Patent Document ID: 9638830
Application ID: 11957274
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for optimizing drilling operations, comprising: providing an earth model of a volume having a well; creating a scenario plan for a drilling operation of the well; obtaining petrotechnical data about the volume during the drilling operation; comparing the petrotechnical data with the earth model, the scenario plan, or combinations thereof; updating the earth model with the petrotechnical data based on the comparison with the earth model, the scenario plan, or combinations thereof, wherein the earth model is updated using a migration imaging process that comprises: creating a 3D anisotropic depth model; comparing the 3D anisotropic depth model to the petrotechnical data; updating the earth model using the petrotechnical data to create a first updated earth model when a deviation between the 3D anisotropic depth model and the petrotechnical data exceeds a first predetermined value; performing a prestack depth migration using the first updated earth model; and updating the first updated earth model by performing a tomographic anisotropic properties update to create a second updated earth model when a quality of an output of the prestack depth migration falls below a second predetermined value; determining at least one action from a set of actions from the scenario plan to be performed based on the second updated earth model; performing the at least one action from the scenario plan; and modifying a drilling plan of the well using the updated earth model.