Summary

I. Introduction

II. History of multilateral well

III. Multilateral Well Drilling

IV. Multilateral Well Completions

TAML classification system:

1) TAML Level 1

2) TAML Level 2

3) TAML Level 3

4) TAML Level 4

5) TAML Level 5

6) TAML Level 6

V. Well Stimulation in Multilateral Wells

1) Hydraulic Fracturing in Multilateral Wells

2) Matrix Stimulation in Multilateral Wells

VI. Conclusion

References
 I. Introduction:

Oil and gas wells are no longer just for accessing hydrocarbon formations, a task that they
have accomplished for more than a century and which they still do in a far improved and
targeted way. Over the past 20 years, with the rapid evolution of, first, horizontal wells and,
eventually, multilateral wells, reservoir-to-well expo- sure has increased dramatically to orders
of magnitude larger than ever before. Multilateral wells accomplish both of these tasks, the
accessing and the exposure, effectively.
There are some obvious examples that fall under the category of accessing. Multilateral wells
can be drilled to drain discontinuous geological flow units, especially those which could not
by themselves rationalize dedicated individual wells. Such structures include lenticular sands
or braided channels, where the reservoirs are distributed areally, and layered reservoirs having
vertically discontinuous bodies.
A multilateral well is a well with two or more laterals (horizontal, vertical, or deviated)
drilled from a main mother well. This allows one well to produce from several reservoirs.
Multilateral wells are suitable for complex geology where drilling more new wells to penetrate
to those reservoirs is not economical. Lateral sections may be used to produce from a separated
section in depleted, faulted, layered and heavy oil reservoirs

Figure1: multilateral well geometries.

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 II. History of multilateral well:
lists some important milestones in the evolution of multilateral wells with the first documented
case completed in 1953 in Bashkiria in the former Soviet Union. The well was relatively shallow,
with laterals sidetracked just below 375 m (about 1,200 ft), but the architecture was complex and
quite sophisticated, with 10 branches.The former Soviet Union was the exclusive realm of
multilateral wells until 1984 ( just a few years after horizontal wells, themselves an original Soviet
invention). That year, a multilateral well was constructed in Eschau, France.

The mid-1980s to the end of the 1990s was a generally depressed era in the international petroleum
indus- try, resulting in a slow introduction of new technologies during this period. First oil prices
collapsed in the mid-1980s, followed by the demise of the Soviet Union and its petroleum industry,
the first Gulf War in the early 1990s and, eventually, the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s,
which precipitated another collapse in the oil price. Such tumultuous events delayed the drilling
of multilateral wells in large numbers.

Figure 2: The first multilateral well in Bashkiria, Russia.

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 figure3: Top view of the first multilateral well in Bashkiria, Russia..

Figure 4 – Multilateral well with different geological structure

III. Multilateral Well Drilling:

Multilateral drilling is a new technology developed after directional drilling, sidetrack, and
horizontal drilling. The technology can increase oil-drainage area, improve oil well
production, and greatly reduce reservoir development cost through drilling several lateral
wells in one borehole. Up to December 2006, there were more than 8 000 multilateral wells
all over the world, and remarkable economic profit has been obtained.
The ability to drill multiple wellbores with completely arbitrary trajectories in a highly
controlled fashion makes the multilateral well an attractive development method for

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 many reservoirs. Drilling a multilateral well consists of three major steps:
1. Drilling of the main wellbore—this is no different from the drilling of any conventional
well until the location of the first sidetracked lateral is reached. At this depth, special
procedures may begin for creating the second lateral and any subsequent laterals.
2. Sidetracking from the main wellbore—drilling a new wellbore from the main wellbore
is the distinguishing feature of drilling a multilateral well. Whether the well is initially
planned as a multilateral or is a reentry in which a multilateral is being created from an
existing single wellbore has a large bearing on the particular methods for initiating the
new wellbore.
3. Drilling the laterals—the individual laterals are directionally drilled in much the same
fashion as conventional horizontal wells. Slim hole drilling and/or coiled-tubing drilling
techniques are often applied. Control of the lateral trajectories is a critical part of
multilateral drilling.

