A statistical solution for cost estimation in oil well drilling

Abstract Drilling operations must be preceded by adequate planning, fulfilling the path to produce hydrocarbons at low and competitive costs. Conventional well planning is based on the personal experience of project engineers, which use information from offset wells to estimate the performances in future wells. This article reviews and discusses a published statistical methodology for planning upcoming oil wells. The statistical approach incorporates uncertainties of the process, reducing the relevance of personal decisions and supporting the staff with more realistic cost estimations. A relia...