I have been told by one company that they are interested in doing horizontal drilling in our area and another company tells me the Mississippian shale formation, in our area, is not thick enough for horizontal drilling. How thick does the formation need to be to accomodate practical horizontal drilling?
A little late responding here, but I see you have no responses. I have done previous horizontal work in the Bakken in North Dakota. In the area I was working, we drilled wells to a true vertical depth of +/- 10,000’ with an additional 8,000’ - 9,000’ horizontal leg in a productive formation that ranged from 8 to 20’ in height. I haven’t worked Mississippian, but depending on the quality of the rock, horizontal drilling can be profitable in very formations that are as little as 10’ in thickness.