The Lagunilla Inferior is located on the eastern part of Lake Maracaibo. It covers an area of around 300 km2, with an original oil in place of 6,900 MMSTB and with a total of 1051 wells. The overall recovery factor is around 20% and the current oil field production rate is 30,000 STB/day. To improve the recovery factor during the 70 years of field production life, four water injection projects in different areas of the reservoir have been implemented. In a recent effort to improve the recovery factor in a selected part of the reservoir with higher residual oil saturation but very low reservoir pressures (300–450 psia), an integrated reservoir study was conducted. In this study the water injection with vertical wells were compared with multilateral well technology by using a numerical simulation model. The water flooding scheme with multilateral wells as injectors and producers shows in this study the highest recovery factor, the best economics indicators and the lowest operational activities compared to the vertical well concepts. In this paper the results of different pattern concepts and the detailed project planing will be presented. The first phase of the project (drilling of two injection wells and one producing well) will be implemented this year.

Different oil operators have faced technical and economic challenges while drilling in Neuquén basin. Drilling in a tectonic active setting creates problems ranging from influxes and stuck pipe incidents to circulation losses. The presence of natural fractures with an abnormally high pore pressure environment in Quintuco formation increases the gas kicks risks during drilling. Drilling nearby wells has evidenced many severe events, like many days to control a hydrocarbon influx with simultaneous losses. Stuck pipe is the responsible for lost BHAs and considerable NPT spent on freeing the pipe, performing additional wiper trips and hole cleaning. Minimizing non-productive time associated with wellbore instability reduces the risk of dangerous accidents at the wellbore site and it is required to complete the well on time and within the budget. This article describes a methodology to reduce drilling risks, in complex pore pressure conditions at Quintuco formation in Neuquén Basin. The proposed method is based on two main assumptions: the 3D pore pressure characterization based on elastic wave velocities on two different levels in Quintuco formation; and the intensity of the influx events is characterized by the presence of fracture corridors. The value added by the integrated team's efforts was demonstrated by drilling the next two wells with significant reductions in costs and nonproductive time.