Geological monitoring console

1. A method of controlling a physical drilling operation, comprising:

receiving a well plan at a workstation on a drilling rig;

receiving sensor signals in real-time from sensors associated with the drilling rig;

generating updated drilling information based on said sensor signals;

updating uncertainty assessments of the physical drilling operation; and

displaying said updated drilling information and uncertainty assessments on a display screen of said workstation;

displaying simultaneously on the display screen: a curve for an offset well from the well plan and a curve for a currently drilled well;

receiving selections of the offset well curve and the currently drilled well curve;

receiving a depth range input entered by a user;

computing a cross-correlation of said curves for a depth range specified by the depth range input, wherein the cross-correlation provides an estimate of depth shift between said curves;

plotting, on the display screen in conjunction with said curves, a correlation line showing different depths identified by the cross-correlation as corresponding to a same structure in the offset well and the currently drilled well; and

adjusting the physical drilling operation at least in part based on the correlation line.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying uncertainties in a track with depth correspondence to the curves; and

plotting, on the display screen in conjunction with said curves, a correlation line showing association between the uncertainties in the offset well and the currently drilled well.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring operation of said workstation including at least one of:

configuring an alert;

selecting a gas equation whose results are to be displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) on said display screen;

selecting an uncertainty to be displayed in the GUI; and

selecting a threshold uncertainty level associated with said selected uncertainty.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising comparing an updated well plan to an initial well plan.

5. A real-time drilling monitor (RTDM) workstation, comprising:

a display; and

a processor coupled to said display, wherein said processor receives sensor signals from a plurality of sensors, dynamically updates uncertainty assessments, and generates a single unified graphical user interface (GUI) populated with dynamically generated parameters based on said sensor signals, as well as static information and the dynamically updated uncertainty assessments; and

a correlation widget that:

displays simultaneously on the GUI: a curve for an offset well from a well plan and a curve for a currently drilled well;

receives selections of the offset well curve and the currently drilled well curve;

receives a depth range input;

computes a cross-correlation of said curves for a depth range specified by the depth range input, wherein the cross-correlation provides an estimate of depth shift between said curves; and

displays in conjunction with said curves a correlation line showing different depths identified by the cross-correlation as corresponding to a same structure in the offset well and the currently drilled well,

wherein the processor is usable to adjust a physical drilling operation based at least on the correlation line.

6. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 wherein said processor dynamically updates said GUI during the physical drilling operation.

7. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 further comprising a correlation widget that permits the user to select a horizon or marker on a graphic of a currently drilled well and an offset well, and link together the selected horizon or maker as a correlated event.

8. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 further comprising a correlation widget that displays a curve for an offset well and a curve for a currently drilled well, and enables a user to select and drag all or a portion of one of said curves to be adjacent or on top of the curve from the other well.

9. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 further comprising a zone widget that displays assessments of a plurality of different types of uncertainties.

10. The RTDM workstation of claim 9 wherein said types of uncertainties include any one or more of depth uncertainty indicative of an uncertainty as to a depth, tolerance uncertainty indicative of tolerances between a bore wall or casing and an upset, sub-surface non-productive time, uncertainty management indicative of a number of uncertainties, and an equivalent circulating density (ECD) uncertainty.

11. The RTDM workstation of claim 9 wherein said zone widget displays a shape superimposed on a graphic depicting said plurality of different types of uncertainties, said shape indicative of a relative level of each of said uncertainty types.

12. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 further comprising software that permits a user to configure the operation of the workstation, said configuration including at least one of: configuring an alert, selecting a gas equation whose results are to be displayed in said GUI, selecting an uncertainty to be displayed in the GUI, and selecting a threshold uncertainty level associated with said selected uncertainty.

13. The RTDM workstation of claim 5 , wherein the correlation widget is configured to:

display uncertainties in a track with depth correspondence to the curves; and plot, in conjunction with said curves, a correlation line showing association between the uncertainties in the offset well and the currently drilled well.

14. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage device comprising software that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive signals from a plurality of sensors pertaining to a physical drilling operation;

dynamically compute parameters based on said sensor signals;

dynamically display said computed parameters during the physical drilling operation;

dynamically update uncertainty assessments of said physical drilling operation; and

display a unified graphic indicative of said updated uncertainty assessments;

display simultaneously: a curve for an offset well from the well plan as well a curve for a currently drilled well;

receive selections of the offset well curve and the currently drilled well curve;

receive a depth range input;

compute a cross-correlation of said curves for a depth range specified by the depth range input, wherein the cross-correlation provides an estimate of depth shift between said curves;

plot, in conjunction with said curves, a correlation line showing different depths identified by the cross-correlation as corresponding to a same structure in the offset well and the currently drilled well; and

cause adjustment of the physical drilling operation based at least in part on the correlation line.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said software causes the computer to:

display uncertainties in a track with depth correspondence to the curves; and

plot, in conjunction with said curves, a correlation line showing association between uncertainties in the offset well and the currently drilled well.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said software causes the computer to permit a user to select and drag a curve or portion of a curve pertaining to the physical drilling operation to another curve pertaining to the physical drilling operation for visual comparison by a user.

17. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said software causes the computer to display a dynamically updated uncertainty assessment pertaining to the physical drilling operation.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said uncertainty assessment is of an uncertainty comprising at least one of uncertainty as to a depth, tolerance uncertainty indicative of tolerances between a bore wall or casing and an upset, sub-surface non-productive time, uncertainty management indicative of a number of uncertainties, and an equivalent circulating density (ECD) uncertainty.

19. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said software causes the computer to display a graphic depicting a plurality of different types of uncertainties, said shape indicative of a relative level of each of said uncertainty types.

20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage device of claim 14 wherein said software causes the processor to receive input to configure the operation of the workstation, said configuration including at least one of: configuring an alert, selecting a gas equation whose results are to be displayed in said GUI, selecting an uncertainty to be displayed in the GUI, and selecting a threshold uncertainty level associated with said selected uncertainty.