Use of multi-drain wells to more effectively extract natural gas from lenticular sand reservoirs: a feasibility study

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of the multi-drain well method in tight, lenticular formations. Although directional drilling is more costly than conventional vertical drilling, this practice could triple well production. The proposed drilling plan may be more cost efficient than drilling three separate wells with less than 320-acre spacing because it would save the costs of site surveys, rig setup, purchase of the surface lease area, and gas pipeline hookups for two additional well sites. This feasibility study was conducted on the Piceance Basin area, mainly because of the availability of geological information. The results of this study will generally apply to other regions with tight, lenticular sand, depending upon the similarity in the total percentage of sand lenses in the area and the lens dimensions and orientations. Appendix A discusses the geology of the eastern Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, and the applicability of this study to the area. Appendix B provides calculation of expected production increase due to angle of drilling.

Data and Resources

Field Value
Citation "\"Regenhardt, C., Dean, J., & Hancock, J. (1986). Use of multi-drain wells to more effectively extract natural gas from lenticular sand reservoirs: a feasibility study.\""
Is NETL associated "\"No\""
Organization "\"EG and G Washington Analytical Services Center, Inc.\""
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Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • Global Provider
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • edx
  • energy
  • energy-data-exchange
  • geo
  • geology
  • geoss
  • global
  • lenticular-formation
  • utah
  • wgs
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
metadata_created 2025-11-25T22:24:21.103911
metadata_modified 2025-11-25T22:24:21.103915
notes The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of the multi-drain well method in tight, lenticular formations. Although directional drilling is more costly than conventional vertical drilling, this practice could triple well production. The proposed drilling plan may be more cost efficient than drilling three separate wells with less than 320-acre spacing because it would save the costs of site surveys, rig setup, purchase of the surface lease area, and gas pipeline hookups for two additional well sites. This feasibility study was conducted on the Piceance Basin area, mainly because of the availability of geological information. The results of this study will generally apply to other regions with tight, lenticular sand, depending upon the similarity in the total percentage of sand lenses in the area and the lens dimensions and orientations. Appendix A discusses the geology of the eastern Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, and the applicability of this study to the area. Appendix B provides calculation of expected production increase due to angle of drilling.
num_resources 1
num_tags 13
title Use of multi-drain wells to more effectively extract natural gas from lenticular sand reservoirs: a feasibility study