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American Oil & Gas Reporter -- May 19, 2005

Stimulation Techniques

Steve Bowen of Well Enhancement Services LLC described a new lateral jetting process developed by his company, which uses water jets to extend laterals 300 feet beyond a well bore. A specially designed head attached to a hose jets water forward and backward to bore a 1.5-2.0 inch hole, he explained. Water pressure moves the head and hose forwards covering 300 feet in 10 minutes.

“We work in conjunction with a workover rig,” Bowen revealed. “We set a deflector shoe at the desired depth, then jet up to 300 feet from the well bore in multiple directions. We can do this at multiple depths in a single well bore. Generally, we do three to four laterals at a single depth. The technology works equally well in open and closed holes.”

Bowen said the system did not require a drilling permit, and only required 150 gallons of fluid to jet four laterals. The system has been shown to increase well production by 3-10 times, he said. Although the system was initially targeted at wells 5,800 feet deep or less and marginal producers, Bowen said operators had expressed interest in using the jet system as part of their completion procedures for new wells.

The typical cost per well ranges from $25,000 to $50,000. Bowen recommended that operators keep wells on production for four to six weeks after the jetting procedure so that fines that were pushed into the formation would have a chance to come back out of the well with production

 

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