Deviated Well Design Calculator

1. Enter Side Track Depth
2. Enter Target Depth
3. Enter Horizontal Departure
4. Enter Build Up Rate
5. Review calculated results

What is a Deviated Well Design?

A deviated well is intentionally drilled at an angle from vertical to reach a target location that cannot be efficiently accessed by a vertical well. Deviated wells are widely used in offshore, directional and extended reach drilling operations.

Proper deviated well design helps engineers determine the required build-up rate, tangent angle, true vertical depth (TVD), measured depth (MD), horizontal departure and radius of curvature needed to safely reach the planned target.

How is Build-Up Rate Used?

Build-up rate (BUR) describes how quickly the wellbore inclination changes and is usually expressed in degrees per 100 ft. A higher build-up rate produces a smaller radius of curvature, allowing the well trajectory to turn more rapidly.

Applications of Deviated Wells

• Offshore platform drilling
• Directional drilling
• Extended reach drilling
• Horizontal wells
• Multi-well pad developments
• Reservoir optimization

Radius of Curvature Formula

The radius of curvature is calculated from the build-up rate:

Where:

• R = Radius of Curvature (ft)
• BUR = Build-Up Rate (degrees per 100 ft)

Example Calculation

Given:

• Side Track Depth = 1,500 ft
• Target Depth = 10,000 ft
• Horizontal Departure = 3,000 ft
• Build Up Rate = 1.5°/100 ft

The calculator estimates the radius of curvature, tangent angle, TVD and total measured depth required to reach the target.

This calculator provides preliminary directional drilling estimates. Final well design should be verified using detailed trajectory planning software and company engineering standards.