Horizontal drilling potential in Utah

Conference · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5786088

Chidsey, T C; Morgan, C D ^[1]

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1. Utah Geological and Mineral Survey, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

A minimum of 18 reservoirs in both producing and frontier areas of Utah are potential targets for horizontal drilling. Horizontal drilling can enhance production in some active fields, revive production in abandoned fields and discover new fields in areas traditionally overlooked for oil and gas. Many Utah oil and gas fields produce from naturally fractured reservoirs, a principal objective for horizontal drilling. The Grassy Trail Creek field (Carbon and Emery Counties) is an example of an older field that was revived using horizontal drilling. Between 1982 and 1984, 18 wells with 68 short-radius horizontal laterals were drilled in the Triassic Moenkopi Formation. The eight best wells were completed for an average rate of 127 BOPD per well, twice that of conventional drilled wells in the field. Using current technology, fields within the Paradox basin, Uinta basin, and Overthrust belt are also good candidates for horizontal drilling. In the northern Paradox basin, six fields have produced oil from the Cane Creek zone, a fractured organic-rich shale in the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation. The active Long Canyon field has produced nearly a million barrels of high gravity, low sulfur oil. Neighboring abandoned fields has steep production declines and no associated water, suggesting that additional untapped reservoirs still exist. In the Uinta basin, fracture reservoirs in the Green River and Wasatch formations are the principal candidates. Other potential Utah targets include thin reservoirs in the Green River, Ferron, Kalota, and Kaibab formations, algal mounds in the Paradox Formation; and coal-bed methane-bearing units within the Cretaceous Blackhawk and Straight Cliff formations.

• OSTI ID: 5786088
• Report Number(s): CONF-910403--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 75:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
DRILLING
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GREEN RIVER FORMATION
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL GAS FIELDS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
PARADOX BASIN
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
RESOURCES
UINTA BASIN
USA
UTAH
WASATCH FORMATION
WELLS