Cost Optimization by Designing an Ultra-Slim Horizontal Well in the Niger Delta – The Eremor Field Case Study

Oil price volatility is one of the major drivers, which drive the decision of Operators to drill oil wells to further develop oil fields. A more significant constraint, which deals a huge blow on the Marginal Field Operators in the Niger Delta is the huge and ‘unavailable’ CAPEX associated to the delivery of these wells. This paper elucidates how ‘detailed’ well design and optimization were used to design and deliver two swamp wells for a Marginal Field operator in the Niger Delta. With the application of detailed engineering and optimization processes, the well costs were reduced by over 50%. The wells were initially designed, and to be delivered for circa $13MM per well, which is the P50 cost of drilling Swamp wells in the Niger Delta. However, post design optimization, the wells were designed and delivered for circa 6.5MM per Well. The paper also details the drilling execution methods put in place to ensure that the wells designed were delivered efficiently.