IP Library Granted Patent US 12,618,992
Granted Patent B2
US 12,618,992 · App. 18/343,668 · Granted May 5, 2026

DAS depth calibration with multi-gauge length interrogation

Inventors: Vladimir Kazei (Houston, TX); Aleksei Titov (Golden, CO); Andrey Bakulin (Dhahran, SA)
Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
G01V1/226E21B7/04E21B44/00E21B49/00G01V1/50
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,618,992
App. No.
18/343,668
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods are presented for determining a calibrated vertical seismic profile (VSP) with a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system in a borehole. The methods include obtaining a density log and an acoustic slowness log for the borehole; determining a first impedance, a DAS impedance from well log (DIL) curve, from the density log and the acoustic slowness log; obtaining a VSP dataset in the borehole; for each of the plurality of gauge lengths: determining a second impedance, a DAS from vibrations (DIV) curve, from the VSP dataset for the plurality of gauge lengths, and determining a fit between the DIV curves and the DIL curve by using a misfit functional for each of a plurality of depth adjustments. The method further includes determining the calibrated VSP by applying a preferred depth adjustment to the VSP dataset.

Claims (34)

1 . A method for determining a calibrated vertical seismic profile (VSP) with a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system in a borehole, comprising:

obtaining a density log and an acoustic slowness log for the borehole, wherein each log comprises a value recorded at a plurality of locations common to the density log and the acoustic slowness log;

determining a first impedance, a DAS impedance from well log (DIL) curve, from the density log and the acoustic slowness log;

obtaining a VSP dataset in the borehole, wherein the VSP dataset comprises a plurality of acoustic signals generated by a seismic source and recorded with the DAS system for a plurality of gauge lengths;

for each of the plurality of gauge lengths:

determining a second impedance, a DAS impedance from vibrations (DIV) curve, from the VSP dataset for the plurality of gauge lengths, and

determining a fit between DIV curves and the DIL curve by using a misfit functional for each of a plurality of depth adjustments;

determining the calibrated VSP by applying a preferred depth adjustment to the VSP dataset;

forming, using a seismic processing system, a seismic image based, at least in part, on the calibrated VSP;

planning, using a well planning system, a sidetrack borehole trajectory based, at least in part, on the seismic image; and

drilling, using a drilling system, a sidetrack borehole guided by the sidetrack borehole trajectory.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the misfit functional comprises a plurality of correlation coefficients between the DIV curves and the DIL curve.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of correlation coefficients comprise a Pearson correlation coefficient.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining each of the plurality of depth adjustments comprises determining a plurality of depth shifts.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting the preferred depth adjustment by determining a depth adjustment that maximizes the misfit functional.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DAS system comprises a fiber-optic cable coupled to a laser light source and to an optical interrogator, wherein the optical interrogator decodes a backscattered laser light from a plurality of locations along the fiber-optic cable.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein a gauge length comprises a length of a portion of the fiber-optic cable that determines one of the plurality of acoustic signals.

8 . A system comprising:

a logging system configured to obtain a density log and an acoustic slowness log for a borehole;

a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system configured to record seismic data from a vertical seismic profiling (VSP) experiment with a seismic source for a plurality of gauge lengths in the borehole;

a VSP processing system configured to:

determine a first impedance, a DAS impedance from well log (DIL) curve, from the density log and the acoustic slowness log;

for each of the plurality of gauge lengths:

determine a second impedance, a DAS impedance from vibrations (DIV) curve, from a VSP dataset for the plurality of gauge lengths, and

determine a fit between DIV curves and the DIL curve by using a misfit functional for each of a plurality of depth adjustments;

select a preferred depth adjustment based, at least in part, on the misfit functional;

determine a calibrated VSP dataset by applying the preferred depth adjustment to the VSP dataset;

a seismic processing system configured to form a seismic image based, at least in part, on the calibrated VSP dataset obtained by the DAS system;

a well planning system configured to plan a sidetrack borehole trajectory based, at least in part, on the seismic image; and

a drilling system configured to drill a sidetrack borehole guided by the sidetrack borehole trajectory.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the DAS system comprises a fiber-optic cable coupled to a laser source and an interrogator.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the interrogator is configured to decode a backscattered laser light from a plurality of locations along the fiber-optic cable.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the interrogator is configured to use a gauge length to measure a backscattered laser light from portions of the fiber-optic cable to determine a plurality acoustic signals.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 18, 2023
From: SAUDI ARAMCO UPSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 065268/0033 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 17, 2023
From: ARAMCO SERVICES COMPANY
To: SAUDI ARAMCO UPSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY
Reel/Frame 065255/0383 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 9, 2023
From: KAZEI, VLADIMIR; TITOV, ALEKSEI
To: ARAMCO SERVICES COMPANY
Reel/Frame 064533/0665 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 9, 2023
From: BAKULIN, ANDREY
To: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Reel/Frame 064533/0695 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250004153A1 · Jan 2, 2025
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