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Well Tops

Well tops, or picks, represent one of the most important pieces of information in a well that helps to

link the geology in the well to the regional geology shown on seismic data. They represent breaks in

the stratigraphic column, whether of time or lithology, and are important for tying to seismic data.

In UK or Norway, this data is readily available online in government websites. However, finding the

tops is not quite the same as using them. They are not always in a readily usable format and they

quite often use codes or abbreviations instead of standard names. In addition, they have not

necessarily been quality controlled so contain errors, which may be simple ones such as using

metres instead of feet, or may be the wrong codes for a particular top. An example of an errors is

shown below. The depth units are apparently metres but the TD is at over 12,000m!

Finding and sorting the data to make it usable is relatively easy if you only have a few wells to

review. However, if there are lots of wells, then a more systematic collation and QC of the data is

required.

Topper contains all of the tops available on the NPD website and we are in the process of adding UK

tops. They are all available in a database and can be viewed in a variety of ways. We can very

quickly find all the wells containing certain formations and view their relative depths on a map. We

can also incorporate other geological features such as surface geology or basin outlines. An example

is shown below.

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The data can be displayed in a variety of ways, such as colour coding the wells based on the depth to

a particular top, as shown below:

It is also possible to show the whole stratigraphic column for a well on a map to compare to nearby

wells, as shown here:

The benefits of Topper are:

• Cheap, fast access to operator tops in a usable format

• Quality control has been applied to reduce the risk of error

• Quick and simple method of screening available data

If you would like to know more, please contact tim@hoolock-consulting.co.uk.