Genel Energy growing production volumes from horizontal drilling in Kurdistan is exciting news, according to investment banking heavyweight UBS.

It was revealed on Monday by operator DNO that the first horizontal well on Genel's 25% owned Tawke field produced 2.5 times more oil than the field's most productive vertical well.

The well flowed at an equipment constrained 25,000 barrels a day, compared to a prior field record of 10,000 barrels.

Another two horizontal wells are now planned by DNO at Tawke; meanwhile, it is also expected that Genel will drill its first horizontal wells at the Taq Taq field later this year.

According to UBS analyst Daniel Ekstein horizontal drilling could help add more than 200mln barrels of ‘possible’ reserves to Genel’s current 445mln barrels of ‘proved and probable’ reserves.

“The first horizontal wells were drilled in the 1920s but became more prevalent from the late 1980s. The technique is now commonly used to optimise drainage of fractured carbonate reservoirs such as those in Kurdistan,” Ekstein said in a note.

“The frantic early days of the Kurdish oil sector meant more rudimentary, cheaper and quicker approaches were adopted.

“As the industry moves into the development phase operators are increasingly focused on application of more sophisticated technologies (advanced 3D seismic; directional and horizontal drilling; acid and hydraulic fracking)."



Soran Ali