Putting the well in the best place in the least time

Even when drilling a mature reservoir already pierced by 52 wells (25 of them horizontal) there can be surprises. Armed with an impressive knowledge base and a comprehensive development plan, Chevron Nigeria-operator of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corp./Chevron Nigeria Ltd. Joint Venture-turned to a new technology to help develop Meji field. Meji field, discovered in 1964, consists of stacked reservoirs arrayed along a southeast trending rollover anticline and separated by numerous faults. Deposition is of Late Miocene age. The target for the four-well drilling program was an estimated 16 million bbl of oil reserves, representing a production gain of about 9,000 bopd from the field. The reservoir consists of clean middle- to upper-shoreface delta front deposits, has a strong water drive and no gas cap. So the closer the well could be drilled to the ceiling the more reserves could be accessed. Accordingly, key objectives included staying as close to the reservoir ceiling as possible...