Horizontal drilling

Horizontal drilling starts with a vertical well that tums horizontal within the
reservoir rock in order to expose more open hole to the oil. These horizontal
"Iegs" can be over a mile long; the longer the exposure length, the more oil and
natural gas is drained and the raster it can flow. More oil and natural gas can
be produced with fewer wells and less surface disturbance. However, the
technology only can be employed in certain locations.
Multilateral drilling
Sometimes oil and natural gas reserves are located in separate layers
underground. Multilateral drilling allows producers lo branch out from the main
well to tap reserves at different depths. This dramatically increases production
from a single well and reduces the number of wells drilled on the surface.
Extended reach drilling
Extended Reach Drilling allows producers to reach deposits that are great
distances away from the drilling rig. This can help producers tap all and natural
gas deposits under surface areas where a vertical well cannot be drilled, such
as under developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Wells can now reach
out over 5 miles from the surface location. Offshore, the use of extended reach
drilling allows producers to reach accumulations far from offshore platforms,
minimizing the number of platforms needed to produce all the oil and gas.
Onshore, dozens of wells can be drilled from a single location, reducing surface
impacts.
Complex Path Drilling
Complex Path Drilling creates well paths with have multiple twists and turns to
try to hit multiple accumulations from a single well location. Using this
technology can be more cost effective and produce less waste and surface
impacts than drilling multiple wells.
Fracking hydraulic fracturing or
The sand, called "proppant,"
and gas to flow out.

holds the rock fractures open and allows the oil

"Zipper fracking." This is when operators drill two wells side by side. Once both
wells are completed, they're fracked at the same time.
Stacked laterals APILADOS The infographic below shows the concept of
"stacked Iaterals" from a single pad.

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies-from solar-powered steam injection

to microorganisms-that could be used to extend the life of old oil fields and
gain access to so-called unconventional petroleum reserves like oil sands.
C02 injection
Pad, another one of the largest cost-saving techniques came from the offshore
oil industry. When you're drilling wells offshore, it isn't feasible to build a
platform for each well. So out on the ocean, they drill several wells from a
single pad.
Shale PIZARRA
Rock of dark sediment and clay: a dark fine-grained sedimentary rock
composed of layers of compressed clay, silt, or mud.
Thermal intervention injects steam into wells to extract heavy oils or oil sands.
Chemical EOR injects polymers and alkaline compounds into oil fields to help
loosen oil from rock formations and push it into production wells.
Microbial EOR uses environmentally benign microorganisms to break down
heavier oils and produce methane.