A Drilling Engineer's Guide to Optimizing Well Design for Wireline Operations

Abstract During open-hole wireline operations, at least 95% of cable sticking events are known to be predictable and avoidable. Approximately 40% of these cable sticking events escalate to fishing operations, adding substantial costs to the AFE. Sub-optimal well design, from a wireline acquisition perspective, is known to contribute to such sticking. This paper offers practical guidance for drilling engineers on how their well designs may impact wireline conveyance and sticking risks and what measures they can take at both the design and execution stages to ensure a safe and efficient wireline logging job.