Have several gas wells that are not producing much any more or are online and not producing, is it possible to drill horizontal wells at those sights? Would that be an option for the companies holding my lease? Can it be done and will the companies give out that info? The wells are in Upshur county and there are several horizontal wells going in in that area. Please advise.
It depends upon the location and the reservoirs that the operators are looking to drill. I am assuming you were asking about Texas. There is an Upshur County in WV.
If you post your abstract someone may be able to help you with a map.
If I understand your question, operators may drill lateral wellbores off old vertical shafts, on land, in the distant future. YouTube has Gulf of Mexico videos with multilateral wellbores branching like tree roots below a single offshore rig. On land, I suppose operators are too busy drilling simple first-time horizontal wells in their large inventory of Tier-1 locations. When easy straightforward Tier-1 sites are drained by the 2030s, perhaps complex Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques will appear on land. I’m a layman not a petroleum engineer, others know more, I’m not familiar with Upshur.
Operators can drill out of current vertical wells in some limited circumstances, but most modern horizontal well bore technical needs are much greater than the old boreholes can handle. New wells are usually drilled and many land horizontal wells are going deeper than the shallow vertical wells (but not all) and deeper wells need larger casings for safety. Operators take great care not to collide with any current boreholes.
They might use the surface pad for a new well, but probably not the original well. If your name and contact information are properly filed with the clerk of deeds in your county, then you may be informed of any new wells. They have to go through the RCC permitting process. Get familiar with the RCC site and look up the activity around your current wells. Drilling Permit (W-1) Query
Yes, it is possible, but depends upon what the depths of the new wells and type of rig they are going to use, what economics, etc.
San Antonio operator sees success converting vertical wells to horizontal
Mella McEwen, Midland Reporter-Telegram, April 27, 2017
(excerpt) "When we acquired Brushy Resources, it had some vertical wells,” said Avi Mirman, chief executive officer of Lilis Energy, in a phone interview.
Those vertical wells were in an old gas field, so the company cut windows in the wellbores to go horizontal. The work resulted in what Lilis Energy calls industry-leading flow rates per 1,000 foot lateral feet in its first two operated horizontal wells.
Lilis Energy filed for bankruptcy and sold all its assets in 2020…
Were the vertical to horizontal wells a contributing factor in the bankruptcy?
Here’s another from 2020:
"Chesapeake Energy, fracking pioneer, files for bankruptcy owing $9bn
The Oklahoma City-based company helped turn the US into a global energy powerhouse but ran up huge debts in the process"
Just a PS on the offshore rigs drilling long directionals. They would occasionally use the same well bore for sidetracks. The rig has a template on the rig floor and they move the derrick over slightly to drill each new well from its own slot. Those wells are highly engineered for maximum safety and performance. Spent quite a few years drilling out one of the largest fields…
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