Horizontal Drainholes

I have been receiving royalties for several producing oil wells in a section in Yoakum County, TX. Last spring 2 new wells were permitted. They are now listed as “horizontal drainholes” on the Shalexp website. The other wells in the section are listed as “producing”. The 2 new ones are “off lease” wells. But all the perforations are in my section. There is no pooling. I have searched the internet, (until I’m blue in the face), trying to understand horizontal drainholes. The standard definition does not help me. I would like to know : Can “horizontal drainholes” produce oil?. Will I get a DO like a regular horizontal well? What is the difference between a horizontal drainhole and a horizontal well?. Thanks.

In simple terms, the horizontal well is from the surface to the end of the wellbore (toe) and includes both the vertical and horizontal portions. The oil company perforates the horizontal portion of the wellbore (horizontal drainhole or horizontal lateral) and none of the vertical portion. All the oil and gas (and water) enters through the perforations. The producing interval is the distance from the first take-point (perforation) to the last take-point (perforation). The mineral owners under the off-site well location will not be receiving royalties. If there is a pooled unit, then the royalties will be allocated according to your interest within the unit. If there is no unit and all the minerals are owned undivided within the entire tract, then the royalties will be allocated according to the fractional interest in the section or tract. If there is no unit and the minerals are owned as separate tracts under the wellbore, then the royalties are most often allocated to each tract based on how much of the perforated lateral is under that tract.

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That’s a very good explanation. So, because the pad and vertical parts of the well are just over the line in another section, (“off-lease”), it gets labelled a “horizontal drainhole”. Otherwise it’s just like my other wells. Thank you very much!.

The well location an be on-lease or off-lease. The horizontal drainhole is simply the producing horizontal of any horizontal well and has nothing to do with the drill-site location. It is just fancy-talk on your operator’s website.

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