I’m curious if reentering old vertical wells in Nolan County have any potential in the Cline play? Anyone know of companies converting vertical wells to horizontal when they reenter?
Thanks for any information.
Re-entering wells can be a problem depending on how the well was plugged, casing left in the hole, where cement is behind pipe, hole size, etc.
Quicksilver has used re-entry technique to go back into old vertical wells with small (4.5") casing. Cut window in casing and drilled short (2000-2500’) skinny (3 inch diameter holes) which are then cased and frac’d. They have done this in Pecos County near Fort Stockton and in Upton County - both chasing Wolfbone / Wolfberry play.
I am sure that there are others.
Far from the ideal situation (normally want longer laterals and larger holes) but allows the operator to test the concept / section for minimal dollars (vs. a brand new well).
Re-entering vertical wells and testing vertical section to see if zone is viable is also a possibility (although may not be economic in vertical hole - but doing this can show that the section will produce if stimulated so as to justify horizontal drilling.
I know mine were redone years ago. They had about played out. A workover was done, but I have no knowledge of exactly what was done, just that they are producing again.
I know that a lot of companies will avoid this but some of your smaller companies are not afraid to re-enter these wells. Remember with old technology some of these wells only produced about 25% of the well’s potential. With today’s technology what is remaining in that well becomes producible.
Not to mention going in and drilling out the bottom plug and going deeper into new formations.
Having discussions with some small operators in West Texas, none of them were afraid to re-enter a plugged well. In fact, some were going back into old fields and working them over with new technology, rather than acquiring new leases.
I am seeing a lot of re-entering of old wells in the last few weeks.