The history of U Laterals

The naming convention for the U lateral is the curve, outgoing leg, turn and return leg.

In February 2019, Shell drilled the first of the modern U laterals in the Delaware Basin. The intermediate hole was very problematic and drilling the U and a return leg eliminated the need for another intermediate hole section. In a JPT article, economics were not discussed as driving the decision to drill a U.

Chesapeake drilled the second modern U lateral, the Jea Unit L LAS L 3H, in the Eagleford spudding on May 4, 2020. Chesapeake wrote a great paper on their U lateral experience. See the “Publications” page for a reference.

In 2019, Shell applied for a patent on drilling U laterals. The patent was granted on April 20, 2021. A copy of the patent and its variations are on the “Publications” page. It is rumored that Shell is attempting to broaden the patent to make the claims less restrictive.

In June 2021, PDC Energy started a single section U lateral development. After the crash caused by the pandemic, oil prices were low and one-mile laterals had ROR’s of below the economic cutoff. A full team evaluation showed drilling U laterals would increase the ROR 30% and the project was sanctioned. Three of the four wells were drilled according to plan with casing run to TD and cemented without trouble. One well was cut short in the turn and was completed as a one-mile lateral.

Since the start of 2022, U lateral activity has picked up with further drilling of U laterals by PDC and Chesapeake and more operators drilling U’s.