Choosing MWD logging software: a practical checklist

MWD logging software is bought once and lived with for years, often in the worst conditions your laptop will ever see. Here is the checklist we would use to evaluate any package, StrataSuite included.

Connectivity

It has to speak your rig's language on day one. Look for WITS Level-0 over both serial (COM) and network (TCP/IP), and the freedom to map any incoming item to any channel — because no two surface systems number their records the same way.

Surveys done properly

A survey is only as good as its corrections. The software should compute inclination and azimuth from the raw sensor axes, apply sag and short-collar corrections, QC each station, and recompute minimum-curvature TVD every time a survey changes — not just at export.

The measurements that sell the log

• Azimuthal gamma-ray image — 2, 4, 8 or 16 sectors, high-side referenced, so it is usable for geosteering.
• Resistivity and PWD — deep-to-shallow curves, annular pressure, ECD/ESD.
• Memory processing — import tool memory, align it to the real-time data by depth, and splice into one best log.

Recording flexibility

Real wells are messy. You want the ability to re-log an interval into a separate run and to branch a sidetrack from a kick-off without losing the original data.

Deliverables

The client wants a file, not a screenshot. Insist on LAS 2.0 and multi-page PDF, with well and company details pulled from the job settings rather than typed by hand.

Commercials and footprint

Finally, the boring but important part: does it run on a standard Windows 10/11 laptop, and is it licensed in a way that fits a project — by the day and month, not only a big annual seat? Flexible, per-computer licensing lets you scale a crew up and down with the work.