Drilling & Completion Technology
World’s first perforated Level-4 multilateral completion
Sidetracking and drilling/completing lateral boreholes in productive Southwestern Wyoming gas wells proved a new technology to unlock additional reserves
T. A. Harting, T. Anderson, D. Birse, BP; and R. A. Seale, Smith International
As the levels of multilateral completions have progressed, costs, complexity and associated risks have escalated. Added cost and risk drives many prospects to uneconomical levels. However, when there is a full understanding of the type of multilateral completion required for the life of the reservoir, in many cases it is possible to design a simple, economic solution. This lowers the associated risk while maintaining a substantial reward with increased production; and the simplicity allows project execution to be the primary focus.
The following discussions center on design, testing and installation of the world’s first perforated, Level-4 multilateral completion,1 as done in the Whitney Canyon field in Southwestern Wyoming, Fig. 1.
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Fig. 1. Field locations in Southwestern Wyoming.
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This article was adapted from a professional society paper for which World Oil was granted the right to print one time only. Therefore, to review the article, you should refer to the actual World Oil magazine in which it originally appeared.
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