American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2017 - 71

SpecialReport: Horizontal Wellbore Construction
When properly planned, the industry's
experience in applying multilateral technology in resource plays has shown benefits in terms of both improved project
costs and production performance. However, as with any technology, there is a
learning curve associated with reaching
optimized deployment in the field.
A good approach would be to plan a
multiple-well multilateral program from
a single pad with the ability to easily
skid a rig from well to well to create
more efficient use of all necessary surface
facilities. Additional efficiencies will be
gained as operations progress from well
to well, allowing drilling and completion
personnel to gain knowledge from each
subsequent well.
Technological improvements likely
will be necessary in the long run to reduce
pipe trips, minimize the use of the drilling
rig and address the need for higher-pressure options. However, there are products,
systems and services in place today to be
able to make reasonable inroads on implementing a strategy to more widely
use multilaterals with multistage frac op-

DOUG G.
DURST

Doug G. Durst is a global technology
adviser for Halliburton in Houston.
His diversified industry background
spans drilling, completion and production, and he has been associated
with a number of service companies,
with responsibilities ranging from product and business development to project
management. Durst holds multiple
patents. He has a B.S. in engineering
from the University of Houston.

erations in unconventional plays to lower
development costs and achieve production
and recovery rates that are equivalent to
or better than single horizontal wells. r
Editor's Note: The preceding article

is the second of a two-part feature on applying multilateral technology in unconventional plays. Part I was published in
AOGR's July issue and focused on design
and operational considerations for multilateral well architectures.

TABLE 2
Estimated Operational Steps to Install Level 4 Dual-Lateral
with Multistage Completion
Procedure
Single Level 4 Dual-Lateral Well (Cemented Liner w/Plug & Perf)
Drill and Set 133⁄8 Surface Casing

Completion Operations

Build location, RU drilling rig

Upper Lateral Completion/Frac (pre Washover)

Drill/clean 17 ⁄2" hole

Workover rig, mob/set up

Run 133⁄8" casing to depth and cement to surface

PU work string

Drill and Set 95⁄8" Casing

Polish mill run

Drill 121⁄4" hole/clean hole

Lay out work string

Run 95⁄8" casing to depth and cement to surface

RIH frac string

Drill and Set 7" Casing w/Latch Coupling

RD workover rig

Drill 81⁄2"-83⁄4" hole/clean hole

Rig up CT

Run 7" casing to depth and cement back to surface

NU frac tree

NU/Test BOPs, drill out shoe, perform FIT

Frac #1, #2, #3 pump gun/plug

Mob/Demob/Eq

Frac #4, #5, #6 pump gun/plug

Contingencies, consulting, contract

Frac #7, #8, #9 pump gun/plug

Fuel, water, power, trucking, solids removal

Frac #10, #11, #12 pump gun/plug

Drill Mainbore Lateral

Frac #13, #14, #15

Drill 61⁄8" hole/clean hole

Clean out plugs

Run 41⁄2" 11.6# casing on LH to depth, cement liner

Clean out flowback and water transfer

Set hanger and POOH w/BHA

RD CT

Mob/Demob/Eq

Set lateral barrier

Contingencies, consulting, contract

POOH frac string

Fuel, water, power, trucking, solids removal

Mainbore Completion/Frac

Directional

RU workover rig

Run MB Latch Orient.

PU work string

Run latch cleaning tool+gyro (3 readings)

Polish mill run

Constructing Junction in 7" Step 1

Lay down work string

RIH with milling tool and mill window

RIH frac string

Open up window with secondary whipstock/mill run

RD workover rig

Drill/Constructing Upper Lateral #2

Rig up CT

Drill second lateral

NU frac tree

RIH w/41⁄2" 11.6# liner w/TJ PBR, cement liner

Frac #1, #2, #3 pump gun/plug

Mob/Demob/Eq

Frac #4, #5, #6 pump gun/plug

Contingencies, consulting, contract

Frac #7, #8, #9 pump gun/plug

Fuel, water, power, trucking, solids removal

Frac #10, #11, #12 pump gun/plug

Directional

Frac #13, #14, #15

Constructing Junction in 7" Step 2

Clean out plugs

PU 61⁄8" bit, TIH clean out 7" to top of whipstock

Clean out flowback and water transfer

PU 33⁄4" bit, TIH clean out 41⁄2" lateral

RD CT

PU washover assembly, dress junction, recover whipstock

Set MB barrier

Wellhead Attachment

POOH frac string

NU tree, clean tanks, release rig

RU CT or WL pull MB barrier & lateral barrier

1

AUGUST 2017 71
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2017
