Every Well Has Something to Teach the Next One

This service is appropriate after any well that did not match the pre-drill model, at the end of a drilling campaign before the next phase begins, and for operators who want to build a systematic post-drill review into their standard program workflow. It is available as a standalone engagement or as the closing phase of a broader geosteering or drilling advisory engagement.

Lookback engagements are typically driven by one of three situations: a well that did not hit the model and the operator needs to understand why, the end of a drilling program where the team wants to capture lessons before moving to the next phase, or a routine post-drill review built into the program as standard practice.

The third situation is the most valuable, operators who treat lookbacks as a routine part of every well or pad build a compounding body of subsurface knowledge that makes each successive well better than the last. Programs that skip the lookback miss an opportunity to improve the next prognosis before spud.

Well lookback analysis is a structured comparison of pre-drill predictions against actual drilling results across every measurable category. The goal is not to assign blame for misses but to understand the geological reasons behind them and translate that understanding into actionable adjustments for the next well.

The core work typically includes:

• Formation top comparison: pre-drill predicted tops versus actual tops encountered, with analysis of depth differences and their geological causes
• Landing depth and zone analysis: evaluation of where the well landed relative to the target window and how landing quality affected lateral placement
• Lateral placement review: assessment of how well the lateral tracked the target throughout the wellbore, identifying intervals where the well moved out of zone and why
• Reservoir quality comparison: pre-drill reservoir quality predictions versus what the well actually encountered, including log character, porosity, and fluid contacts where available
• Production performance context: where production data is available, early performance relative to pre-drill expectations and comparable offset wells
• Lessons learned summary: a clear, organized account of what the well confirmed, what it revised, and what remains uncertain
• Recommendations for the next well: specific, actionable adjustments to the pre-drill model, targeting parameters, or geosteering approach based on what this well revealed

A completed well lookback engagement includes:

• Detailed lookback report with pre-drill to actual comparison across all categories
• Updated formation tops incorporating actual drilling results
• Lessons learned summary organized by category
• Specific recommendations for adjustments to the next well plan or geosteering approach
• Presentation-ready materials suitable for internal program review

The lookback evaluates geological predictions, observations, and wellbore-placement decisions. Broader root-cause analysis involving drilling performance, directional execution, completions, facilities, or production forecasting requires input from the relevant disciplines.

The real value of a well lookback is not what it tells you about the well you just drilled, it is what it tells you about the wells you have not drilled yet. A well-executed lookback can refine the subsurface model or identify where uncertainty remains. Those findings provide a stronger technical basis for the next prognosis. Over the course of a multi-well program, that compounding improvement in model accuracy translates directly into better landing rates, fewer out-of-zone intervals.

Operators who build lookbacks into their standard workflow give each completed well a defined role in improving future planning.

Well lookback analysis is available as a standalone engagement for operators whose wells were steered by someone else or who simply want an independent post-drill review. It is also available as an add-on to geosteering engagements, in that case, the geosteering work and the lookback are performed by the same geoscientist who steered the well, which means the pre-drill to actual comparison is grounded in direct knowledge of every real-time decision made during drilling.

Post-drill lookback analysis across Eagle Ford, Austin Chalk, Cotton Valley, Haynesville, Montney, Duvernay, and additional onshore US and Western Canada basins. Experience includes single-well lookbacks, end-of-program reviews across multi-well campaigns, and lookback-driven model revisions that directly improved performance in subsequent wells.

Well lookback analysis is billed hourly. Scope, estimated effort, and deliverables are defined upfront in a proposal and Statement of Work. Work is performed remotely from Houston.

All data received during the engagement is treated as confidential. NDA available on request.