High-density development is conducive to pad drilling. In Pinedale field, the operators drill gently S-shaped directional wells from central surface pads. This is a technology that was originally developed for drilling offshore wells from a central platform, but that is now being applied onshore. Wells are arranged in pods of two to eight wells on a pad. Up to 50 wells can be drilled on an individual pad so that the physical footprint of operations and wildlife habitat fragmentation are minimized. | High-density development is conducive to pad drilling. In Pinedale field, the operators drill gently S-shaped directional wells from central surface pads. This is a technology that was originally developed for drilling offshore wells from a central platform, but that is now being applied onshore. Wells are arranged in pods of two to eight wells on a pad. Up to 50 wells can be drilled on an individual pad so that the physical footprint of operations and wildlife habitat fragmentation are minimized. |