Site Selection, Planning and Economics of Laterally Drilled Wells in Conventional Reservoirs

Abstract

There has been a paradigm shift in the production of oil and gas in the industry. We now pursue source rocks (which have long been considered unconventional) largely to the detriment of developing known reservoir rocks. What was for decades considered unconventional has now become more of the conventional method of producing oil and gas within this country. Known reservoir fields have become pressure and product depleted over years of production within the state of Ohio. Recently, attempts to adapt lateral drilling methods of drilling source rocks have been applied to the conventional reservoir rocks of Ohio. The challenges of lateral drilling are numerous and have not been encountered by conventional vertical operators. These challenges are laid out in this presentation and include site selection, planning and most importantly economics of a prospect. The idea of reservoir properties and dynamics must be addressed in ways that vertical wells have never addressed. Important concepts about dynamics in particular are developed and presented. The importance of technical prospect evaluation is pushed as being very much more important in drilling a lateral well.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90373 © 2019 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Energy from the Heartland, Columbus, Ohio, October 12-16, 2019