Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by FXEF on February 17, 2010 at 14:50

VSC, you got some dandy questions. Les B might need to pull out his crystal ball on these. We'll stay tuned in for the answers.

Permalink Reply by GR BallouPE on February 18, 2010 at 4:52

I'm in, for a good "read".
Good questions deserve good answers.
--Still on the Learning Curve...

Permalink Reply by Henry on February 18, 2010 at 5:00

Along the line of this question... I'm just curious.... How accurately does the driller know the position of the drill bore that is two miles below?

Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on February 28, 2010 at 14:41

Henry, the drillers know the location of the wellbore with extreme accuracy. They work to exactly position the lateral portion of the wellbore within the Haynesville Shale formation.

Permalink Reply by VSC DeSoto South on February 18, 2010 at 5:38

Would they need to drain one formation completely then start extraction from the other? To avoid one formation's work adversely affecting the production of the other.

Permalink Reply by king john on February 18, 2010 at 6:11

complete drainage does not occur. ever. only about 50 to 70 percent of the gas in place is actually extracted. perhaps with the advance of technology these recovery rates will improve.
as to the seperation of the two zones, that will vary from location to location. i have heard of some places where they are intermingled and very difficult to distinguish.
i would pressume, after one zone was succesfully depleted, a plug would be put in place down hole. then the well would be recompleted to the new shallower zone.
i am not an o&g professional. i have asked lots of questions and done lots of reading.
kj

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on February 18, 2010 at 6:30

Guys, Les B. has stated that the HA and the BO will not be commingled nor produced from the same vertical wellbore. Separate wells will be drilled for each. IMO, there is no need to produce the BO until advantageous future market conditions exist. The first HA well will pay for the infrastructure that will be used to produce all the wells that follow, HA and BO. The industry is facing the very real problem of a gas glut (think of all the newer shale plays which must be HBP'ed) and there is no logical reason that I can think of to produce any formation that is already HBP'ed.

Permalink Reply by VSC DeSoto South on February 18, 2010 at 7:00

Thanks, Skip.
That's what I get for letting my mind wander too long.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on February 18, 2010 at 7:13

You're welcome, VSC. Confucius say, "mind that wanders through GHS long enough soon knows the way of their minerals". LOL! Every good question makes us all think. And come up with more questions. Such is our Haynesville Shale Quest.

Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on February 28, 2010 at 14:50

KJ, only about 25% to 50% of the gas in place is typically recovered from a shale gas formation.

The two formations are clearly separated where they are both potentially productive.

Because both formations are developed with horizontal wells, it is not possible to recomplete the well to shallower formation. Also the productive life of the Haynesville Shale completion will be extremely long. Operators will need to drill separate horizontal wells to each formation.

Permalink Reply by king john on March 1, 2010 at 11:55

thanks les. i mis-spoke. i remember clearly we had that conversation before and i was very surprised at the amount of gas that gets left behind.
could you or anyone comment on what makes a vertical well bore a canidate for horizontal drilling. for example, there is an old CV vertical well bore on my place that was looked into for recompletion, but for reasons unknown to me it was not suitable for recompletion. thanks.
kj

Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 2, 2010 at 4:19

KJ, typically an operator would recomplete a well to a shallower zone. This involves pulling the production tubing, perforating the new zone and running new packers and production tubing.

If an operator was targetting a deeper zone, this would involve a redrill and setting a new production casing string. Normally it is easier to just drill an entirely new well - especially if the well includes a horizontal lateral.

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