Apparatus and methods for determining information from a well

A method of drilling, the method comprising:

• providing a computer system coupled to a fiber optic cable located in a casing in a first well borehole,
• sensing, by the fiber optic cable, acoustic signals from the drilling of a second well borehole;
• receiving, by the computer system, data corresponding to the acoustic signals;
• and
• comparing, by the computer system, acoustic signals from the received data to one or more stored audio files;
• generating, by the computer system, an alert based at least in part the comparison of the acoustic signals and the one or more stored audio files exceeding one or more threshold values;
• and
• sending, by the computer system, one or more signals to a control system to take the one or more corrective actions in response to the alert;
• determining, by the computer system, responsive to the received data, a condition during drilling of the second well borehole, wherein the condition comprises at least one of:
• bit wear;
• motor damage;
• mud motor lobe activity;
• stick slip;
• or
• stator chunking;
• and
• determining, by the computer system, a depth within the second well borehole at which surface oscillation of a drill pipe causes friction reducing motion of a drill string in the second well borehole in response to the condition;
• and
• adjusting, by the computer system, the surface oscillation of the drill pipe for optimizing friction reduction without rotary motion of the drill string.

A system for determining information associated with a well, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising instructions executable by the processor;
• and
• a fiber optic cable located in a first well borehole and coupled to the processor, wherein the fiber optic cable is adapted to sense acoustic signals, and wherein the instructions comprise instructions for:
• sensing signals from the fiber optic cable responsive to acoustic signals received by the fiber optic cable from drilling of a second well borehole;
• receiving data corresponding to the acoustic signals;
• comparing acoustic signals from the received data to one or more stored audio files;
• generating an alert based at least in part the comparison of the acoustic signals and the one or more stored audio files exceeding one or more threshold values;
• sending one or more signals to a control system to take the one or more corrective actions based on the alert;
• determining, responsive to the received data, a condition during drilling of the second well borehole, wherein the condition comprises at least one of:
• bit wear;
• motor damage;
• mud motor lobe activity;
• stick slip;
• or
• stator chunking;
• and
• determining a depth within the second well borehole at which surface oscillation of a drill pipe causes friction reducing motion of a drill string in the second well borehole in response to the condition;
• and
• adjusting the surface oscillation of the drill pipe for optimizing friction reduction without rotary motion of the drill string.

A non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

• sense signals from a fiber optic cable located in a first well borehole and coupled to the processor responsive to acoustic signals received by the fiber optic cable from drilling of a second well borehole, wherein the fiber optic cable is adapted to sense acoustic signals;
• receive data corresponding to the acoustic signals;
• compare acoustic signals from the received data to the one or more stored audio files;
• generate an alert based at least in part the comparison of the acoustic signals and the one or more stored audio files exceeding one or more threshold values;
• send one or more signals to a control system to take the one or more corrective actions in response to the alert;
• determine, responsive to the received data, a condition during drilling of the second well borehole, wherein the condition comprises at least one of:
• bit wear;
• motor damage;
• mud motor lobe activity;
• stick slip;
• or
• stator chunking;
• and
• determine a depth within the second well borehole at which surface oscillation of a drill pipe causes friction reducing motion of a drill string in the second well borehole in response to the condition;
• and
• adjust the surface oscillation of the drill pipe for optimizing friction reduction without rotary motion of the drill string.