Fayetteville Shale wells benefit from cementless lateral technique

摘要

Southwestern Energy faced a real challenge drilling openhole laterals in pilot wells in central Arkansas' Fayetteville Shale. The company's wells were drilled vertically through all relevant formations, so any lateral into a producing zone had to be kicked off at some midpoint of the vertical open hole—but the nature of the shale formation made it very difficult to set a cement plug and drill off it.