The SET technology is applied to the multilateral drilling to replace the conventional
positioning method, the downhole location is reliably fixed, and “selective re-access of
multilateral well” of each tool in the consequent oil recovery, workover, and oil-layer
reformation is realized. It should be pointed out that after the oversea special companies
complete the multilateral drilling, the specially made tool by that company is required to
carry out the consequent operations, such as workover. As a result of the simple borehole
configuration, small drift diameter change of main bore, and direct access of conventional
workover tools, the SET-fixing multilateral technology can greatly lessen the construction
difficulty of workover and consequent maintenance cost of multilateral well.
In addition, the conventional multilateral operation is complicated and has a large
construction risk, which results in low operation–success ratio, whereas SET-fixing
multilaterall drilling operation is simple with less tools and less trip times, which greatly
improves the construction success rate.
Finally, the technology can drill many branches in a main borehole, which is still suitable

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 in a small-sized borehole. This technology can greatly save drilling cost and each ton oil
cost of single well; meanwhile, in the offshore or the limited area, the occupying area can
be reduced through increasing branch number and decreasing wellhead number.

Figure5: Schematic diagram of Well NB35-2-A6mh in Bohai Oilfield lies at the

southwestern end of Bohai Shijiutuo

IV. Multilateral Well Completions:

1) TAML classification system:
Along with the rapid development of multilateral technology, in March 1997, the global major oil
companies held the first multilateral technology conference “Technology Advancement Multi
Laterals (TAML)” in Aberdeen, Scotland. The conference created the TAML classification
system according to three characteristics of multilateral well, that is, connectivity, isolation, and
accessibility (connectivity refers to the connecting ability between the major and lateral boreholes;
isolation refers to the isolating ability between the multilateral well and formation after
completion; and accessibility refers to the repeated accessing ability into the multilateral well), the

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TAML classification system is set up and the TAML complexity ranking which decide to the
completion method of multilateral well is classified into 6 categories Level 1 to 6 .

1) TAML Level 1

TAML Level 1 is suitable for formations with hard rock in main bore, at junction, lateral.
Additionally, a lateral section should have homogeneous fluids and pressures.

Figure 6 – TAML Level 1

Description:
Main bore – Open hole with no casing support or slotted liner hang in the open hole
Lateral section – Open hole with no casing support or slotted liner hang in the open hole
Junction – No pressure integrity
Advantages of TAML Level 1
• Stable in strong formation
• Less complexity
Disadvantages of TAML Level 1
• No pressure integrity at junction
• Unable to shut off unwanted water/gas production
• Not suitable for unconsolidated formations
• Extremely limited re-entry capability

2) TAML Level 2

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TAML Level 2 is suitable for hard laterals & hard junctions with low potential for cross flow.
Furthermore, TAML Level 2 has a limited possibility to re-entry and production isolation between
a main bore and laterals.

Figure 7 – TAML Level 2

Description:
Main bore – Cased and cemented
Lateral section – Open hole with no casing support or possible slotted liner hang in the open hole
Junction – No pressure integrity
Advantages of TAML Level
• Multiple lateral from a main bore
Disadvantages of TAML Level
• No pressure integrity at a junction
• Limit on unwanted fluids (water/gas) shut off
3) TAML Level 3
TAML Level 3 is suitable for softer junction and laterals with moderate potential for cross flow
control.

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 Figure 8 – TAML Level 3

Description:
Main bore – Cased and cemented
Lateral section – Cased but uncemented laterals. Slotted liner is set in lateral sections and
anchored back into a main wellbore.
Junction – No pressure integrity
Advantages of TAML Level 3 :
• Junction is partially protected from sand production
• Multiple multi laterals
Disadvantages of TAML Level 3 :
• No pressure integrity at a junction
4) TAML Level 4
TAML Level 4 is suitable for unconsolidated or unstable laterals and junctions with potential cross
flow control.

Figure 9 – TAML Level 4

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Description:
Main bore – Cased and cemented
Lateral section – Cased and cemented
Junction – No pressure integrity
Advantages of TAML Level 4 :
• Open hole support in lateral section(s)
• Multiple laterals
• Production isolation from lateral and main bore is achievable.
• Cement protects the junction from sand infiltration and potential collapse.
• Allow selective through tubing re-entry in both a main bore and a lateral (laterals)
Disadvantages of TAML Level 4 :
• No pressure integrity at a junction
5) TAML Level 5
The TAML Level 5 has a similarity in a wellbore construction to the TAML Level 4. However,
pressure sealing capability is achieved by using the integrity of tubing strings and packers in order
to isolate the junction. This is suitable for an unconsolidated junction with pressure integrity at a
junction.
Single bore packers are set in both main bore and lateral below the junction. Above the junction,
two tubing strings are connected to a dual bore packer. Therefore, pressure integrity at a junction
can be achieved by using tubing and packers.

