OREANDA-NEWS. April 10, 2012. LLC “TNK-Uvat” (a member of the TNK-BP group of companies) is to cut the cost of drilling 15 horizontal wells at the Ust-Tegusskoe field by USD 19.2 million by deploying a new drilling technology, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP. 

The new technique, known as mini-pilot hole horizontal well drilling, eliminates the labour-intensive procedure of “truncation” and drilling a pilot hole and will be used in TNK-BP’s Uvat Eastern Hub development. A small-diameter guide well is drilled before working on the main producing hole to help clarify the geological section and oil saturation, as well as determining the optimal trajectory for the well’s horizontal section to ensure greater productivity.

Emerson Milenski, TNK-BP Vice President, Major and Capital Projects stressed: “The new drilling technology reduces the time required to drill a horizontal well to 30 days, compared to 46 days for standard drilling with a pilot hole. Using this new approach in 15 horizontal wells will save an average of USD 1.28 million per well and shorten the drilling cycle by a total of 210 days.”