Seeing the Well as It’s Being Drilled: How At-Bit GeoTracker Is Changing Directional Steering

In horizontal drilling, the most important steering decisions are made between survey stations — yet traditional measurements only tell you where the well ended up, not what it was doing while you were drilling ahead.

That gap is exactly where At-Bit GeoTracker changes the game.

By combining continuous at-bit inclination with azimuthal gamma measurements, GeoTracker gives directional teams real-time visibility into wellbore behavior at the point where trajectory is actually being created: the bit.

Why Surveys Alone Don’t Tell the Full Story

Conventional surveys are:

• discrete

• sparse

• taken after drilling has already occurred

They provide a checkpoint, not a live picture.

As a result:

• short slide corrections

• micro-builds and drops

• formation-driven steering responses

are often hidden between survey points and averaged out in the reported trajectory.

That’s not a data problem — it’s a sampling problem.

Continuous At-Bit Inclination: What Changes

GeoTracker’s continuous at-bit inclination fills that blind spot.

Instead of waiting tens or hundreds of feet for the next survey, directional teams can see:

• immediate response to slide orientation

• inclination trends forming in real time

• trajectory behavior stabilizing or drifting before it shows up in a survey

In the chart above, you can clearly see this effect:

• The continuous at-bit inclination resolves short-interval builds and drops between surveys

• The survey points confirm the overall trend, but do not capture the intermediate behavior

• A moving average of the continuous data remains centered and stable, proving the signal is real — not noise

This is exactly what at-bit measurements are meant to do:show how the well is being shaped, not just where it landed.

At-Bit Continuous Inclination Accuracy or 0.08 degrees in rotation

Adding Azimuthal Gamma: Steering With Geological Context

Inclination alone tells you how the well is moving.Azimuthal gamma tells you why.

By pairing continuous inclination with azimuthal gamma:

• directional teams can see formation changes in real time

• steering decisions can be tied directly to geology

• slides can be optimized for both trajectory and target quality

This combination is especially powerful in:

• thin targets

• structurally complex laterals

• zones where small inclination changes have large TVD impact

Proven Stability at Depth

One of the most common questions operators ask is:

“Does it still work at the end of the well?”

The answer, based on real field data, is yes.

Across the lateral:

• continuous at-bit inclination remains centered and stable

• averaged values track survey inclination closely

• there is no evidence of drift or degradation toward TD

Even where instantaneous at-bit data shows expected dynamic variability, the underlying trend holds — confirming measurement integrity at depth.

What This Means for Directional Teams

GeoTracker doesn’t replace surveys. It makes surveys more valuable by providing context between them.

With continuous at-bit inclination and azimuthal gamma, teams gain:

• earlier detection of unintended builds or drops

• confirmation of slide effectiveness while drilling

• improved confidence steering between surveys

• better understanding of true wellbore tortuosity

In short:

Surveys tell you where you ended up. GeoTracker shows you how you got there — in real time.

The Bottom Line

At-Bit GeoTracker delivers what directional drilling has been missing:

• continuous inclination at the bit

• real-time geological steering feedback

• validated performance through the lateral

When decisions matter most — while drilling ahead — GeoTracker provides the visibility to steer with confidence.