Survey Management

Q: What is H&P Survey Management and why does accurate wellbore surveying matter?

H&P Survey Management delivers advanced, real-time MWD survey corrections to enable increased survey accuracy, enhanced formation placement, and better knowledge of offset wellbore locations. Drilling practices alone are not enough to accurately deliver a high-quality wellbore — success is equally dependent on the accuracy of a wellbore survey. As H&P’s own guiding principle states: your wellbore is only as good as your survey.

Q: How does H&P Survey Management work? What is the end-to-end process?

Survey Management is a service that uses the surveys that are taken in the field and performs quality checks and applies a range of corrections. The well is set up in our well correction software, Saphira, and a survey program is sent out with each well setup with information on the reference values for dip, declination, total magnetic field, grid convergence and total gravity field. As the well is drilled in real time, the surveys are sent to Saphira, and the H&P Survey Management team in the Remote Operations Centre analyses the surveys before posting the corrections. These corrections allow for the use of higher accuracy tool codes that reduce the size of the ellipse of uncertainty to each well. This allows for better spacing and lowers anti-collision risk.

Q: What does “under-a-minute survey correction” mean in practice?

H&P’s automated QC and data processing pipeline corrects each MWD survey in under a minute of submission to Saphira. This speed is critical because directional decisions — slide length, slide direction, when to resume rotating — are made continuously while drilling. Delayed or uncorrected surveys force teams to make those decisions with stale or inaccurate positional data. At H&P’s operational scale, this pipeline processes over 1,800 corrected surveys daily.

Q: How does Survey Management reduce wellbore placement uncertainty by up to 60%?

Wellbore positional uncertainty accumulates from multiple sources: instrument sensor errors, magnetic interference, azimuth reference quality. H&P Survey Management attacks each of these through a layered approach. Real-time MWD corrections reduce the contribution of raw sensor error. IFR (In-Field Referencing) and Advanced MWD Analytics improve the quality of the magnetic reference model used to compute azimuth. Enhanced Magnetic Surveying (IFR MAX) further refines the magnetic azimuth reference. And automated QC eliminates clerical and data-handling errors. The combined effect of these corrections, applied at every survey station, compounds across the length of the wellbore — producing a final positional uncertainty that can be up to 60% lower than uncorrected surveying.

Q: What is In-Field Referencing (IFR) and why does it improve magnetic survey accuracy?

In-Field Referencing (IFR) is a technique that replaces the global magnetic field model used for azimuth computation with a higher-accuracy, locally derived reference. Low-resolution MWD magnetic surveying uses a global model (such as IGRF/WMM) to predict the Earth’s magnetic field at the wellbore location. IFR instead uses measured magnetic data from ground-based observatories to build a more accurate local model. The result is a significant reduction in azimuth uncertainty — particularly important in formations or regions where the global model has higher residual error. H&P’s IFR solution is described as the most comprehensive available in the market, and it integrates directly into the survey correction workflow.

Q: What is IFR MAX technology and when is it used?

IFR MAX is an enhanced magnetic surveying upgrade within H&P Survey Management that improves the magnetic azimuth reference and overall survey confidence. It is particularly valuable in areas with high magnetic interference, geomagnetic anomalies, or in pad environments where wellbore separation is tight, and azimuth accuracy directly affects collision risk calculations. IFR MAX combines advanced field modeling with H&P’s real-time correction infrastructure to raise separation factors in congested fields, helping reduce collision risk without requiring operators to shorten or relocate planned wells. 

Q: What types of survey errors does the automated QC process catch?

H&P’s automated QC and data processing pipeline is designed to identify and flag gross errors — the most consequential class of survey mistakes. Gross errors include incorrect station depth, transposed inclination or azimuth values, data entry errors, instrument initialisation failures, and surveys taken during or immediately after magnetic interference events (such as casing shoe proximity). In 2024, H&P Survey Management corrected nearly 900,000 surveys and identified gross errors that resulted in approximately $15 million in customer savings. Beyond gross error detection, the QC system also enforces data consistency checks and validates that each survey meets the statistical expectations of the positional uncertainty model, flagging outliers for human review.

Q: What are the main features and capabilities of H&P Survey Management?

The service is built around six core capabilities. Real-time MWD survey corrections provide more accurate bit location and support better lateral spacing decisions at every survey station. API connections to third-party software enable seamless data flow into the operator’s existing planning and steering tools. In-Field Referencing (IFR) combined with Advanced MWD Analytics raises positional accuracy and improves separation factors in congested pad environments. Enhanced Magnetic Surveying via IFR MAX is available as an optional upgrade to improve magnetic azimuth reference and survey confidence.

Q: How does Survey Management integrate with the operator’s existing planning and steering software?

H&P Survey Management exposes API connections to third-party planning and steering tools, allowing corrected survey data to flow directly into the operator’s software environment rather than requiring manual data transfer. This means that positional updates and corrected survey stations, reducing data latency and eliminating transcription risk. The specific integration path depends on the software stack in use; H&P’s survey team works with operators during pre-job alignment to confirm the connection and data format requirements. 

Q: What rig types and fleets is Survey Management compatible with?  

H&P Survey Management is a rig-agnostic service. It is compatible with H&P’s FlexRig® Fleet, T-Series Fleet, and is also available as a Universal Rig Technology offering, meaning it can be deployed on non-H&P rigs and in any geographic location. The service is delivered primarily through H&P’s remote survey quality engineering team and operates independently of the rig’s onboard control systems, relying instead on MWD data transmission and digital connectivity. This makes it accessible to operators regardless of which rig contractor is running the well.

Q: Can Survey Management be used for offshore wells?

Yes. H&P Survey Management is available for both onshore and offshore operations. The service is listed under H&P’s Universal Rig Technology compatibility and is applicable to complex offshore environments where tight wellbore spacing, high collision risk, and precise placement within thin reservoir targets make survey accuracy especially critical. H&P’s AWE and survey teams have extensive offshore experience, including work in high-profile environments such as the North Sea.

Q: What is the business case for using H&P Survey Management?

The core business case rests on three value pillars. First, better well placement — corrected surveys enable more accurate TVD and lateral spacing decisions, reducing the risk of missing the target formation. Second, higher separation factors in congested pads — improved positional accuracy and collision avoidance automation reduce inter-well risk without requiring operators to redesign well trajectories. Third, faster, more uniform decisions — automated checks and integrated data flow from survey through guidance through risk management compress decision cycles and reduce the cognitive load on drilling and directional teams. The $15 million in customer savings from gross error identification alone demonstrates the financial impact of survey accuracy at scale.  

Q: How does Survey Management reduce non-productive time (NPT)?  

Survey errors and poor wellbore placement are significant sources of NPT in directional drilling. Gross errors that go undetected can result in the wellbore being steered to the wrong location, requiring corrective sidetracks — among the most expensive events in a drilling program. Positional uncertainty that is too high can trigger collision avoidance interventions or force operators to reduce wellbore density on multi-well pads, reducing the economics of the development. By correcting surveys in near real-time, catching gross errors before they propagate into steering decisions, and tightening positional uncertainty bounds, H&P Survey Management directly reduces the frequency and cost of these NPT events.

Q: How should operators think about Survey Management relative to their directional service company?  

H&P Survey Management complements rather than replaces the directional service company. The directional service company provides the MWD tool, the measurement itself, and the on-site directional driller. H&P Survey Management provides the quality control, correction, and real-time guidance layer on top of that raw measurement. Because the positional accuracy of the wellbore depends on both the quality of the raw survey and the rigor of the correction and validation process, operators benefit from having both: a capable directional service company and an independent, automated survey management function that validates and corrects the data in real time.