instructions may be organized into routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which may perform particular tasks and/or implement particular data types, and which may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[0103]Further, upon reaching various computer system components, program code in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures can be transferred automatically or manually from transmission media to non-transitory computer-readable storage media (or vice versa). For example, computer executable instructions or data structures received over a network or data link can be buffered in memory (e.g., RAM) within a network interface module (NIC), and then eventually transferred to computer system RAM and/or to less volatile non-transitory computer-readable storage media at a computer system. Thus, it should be understood that non-transitory computer-readable storage media can be included in computer system components that also (or even primarily) utilize transmission media.

Industrial Applicability

[0104]The following description from ¶¶ [0105]-[0124] includes various embodiments that, where feasible, may be combined in any permutation. For example, the embodiment of ¶ [0105] may be combined with any or all embodiments of the following paragraphs. Embodiments that describe acts of a method may be combined with embodiments that describe, for example, systems and/or devices. Any permutation of the following paragraphs is considered to be hereby disclosed for the purposes of providing “unambiguously derivable support” for any claim amendment based on the following paragraphs. Furthermore, the following paragraphs provide support such that any combination of the following paragraphs would not create an “intermediate generalization.”

[0105]In some embodiments, a method for planning a relief wellbore includes identifying a blowout trajectory for a target wellbore, determining a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations around the blowout trajectory for a plurality of candidate relief wellbores to intersect the target wellbore at an intersection point, for each surface location, predicting an operational difficulty for the surface location based at least in part on the plurality of candidate relief trajectories, generating a heat map indicating the operational difficulty for the plurality of surface locations, and presenting the heat map via a graphical user interface (GUI) including presenting a normalized heat index overlayed on a geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations.

[0106]In some embodiments, the target wellbore is a blowout wellbore that has experienced a blowout.

[0107]In some embodiments, the method further includes updating the heat map and presenting the updated heat map via the GUI based on user input.

[0108]In some embodiments, the user input includes modifying at least one of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories and dynamically updating the heat map including dynamically determining an updated operational difficulty for at least one surface location of the plurality of surface locations.

[0109]In some embodiments, the method further includes selecting a surface location of the plurality of surface locations for implementing the relief wellbore to access the target wellbore based on the heat map.

[0110]In some embodiments, the method further includes causing the relief wellbore to be drilled at the selected surface location to access the target wellbore.

[0111]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a range of kick off points of one or more respective candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0112]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a characterization of a dog leg severity of one or more respective candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0113]In some embodiments, the method further includes, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a quantity of respective candidate relief trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0114]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one no-go zone and excluding one or more candidate relief trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one no-go zone.

[0115]In some embodiments, at least one no-go zone corresponds with one or more of a geological feature, a geographical boundary, or one or more collision risks.

[0116]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one environmental risk zone based on meteorological data and excluding one or more candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one environmental risk zone.

[0117]In some embodiments, the meteorological data includes sea current information and forecasted information, and identifying the at least one environmental risk zone includes predicting a predicted leak area from the target wellbore.

[0118]In some embodiments, a system includes at least one processor, memory in electronic communication with the at least one processor, and instruction stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the at least one processor to identify a blowout trajectory for a target wellbore, determine a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations around the blowout trajectory for a plurality of candidate relief wellbores to intersect the target wellbore at an intersection point, for each surface location, predict an operational difficulty for the surface location based at least in part on the plurality of candidate relief trajectories, generate a heat map indicating the operational difficulty for the plurality of surface locations, and present the heat map via a graphical user interface (GUI) including presenting a normalized heat index overlayed on a geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations.

[0119]In some embodiments, the target wellbore is a blowout wellbore that has experienced a blowout.

[0120]In some embodiments, the instructuction further include selecting a surface location of the plurality of surface locations for implementing a relief wellbore to access the target wellbore based on the heat map, and causing the relief wellbore to be drilled at the selected surface location to access the target wellbore.

[0121]In some embodiments, the instructions further include, for each surface location, predicting the operational difficulty based on a range of kick off points of one or more respective candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories for the surface location.

[0122]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one no-go zone corresponding with one or more of a geological feature, a geographical boundary, or one or more collision risks, and excluding one or more candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one no-go zone.

[0123]In some embodiments, determining the operational difficulty includes identifying at least one environmental risk zone based on meteorological data including sea current information and wind information, and excluding one or more candidate trajectories of the plurality of candidate relief trajectories that traverse the at least one environmental risk zone, the environmental risk zone including a predicted leak area from the target wellbore.

[0124]In some embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium includes instruction that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the processor to identify a blowout trajectory for a blowout wellbore that has experienced a blowout, identify a blowout trajectory for a target wellbore, determine a plurality of candidate relief trajectories from a plurality of surface locations around the blowout trajectory for a plurality of candidate relief wellbores to intersect the target wellbore at an intersection point, for each surface location, predict an operational difficulty for the surface location based at least in part on the plurality of candidate relief trajectories, generate a heat map indicating the operational difficulty for the plurality of surface locations, and present the heat map via a graphical user interface (GUI) including presenting a normalized heat index overlayed on a geographical presentation of the plurality of surface locations.

[0125]The embodiments of the relief wellbore system have been primarily described with reference to wellbore drilling operations; the relief wellbore system described herein may be used in applications other than the drilling of a wellbore. In other embodiments, the relief wellbore system according to the present disclosure may be used outside a wellbore or other downhole environment used for the exploration or production of natural resources. For instance, the relief wellbore system of the present disclosure may be used in a borehole used for placement of utility lines. Accordingly, the terms “wellbore,” “borehole” and the like should not be interpreted to limit tools, systems, assemblies, or methods of the present disclosure to any particular industry, field, or environment.

[0126]One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. These described embodiments are examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual embodiment may be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous embodiment-specific decisions will be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one embodiment to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

[0127]Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. For example, any element described in relation to an embodiment herein may be combinable with any element of any other embodiment described herein. Numbers, percentages, ratios, or other values stated herein are intended to include that value, and also other values that are “about” or “approximately” the stated value, as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art encompassed by embodiments of the present disclosure. A stated value should therefore be interpreted broadly enough to encompass values that are at least close enough to the stated value to perform a desired function or achieve a desired result. The stated values include at least the variation to be expected in a suitable manufacturing or production process, and may include values that are within 5%, within 1%, within 0.1%, or within 0.01% of a stated value.

[0128]A person having ordinary skill in the art should realize in view of the present disclosure that equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made to embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Equivalent constructions, including functional “means-plus-function” clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function, including both structural equivalents that operate in the same manner, and equivalent structures that provide the same function. It is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke means-plus-function or other functional claiming for any claim except for those in which the words ‘means for’ appear together with an associated function. Each addition, deletion, and modification to the embodiments that falls within the meaning and scope of the claims is to be embraced by the claims.

[0129]The terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” as used herein represent an amount close to the stated amount that is within standard manufacturing or process tolerances, or which still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of a stated amount. Further, it should be understood that any directions or reference frames in the preceding description are merely relative directions or movements. For example, any references to “up” and “down” or “above” or “below” are merely descriptive of the relative position or movement of the related elements. Additionally, as used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0130]The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.