Multi-lateral well heel to toe development optimization
AssigneeChevron U.S.A. Inc.
InventorsSamiha Said Elsayed Morsy, Folly Israel Yeke Kouevi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods of drilling two wells, wherein the two wells are drilled such that the toe of the lateral portion of one well is in proximity to the heel of the lateral portion of the other well. Production from the wells can be improved by a process wherein the formation about the wells is first fractured at the toe of each lateral portion, then fractured along the middle section of each lateral portion, and, lastly, at the heel section of each lateral portion of the wells.
Claims20
A method for drilling at least two multilateral wells in an unconventional formation, the method comprising:
- drilling a first lateral well extending from a first vertical well;
- drilling a second lateral well extending from a second vertical well, wherein the first and second lateral wells are positioned about parallel to each other and such that a toe of the second lateral well is closer to a heel of the first lateral well than a toe of the first lateral well;
- fracturing the toe of the first lateral well and fracturing the toe of the second lateral well;
- fracturing a middle section of the first lateral well and fracturing of a middle section of the second lateral well;
- fracturing the heel of the first lateral well and fracturing a heel of the second lateral well;
- producing fluid from the first vertical well;
- and
- producing fluid from the second vertical well.
A well system comprising:
- a first lateral well extending from a first vertical well, the first lateral well comprising a toe, a middle section, and a heel;
- and
- a second lateral well extending from a second vertical well, the second lateral well comprising a toe, a middle section, and a heel,
- wherein the first lateral well and the second lateral well are about parallel to each other and wherein the toe of the second lateral well is closer to the heel of the first lateral well than the toe of the first lateral well, and
- wherein the toes of the first lateral well and the second lateral well have been fractured in a first fracturing step, the middle sections of the first lateral well and the second lateral well have been fractured in a second fracturing step, and the heels of the first lateral well and the second lateral well have been fractured in a third fracturing step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.