The University of Kansas
An Official Employee Publication From the Office of University Relations
KU researchers awarded a Department of Energy contract
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a contract to petroleum researchers from KU to demonstrate ways to identify Kansas oil and gas fields that are candidates for horizontal drilling.
The contract is for slightly more than $400,000 and involves scientists from the Kansas Geological Survey and the KU Tertiary Oil Recovery Project.
Horizontal wells are drilled down to an oil-producing rock formation, as in conventional oil wells, then drilled horizontally or along the rock layer. As a result, the well encounters more oil-bearing rock and often produces far more oil than with conventional drilling. Drilling a horizontal well is more expensive than creating a conventional vertical well.
A relatively small number of horizontal wells have been drilled in Kansas, and only a few of those have been economically successful.
“Our goal is to demonstrate tools and techniques that will help independent operators with limited resources analyze when and where to use horizontal drilling,” said Survey scientist Saibal Bhattacharya, the project’s principal investigator. “That should lead to increased use of horizontal drilling, which should lead to increased oil production.”
The researchers will post computer models and spreadsheets on the Internet to help screen potential locations for horizontal drilling. The screening process will help producers evaluate the application of horizontal wells in mature fields and help them maximize the production from those wells. Researchers plan to select an oil field in central Kansas to demonstrate the use of horizontal drilling.
