The Use of Slimhole Drilling and Monobore Completions To Reduce Development Costs of the Kuparuk River Field

In 1994, a low-cost development and operating plan for future wells at the Kuparuk River Field was proposed with the goal of reducing well costs 30% by the end of 1996. This paper presents this plan of a slimhole drilling and monobore completion program, a discussion of the critical issues addressed to successfully make the change, and field results from the first 16 wells drilled in 1994 and 1995. A review of historical cost information is included which covers drilling and completing wells using the conventional well designs that had become standard in the field for the previous 10 years. A variety of new slimhole well plans are presented for both production and injection wells together with a discussion of their potential application and cost savings. The paper concludes with a look at future work plans and opportunities for additional cost savings through the use of slimhole wells.