IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,481,900
Granted Patent B2
US 12,481,900 · App. 16/926,841 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Probabilistic model calibration and estimation for drilling steering control

Inventors: Alexander Mathew Keller (Austin, TX); Vy Pho (Houston, TX); Umut Zalluhoglu (Humble, TX); Robert P. Darbe (Tomball, TX)
Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
G06N7/01E21B7/06E21B44/005G05B15/02G06F17/18E21B2200/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,481,900
App. No.
16/926,841
Granted
Nov 25, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for calibrating a steering model may comprise estimating an initial condition for one or more variables in the steering model and calibrating the steering model with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation (MCMC). A drilling system may comprise a bottom hole assembly, a drill string connected to the bottom hole assembly, and an information handling system connected to the bottom hole assembly. The information handling system may be configured to process one or more measurements from the bottom hole assembly, calibrate a steering model based at least in part on the one or more measurements, adjust a control logic based at least in part on the steering model, and adjust the bottom hole assembly based at least in part on the control logic.

Claims (46)

1 . A method for calibrating a steering model for a drilling system comprising:

estimating an initial condition for one or more variables in the steering model by utilizing at least part of a statistical bagging process; and

calibrating the steering model with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation (MCMC), wherein MCMC utilizes an objective function which separates survey measurements and continuous measurements into different reference frames.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising estimating a measurement uncertainty based at least in part on the one or more variables.

3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising updating a prior probability distribution for the one or more variables based at least in part on one or more posterior probabilities.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a probability distribution for the one or more variables in the steering model.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising fitting the one or more variables to the steering model by minimizing the objective function.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising performing a sum of squares objective function.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a window at an initial depth for estimating the initial condition.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising selecting a random sample of measurements.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising performing a least-squares linear fit on the random sample of measurements.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a probability density function with the MCMC.

11 . A method for controlling a drilling system comprising:

drilling into a formation with a bottom hole assembly based at least in part on a steering model;

processing one or more measurements from the bottom hole assembly;

calibrating the steering model based at least in part on the one or more measurements, wherein the calibrating at least comprises an objective function which separates survey measurements and continuous measurements into different reference frames;

adjusting a control logic based at least in part on the steering model; and

adjusting the bottom hole assembly based at least in part on the control logic.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein calibrating the steering model comprises:

estimating an initial condition for one or more variables in the steering model;

estimating a measurement uncertainty based at least in part on the one or more variables;

calibrating the steering model with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation (MCMC) with the measurement uncertainty; and

updating a prior probability distribution for the one or more variables based at least in part on one or more posterior probabilities.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising calculating a probability distribution for the one or more variables in the steering model.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising fitting the one or more variables to the steering model by minimizing the objective function.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising identifying a window at an initial depth for the estimating the initial condition.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising selecting a random sample of measurements.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising performing a least-squares linear fit on the random sample of measurements.

18 . A drilling system comprising:

a bottom hole assembly comprising:

a drill bit connected to the bottom hole assembly;

one or more sensors connected to the bottom hole assembly;

a drill string connected to the bottom hole assembly; and

an information handling system connected to the bottom hole assembly and configured to:

process one or more measurements from the bottom hole assembly;

calibrate a steering model based at least in part on the one or more measurements, wherein the calibrating at least comprises an objective function which separates survey measurements and continuous measurements into different reference frames;

and adjust the bottom hole assembly based at least in part on the steering model.

19 . The drilling system of claim 18 , wherein the information handling system is further configured to:

estimate an initial condition for one or more variables in the steering model;

estimate a measurement uncertainty variable based at least in part on the one or more variables;

calibrate the steering model with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation (MCMC) with the measurement uncertainty variable; and

update a prior probability distribution for the one or more variables based at least in part on one or more posterior probabilities.

20 . The drilling system of claim 19 , wherein the information handling system is further configured to:

calculate a probability distribution for the one or more variables in the steering model;

fit the one or more variables to the steering model by minimizing the objective function; and

perform a sum of squares objective function.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2020
From: KELLER, ALEXANDER MATHEW; PHO, VY; ZALLUHOGLU, UMUT; DARBE, ROBERT P.
To: HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
Reel/Frame 053278/0599 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62910921 · Oct 4, 2019
Related Publication 20210103843A1 · Apr 8, 2021
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