2nd Annual Horizontal Drilling USA Extended Laterals Congress

Production in the last quarter of 2013 averaged at 7.621 million barrels of crude oil per day - the highest daily average in 24 years and the largest year-on-year production growth between 2012 and 2013. Continuous advances and efficiencies in horizontal drilling has enabled operators to access previously unrecoverable oil and gas reserves and as a result, operators are constantly trying to push the envelope and drill further and faster, with better well control. However, drilling these longer laterals does not come without its challenges and the biggest question operators are currently finding themselves asking is how to push the limits of horizontal drilling whilst minimizing cost and risk of failure downhole.

Minimizing tool related downtime, increasing rates of penetration and maintaining directional plans, borehole stability and formation integrity are of key concern. New and advanced technologies and reconfigurations of conventional drilling systems can enable operators to optimize drilling performance and cost but the functionality and economic feasibility of these new methods is still very much under question. Every formation presents its own set of challenges, which can vary considerably from well to well and from one play to the next, making the implementation of the right tools even more complex when navigating through longer laterals.

The 2nd Annual Horizontal Drilling USA: Extended Laterals Congress 2014 is dedicated solely to optimizing drilling techniques and equipment reliability to execute long reach laterals. Wholly based on operator's latest drilling results across the US, the congress will seek to push the limits of horizontal drilling in extended reach laterals through a comprehensive investigation of BHA design, tool reliability and tool selection to provide established solutions to reduce drill time, increase the ROP, maximize footage drilled per day and minimize risk of failure when drilling longer laterals.