今年 5 月，哈里伯顿公司推出了一种新的随钻测井 (LWD) 技术，该技术可以让钻井工人在通过水平井进行地质导向时看到钻头前方的岩石。

这款名为EarthStar 3DX的工具，据这家总部位于休斯顿的油田服务巨头称，它是首个能够在水平钻井中提供实时“前瞻”能力的3D超深方位电阻率（UDAR）系统，根据地层条件，其探测范围可达钻头前方50英尺（约15米）。该公司认为，这标志着这类工具取得了重大飞跃。此前，这类工具只能分析井筒周围（最远可达225英尺）的岩石和流体特性，但无法分析井筒前方的岩石和流体特性。

这项创新为行业扫除了一大难题。虽然现有的随钻测井 (LWD) 工具在垂直井中效果良好——垂直井的地质状况往往会逐层可预测地发生变化——但在水平钻井中，钻头必须穿过经常起伏、上下翻转的地层。这使得依赖较简单的一维模型的旧工具几乎无法提供可靠的前瞻性视图。

为了安全地进行地质导向，钻井工人长期以来一直依靠有根据的猜测，即根据他们已经钻过的情况来预测未来的情况。

In May, Halliburton unveiled a new logging‑while-drilling (LWD) technology that promises to give drillers a way to see into the rock ahead of the drill bit while geosteering through horizontal wells.

The tool is called EarthStar 3DX, and according to the Houston-based oilfield service giant, it’s the first 3D ultradeep azimuthal resistivity (UDAR) system capable of delivering real-time “look-ahead” capabilities in horizontal drilling—up to 50 ft ahead of the bit, depending on formation conditions. The company believes it has made a major leap for a class of tools that, until now, could analyze rock and fluid properties around the wellbore, up to 225 ft, but not in front of it.

The innovation clears a considerable challenge off the industry’s checklist. While existing LWD tools work well in vertical wells—where geology tends to change predictably layer by layer—in horizontal drilling, the bit must move through formations that often undulate and turn up or down. This makes it nearly impossible for older tools, which rely on simpler 1D models, to provide a reliable forward view.

To geosteer safely, drillers have long relied on educated guesses by—projecting what’s ahead based on what they’ve already drilled through.