The understanding and proper application of rotary-steerable systems will continue to provide a step change in the way fields are developed. Technology developed and implemented during the boom will receive closer scrutiny and evaluation during the bust.
While inherent design changes and innovations made to BHAs and bits can be applied to both vertical and horizontal wellbores, the industry is targeting horizontal applications.
When the first pipelines moved crude from wellhead to market in the early 1870s, it was difficult to balance the product in the line to the storage tanks at each end. If the receiving station was not ready for the crude, the sending station risked pumping too much product.