RE: Horizontal drillingA little info on horizontal drilling.... from https://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/annual-report/soe-reports/soe95/energy.html
Horizontal Drilling: New Technique in Oil Recovery
Horizontal drilling is a new technique that permits oil and gas reserves in environmentally sensitive areas to be extracted from less sensitive surface locations.
A well is drilled vertically to a pre-determined point. Then, using special tools and procedures, the angle is changed so that the well enters the oil-producing rock formation horizontally. The well can be drilled for extended distances into the producing formation.
Horizontal wells can cost two to three times more than conventional vertical wells, but also produce at higher rates. Because of increased cost, horizontal wells are generally used to develop an oil pool that was located through conventional vertical drilling.
By September 1994, 20 horizontal wells had been drilled in Manitoba, with horizontal sections from 104 metres to 1,283 metres long. Production varies from 1.3 cubic metres per day to over 30 cubic metres per day. A conventional well produces about 1.2 cubic metres of oil per day.