An algorithm to improve magnetic ranging accuracy for cluster horizontal wells with narrow spacings

Abstract In order to realize the efficient development of unconventional oil and gas, the measurement accuracy of wellbore spacing in the drilling of parallel horizontal wells is more and more required. Although the Rotating Magnet Ranging System or Magnetic Guidance Tool is used to achieve a good ranging effect in the drilling of dual horizontal wells, the position measurement of the magnetic sub leads to a large ranging error. A new ranging algorithm for the Two Sensor Packages-Rotating Magnet Ranging System is presented in this paper. The algorithm takes the magnetic signal generated by the rotation of the magnetic sub at a fixed position, the tilt measurement data of the two wells, the length of the magnetic sub, and the distance between the two fluxgate sensors as input parameters to avoid measuring the position of the magnetic sub and to reduce the influence of the degree of non-parallelism and the length of the magnetic sub. The simulation and experiment demonstrate that the inclination and azimuth angles of the two wells have a significant impact on the magnetic ranging results when the ranging well sections are not parallel and that the distance between the bottom of the drill bit and the center of the magnetic sub cannot be ignored. Moreover, the accuracy of the relative distance calculated by this new algorithm can reach 97%, and the error of direction calculation is less than 3°. Applying this algorithm in the field can successfully aid in controlling the spacing of cluster horizontal wells more accurately.