Figure 10 – TAML Level 5

Description:

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Main bore – cased and cemented
Lateral section – cased and cemented
Junction – pressure isolation is achieved by completion string and packer
Advantages of TAML Level 5 :
• Allow production from a main bore and lateral at the same time
• Wellbore support
• Junction integrity
• Easy access to a main bore and a lateral
• Easy and effective for zonal isolation
Disadvantages of TAML Level 5 :
• Large wellbore required
6) TAML Level 6
TAML Level 6 is suitable for a weak and unstable junction. For TAML Level6, cementing
junction the same way as TAML Level4 is not acceptable, so the Level 5 uses a premanufactured
junction. Two separate wells are drilled from a main wellbore and a premanufactured junction is
installed downhole.

Figure 11 – TAML Level 6

Description:
Main bore – cased and cemented
Lateral section – cased and cemented
Junction – pressure isolation is achieved by casing or liner to seal the junction.
Advantages of TAML Level 6 :

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 • Easy and effective for zonal isolation
• Adaptable for all formation types
• Allow both separate or comingle production
• Allow independent production/injection of each production zone
Disadvantages of TAML Level 6 :
• Large wellbore required
• Limited pressure differential rating

in view of the multilateral well completion, most of the multilateral wells in the world adopt
open well completion of Level 1 and 2 and slotted liner completion of Level 3, whereas less wells
adopt tripping in casing and injecting cement, which is because Level 4 multilateral technology
and tool are complicated, and the construction risk is high, therefore it is still at the development
stage. According to the statistics, among more than 8 000 multilateral wells in the world, only 351
wells adopt Level 4 completion.

As to the Level 4 multilateral well completion, the recoverable whipstock sidetrack cutting with
forced bit is mostly used to drill new borehole at home and abroad. This whipstock integrates the
location and direction, when the whipstock is tripped into the preset position, the location is fixed
through tubing packer and slip[1,9-11]. At present, these location technologies can bring about
some bottleneck problems of TAML 4 multilateral completion during the multilateral borehole
sidetrack:

(1) After multilateral well completion, the major casing drift diameter will decrease greatly, which
will cause some difficulties to the consequent oil production, workover, and oil-layer reformation.
(2) Lateral well “selective re-access” is difficult. The reason is that at present the international
lateral well location technology basically adopts tubing packer, slip location, or long-distance tie-
back location from top to bottom with casing because of weak axial force resistance and large
torque resistance, and poor high-pressure sealability of tubing packer or slip, anchored slip will
cause tough damage to casing; and long distance casing tie-back cannot bear large load and torque.
Therefore, these location technologies will result in inaccurate orientation and difficult line-in and
location of the tripped lateral well tools.

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(3) Because of the increased research difficulty of drilling and completion wells caused by small
drift diameter, more than three Level 4 branches are unsuitable to be drilled in the small-size major
casing.

The increasing maturation and improvement of SET makes its application into multilateral drilling
possible. As a supplement of multilateral technology, the SET-fixing multilateral technology is
developed. This technology is characterized by simple process, large drift diameter after
completion and multibranches inside small-sized borehole, compared with the other TAML 4
multilateral technologies. This paper introduces the technical scheme, construction technique and
technical characteristics in detail. The application effect in three wells demonstrates high reliability
and practicability, broadens the application range of SET and meanwhile provides a new design
method and technical way for multilateral drilling and completion technologies.

V. Well Stimulation in Multilateral Wells:

Well stimulation either hydraulic fracturing or matrix stimulation with acid or other
solvents is routinely applied to enhance the productivity of wells. Multilateral wells are most
commonly drilled and completed without any intention of applying stimulation treatments;
however, the need for stimulation is likely to arise, either upon initial completion or during
the life of a multilateral well. Stimulation of an individual lateral is no different from the
stimulation of a single wellbore in a conventional completion, except for the need for
special efforts to place the treating fluids in the desired lateral, and, particularly in the case
of hydraulic frac- turing, the consideration of the interaction of one stimulated lateral with
others. Since most laterals in a multilateral well are long, nearly horizontal wellbores,
stimulation procedures for long horizontal wells are required in multilaterals.
1) Hydraulic Fracturing in Multilateral Wells:
The hydraulic fracturing of individual branches of multi- lateral wells is possible and
has been done on a great number of occasions. In some cases, particularly in dual lateral
wells, the laterals are treated simultaneously, so that fractures are created in more than
one lateral during one large treatment. More commonly, individual laterals are treated
separately by selectively injecting into one lateral at a time. Additionally, since most
laterals are nominally horizontal, and often quite long, it is common to place multiple

