Optimizing Lateral Section Improves Drilling Performance On Bakken Shale Horizontals

摘要

The combination of long-lateral horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing has made the Williston Basin one of the more lucrative oil reservoirs in North America, with the Bakken Shale emerging as one of the most prolific oil plays in the lower-48.rnThe U.S. Geologic Survey estimates that the Bakken formation contains 4.35 billion barrels of recoverable reserves. Although the Bakken was discovered in 1951, efforts to extract oil from the low-permeability shale historically proved difficult. In fact, it was only within the past decade that efficient production was achieved from the Bakken-and more recently, the underlying Three Forks/Sanish formation-when operators began drilling long horizontal wells at true vertical depths ranging from 8,000 to 10,500 feet. The target reservoir's depths and the extended lateral well bore lengths require more powerful rigs to meet the operational demands of these long-lateral well designs.