The Case for Using Extended Reach Drilling to Develop California OCS Reserves from Onshore Locations

Bjorklund, Tom¹ (1) University of Houston, Houston, TX

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates that discovered and undiscovered conventionally recoverable oil and gas resources of the Pacific OCS Region range from 14 to 19 billion BOE. In the California OCS Santa Maria and Santa Barbara-Ventura Basins, 25 offshore fields with reserves of about 1.3 billion BOE have been discovered but are undeveloped because of the 1982 Federal moratorium on offshore drilling. The capability for very long horizontal offsets with extended reach drilling (ERD) from onshore locations may now provide an economically and environmentally acceptable alternative to offshore platforms to develop some of these reserves. Horizontal reaches of ERDs are approaching seven miles, and technical studies of advanced drilling technologies predict that the lateral reach of ERDs could be increased by 50 percent. Assuming ERD wells can develop reserves within 7 miles of the California coast, the potential exists to develop nearly 500 MMBOE, which may be a conservative estimate, from onshore locations. Potential adverse effects of onshore development operations on marine biology and habitats would be mainly associated with marine seismic surveys for pre-development planning. The economic benefits to California of environmentally responsible development operations would include increased employment opportunities, an increased tax base and probably a windfall of royalty payments from Federal lands. In spite of significant regulatory and technical hurdles to overcome, the use of ERD to develop the offshore resources of the United States should be considered in the formulation of a knowledge-based, rational energy policy.