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 hydraulic fractures along them.
For almost all petroleum engineering applications, at depths where producing formations
are found, the stress field leads to a hydraulic fracture that is vertical and normal to the
minimum horizontal stress. Thus, when a horizontal lateral is fractured, one or more vertical
fractures are created. The intersection of these fractures with the lateral depends on the
azimuth of the wellbore relative to the stress field. There are two obvious limiting cases for
horizontal lateral fracturing:

• The well is drilled along the expected fracture trajectory (i.e., perpendicular to the
minimum horizontal stress direction); this is the longitudinal configuration.
• The well is drilled normal to the expected fracture trajectory (parallel to the minimum
horizontal stress
direction). In this second case, transverse hydraulic fractures are generated.

For either case, it is possible to generate multiple fractures along a lateral. Figure 12
illustrates longitudinal and transverse fracture orientations created from a horizontal wellbore
(Fisher et al. 2004).
In the following sections, we will first discuss the creation of multiple fractures from a
horizontal lateral, then review techniques for placing fractures in multiple laterals.

Figure 12: Transverse or longitudinal fractures created from a horizontal lateral.

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2) Matrix Stimulation in Multilateral Wells:
Well productivity is often enhanced in wells by injecting solvents, usually acids,
to dissolve solid material in the near-well vicinity and, thereby, increase the
permeability. Such treatments are particularly beneficial when the formation
permeability around the well has been reduced by drilling or completion fluid
contact, fines migration, precipitation, or other factors caused by the drilling,
completion, or production operation. Multilateral wells are just as susceptible to
such formation dam- age as conventional wells; and thus, matrix stimulation may
be very beneficial to the productivity of multilateral wells. In this section, we
focus on aspects of matrix stimulation that are unique to multilateral wells—in
particular, the distribution of treating fluids along long horizontal laterals and the
placement of treating fluids in different laterals. More general discussions of
matrix stimulation are presented in other books including Schechter (1992),
Williams et al. (1979), and Economides et al. (1994). We use matrix acidizing as
the ex- ample stimulation method because a large majority of matrix stimulation
treatments use acids.

Figure13: Acid treatment of a carbonate reservoir.

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Conclusion:
Multilateral technology is a new technology developed in the past decade abroad, many
problems are not actually solved, especially the success rate of sidetracking for old slim-hole
wells is not high.

Well completions for multilateral wells are very different from vertical wells, or even single-leg
horizontal wells. The key distinguishing component in a multilateral well completion is the
junction construction, which provides communication and conduction between the laterals and
the main borehole.

Like the development of horizontal well depends on the advancement of drilling technique, the
multilateral technology development mainly depends on the advancement of completion
technique.

SET technology has been applied in many aspects of drilling engineering and has effectively
solved many problems in the drilling process. It is a revolutionary technology in the petroleum
drilling and production.

multilateral wells can be improved by well stimulation; in fact, hydraulic fracturing may be
necessary to create an economic well in low-permeability reservoirs, just as is the case with
conventional wells

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 References

(1) Zhang Shaohuai. New development on multi-lateral drilling and completion technologies. Oil

Drilling & Production Technology, 2001

(2) Basic Knowledge about Multilateral Well and Completionhttps://www.drillingformulas.com/

(3) Calculating Production Rate of each Branch of a Multilateral Well Using Multi-Segment Well

Model: Field Example, Muhel Abdulwahab Abdulrazaq , Mohammed S. Al-Jawad Number 11

Volume 23 November 2017 Journal of Engineering

(4) Energi Saves Millions with Industry’s First Subsea Retrofit Multilateral Wells Schlumberger

(5) Multilateral drilling & completion technology based on Solid Expandable Tubular fixing system

(6) Zhang Yanping1,*, Ren Rongquan, Wang Hui, Wang Jun CNPC Drilling Research Institute,

Beijing 100195, China

(7) PETROLEUM ENGINEERING – UPSTREAM - Horizontal And Multilateral Well Technology

- Sada Joshi

(8) MULTILATERAL WELL MODELING FROM COMPARTMENTALIZED RESERVOIRS By

Oluwadairo Kayode

(9) MULTILATERAL WELL-Society of petroleum engineering-

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