Recovery of bypassed oil in the Dundee Formation using horizontal drains. Quarterly report, July 1, 1996--September 30, 1996

The principal objective of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility and economic success of producing oil from abandoned or nearly abandoned fields in the Dundee Formation of Central Michigan using horizontal drilling technology. A site for a horizontal well was selected in Crystal Field, a nearly-abandoned Dundee oil field in Michigan. This field had produced over 8 million barrels of oil, mostly in the 1930`s and 1940`s. At the height of development, Crystal Field produced from 193 wells, but by 1995, only seven producing wells remained, each producing less than 10 bbls/day. A horizontal well was drilled as a field demonstration pilot, funded through this DOE project, and was immensely successful. Core and logs from the Dundee interval were recovered from a vertical borehole at the same surface location. The horizontal well was brought on production at a rate of 100 bbls/day and is probably capable of producing at a higher rate. The addition of several horizontal wells, similar to the demonstration well, will likely add another 2 million bbls (or more) to the cumulative production of the field over the next few years. The presence of untapped oil in this Dundee field was dramatically demonstrated and the favorable economics were made clearly evident. If other abandoned Dundee fields are re-developed in a similar manner, the additional oil produced could exceed 80 Trillion barrels. Horizontal drilling will likely revolutionize the development of old carbonate fields such as those in the Dundee of Michigan