Advanced horizontal drilling, multistage hydraulic fracturing, and other technologies have helped make the Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas resource economically viable. An option to exploit this resource better is to increase the length of the horizontal section of each well to add hydraulic-fracture stages. Anticipated high angles in deviated well sections, along with the extended horizontal length of the planned wells, formed an expectation that conventional coiled-tubing (CT) designs would not be able to service the new well designs. Using refined, custom-engineered CT-string designs appears to be an economic and efficient solution.
Project Overview
Increased diameter, strength, and reliability have made CT the preferred cost-effective well-intervention solution in the Vaca Muerta unconventional shale development; however, the maximum lateral reach the CT can achieve during operations is a limiting factor for well optimization.
Initially, 2-in.
