Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) assessed many technologies to increase production and reduce costs while protecting the environment in the Brazilian Amazon. For this project, where access to likely wellsites is restricted both by limited infrastructure and Brazilian regulations, minimizing environmental impact was the primary factor in the operator's decision process. To address both environmental and production issues, the operator selected multilateral technology, which minimizes the wellsite footprint, yet allows for drainage of a much larger volume of the reservoir from a single surface location. This is a significant advantage when compared to the cost and environmental impact of drilling multiple wells or using large drilling pads. Petrobras implemented this technology in the Urucu field, located 650 km southwest of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. The Urucu has three reservoirs and more than 95 wells. The target formation is Jurua in the Paleozoic Solimões basin—a basin that includes an important petroliferous system (Jandiatuba-Jurua). The reservoir rock consists of eolian and marginal, marine carboniferous sandstones. This paper presents the results of a successful multilateral technology project in the Urucu field in which three TAML Level-4 dual-lateral wells were installed by Petrobras. These wells had an average production rate of 1.75 times more than a typical horizontal well while spending only 1.42 times the average cost of the same.

Drilling, completing, and fracturing of unconventional formation wells in North America are now commonplace and will begin to play a role in the future of natural gas production in the international market. What is not as common is to drill, complete, and frac multiple lateral branches from a single main wellbore. Multilateral wells have been routinely drilled for a number of applications, and shale plays are a natural progression for its use. Augmenting a multilateral well with selective fracturing of each leg is as straightforward as fracing a single horizontal well.Using conventional equipment and techniques, a multilateral well (with any number of laterals) can accommodate any type of fracturing system and program with pressures up to 12,500 psi with complete isolation of the lateral junction(s). In this project, a plug-and-perf system was used to address ten plus intervals in each leg, with average stimulation pressures up to 9,000 psi.Multilateral solutions provide the means to work within a limited surface access, generating a reduced footprint while draining a much larger volume of the reservoir from a single-surface location. This poses a significant advantage when drilling in sensitive or restricted locations, populated areas, and where land issues restrict access to multiple drilling locations. Additionally, the cost and impact of large drilling pads or multiple well sites is avoided. This paper will discuss the implementation and execution of this project, the first dual-lateral well by any operator in the Granite Wash at vertical depths over 12,000 ft. This well targeted two different sections of the Granite Wash (a complex series of sands, shales, and siltstones that run from the northern Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma) from a single main wellbore, with commingled production rates doubling typical single horizontal well performance.

Drilling, completing, and fracturing unconventional formation wells in North America are now commonplace and will play a major role in the future of natural-gas production on which the nation will depend. What is not as common, however, is to drill, complete, and fracture multiple lateral branches from a single main wellbore. Multilateral wells have been routinely drilled for a number of applications, and shale plays are a natural progression for its use. Augmenting a multilateral well with selective fracturing of each leg is as straightforward as fracturing a single horizontal well. Using conventional equipment and techniques, a multilateral well (with any number of laterals) can accommodate any type of fracturing system and program with pressures up to 12,500 psi and complete isolation of the lateral junction(s). In this project, a plug-and-perf system was used to address 10+ intervals in each leg, with average stimulation pressures up to 9,000 psi. By employing multilateral completion systems in unconventional wells, operators can lower drilling and completion costs, lower risk, help avoid non-productive time, reduce well count and surface footprint by combining two or more targets into one well, and maximize the net-pay-per-foot drilled ratio. This paper will discuss the implementation and execution of this project as the first dual lateral well by any operator in the Granite Wash at vertical depths over 12,000 ft and measured depths reaching beyond 17,000 ft. This well targeted two different sections of the Granite Wash (a complex series of sands, shales, and siltstones that run from the Northern Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma) from a single main wellbore with commingled production rates doubling typical single horizontal well performance. Additionally, significant cost savings were achieved in contrast to drilling two separate single horizontal wells.

The operator assessed many technologies to increase production, and reduce costs while protecting the environment in the Brazilian Amazon. For this project, where access to likely well sites is restricted both by limited infrastructure and Brazilian regulations, the operator chose environmental impact as the primary factor in their decision process.To address both environmental and production issues, the operator selected multilateral technology which minimizes the well site footprint yet allows for drainage of a much larger volume of the reservoir from a single surface location. This is a significant advantage when compared to the cost and environmental impact of drilling multiple wells or using large drilling pads.The operator implemented this technology in the Urucu field, located 650 km southwest of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. The field is made up of three reservoirs called 'River Urucu' (RUC), 'East of Urucu' (LUC), and 'Southeast of Urucu' (SUC).The Urucu has 95 oil producing wells and 6 gas injection wells. The target formation is Jurua in the Paleozoic Solimões basin-a basin that includes an important petroliferous system called Jandiatuba-Jurua. The reservoir rock consists of eolian and marginal marine carboniferous sandstones.This paper presents the results of a successful multilateral technology project in the Urucu field in which three TAML Level 4 dual-lateral wells were installed by the operator. Those wells had an average production rate of 1.75 times more than a typical horizontal well while spending only 1.42 times the average cost of the same.

Multilateral wells have been routinely drilled for several applications, with shale plays representing a natural progression for its use. Augmenting a multilateral well with selective fracturing of each leg is as straightforward as fracturing a single horizontal well. Multilateral wells with cemented junctions provide a good alternative to improve the economics for the development of oil and gas shale-reserve projects. This paper provides a description of the primary reasons for improving development project economics. Multilateral solutions provide the means to work within a limited surface access area and generate a reduced footprint while draining a much larger volume of the reservoir from a single-surface location. This solution presents a significant advantage when drilling in sensitive or restricted locations, populated areas, and areas in which land issues restrict access to multiple drilling locations. In addition, the cost and effects of large drilling pads or multiple wellsites are avoided. This paper describes the results obtained from the implementation and execution of projects in which cemented junctions were created for a new dual-lateral well and for an existing well in North America. It also provides the average cost savings obtained when this approach is compared to that of a single main wellbore and describes well performance with commingled production rates above typical single horizontal wells. Based on past experience, the use of multilateral wells with cemented junctions (applied for new and/or existing wells) can make significant contributions toward helping oil and gas shale-reserve projects to be economically feasible, whereas the economics of single horizontal wells do not offer advantages for a large development plan for oil-and-gas-industry operators.