Advanced Drilling Technology Boosts CA Production

Jane Van Ryan
Posted April 19, 2010

ExxonMobil reports that it has completed the world's longest well from an existing offshore fixed platform drilling rig.

The new well, located in the Santa Ynez Unit near southern California, will increase the company's ability to produce more domestic oil supplies.

According to a news release, ExxonMobil's "Fast Drill" technology:

• Extends more than six miles horizontally and more than 7,000 feet below sea level;

• Can achieve improvements in drilling rates by up to 80 percent; and

• Results in new production brought on quickly, safely and at lower cost.

Since 1981, the Santa Ynez Unit has produced more than 450 million barrels of oil and earned 12 Safety Awards for Excellence from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) for outstanding safety and environmental performance on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

ExxonMobil says:

"Through the use of this extended-reach drill technology, the well will be able to produce an additional 5.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, an amount equal to the annual energy consumption of over 144,000 Californians."