OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom Neft subsidiary Gazpromneft-Yamal has completed construction of Russia’s first ever multilateral well with four horizontal cased-hole side tracks, at its Novoportovskoye field. A total 6,756 metres was drilled, including 4,411 metres drilled in the target strata. The well was constructed in 39 days at a rate of 5.78 days per 1,000 metres.

Drilling horizontally branched wells facilitates a manifold increase in drainage from disjointed low-permeability strata, significantly increasing the oil recovery factor at productive strata and bringing marginal reserves into development without the need to drill additional wells. Russian-produced equipment was used in well construction, retooled in line with the specific geological conditions of the Novoportovskoye field.